IN BED WITH THE DEVIL - Lorraine Heath
Scoundrels of St. James St., Book 1
Avon Books
ISBN: 978-0-06-135557-8
July 2008
Historical Romance

London, England - 1851

Polite society has never accepted Lucian Langdon, the Earl of Claybourne, since his grandfather identified him as his lost grandson. Everyone knows the earl’s story. His father, the heir to the title, and his mother were murdered in a back alley of London. Lucian, who was with them, disappeared. Years later, in a strange reversal of fate, the earl recognized the youngster accused of murdering his second son as his lost grandson. He took the boy and raised him as the next earl. The trouble is, while Lucian doesn’t care that society thinks him the devil, he has no idea where he came from. His memory of life before becoming one of Feagan’s child thieves is blank. Years of living on London’s streets taught him how to deceive the old man into believing he was his lost grandson, but he has never believed he was that lost child.

Lady Catherine Mabry, while sensible of her position in society, cares more that her best friend is married to a duke who beats her with impunity than about her own reputation. The only way to free Winnie from this horrible marriage is for her husband to die. Catherine is ready to make a deal with the devil, in name, the Earl of Claybourne, to make this happen. So she goes to him, never expecting what will be asked of her in return: to teach Frannie Darling, another former street urchin and the woman the earl loves and wants to marry, how to take a place in society as his wife. Catherine agrees, but soon her opinion of Lucian’s character undergoes a profound change, one so great she fears he might be the one man she can love and would be willing to marry.

With a character called Jack Dodger and with Catherine reading Oliver Twist to her ailing father, the reference to Dickens's story can’t be missed in author Lorraine Heath’s IN BED WITH THE DEVIL. This take on what happened after the story ended is captivating. Her characters are troubled in their situations, but intelligent and honorable. They are trying to survive in a world where rich and titled men live in a world of sanction, while women and the poor struggle against not only their circumstances but also society’s strictures and the bullying of the privileged. This is not to say the story is preachy, as these details are deftly woven into an unusual but consuming romance. You won’t regret picking up a copy of IN BED WITH THE DEVIL.

Robin Lee