Put this devil to bed

I just finished In Bed with the Devil by Lorraine Heath, the first book in the Scoundrels of St. James series. I was pleased with the story’s quick tempo and action; however, I did think that the numerous references to “Oliver Twist” were a bit much. I suppose the author was trying to place the book’s history, having Charles Dickens as a contemporary author at the time. But by the third mention that the heroine, Lady Catherine, was reading the book, I was like “yeah, we get it” 🙄. 

I have still not figured out where the “St. James” plays into this book, as that is the running theme for this series. But this book did have its scoundrel, or in this case, a noble lord masquerading as a scoundrel–rather than a scoundrel masquerading as a noble lord.

The scoundrel in this story is Lord Langdon, the Earl of Claybourne, also known as Lucian–Luke to his close friends. His close friends happen to be a ragtag bunch of ex-thieves, a la the gaggle of kid criminals run by the mastermind Fagin in Oliver Twist. Coincidentally (or not so coincidentally), the leader of that gang’s name was in this story: Feagan. But that was in the past, before Lucian (known as Luke by his gang) was rescued from hanging by none other than a man who turned out to be his grandfather, and saved him, claiming that Luke was in fact Lucian, his long-lost grandson and the rightful heir to the Earldom.

Lucian spends most of the book conflicted about the fact that he doesn’t have any actual recollection of his past before he was taken to join Feagan’s gang, and therefore doesn’t believe himself to be the rightful Earl, no matter what his grandfather’s convictions happened to be (or the Old Gent as Lucian referred to him).

On the flip side, the heroine, Lady Catherine, is actually rather likable. She is independent, opinionated, and has a strong sense of right, in particular about the plight of her best friend. As the daughter of a Duke, however, she has led a rather privileged life, which serves to juxtapose the harshness and bleak upbringing of her love interest, Lucian.

Her nobility was a bit misplaced, I thought, when she put aside her strong feelings for him to help him pursue his love interest. I guess she has a bigger heart than I would have had in the same situation. I wouldn’t be quite so selfless and attempt to win the Earl for myself, the other woman be damned.

But that’s just me. I suppose in her naivete of the world, it seemed fair that his happiness be as important to her as her own, if she did love him. It was claptrap nonsense that kept the story moving for 7/8’s of the book. The last little portion was spent tying up all the loose ends.

Now, anyone who has read Oliver Twist, or perhaps seen any of the movie adaptations, would see that In Bed With the Devil should really have been titled The Sexy Romp of Oliver Twist. If you could spend your time overlooking the glaring similarities and the not-so-clever name changes, this book reads rather well.