The lair of the Devil Earl, perched precariously on a sea cliff like the castle in Dark Shadows. A night filled with tempest-tossed seas and the crackles of thunder. A tall and brooding hero, accused of murder.
These sound like the perfect ingredients for a gothic novel, right? Well, those elements are in place, but what's purposely missing is the damsel in distress.

The damsel not-in-distress is Prudence Lancaster, a bespectacled author with ink-stained hands. She is strong, level-headed, intelligent and determined. She is also on the shelf, never having noticed her body beyond the fact that it is unfashionably tall, bronzed, and leggy. Her face? She has never noticed its beauty behind the glasses her sister, "the pretty sister," has her constantly wear.

The Devil Earl is the hero. Dark, intense, with brooding gray eyes, Sebastian Ravenscar has been a party to all sorts of carnal debauchery in the past. He has never met a woman who could satisfy him in body and mind...until he meets Prudence. She alone is not afraid of him - she sees him as a pagan god capable of providing the thrills she has only written about.

Prudence and Sebastian fit together in body, mind, and soul. Sebastian's discovery of the delights of Prudence are many and filled with loving humor. It's such fun to read Sebastian's erotic musings -- he lusts after her ink-stained hands and delights in removing her spectacles. It's so enjoyable to have a heroine reach out and literally grab (ahem) what she wants.

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If you like mystery and a great twist and hot love scenes, this is a great book.

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This book was a great romance. I randomly grabbed it out of the clearance romance section and it sat on my shelf for years. But when I finally decided to read it I couldn't put it down. I found myself connecting with the characters as though I knew them. By the end of the book I wanted more. This is the sole book that got me hooked on romance novels.

The book starts out a little bit slow but just hang in there and you will grow to love Ravenscar, Prudence, Phobe and James. The descriptions in this book were great I could see the Abbey as I read about it.

I dont know if it was just me but the book seemed to play out like a movie as I read it.

I hope anyone else who reads this finds it as enjoyable as I did.

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Out of a coach stepped Ravenscar, the perfect Gothic Mystery man! Great historical novel!

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This was a great fun quick read. This is the romance between Prudence and Lord Ravenscar. In this book you have a mix of healthy respectful mature romance with subplot of mystery.

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I am not a fan of Gothics but I absolutely loved this book. The author has a lot of fun playing with the typical conventions of the genre; there's an apparently dark and brooding hero, with the half-abandoned and sinister looking castle, and mysterious occurrences. Yet it's all done a bit tongue-in-cheek and that's what makes it all so funny. Yet there is a sweet and emotional love story too. Sebastian and Prudence are a great couple. Although she writes Gothic novels herself, in real life Prudence is too practical and down-to-earth to be afraid of Sebastian's superficially sinister appearance. As for him, he wants Prudence from the start, her bluestocking appearance does not put him off, and he does not hesitate to go after what he wants. My favorite kind of hero!
This book is part of a 4-book set which starts with "The Vicar's Daughter"(delightful) and continues with "Tempting Kate"(so-so) and "The Last Rogue"(also quite good). They are all different but "The Devil Earl" is my favorite, I highly recommend it.

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