Mark gets custody of his niece, Holly, upon the death of her mother. Holly has quit talking. When they go into Maggie's toy store, Maggie shows Holly a fairy house, and tells Holly she does not know the fairy's name but when she does she'll paint in above the house's door, and a conch shell which she tells Holly she can hear the ocean. Mark is attracted to Maggie but he has a girlfriend, so he is not free to date Maggie. Their attraction is great and grows after sharing a ferry ride to the mainland. What will they do? What will happen with Holly?

I enjoyed this story. I liked how Maggie connected to both Mark and Holly. I liked how Holly knew Maggie was safe and she could be herself. I loved that Mark had principles and would not date Maggie while he had a girlfriend. I did not like the girlfriend, Shelby. She came across as shallow as did Mark in regards to their relationship. I am glad I got my HEA. I will have to track down the other books in this series.

Okay, we all understand that genre fiction is so pleasurable because writers take a relatively set structure and group of accepted conventions and make new stories out of them again and again. Here's a chain of books that have some very specific details in common:

1. Julia Quinn's "A Night Like This" is a book that uses the "Lady hiding from her dangerous past by working as a governess" plot. The female hero's "governess name" is Anne Wynter. 

2. Lisa Kleypas' "Married by Morning" is also a "Lady hiding from her dangerous past by working as a governess" book.

3. Christina Dodd's "Rules of Surrender" is part of the author's "governess" series. Its plot is focused on "taming the wild male hero," rather than female hero in jeopardy, but the hero's name is . . . Lord Wynter.  This Lord Wynter ran off to the Middle East and lived among the people there for a long while then comes back to England to wreak havoc on everyone's ideas of "convention." 

4. Laura Kinsale's book "The Dream Hunter," (the best one on this list) also features a hero who lived in a Middle-eastern culture, specifically among the Bedouin, then comes back to England and faces his "adjustment." His name: Lord Winter. 

So there you go. Random details among the genre, lined up in a neat little row. 

-cg

My reviews are honest & they contain spoilers. For more, follow me:

Devil’s Daughter is the book 5 of Lisa Kleypas’s ongoing historical romance series, The Ravenels. Though I’ve had quite the ambivalent feeling towards a few of the installments, I’ve largely enjoyed her return to the world of historical romance since this series debuted in 2015. It was given, that Weston Ravenel, one of the prominent secondary characters of the series, would have his own book. But was I really anticipating the release of his book? Did it meet my expectations?? Let’s see if I can elaborate.

As usual, I’ll begin with a bit of background to connect the dots. So the series is set in the Victorian England. Two brothers, Devon and Weston, two of the very few remaining Ravenels, suddenly come to an inheritance that they never thought of gaining. Devon becomes an Earl when the direct heir to the Treanor earldom suddenly died in a riding accident without leaving any heir. The circumstance of Theo’s death was an example of how wild and unpredictable a bunch the Ravenels are. Having a self-destructive bend is how they’ve always been, probably since the beginning of their line. They were known for wild and fast living and many of their ancestors died young too maintaining that lifestyle. Devon and Weston were most probably heading to that direction, though they had none of the burdens of money and properties… until they were burdened. In fact, Devon and Weston were poor enough to not have any prospects. Both were known rakes, sometimes bullies and had a very debauched lifestyle of a true Ravenel. They’d probably planned on dying young (at least Weston had thought so…). But owning the legacy that was never meant to be theirs changed everything for them. And boy with that legacy came burdens! Not only Devon was now responsible for a dilapidated, debt-ridden mansion that he ardently wanted to raze down and wash his hands off of, but also he had to take care of Theo’s young widow, Kathleen and his 3 sisters; Helen, and the twins, Pandora and Cassandra.

This story kept me listening. I enjoyed the journey as Cat and Leo found love while working beyond their pasts. Cat's past haunted her as she tried to rise above it. Leo was accepting of her past as his own was not perfect. They made a great couple, and I had tears by the end of this book. The narrator, Rosalyn Landor, did a wonderful job with the story and the characters. This was an abridged edition, and I may look into finding an unabridged to see what I missed.

This is my unsolicited review.

I am sad I didn't love this. I don't know if it's me or this book, but I wasn't feeling it as much as I thought I would be. The Evie and Sebastian appearances were the best parts, tbh.

I have loved West since I first met him back in book 1 of the series, and now he made this journey worth it. Indeed, he's the reason I kept reading. Phoebe was sweet though she annoyed me at times for reasons I can't fully identify, though I'm glad she has a backbone and uses it.

There's no real plot? to speak of? Which made it a bit of a drag but Kleypas writes incredibly well so even if it's dragging, you can't pull away from the prose because it's so easy.

I somehow both loved the ending and simultaneously felt it wasn't enough. It had so much love and sweetness that it made me 'aww' out loud, but I was expecting an epilogue to finish wrapping everything up.