Rating: 
Summary: Surrender at last!
Review: Finally Rothgar meets his match in Book 5 of the Malloren Series.
Taking Diana Westmount, the Countess of Arradale, to London under the command of the King. Rothgar who has fought demons with the murder of his baby sister by his mother, has controlled himself in the effort to not carry on the insanity bloodlines he believes runs through him. However, he is unable to resist Diana, a strong female character almost unheard of Georgian England at this time. Diana, the cousin of Rosamunde (Book 4 ' SECRETS OF THE NIGHT) is introduced in Book 4, while we have known Rothgar from Book 1. He is the force behind the Malloren Family and to read the story that goes with the man finally is great fun. This book might be classified as an anti-climax in some respects. Now, Jo Beverley is a masterful writer and all her books are outstanding. DEVILISH however was an almost dreaded read. Could this be that the reader places Rothgar on a pedestal like a hovering mother, and disapproves of all matches? Could this be because it seems to signify the end of the Malloren series? Not to worry'Jo Beverley will release WINTER OF FIRE this fall to the relief of many fans I'm sure. If you like spicy Georgian-era romances, there is no one who writes these better than Jo Beverley. Strong advisement is to start with Book 1 though, not Book 5. Long live the Mallorens!
Rating: 
Summary: A definite keeper !! A pleasure!
Review: Yes, I agree...you must read at least one of the previous Malloren stories to fully understand and appreciate this book. I recommend "Secrets of the Night" for a direct link. The character nuances are very important to this story, but there is plenty of action and plot movement. Bey, the Marquess of Rothgar, has appeared in all of the previous Malloren books and has continued to develop as a central character throughout the series, linking each sibling's story. Diana, the Countess of Aradale in her own right, has also appeared before, and defies convention. The first meeting between Bey and Diana certainly isn't typical and can be found within "Secrets of the Night."
I found this book a very satisfying read for a much anticipated story. The plot is well constructed, the major characters more fully developed here, each piece fits well to previous descriptions and facts, and the automaton theme continues from the other books to an excellent conclusion.
The only thing that I missed within this book was a bit more description about Bey's change of heart and will. His abrupt change in response to his brother Bryght's speech, and sudden willingness to marry Diana, have a family, and possibly pass on his mother's madness wasn't fleshed out as much as I might have wished for. Despite this, this book was a pleasure.
"Devish" stands well on it's own, and yet makes a excellent wrap to the entire Malloren series. Each book is different and interesting, but this is by far the best of the whole. It's a definite keeper! BRAVO!
Rating:
Summary: A Classic in the Romantic Genre
Review: I have just finished reading this book for the second time. The first time was 3 years ago, when it came out. I didn't know it was part of a series then, but nevertheless, enjoyed it. Recently, I picked up "My Lady Notorious" and "Tempting Fortune", and of course, I had to re-visit "Devilish". I enjoyed it even more than the first time, if that is possible.
Rothgar is one of the most compelling heroes I have ever found, and Diana was clearly, his perfect mate. The story was heart wrenching, deep, dark and passionate, filled with longing and unfulfilled and consuming desire.
I do have some complains, though. Some other reviewers have mentioned this, and I join them in the opinion that the book needed at least one more love scene or at least more kisses and passionate interludes. The court intrigues were interesting, but should not take precedence over the love story.
Another thing is, I'm confused about Bey's age. In previous books it was stablished that he was about 36 (in my Lady Notorious is said that he is 12 years older than 24 year old Cyn, and in Tempting Fortune he is 6 years older than Bryght), by that math, in this book he should be 37 or 38 years old, since almost 2 years have passed since Cyn's story, however, in this book there is a part in which Diana sees a picture of him and Bryght as children, Bryght is a toddler and Bey is a 5 year old boy, therefore, Rothgar could not be more than 4 years older than Bryght. I know this is not a big deal and in no way takes away from the story, but it is a detail I noticed and confused me.
I also struggled a little with the duel scene at the beginning of the book. I really detest violence and killing. Maybe in the carriage scene, when they were being set upon and shot at it was ok to kill to defend themselves, but to kill a man in cold blood merely because of an insult, seems a bit extreme to me and not the best way to start a romantic novel. I prefer it if my heroes do not kill at all.
But this are all minor details, and just personal preferences of mine, to be objective, Jo Beverley's books are well written and historically accurate and informative, while at the same time, original love stories with extraordinary characters. Lately I have been reading a lot of romantic novels, and have come across some really bad ones, in fact I hadn't read such good ones in a while. Now I want to find the rest of the books in this series to have them all.
As a speciall request to the publishers, Please,please, put pictures in the books! The early editions of "My Lady Notorious" and "Tempting Fortune" had so much more beautiful covers than the new ones, and it is good for the imagination and the enjoyment of the book to have some visual aid. I would love to see a picture of the Marquees of Rothgar! (I hope he is as devilishly handsome as I picture him in my mind)
Rating:
Summary: Elegant, satisfying, romantic...lives up to expectations
Review: ... I didn't much like Rothgar in MY LADY NOTORIOUS or TEMPTINGFORTUNE. He was dark, mysterious, and powerful, but not terriblysympathetic. My feelings began to change in SOMETHING WICKED, whenRothgar admitted that he'd been wrong in his treatment of Fort following events at the end of NOTORIOUS. By the end of SECRETS OF THE NIGHT, I'd finally begun to see a human behind all the glamour and power. In DEVILISH, Jo Beverley does a masterful job of chipping away at Rothgar's carefully constructed walls, breaking her readers' hearts a little along the way. Diana is the perfect heroine for Rothgar -- strong, intelligent, not afraid to take risks for the man she loves, and utterly determined to save him from himself for both their sakes. Rothgar and Diana's adventures on the way to London and then amidst the court of King George III were exciting, amusing, and filled with wonderful dialogue. No one knows the Georgian era better than Jo Beverley, and her portrayal of the king and queen brought them alive as no history book ever could. But in the end, this was Rothgar and Diana's story, and it was lovely to witness the kindness of the gods at last.
Rating:
Summary: A definite keeper !! A pleasure!
Review: Yes, I agree...you must read at least one of the previous Malloren stories to fully understand and appreciate this book. I recommend "Secrets of the Night" for a direct link. The character nuances are very important to this story, but there is plenty of action and plot movement. Bey, the Marquess of Rothgar, has appeared in all of the previous Malloren books and has continued to develop as a central character throughout the series, linking each sibling's story. Diana, the Countess of Aradale in her own right, has also appeared before, and defies convention. The first meeting between Bey and Diana certainly isn't typical and can be found within "Secrets of the Night."
I found this book a very satisfying read for a much anticipated story. The plot is well constructed, the major characters more fully developed here, each piece fits well to previous descriptions and facts, and the automaton theme continues from the other books to an excellent conclusion.
The only thing that I missed within this book was a bit more description about Bey's change of heart and will. His abrupt change in response to his brother Bryght's speech, and sudden willingness to marry Diana, have a family, and possibly pass on his mother's madness wasn't fleshed out as much as I might have wished for. Despite this, this book was a pleasure.
"Devish" stands well on it's own, and yet makes a excellent wrap to the entire Malloren series. Each book is different and interesting, but this is by far the best of the whole. It's a definite keeper! BRAVO!
Rating:
Summary: Lovely
Review: I've only previously read Elf and Fort's story--Something Wicked, and of course the most compelling character in it was Rothgar. Finally, Rothgar has his own story; and it's wonderful. I loved the way Diana and Bey cared about each other and how they expressed it. I liked this book because I felt like I knew the characters and I understood them. Most importantly, I liked them. The reader could feel Rothgar's loneliness and isolation as well as Diana's pain that she was powerless to do anything about it. In the past I've had to put down one or two of Jo Beverley's books because I didn't like one or both of the characters. This restored my faith in her.
Rating:
Summary: The Most Sizzling Malloren of Them All!
Review: This was a fantastic, mature, intellegent story. Bey and Diana were a perfect match. It was erotic, sensual, and seductive. Don't miss out on this one. Rothgar is to die for! And, if I was a guy, I would say Diana was to die for! I love these straight forward kind of characters. No game playing. Jo Beverley has proven to be and excellent author who writes at a level that a mature woman can enjoy. THANKS!
Rating: 
Summary: not enough for Bey
Review: I was slightly disappointed. After reading all the little bits about Bey in the previous books I guess I built myself up for something more. I liked Diana, she was one of the best heroines in the Malloren books. She recognized the time to be frugal with her unconventional character which represents a true to life heroine. And given her aversion to taking a lover prior to Bey her willingness to be with him was believable. But as for Bey, I liked him, but I was expecting something a little more ruthless or maybe just more aloof. He fell so easily for Diana. But I still rate the book high because Beverley had everything add up: the amelioration of the family burden for Bey, the King's insistance on a marriage for Diana, Bey's protective character. I think the biggest let down was the fact that Bey was cool even when Diana had been kidnapped and abused so badly. I just felt like his control should have slipped a little more prior to the capitulation. But it was still a great read and held me the whole time.
Rating:
Summary: I think I expected too much...
Review: Hmmm... well, I think I have myself built up so much for Rothgar's story that I expected way too much. If you've read the first books of this series, you probably know what I mean... I REALLY had myself built up for this story! Rothgar himself was a prime example of the male of our species.... the story let me down. It was a pretty romance - but the romance could have been done in half the pages. There was way too much 'he thought about her..... she thought about him....' - it got really old. It moved at a snails pace due to this fact. The plots in the other books had more depth and moved much faster.
Rating: 
Summary: Somethings missing...
Review: After collecting all and reading each book in it's successive orders, I was intrigued by Rothgar and could not wait to read his tale. His movement through the other stories did a real job of whetting my curiosity about him. He was all that I had hoped and expected and I was not disappointed in the way his character was developed. Diana was a bit of a disappointment as a heroine for him. It was great that she was independant and strong of will but I would have liked to have seen him with a woman that was more mature (no more than 5 years his jr) and a little more worldly. Besides the fact that she could do all the he could do was just cute. He still needed a woman. To me Diana was yet another person to be added to his long list of people that he had to take care of. I think the characters of Diana and the Mistress should have been switched. She was just too young to be the woman that he needed. This story definelty fell flat of the expectations that were built throughout the series.
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