To Desire a Devil

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Synopsis

Reynaud St. Aubyn, heir to the Earl of Blanchard, was presumed dead years ago after his friends believed they saw him burned at the stake by Indians in the colonies. Instead he was held captive for seven years, and after finally escaping, made his way back to England, only to find that his father had died and a distant relative had assumed the title. Half-mad from his ordeal and suffering from a fever, no one really believes him, except Beatrice Corning, the beautiful niece of the man who has usurped Reynaud's title. Not long after she nurses him back to health, someone begins making attempts on his life, with Beatrice being caught in the crossfire on one such occasion. Reynaud's friends think it likely has something to do with a mystery surrounding the massacre at a place called Spinner's Falls, just before he was taken captive, in which they believe someone betrayed them. With Beatrice by his side, helping him, both with his recovery and with the mystery, Reynaud feels more at home than he has in a long time. But after all that's happened to him, he's determined never to allow anyone to have power over him again, so he keeps his heart locked up tight.

After Beatrice Corning's parents died when she was a girl, she was raised by her aunt and uncle. Her aunt has since passed on as well, but she still adores her uncle, and has all but become an on-the-shelf spinster, in favor of acting as her uncle's hostess for society functions after he unexpectedly came into his title. Beatrice has had her fair share of suitors, but none has ever enthralled her in the way that the portrait of a young Reynaud St. Aubyn that hangs in her uncle's home does. By the time the man himself shows up at their door very much alive, she's already half in love with him, so even though he frightens her a bit, he also intrigues her. That's why she decides to support his claim to the title, even though it places her at odds with her uncle. When the attacks begin, Beatrice offers Reynaud her unwavering compassion and support right up to marrying him so that he'll seem less insane at the parliament hearing on regaining his title. Even though he doesn't appear to return her affection, she refuses to give up on him one day loving her as much as she loves him.

Review

To Desire a Devil is the fourth and final book in Elizabeth Hoyt's Legend of the Four Soldiers series. Throughout the series, Reynaud St. Aubyn has been presumed dead. His friends, who were the heroes of the first three books, were certain they'd seen him burned at the stake, but instead, he was held captive by the Indians for seven years. He finally escaped and made his way back to England, only to find out that his father was dead and a distant relative had assumed his title of Earl of Blanchard. After Beatrice's uncle became the earl, she accompanied him to London and became his hostess for political and society functions. She's half in love with the portrait of a young Reynaud that hangs in their drawing room, so when the man himself shows up at the door, interrupting a dinner party, she's intrigued. Although he's scruffy and has lost weight from illness and the hardships of life as a captive, barely looking like the man in the portrait, it doesn't take long before she's convinced he's telling the truth. She nurses Reynaud back to health and supports his claim to the title, even though it will mean her beloved uncle losing it and them possibly having to move out. However, not long after Reynaud's return, someone starts trying to kill him, and on one such occasion, Beatrice is caught in the crossfire. It's then that he starts to realize how much she's come to mean to him even though he swore never to allow anyone to have that much power over him again. His friends think the attempts on his life have something to do with the massacre at Spinner's Falls, a mystery they've been trying to solve from the beginning. With Beatrice by his side, Reynaud feels more at home than he's felt in a long time, but between the killer still on the loose and him keeping his heart locked up tight, they'll have plenty of challenges to overcome to find their HEA.

Reynaud was in the colonies fighting in the French and Indian War when his company was betrayed by someone and ambushed by the Indians. Some of the men, including Reynaud, were taken prisoner. He was about to be killed by the Indian who captured him, when he was given a reprieve by an elder woman of the tribe who took him as her slave. While he did come to develop a certain respect for her, he still never gave up on escaping and returning home to England. It took him seven long years, but it finally happened. In a fevered state from an illness contracted aboard the ship he traveled on, Reynaud stumbles into a dinner party at his home, only to find that since his father died years ago and Reynaud was presumed dead, it's been taken over by a distant relative who now holds his title. The man has a kind and gentle niece, Beatrice, who cares for Reynaud through his illness, but he's surly about everything being different. He's also determined to regain his title, land, and money, no matter what it takes. This, of course, puts him at odds with the new earl, although Beatrice generally supports his claim once it's clear that he is who he says he is. An attraction for Beatrice begins to take root. Most of his energy, though, is put into setting his life to rights, but that's interrupted by a murderer on the loose who keeps making attempts on his life. On one such occasion, Beatrice gets caught in the middle and injured, which is when Reynaud finally starts to realize what she means to him. However, he's determined never to allow anyone to have power over him again, and views falling in love as giving away his power.

I really wanted to love Reynaud after all that he's been through, but he can be pretty difficult and irascible. He has some PTSD from his ordeal, which would normally make him sympathetic to me and on some level it did, but he seemed to go from having intense flashbacks to being almost normal in a very short time frame. I think perhaps the author wrote it this way because he was already attracting attention from people who thought he was insane, and if these spells had continued, he might not have gotten his title back. But it did lack a certain degree of credibility. He also keeps his emotions locked up pretty tight, rarely showing any vulnerability, which was a bit disappointing. I did admire him, though, for putting his life on the line to save Beatrice, thereby showing his love for her.

Beatrice lost her parents when she was young and was raised by her aunt and uncle. After her aunt also died, the only family she had left was her uncle, and when he came into the title, she went with him and has been acting as his hostess ever since. Content in her role and not wanting to tie herself to just any man, she's reached the ripe age of twenty-four without getting married. She's already half in love with Reynaud, having admired his portrait for years. Men in real life just can't seem to compare to the vibrant man in the painting for her. Then Reynaud suddenly shows up at their door, alive. Beatrice nurses him back to health and slowly starts falling for him. She also supports his claim to regain his title, even though it puts her at odds with her beloved uncle. Then the attacks begin with Beatrice getting seriously hurt on one occasion. But through it all, she keeps trying to help Reynaud, while hoping that he'll eventually be able to love her in the same way she loves him. I couldn't help feeling that perhaps Beatrice was a bit underdeveloped. Because of her falling for Reynaud's portrait, she's kind of already there when she meets the man in person, and there isn't a lot of conflict in her regarding her love for him. She even consents to marrying him without knowing that he loves her, and in spite of that being something she's desired in a relationship. I think the most intriguing thing about her was her lobbying to get a bill passed through parliament that would grant a pension to veterans who'd honorably served their country so they wouldn't end up on the streets. While that was kind of a through-line for her, there was still a little something missing for me in that part of the story that I can't quite put my finger on. Overall, I liked Beatrice. She was very nice and compassionate, but perhaps a little more bland than this author's heroines usually tend to be.

Overall, To Desire a Devil was a good story. I waffled a bit on how to rate it. I considered giving it keeper status, mainly because, while I was reading it, I was pretty well engaged and enjoying it. However, every time I put it down, it seemed to fade in my mind for some reason. I'm not entirely sure why. Perhaps it was the characters. Like I mentioned Reynaud wasn't always as easy to like as most of Elizabeth's Hoyt's other heroes have been for me. He can be pretty self-centered at times, and for someone who's been through all that he has, I felt like he should've had more empathy for those around him. I think that his feelings for Beatrice generally showed through in his actions, but sometimes I prefer for a romance hero to be a little more demonstrative, as well as more vulnerable. While Beatrice was very likable, I guess I didn't feel like I got a strong sense of who she was in her own right outside of her love for Reynaud. She loves her uncle and she has her work with the veteran's bill, as well as Jeremy, a veteran friend who is a driving force behind that work. But somehow it still didn't quite gel for me. I was also a little disappointed, though not surprised, by how things ended up for Jeremy. He seemed like a great guy, so I was really rooting for him. It was good to finally get an answer to the mystery of who betrayed them all those years ago at Spinner's Falls. I felt the denouement to that part of the story was well done. I honestly didn't know who it was until the reveal. The mystery also brought all four of the series heroes back together, and each of their heroines played a part in the book of fairy tales that have been talked about in the series since the beginning and that have unfolded in excerpts at the beginning of each chapter. So in the end, To Desire a Devil was a satisfying finale to the series that was a good read even if it didn't quite crack keeper status for me.

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Elizabeth Hoyt

Themes

Light Mystery
Men in Uniform - Military
Physically Imperfect Heroes
Tortured Heroes