Devil in Disguise

Portland Devils

By: Rosalind James

Narrated by: Emma Wilder

Length: 15 hrs and 43 mins

Publisher's Summary

The devil doesn’t come with pointy horns and a tail. He comes as everything you’ve ever wished for.

When discipline is your life, structure’s a good thing, and Owen Johnson’s got plenty of both. An All-Pro NFL center who’s also a cattle rancher? Yeah, that’s structure. His marriage didn’t work out, but then, he picked the wrong woman. A Wyoming ranch doesn’t look nearly as romantic up close. Not to a model, anyway. Next time, he’ll choose better.

Not, for example, a 19-year-old ball of fire like Dyma Cardello, who’s just starting on her own journey. To become an astronautical engineer. After about five years of schooling. Which she’s focused on like, well, a rocket.

Did he mention that he owns a cattle ranch, and she’s a vegetarian? That he’s on the road half the time, and the other half, he’s in Wyoming? That she’s in no way interested in becoming a Good NFL Girlfriend? That it’s getting harder and harder to tell her no? Oh - and that his teammate and closest friend is marrying her mother?

Wait until the press gets hold of that one.

©2021 Rosalind James (P)2021 Rosalind James

Hold your sides, as you will laugh so much

"I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I was not compensated for my review, and I was not required to write a positive review. The opinion expressed here is my own.”

I really enjoyed this book, it made me laugh so much, I loved how the characters developed during the book as well, I have read all of Rosalind's books but this one really had me laughing at the characters and the situations they got themselves.

I really enjoyed the NFL game play descriptions, and felt I was at a game and the Wives and Girlfriends outing was hilarious

I am looking forward to the next book that Rosalind writes as I really enjoy her writing style

Another Not to be Missed Experience

The combination of RosaIind James and Emma Wilder continues to amaze and delight me. Despite not being sure what to expect from a story about a 19 year old college freshman and a 26 year old NFL player, I should not have worried because Rosalind can handle it all. And Emma certainly was wonderfully able to bring it all to life.

As with every Rosalind James story, this is more than just a romance. Devil in Disguise touches on so many types of love and relationships: romantic; parental; sibling; and even that love between good friends. While reading this book I experienced happiness, excitement, sadness, angst, anger, and joy and probably a few more emotions too. While listening to Shame the Devil (Portland Devils book 3) before reading Devil in Disguise isn’t absolutely necessary, you will enjoy the story more if you do. I highly recommend listening to Devil in Disguise.

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I was not compensated for my review, and I was not required to write a positive review. The opinion expressed here is my own.

Dyrma and Owen

Devil In Disguise –Dyrma and Owen
This is a wonderful book about an intelligent, driven, and extremely outrageous young lady, Dyrma Cardello. She heads from a small town high school in Wild Horse, Idaho to university in the big city of Seattle, Washington. She faces the challenges of no longer being the smartest student in class, being a scholarship student, and having two self-centered, nasty roommates from a fancy, private high school. Oh and there’s the six year older boy friend, Owen Johnson, who is a professional football player, who also happens to be on the same team as her future stepfather. Dyrma wants to make it on her own, but college is tough, and being away from all who love you just makes it that much harder.

Then there is Owen Johnson, professional football center & cattle rancher, who fell in love with a high school student. He wants to make sure Dyrma has time to experience life away from Wild Horse. Time to spread her wings in college. This time he wants a woman that wants both the football player and the cattle rancher.

This story brings us all angst of growing up. Finding out that college is not as easy as some students think. That living far away from family is hard. Dyrma and Owen also find out that long distance romances are not for the faint of heart.
The fabulous Emma Wilder narrates this audio book. Not only does she do great female voices, she also does wonderful male voices. Emma continues to be one of my favorite narrators. She makes Rosalind’s books even better.

I received a free copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review. I was not compensated for my review and I was not required to write a positive review. The opinion expressed here is my own.

As always Emma Wilder rocked it !!!

Lots of twists and turns but definitely worth it !!! Rosalind James doesn't disappoint !!!

Beyond!!!

There is nothing like a Rosalind James book. They are always so well put together they just carry you off to a happy place Through the sad the happy or mad you get the whole picture and the whole story. Simply the best!!
And Emma Wilder is the perfect narrator for The way Rosalind James tells a story She is amazing!

not your average college romance

Once again Rosalind James has proven how well she develops her characters. I generally do not like college-age romance. I cannot relate to them. However, while at face-value I cannot relate her, there are aspects to Dyma that I found completely relatable. The romance was a fairly mature one considering the age of the characters. There is nothing I find more annoying than petty fights and breakups because of immaturity.... which is why I avoid the genre. Thankfully that was not the case here! I can't forget to mention the great imagery of the locations. You can actually picture the place in you mind. Always one of my favorite parts of Rosalind James's writing.

Emma Wilder is fantastic... and I am very picky when it comes to narrators. She differentiates the voices of the characters so well. I can tell who is speaking before she says.

 I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I was not compensated for my review, and I was not required to write a positive review. The opinion expressed here is my own.

Owen and Dyma

I received a free copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review. The opinion expressed here is my own. I was not compensated for this review and I was not required to write a positive review. I was, however, required to put this statement in my review.

Listening to this audiobook was fun. Hearing the excitement, sarcasm, innuendo, and emotion that words may convey but can only be imagined when reading, made this story come alive. Narrator Emma Wilder has done another masterful job of putting voice to the words of author Rosalind James.

My original review from reading the book (which I bought) follows:

Dyma is a pistol. Owen is steady as can be. She’s headed to college. He’s a rancher who plays in the NFL. Their worlds are so far apart. Dyma learns (the hard way) that intelligence and independence are great, but they aren’t everything. Owen learns that sometimes the best things aren’t the ones that make sense. They both love fiercely and are each other’s peace. This story is quietly powerful. It sneaks in and reaches past your heart, all the way to your soul. You can feel the happiness, the heartache, the pain, and ultimately, the love. The past, their ages, and distance are not powerful enough to keep these two apart. I really enjoyed Dyma’s story. I also enjoyed the extension of Harlan and Jennifer’s story since they were so much a part of this story. The realities of college, pride and hard work were good to see. But mostly, I enjoyed Owen, his integrity and his steadiness. Author Rosalind James has a winner here.

Dyma and Owen's story was alright

Rosalind James is one of the top authors on my favorites list. That being said...

Would I read/listen to this book if you like Rosalind James? Yes, absolutely.
Would I read it more than once? Ehhh maybe if I wanted to go back through the series at some point.
Is this the first book from Rosalind James that you should read? No. I recommend reading these in order.

This story continues with Dyma and Owen's story. While the age difference is not THAT weird, it felt weird. The characters are 19 and 25 respectively, but the characters didn't act their age. The story is great, but my biggest problem was the choices they made weren't the way a 19 or 25 year old would act. It felt like someone who hasn't been to college in a while wrote about a college experience. Normally in James' books, the characters would make choices that make sense for the situation they were in. This book I couldn't really make sense in my head of the choices they would make and how it made sense. Sorry if that's weird or confusing-sounding. I'm trying not to include any spoilers, but this is biggest thing that's bothered me. The story itself is alright, the writing is top notch, the performance is out of this world, but some elements weren't clicking for me like they normally do with characters.

When a Man Loves a Woman

A wonderful, romantic, and sometimes brow-raising, story that explorers the gentle courtship of Owen, a 20-something NFL player, for Dyma, a 19-year old college-bound spitfire. Rosalind skillfully and tastefully crafts a story about a man that understands that loving a woman means encouraging her to go off to college, chase her dreams, explore who she is and what she wants out of life - hoping he's part of that future.

Rosalind's stories and characters repeatedly capture my heart with their liberal mix of fantasy and reality. Her characters are well developed and the flow of the story is natural and humorous. Owen and Dyma's story is one that I would recommend.

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I was not compensated for my review, and I was not required to write a positive review. The opinion expressed here is my own.

A great entry in this series...

I love Rosalind's books. Her characters are intelligent, fun, loving and interesting people. It's probably not necessary to listen/read these books in order but it makes them better if you do. This story gets its start in Shame the Devil when Owen and Dyma first meet. I wondered how it was going to work out as Dyma is just graduating from high school and Owen is 25 and playing in the NFL. She is a mixture of maturity and immaturity as many kids are at that age. She's on a mission, to complete college and work in her desired field. She has tunnel vision and it's hard for her to see other ways to do what she wants and to allow new desires in her life. She's also very proud and determined to not lean on anyone else any more than she absolutely has to. She's mouthy and sometimes a little too impressed with her own intelligence, but she does learn and it's fun to watch her learn and grow.
Owen has the patience of a saint and knows what he wants to do with his life. He is divorced and that did a bit of a number on him, plus his big brother is jealous of his success which causes some issues for them to resolve. So there are things for both of them to learn - how they do that makes a great story.
Emma Wilder does a good job with the reading, her phrasing is good and so are her voices, she does make them different for each character. The male voices aren't deep but they do sound male so that's what matters for me!