Book Review: The Devil and the Viscount by Mary Lancaster

Marry Lancaster is a regency romance author from Scottland. She lives with her family and her crazy dog. The dog seems to be a muse for some of her romance novels. Specifically, The Devil and the Viscount, as a huge, rambunctious dog, appears as a significant character in the storyline.

Summary of The Devil and the Viscount, a Regency Romance Novel

Release Date: May 10, 2022

Page Count: 144

Series: Gentlemen of Pleasure, Book 1

Publisher: Dragonblade Publishing

The Devil and the Viscount is exceptionally well written and edited. It includes a broad vocabulary that makes the book more exciting and extends the reading experience. The Devil and the Viscount is a classic rouge/innocent love story where the rouge falls in love with the innocent, and the innocent falls just as hard. In today’s terms, it is the bad boy falling for the good girl.

The hero of this story is bad boy rouge Viscount Rollo Darbley better known as Rolls, to his friends. He is a well-dressed, newly inherited, and elegant viscount with more than a few vices on display. For instance, he is the beloved party boy of the ton that all the marriage-minded mamas steer their daughters away from. He drinks and has a variety of misteresses, or ladybirds, and carouses his way through the widows and married ladies of the town.

He is also broke. His estates are in complete shambles, and he will have to marry an heiress to save them. But, he did not put them there. In fact, he tried on multiple occasions while his father was alive to keep them out of debt, but his father would not hear him out. Rolls comes from a long line of men who drink, gamble, and womanize, and his father was such a man too.

If you are wondering what sort of heroine would want a man like this or even if he is redeemable, then read on. The heroine of The Devil and the Viscount is Miss. Ginna Wallace. Her father hales from the shop, so to speak. He made his fortunes in industry in manchester. Her father also had aspirations of being accepted by the ton, so he is set on marrying his daughter well among them. He strikes up a deal with a widower earl to raise his daughter to such lofty heights in society. Except he doesn’t consider one thing, his young daughter doesn’t want to marry an old man.

On her way to London with her chaperone, she meets the Viscount, and the love story really begins.

Through a variety of trials and very passionate bouts of lovemaking Ginna and Rolls end up getting their happily ever after.

If the Devil and the Viscount seems like a book you would like, go ahead and preview the first two chapters for free!

Noteworthy Moments from The Devil and the Viscount

The Devil and the Viscount has many moments that will make you laugh. It is a feel-good book and eliminates the cringe and betrail that some regency romances weave in along the way before they reach a happy ever after. Plus, the novel keeps you guessing as to which characters will do what, and in my case, they usually did the opposite of what I thought they would.

It features some pleasure garden scenes with singing, dancing, and such things. The concept of the pleasure garden seems to be a rising trend in Regency romance as I have read several books which feature one, including Bewitched by the Bluestocking by Jillian Eaton.

Furthermore, the pleasure garden had a masked ball which a vast array of society was able to mingle together. In fact, it is described as:

“The prim and the vulgar danced together. Shopkeepers chatted up women in silk and jewels. And no one cared because they were all masked.” Mary Lancaster, The Devil and the Viscount, page 11

Furthermore, the book has an interesting yet descriptive take on what men want in women.

By far my favorite line of the book is when Rolls tells Ginna,

“Then change husbands. If your father wants a noble fortune hunter, have me instead.” Mary Lancaster, The Devil and the Viscount, Page 48

Rolls was an extremely confident hero and always knew who he was. In fact, he never tried to deny it, yet Ginna took him anyway in the end.

Five-star Regency Romance

I give The Devil and the Viscount five stars. I was hesitant about reading it at first simply due to the title. My first impression of the title was that it would be a book about an unruly hellion woman. I could not have been farther from the truth, thank goodness. The book was simply excellent. It was very well written, the language was interesting, and the storyline will have many moments that will make you smile and give a little chuckle.

Steamy Regency Romance Novel

The Devil and the Viscount is a very steamy regency romance. It is part of the Dragonblades Flame line with their more sexual or steamy line. This book gets five flaming hearts out of five, ranking it among the market’s most steamy regency romance novels. It contains a variety of kissing and descriptive intimacy scenes.

Where Can You Buy this Book?

You can get the Devil and the Viscount on Amazon in ebook and paperback format. If you have a Kindle Unlimited subscription, you can also get the book via Kindle Unlimited at the time this blog post was written. If you need a kindle unlimed subscription so you can read way more regency romance novels, then check out these great discounts:

• 5% off a 6 month pre-paid plan
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