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iskanderjonesiv's review against another edition
5.0
Liz Carlyle, bestselling author of The Devil You Know and A Deal With the Devil, continues her devilish streak with this sensual regency romance.
By day, Sidonie Saint-Godard is a quietly elegant young widow who teaches deportment to the unpolished daughters of London's nouveau riche. By night, she is someone altogether different....
The notorious Black Angel -- so called for her lusciously located angel tattoo -- ruthlessly takes from powerful men who exploit, and gives to those who suffer at their hands. Always in disguise, she has eluded capture and her identity remains a mystery....
The Marquess of Devellyn, one of the least noble noblemen in town, uses and discards women as he pleases. But when the Black Angel entices him into her bed, ties him up, and pilfers his most valued possession, she may have gone too far. This time, Devellyn tells her, she'll have the devil to pay. And he definitely means to collect.
From Publishers Weekly
Sensual and suspenseful, the newest entry in Carlyle's Regency-era Devil series (following A Deal with the Devil) contains plenty of heated romance and an engaging heroine who lives two lives. By day, Sidonie Saint-Godard is a respectable young widow, but at night she becomes the seductive Black Angel, robbing wealthy men who mistreat women. Sidonie, the illegitimate daughter of an aristocrat, is painfully aware of the plight of unwed mothers and believes she can right society's wrongs by robbing vain men to help the women they harm. Her successful run falters when she targets the marquess of Devellyn, the notorious Devil of Duke Street. Disguised as a lusty street trollop, Sidonie seduces Devellyn, but the encounter kindles real passion, which complicates matters when Sidonie learns that she stole not only items of monetary worth from Devellyn but also something of sentimental value. Tension escalates sharply as Sidonie, realizing that Devellyn is in a vengeful rage, unwisely risks returning his items. Other revenge seekers close in on Sidonie until Devellyn's proposal becomes the only solution to guarantee her safety and reputation. A few contrived plot twists bring about a satisfying denouement, but this is a small flaw in an otherwise lively and absorbing romance.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Review
Publishers Weekly Carlyle delivers great suspense...sensual scenes.
seeinghowitgoes's review against another edition
2.0
The Duke of Devil street becomes a victim of our heroine and is determined to track her down upon the realisation that she has stolen his only minature of his beloved (and of course) deceased brother. The Black Angel's alter ego Sidonie on the other hand suddenly finds herself in the midst of a strange friendship with our friend the Duke. Cue angst, etc. The fact that I had to look up the summary tells you a lot about this book.
alisonb's review against another edition
4.0
I would have liked to see the main character’s together in more scenes, but the romance still worked brilliantly.
I have to add that this hero reminded me of Dane from Lord of Scoundrels for some reason, he just had that vibe, which made me like him even more. His loneliness amidst all his raking made him all the more receptive to his gentle friendship with Sidonie. I liked how she matched the two sides of Aleric’s personality-the side that was hurt and rebelling and the side that longed for connection and love.
I liked the bent of the story that revealed two people who came to heal from their parents mistakes when they learned that their parents are merely human. It seems to be a part of growing up that most of us go through when we hold our parents to a high standard, and when they fail to meet those expectations we feel cheated of a relationship that is sometimes idealized.
Liz Carlyle is an author that I highly recommend! This story was one of my favorites!
lucy_qhuay's review against another edition
2.0
One of the things that most makes me sad is when a book doesn't live up to its potential and The Devil To Pay was one perfect example of this situation.
Sidonie Saint-Godard is a polite, charming, elegant young widow who makes her living teaching the daughters of London's nouveau riche.
But Sidonie has a secret. She is the infamous Black Angel, a Robin Hoodesque figure who stalks the night, preying on the men who exploit the weak, taking what she can from them and then giving everything to those who were exploited.
She is so called because of a scandalous tattoo of a black angel placed on a most improper place, which she shows her prey, so that they know who attacked them. No one knows her true identity, for she is a true chameleon, constantly changing her appearance and vanishing in the shadows.
From this, you would think the story would be really intense and exciting, but I found myself really disappointed.
I didn't, for one moment, felt more than a passing curiosity. Not one "OMG!" moment or a simply "What now?".
It was all very mild, which is truly awful. I prefer to hate a book than this, because, if I hate it, at least I know the book made me feel something more and that is precisely what I look fo. I want a book to make me feel more.
I didn't even feel something more intense when Aleric, or Lord Devellyn, our hero, got obsessed with our ilusive Black Angel and promised to hunt her down and make her pay for his humiliation, while, at the same moment, he started wanting something more from our Sidonie.
What a pity!
emreadswhatshewants's review against another edition
5.0
visceralworld's review against another edition
4.0
Genre: Historical Romance
Setting: England, Victorian Era
Pairing: M/F
Perspective: 3rd Person
Steam: Explicit Open Door
Contains: Enemies to Lovers, Rake/Libertine/Womanizer, Alpha Male, Widow, Vigilante MC, Independent FMC
CONTENT WARNING: Dubious Consent
Thoughts:
This was entertaining to read, but the pacing felt inconsistent. I was not a fan of the 'eye dialect' used for the French and Cockney accents in the book. It was cringey and nearly caused me to DNF this book early on. In fact, on page 21 I made the note, "Make it stop", in regards to this lovely exchange:
"Heez mood eez very ill, like a vicious dog. A souffle fell." Then he dropped both his voice and his eyes. "Madame," he whispered, "have you sometheeng for me?"It's ridiculous, right? Anyway, the story picked up after that, and I began to enjoy it even with the dubious consent between Devellyn and Ruby Black, aka, Sidonie Saint-Godard. [Click the spoiler to form your own opinion on that consent.]
Spoiler
"For a moment, his mind cleared, and he thought of stopping. This was wrong. Wasn't it? He must have hesitated in midthrust. Ruby's leg came round his waist, dragging him back down. "Don't stop," she choked. "Not--not now."
Now what I really love about this story is the FMC, Sidonie Saint-Godard. What a fascinating woman. Her back story is really compelling and made her feel multi-dimensional. I wish Carlyle had spent more time focusing on her inner world over Devellyn's. Although, Devellyn summed her up well:
Delicate. Elegant. Pragmatic. With the heart and the spirit of a lioness.Overall, Carlyle's writing style is great even if other aspects of her storytelling don't quite meet the mark.
elblackwell's review against another edition
2.0