*Review will be posted to my blog on 6/7/21*

*4.5 STARS*

Likes:
*I am a big fan of Lisa Kleypas and have read all her books. As this is the seventh book in the Ravenel series, I absolutely love seeing how characters from past books intersect in this series. The Wallflowers and their escapades were among my favorite of her books so seeing Sebastian, Evie, Marcus and Lillian and their kids is like having a family reunion! It’s chaotic but lovely at the same time.

*Merritt is a widow and she’s got a head for running her late husband’s business. She’s smart, knows herself, nice and yes she has an instant connection with one of her clients. A sexy Scotsman who makes whiskey. Keir MacRae is in lust with Merritt right away but he knows he is beneath her station and tells himself not to make a move. But that doesn’t last long since the attraction between them is hot. Their love story is sweet though, I love how they are together.

*There is a reveal in this story and without revealing it, I thought it fit well and enjoyed it but some fans may not like it.

*I read this in one sitting because like I said, I am a big fan and I tend to devour Lisa Kleypas historical romances pretty quickly!

Random Notes:
*This is an arc version and near the end, a whole chunk of paragraphs need to be edited out because they are repeated haha. So that made me pause in my reading for a moment.

Final Thoughts:
I devoured the Devil in Disguise and I’m ready for the next Lisa Kleypas. This book gave me everything I wanted in a historical romance! It had the perfect balance of sexiness, warmth, humor and nostalgia. If you like historical romance, definitely try out Devil in Disguise.

Calling this part of the Ravenel series is a stretch tbh. However, it is always a delight to spend time with the Duke of Kingston and family and this book has them in abundance.
When Keir MacRea walks in to Lady Merritt’s office wet and covered in spilled whiskey she is instantly enthralled. Likewise Keir is instantly smitten with the wee bully Merritt. However, when Keir is attacked multiple times during his stay in London it becomes clear that for some reason someone is trying to kill him. When he is caught in a warehouse explosion and suffers a concussion he loses the magical week he just share with Merritt. For his own safety, Keir is whisked off to the Challon family home to recover and remain safe while Ethan Ransom investigates just what is going on.

Do you like men with mysterious identities? Enjoy women who know what they want and aren't afraid to go after it? Are you looking for Wallflowers and Ravenels fanservice without feeling like you're missing out on a new couple's story? Then you'll definitely want to read Devil in Disguise. This is a wild ride of a novel, with a sexy Scotsman (he's so sexy he has to wear a beard otherwise the women pursue him too much. Not even kidding.), a mysterious assailant, a touch of amnesia, and of course a connection to the most famous Devil of them all, Sebastian Challon (former Lord St. Vincent).

Kleypas doesn't leave out her signature historical details, this time providing us with tidbits about the whisky industry in Scotland, shipping companies, and plenty of mouthwatering food descriptions. But at its heart, this is a romance between two characters who can't keep their hands off of each other. We are docking half a point for that epilogue (if you know, you know), but the rest of the book was just pure, page-turning delight.

In The Devil in Disguise, widow Merritt Sterling and Scottish whisky distiller Keir MacRae meet, ignite and then everything they know instantly changes.

“Stabbing, explosions, and debauchery” ensue as their story twists and turns keeping my interest throughout. The mystery element as to who is after MacRae gives this romance an extra twist. And as you’d expect, Lisa Kleypas brings the heat between Merritt and Keir.

Characters from The Wallflowers and The Ravenels series are involved in this book. Dr. Gibson and Ethan (Hello Stranger) along with Phoebe (Devil’s Daughter) help Merritt and Keir navigate through the mystery and romance of The Devil in Disguise.

Thank you NetGalley and Avon Books for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I'm biased because I'm now an admitted Kleypas and Ravenels/Challons fan, but I enjoyed every minute of Devil in Disguise, devouring it in one uncontrolled binge. It's brilliant like the other romances in the Ravenels series. Beautiful, capable widow Lady Merritt Sterling meets and is immediately attracted to Keir Macrae, a rough hewn Scottish whiskey distiller from the small island community of Islay who's a client of Merritt's shipping company. Despite his modesty and trepidation, their connection is undeniable. At the same time, a series of mysterious calamities befall Keir and Merritt and a mystery starts to unfold around why someone seems to be targeting the sweet and enigmatic businessman. Bonus points for extended cameos from members of the Wallflowers family. I loved almost all of it with the slight exception of a storyline involving infertility that goes slightly off the rails. Definitely recommend with the one caveat that if you're sensitive to infertility issues you might want to proceed with caution.

I absolutely loved Devil in Disguise! Merritt is a great heroine, with lots of spunk. She and Keir connect right off the bat, but it doesn't feel like the somewhat annoying instalove. They're immediately attracted to each other for sure, and get along from the start, but it takes some time for true love to bloom. The plot was a bit all over the place, but it was second fiddle to the romance and so I was content to just roll with it.

I really enjoyed seeing characters from the previous books again. I haven't read Kleypas' other series, so I didn't connect as much with some parents who were around, but I've loved the other Ravenel books and enjoyed those cameos. I think it's really fun that Kleypas ties her books together instead of having each new series being a new version of the historical romance world.

Devil in Disguise felt like it was a bit higher on the sexy scale than some of the other books. Both characters are experienced to some degree from previous relationships, so there's none of the nervous virgin stuff that's in a lot of historical romances. And while the intimate scenes are obviously sexy, they're also sweet. Merritt and Keir are truly great together, and the care they show for each other shines through in those moments.

And just a note, there's a thing I see a number of people who anticipate the book worrying about, and I just want to say that I felt a certain twist was pulled off well.

Fourteen years ago, I drove like a madwoman an hour away to my nearest B&N with a cranky teething baby to get my hands on Devil in Winter on release day. I read the book in one sitting and then turned back to page one and re-read it again. Sebastian, Lord St. Vincent became my book husband that day and has been ever since. Needless to say, I was thrilled to see him reappear in Ravenel’s series and to see his children get their own HEA’s. 

Then this book happened. 

First, I’ll address the huge Scot elephant in the room. Yes, the title is a huge tip-off but I was holding out hope that Lisa wouldn’t do me like this 😒The revelation came around the middle of the book but by then I already knew that no twist was coming. Sebastian had fathered a child before he met Evie. I can’t properly convey how much I hated this. I hate that he had a child with some random woman and that the child grows into a man who looks more like him than his children with Evie. I reject this with every cell in my body and plan to scrub this revisionist history from my memory forevermore 😆

It’s hard for me to summarize this book because it is such a mess. Merritt, Lillian and Westcliff's eldest daughter, meets Keir when he is doing business with her shipping company and it’s pretty much insta lust/love. I have no problem with this as long as I get some relationship development but there was very little relationship or character development. Instead, there was a lot of telling about how their relationship developed over one dinner. The reader is never shown any of it until they sleep together. After, he leaves her because he gets a serious case of I’m Not Good Enough For You. He changes his mind almost right away and goes back to confess his feelings. Yes, this is after one night together from which the reader only gets to see the sexy times. He gets seriously injured though by the invisible assassin and then the book turns into the Bringing You Back from Death’s Door trope that Lisa Kleypas is so good at. Sebastian brings him to the safety of Heron’s Point to recover.

This is now about halfway through the book when Keir receivers consciousness but turns out he has amnesia. Reader, I wish I was kidding. And it wasn’t even the fun full-on amnesia but selective amnesia where he only doesn’t remember Merritt or their night together. 

I’m a pretty forgiving reader but this was so eye rollingly unnecessary to throw on top of the murder plot and the secret baby nonsense. Then everything suddenly gets resolved about 50% into the story the reader is told not shown who was behind the murder attempts and why, and who Keir’s real father is. We never see the murderer or the man behind the plot. The latter half of the book then turns into a Wallflower reunion between the Westcliff’s and the Kingston’s. I loved seeing Westcliff and Lillian again and seeing the two couples interact but this meant that Keir and Merritt are relegated to secondary characters int heir own book. With all the external conflict gone in one swoop, there is only some flimsy internal conflict keeping the main story dragging along. Keir’skind-of-sort-off amnesia gets resolved and then it’s Merritt’s turn to half-heartedly push him away for his own good. The good old We Can’t Marry Because We Are Too Different becomes the conflict. Shortly after, the assassin plot comes back and the last few pages are devoted to this. 

All that being said, I still swooned pretty hard with Kei,r and even though neither him nor Merritt ever popped off the page for me, they had some pretty romantic moments. Sebastian, of course, stole the show every time he walked onto the page and there was a really romantic scene with him and Evie.

Maybe my expectations were too high and my annoyance at the secret son trope colored every aspect of the book for me. I get that LK wanted to join the two favorite Wallflower couples through their children but I don’t feel it was necessary.
The book would have worked just as well if not better had Keir been just a distiller from Scotland.

I won’t mention the miracle baby :: eye roll::, or the fact that Merritt abandons the company she was running, or the weird character revision on Sebastian where at one point he tells Keir if he had known about him he would have done anything to keep him. Excuse me, Lisa Kleypas? Do you need a re-read of It Happened One Autumn? The Sebastian before Evie would not have taken responsibility for a by blow. He might have placed him with family but raise him himself? Never.

All in all, I thought the book a disjointed badly paced mess with some pretty swoony moments here and there but it wasn’t enough to save it for me. It was almost a tepid copy of Hello Stranger with the Wallflowers thrown in. My most anticipated book of the year is the most disappointing. I'm pretty bummed about it. That being said I hope she brings her A game to the next book.

⭐⭐💫/5
🔥🔥🔥/5


Thanks to @netgalley and @avonbooks for the complimentary copy. All opinions are my own.

Having read and adored the previous six Ravenels books, I was so stoked to be approved for this galley and to be able to review it.

Devil in Disguise is the story of Merrit Sterling and Keir McRae, and it is full of action, excitement, warmth, humor, romance, and steam. I was hooked from the first sentence, and was genuinely sad to finish the book, because I loved it so much.

Lisa Kleypas is my queen of historical romance!

Firstly, Kleypas is an expert and this is her arena clearly. It was nice to see the wallflower gang and even the men - Westcliff and Sebastian back even though in a minor role. Their books were so good that I still remember them pretty well. Here the heroine, Merritt, is absolutely interesting and refreshing as she is that boring, insipid young one instead is mature, independent and feisty. The hero, Keir is a swoon worthy Scot without a doubt.

Though it is obvious Keir’s past is going to come up at some point, there was a lot of drama and action while unraveling his birth and how Ravenels were involved in it. Keir is here from Scotland to handle his whisky business and someone is bent on killing him when he hardly knows anyone outside Scotland. Merritt is smitten right away by this Scot and is ready to pursue him but will he respond once he loses his memory forms the major part of the plot. I truly enjoyed this steamy and funny book and it was interesting to read two generations of characters involved without feeling overwhelmed by them.

Not sure how she does it but man I love Lisa Kleypas' characters!! I was a little skeptical in the beginning of the story but by the end I was so sad it had ended. I wish I could read it like new all over again. Lady Merritt reminded me so much of her mother. It was great to see my favorite wallflowers in the story. Merritt was strong willed and so good at managing things. Keir was perfectly balanced for her, he fell hard for her and they worked so well together. I loved their journey!!

Lady Merritt falls fast for Mr Keir MacRae, a burly Scots whiskey distiller down to London to sell his wares. Their instant attraction has a few setbacks, as MacRae's past comes to light. They weather the storms and revelations in what is another excellent historical from Ms Kleypas.

4.5 stars - I would read anything Lisa Kleypas writes and this is no different. I really love the continuation of the Wallflowers & Revenals and this entire world just makes me so happy. Quintessential historical romance and hits all of the bases for me.

Fans of the Wallflower and Ravenels series will absolutely fall in love with Devil in Disguise. 

Lady Merritt Sterling and Keir MacRae sizzle from the moment they first meet. Merrit runs her late husbands' shipping company, and MacRae runs a Scottish whisky distillery. A shipment mishap leads MacRae straight to Merrit and from there sparks fly.    

Keir's arrival to London starts off as business, but ends with his life being at risk. Without giving too much away...His mysterious past is revealed and his world is turned upside down. An explosion leaves him completely vulnerable with brief memory loss. Merrit is determined to protect him, and with the help of a few familiar characters, they work together to solve the mystery of who wants Keir dead. 

The Duke of Kingston, Phoebe Ravenel, Ethan Ransom and Dr. Garrett Gibson all play a role in assisting Merrit & Keir. Lord Westcliff and Lady Westcliff make an appearance, as well. 

Thank You NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

No one writes HR like Lisa Kleypas, just no one. Her books strike the perfect balance between humor and drama, all with strong family ties and a ton of heart.

Lady Merritt Sterling, daughter of Marcus and Lillian, is a widow, running her late husband’s shipping company. She has a run in with handsome Scottish whisky distiller Keir MacRae after his cargo is partially destroyed. His anger quickly dimmed when he meets the beautiful widow, but he knows she’s too far out of his league for anything to happen.

To his surprise, Merritt does not care about their social statuses and wants to be with him, but before anything can develop further, he realizes someone is trying to kill him. Merritt will do anything to protect her new beau, no matter what it takes.

UGH I loved this book so much. Merritt is so strong, just what you’d expect from Marcus and Lillian’s daughter. She’s finding herself after being widowed, and she knows what she wants when she sees Keir.

Keir is from a small Scottish isle, not used to London and all it’s rules. He likes the simple pleasures in life, fishing, spending time with his dog, and whisky. When he falls in love, he does so with his whole heart. He begins to find out the truth behind his lineage and that brings danger to him and possibly those around him. When he finds himself lost in this new world, Merritt is the only one he wants close to him.

It was so swoony, so romantic, so steamy, so funny, so everything. This is definitely my favorite historical I’ve read this year and I know I’ll be re-reading it again soon. All the stars, all the hearts, all the whatever scale you want to use.

(I’m not sure why this is a Ravenels book other than Ethan is in it a little, but that doesn’t really matter. )

I loved this book so much! Actually, saying I loved it would be an understatement!!! I highlighted so much in this book, there's probably more highlighted than not!

I really just let myself enjoy this book! I always lose track of how characters are related and where they pop up in previous books but as always, Kleypas handled it all so well. I loved seeing the second generation and the first generation together. All the characters interacting with one another was such a pleasure! Really, I could talk about this book for hours!

Kleypas, in my opinion, is one of those authors that can build such an intricate world and then build on top of it perfectly. This story was everything I needed and more. Fans of Lord St. Vincent (the one true king of Kleypas' heroes) will fall over themselves in this book. Everything is such so GOOD!!!!! Ugh!!! I just want to happy dance all over the place!

I think I need to reread this one again.

I was so excited to get an ARC copy of this book it went instantly to the top of my TBR pile. Full disclosure, I've read the other six in the Ravenels series and was thrilled there was a new romance. The cover itself would have drawn my eye and I never want to pass up a Lisa Kleypas novel.

The setting is 1880 London and Lady Merritt Sterling is a young widow who runs her husbands shipping firm since his death three years prior. Keir MacRae arrives in her office after a mishap with arrival of whisky from his Scottish distillery. She is surprised by her attraction to him and after taking care of the problem invites him to an intimate dinner at her home. Unfortunately he is attacked on his way there.

This is a fun, sensuous novel and Merritt is a very independent and strong heroine. Keir is handsome, rough and tumble and is a Scottish romantic at heart. Their meetings together are playful and steamy. This is very much an insta attraction situation but in a beautiful scene with her best friend Phoebe she tells her that ten years from now "I'll still say it was love. It was love from the beginning." The plot isn't very complicated and I won't give away spoilers. But beyond the romance there is the mystery of who and why someone wants to kill Keir.

This can definitely be read as a stand alone. My enjoyment was enhanced by seeing Phoebe and Dr. Garrett Gibson who were main characters in two previous books. Other reoccurring characters are especially fun, the Duke of Kingston and Lord Westcliff (Merritt's father), who originated in the author's Wallflower series. For anyone who loves a delightful romance with heat. A big thank you to NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for an ARC ebook in exchange for an honest review.

The end of the book needs some editing. A person's name changes, a conversation repeats itself, there are some words missing in places, and there are some slight formatting issues. All easily fixed. Otherwise I really enjoyed this book. At first I thought it was going to be obvious and unoriginal but I was pleasantly surprised by how the story unfolded. Well worth the read.