I reviewed this book for Romance Reader At Heart.


RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:


This is my first time reading a Veronica Wolff novel, and I found the characters of DEVIL'S OWN to be one dimensional, the dialogue flat and unbelievable, and the voice through the story too cartoonish and not attuned to the time or place. The pace at which the story moved was excruciatingly slow, and the romance between Aidan and Elspeth forced to a point that no chemistry materialized.

To be fair, this is a second book in a series, so I'll admit that I felt a bit adrift. Aiden MacAlpin's kidnapping is explained in the prolog of the book; however, even that didn't help me connect to our hero. I wanted to feel for him as his life at the hands of his captors was no bed of roses, but again, I was left wanting more. I also found him to be churlish and boorish most of the time. Try as I might to read between the lines and give Aiden an excuse in acting the way he did, yet still, I couldn't connect.

And then we have our heroine Elspeth Farquharson, a bookish, plain, and timid girl who's drafted by our hero's sister to tutor him. While the job is welcomed for the money it will bring, Elspeth is happier at the prospect of spending time with Aidan and getting to know him better. This is the part of the story that I was looking forward to, their budding romance and consequent passion. Some authors rush and throw the couples into the relationship too quickly, some take their sweet time, and some know how to balance the pace of it. This author literally dragged the romance.

Now we come to the plot: Aidan's revenge on a man that kidnapped him seventeen years ago. One word: boring. What killed this story for me is Elspeth's `woolgathering', which the author felt to convey to us in italics that read as a `novel' in Elspeth's mind. That was unnecessary. It sounded false.

DEVIL'S OWN was supposed to be a tender love story set during the Restoration period in Scottish history, between two people who have nothing in common, yet find themselves drawn to each other. What a lost opportunity to enlighten us with the rich history of that era.

Suffice it to say, I won't be reading the book that preceded it.

Melanie
( )

Good sequel to Devil's Highlander. Aidan returned to Scotland just in time to help his brother Cormac, and is now trying to cope with being back. After thirteen years away, he no longer knows his family members, and their hovering is driving him demented. All he can think about is finding and destroying the man responsible for his captivity. But in order to do that he has to be able to act the part of a man who wants to get into the slaving business - hard to do when you can't even read.

Elspeth is a young woman who has given up on finding love of her own. Instead she spends her days running the small farm where she and her father live. Her father is incompetent and spends his days drinking and thinking up ways to get rich quickly, leaving her to do all the work. Her only happiness comes from the adventure stories she loves to read. When her friend comes to her and begs Elspeth to tutor her brother Aidan, she can't resist. Aidan is much more interesting that any book hero.

I have to admit that Elspeth irritated me for most of the book. Her mind kept wandering to made up fantasies involving Aidan and herself, causing her to be easily flustered. She's really very smart, and intuitive when it comes to Aidan, but also very naive about what the world is really like. She constantly expects things to be like one of the stories she reads. I did like the way that she was determined to help Aidan learn and worked hard to make it happen. As she learned more about why he needed to learn to read, she was determined to help him, whether he wants her help or not. Her naivete has her walking into all kinds of trouble. Her heart is in the right place, but her methods are dangerous.

Aidan's quest for vengeance has him angry all the time. He is frustrated and embarrassed by his lack of education, but knows that learning is the only way to get what he wants. At first he sees Elspeth as something of a boring and colorless means to an end, but it isn't long before he sees signs of passion under the quiet facade. I loved seeing him tease her, trying to get the spirit to show. He soon discovers that her quiet intensity soothes the anger in him, making it easier for him to concentrate on what he needs to do. He tries to keep her out of his business, but finds that she's much more tenacious than he first gives her credit for. Trying to protect her just makes her more determined to be involved.

I really enjoyed seeing their relationship develop. Elspeth knew what she wanted and was determined to get it, but Aidan was equally determined to resist. He feels that he is too damaged to be a suitable husband for her, and she is determined that he should see that he is a far better man than he thinks. Some of their encounters are pretty funny, and some are simply heartbreaking. And when she gets into some real trouble, Aidan is the only one who can save her.

Aidan's quest for revenge is understandable. What we learn about his life is certainly motivation for it. Without the ability to read, pursuing it is much more difficult. I liked following what he and Elspeth did, and seeing how they put together what they learned. The way it all came together was very nervewracking and I wondered if all the bad guys would get what was coming to them. ( )

In this second book, we get to know what happened to Aidan (refer to in the first book) and understand his troubles. Of course, love conquers all and all that but, what got me hooked is the way that Veronica Wolff "does" her heroes. You can sense a deepness and sadness along with the need to survive and simply be.
I'm suspicious, though, because I love a man in kilts and a troubled soul. ( )

I reviewed this book for Romance Reader At Heart website:

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

This is my first time reading a Veronica Wolff novel, and I found the characters of DEVIL'S OWN to be one dimensional, the dialogue flat and unbelievable, and the voice through the story too cartoonish and not attuned to the time or place. The pace at which the story moved was excruciatingly slow, and the romance between Aidan and Elspeth forced to a point that no chemistry materialized.

To be fair, this is a second book in a series, so I’ll admit that I felt a bit adrift. Aiden MacAlpin’s kidnapping is explained in the prolog of the book; however, even that didn’t help me connect to our hero. I wanted to feel for him as his life at the hands of his captors was no bed of roses, but again, I was left wanting more. I also found him to be churlish and boorish most of the time. Try as I might to read between the lines and give Aiden an excuse in acting the way he did, yet still, I couldn’t connect.

And then we have our heroine Elspeth Farquharson, a bookish, plain, and timid girl who’s drafted by our hero’s sister to tutor him. While the job is welcomed for the money it will bring, Elspeth is happier at the prospect of spending time with Aidan and getting to know him better. This is the part of the story that I was looking forward to, their budding romance and consequent passion. Some authors rush and throw the couples into the relationship too quickly, some take their sweet time, and some know how to balance the pace of it. This author literally dragged the romance.

Now we come to the plot: Aidan’s revenge on a man that kidnapped him seventeen years ago. One word: boring. What killed this story for me is Elspeth’s ‘woolgathering’, which the author felt to convey to us in italics that read as a ‘novel’ in Elspeth’s mind. That was unnecessary. It sounded false.

DEVIL'S OWN was supposed to be a tender love story set during the Restoration period in Scottish history, between two people who have nothing in common, yet find themselves drawn to each other. What a lost opportunity to enlighten us with the rich history of that era.

Suffice it to say, I won’t be reading the book that preceded it.

Melanie ( )

I won an arc of "Devil's Own" through the Pleasure Me Event on Monica Burns' blog. Historical romances may not be my favorite genre to read, but it's about highlanders...well, I just can't seem to say no.

There's just something about those men in kilts.

...anyway…

Veronica Wolff is a new-to-me author, but after the first few pages, she had me hooked.

Kidnapped and sold into slavery, Aidan MacAlpin returns to his home in Scotland only to feel like a stranger amongst the family he lost so long ago. He keeps his distance from them, hiding a dark secret that they could never understand --- Aidan is out for revenge. He's thought of nothing more than to kill the pirate who sold him into slavery when he was a boy.

Aidan has notes and stolen documents to help him find the pirate, but unfortunately for him, he can't read.

Enter Elspeth.

Elspeth has resigned herself to the life of a spinster. Living alone with her debt-riddled father on a struggling farm, Elspeth is every bit the bookworm and dreamer. As a Book-Addict, I connected with Elspeth right away. Head in the clouds and a deep love for books.

When she agrees to tutor Aidan in exchange for some help around the farm, Elspeth can't help but fantasize about Aidan's tortured past and his life as a pirate. She places herself in the role of a saucy heroine; Aidan's pirate bride.

But when she's forced into a marriage she doesn't want, she's thrown headfirst into a dangerous web of treachery that's nothing like the romanticized heroic tales she's used to reading. And if she's going to survive, she'll need to stop dreaming about being a sexy heroine and actually start acting like one.

The romance between the two was a little different from what I have normally read. The romance is very slow-blooming and at times, very innocent. Elspeth has never known a man other than in her dreams and Aidan has very little knowledge of gentle, honest-to-goodness-kindness from a woman.

This is not the kind of romance where the chemistry all but explodes off the pages. It builds slowly; we see their attraction for one another and we see their hesitation to pursue it further. Though at times the pacing was a bit slow, overall I found that I really enjoyed the slow courtship between Aidan and Elspeth.

Four stars. ( )