In Bed with the Devil

By: Lorraine Heath

Narrated by: Susan Ericksen, Antony Ferguson

Length: 9 hrs and 59 mins

Publisher's summary

They call him the Devil Earl - a scoundrel and accused murderer who grew up on the violent London streets. A proper young lady risks more than her reputation when consorting with the roguishly handsome Lucian Langdon, but Lady Catherine Mabry believes she has no choice. To protect those she loves, she would do anything - even strike a bargain with the devil himself.

Lucian desires respectability and a wife above all else, but the woman of his choosing lacks the social graces to be accepted by the aristocracy. Catherine can help Lucian gain everything he wants. But what she asks for in exchange will put their very lives in jeopardy. When danger closes in, Catherine discovers a man of immense passion and he discovers a woman of immeasurable courage. As secrets from his dark past are revealed, Lucian begins to question everything he knows to be true, including the yearnings of his own heart.

©2008 Jan Nowasky (P)2012 HarperCollinsPublishers

Not as exciting as I would have liked

The writing was good (good grammar and choice of words) but I just did not get as engaged as I would have liked. I don't know if it was the story of if it was just my mood at the time, but the book just did not do it for me.

Pretty good start to the series :)

3.5-4 stars

This was a pretty good story. I liked Catherine and Lucian and their story was good. This is the first story I've read by this author and based off this I'll probably try more of her work.

Catherine is the proper daughter of a Duke but since her father's health has started failing things haven't been easy for her. Her brother fled to go "travelling" out of the country after a disagreement with their father and hasn't bothered to come back in years. Catherine has been managing alright but has worries about situations that are out of her hands.

Lucian is an Earl but feels like he's a fraud. He was found on the streets as a child (around 6 years old) with no memories of where he belonged before then and was taken in but a group of street kids. He grew up stealing to get by until he made the mistake of committing a crime in front of witnesses and getting caught. He was saved by a man claiming him as his long lost grandson and Lucian went along with it but never truly believed it.

Lucian is coming home from a gambling house late at night and is surprised to found Lady Catherine waiting to see him. They encountered each other in a memorable way years before but never spoke. Lucian thinks she's there for seduction as some "proper" women have shown up wanting to sleep with a man of such a notorious reputation. Catherine isn't there for that though and (after he steals a kiss) makes it clear she's come for different reasons. Catherine has heard the rumors about Lucian and thinks he's a bad man, someone that would do bad things without it bothering him. She's worried about a friend of hers that is threatened with imminent death but in a way that the law can't be brought in to help. Catherine asks Lucian to kill the man that's a threat to her friend but won't tell him who it is or why (in an effort to protect her friend) until he promises to do it. Lucian doesn't need the money and although he's intrigued by Catherine he's not willing to kill someone without a very good reason. They part company with no bargain struck but Lucian can't seem to put Catherine out of his mind. This is particularly bad for him considering he's intending to ask Frannie (a girl he grew up with on the streets) to marry him. When Lucian does get up the nerve to ask Frannie however; she refuses to marry him, claiming the pressures of what was expected of her as his wife (with him being an Earl) is too much for her.

Lucian is determined to get Frannie to marry him as he's been in love with her since they were kids. He ends up putting together a bargain with Catherine where she will teach Frannie all the things she needs to know to be a Lady and he in turn will kill her target for her (although planning to murder a man isn't an easy thing for him to contemplate). This ends up putting Lucian and Catherine in close contact a number of times and with her lack of supervision, Catherine goes places and sees things she really shouldn't. As she spends more time with Lucian, she start to see the man beneath the rumors and realizes not the bad man she thought he was...and maybe is even good (to an extent). To be honest, I thought the story ran a little too close to cheating for my comfort. I guess it could be considered more of a love triangle but it really wasn't when it came down to it. Lucian was never engaged to Frannie (and their relationship was more friendly than anything real) but since that was always the aim it was a bit weird for me that Lucian and Catherine came together during that time. Catherine totally fell for Lucian though and convinced that he loved Frannie more than anything, she's determined not to get in their way so Lucian could be happy. Lucian knows he has feeling for Catherine but convinces himself they don't matter because it's supposed to be Frannie (even though he doesn't want Frannie sexually). With the denial of feelings and everything that went on there is some drama and tense times when I was wondering how things would turn out. Thankfully things come together and Lucian and Catherine end the story starting their HEA.

I enjoyed this story. I liked both Catherine and Lucian and liked their story overall. My only real complaint was the almost/kind of cheating type behavior in the story. I'm planning to continue with the series. I'd recommend this book. :)

great story

love the characters and the steam between them was really good....not bunch of sex but chemistry was great...i recommend

Good Story - OK narration

I enjoyed the storyline. The narration could have been better. But then, I am comparing it to that of Simon Prebble, and that's a tough act to follow. The narrator's voice was soothing and polished, but I had trouble distinguishing when the characters were "thinking" versus "speaking" and she didn't differentiate the voices enough to be able to tell who was who. On that note, I have heard much worse narration than this. I really enjoyed the story and have purchased the remaining three novels of the Scoundrel's of St. James.

Great story!!!

I enjoy the author and the narrator. This is a great story and great series.

Romantic, tantalizing, best read in a long time

I believe when it comes to that era in time in England Lorraine Heath is one of the best. She kept me never wanted to stop this book on tape. Now who wouldn’t want to read someone that good.
The narrator’s of this book bring the book alive. Both Susan and Anthony. They make you feel like your right there with them.
It’s not just this book, but a lot of Lorraine’s books I like tremendously. I highly recommend her books if you like romance, intrigue and of course seduction. Lol

No complaints

This book was perfectly fine. There was nothing really wrong with it, but nothing exceptional about it. It was worth the credit and I might even listen to it again if I don't have anything new to listen to.

Good take on historical romance.

Good characters. nice development. enjoyed it a lot. I listened to in in just over a day. I really like the female lead.

Quite!

I was skeptical of this book when I saw the cover and the title. And yet, I completely loved it!

I really enjoyed the main characters, and their loyal friends. The characters demonstrated qualities that I think are identifiable and admirable, which made them endearing. I did roll my eyes every now and then at the characters’ inner lustful thoughts which were sometimes too frequent, inappropriate or just happening at unusual times. For example: getting turned on while in extreme pain from a knife wound… And perhaps the middle of an important conversation about murder is not the best time to space out about, indulging in sexy thoughts. As I have not had the experience of being stabbed or discussing murder plans in the presence of an attractive man, I don't know what sorts of thoughts might pop up in those situations, but listening to them with the context being so starkly contrasting - I judge. But it's fun to judge! It should also be pointed out that the main characters (one more than the other) suffers from an acute case of denseness which turned chronic as it spanned nearly the entire book.

For all the book’s minor imperfections, I think it was very worth it and when I saw I was half-way through, I panicked that the book was not going to be long enough because I was having so much fun listening about these crazy, adorable people. I was very pleasantly surprised that there was some actual romance as well - bona fide romantic gestures, not just sex. I enjoyed the building romance and relationship. The love scenes were more romanticized than graphic, and I did not think they were overdone. The narrator did a good job, and she got into the emotions (anger/joy-laughter) more than I expected which was sometimes startling but I think added something in the intense scenes. I recommend this one.

A real page turner

I loved the book. The sex scenes were a bit long. the characters were fun to get to know. I liked all the characters. Well done.