A review by fiadhnd
Between the Devil and Desire by Lorraine Heath

dark emotional tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

**Most of my reviews contain detailed Content Warning/Trigger Warning (CW/TW) sections, which may include spoilers.  I have tried to mark them appropriately, but please use caution.** 

Audio (Susan Ericksen)

3.5/5

Summary: After the sudden death of her much older husband, widowed mother Lady Olivia must contend with the former child thief turned gambling/general debauchery lord Jack Dodger, who has been assigned as her son’s guardian and largely as her husband’s heir.

Stats: HR - victorian, M/F, part of a series but could stand alone, open door.

Notes: This book felt more cobbled together than most of Lorraine Heath’s work.  I found I was having trouble paying attention to the narration, but still not missing much, which tells me there’s a lot that doesn’t do much for either the characterization or the plot.  Neither character caught me as particularly interesting.  Neither were they insufferable.  Overall, a bit of a let down.

OTT and Spoilery Content Notes:
SpoilerHuman trafficking of a child (the mmc), child criminal mmc (pickpocket), murder, death of parents (of side character), branding, child imprisonment, alcohol, gambling, tobacco, death of previous spouse (fall), widow FMC, unhappy first marriage with a large age gap, child (of FMC), some “crazy” talk, CSA of the mmc, FMC slaps mmc, “pansy” as insult, opiate use (laudanum), mmc has paid for sex, mmc is a pimp/manages sex workers, child abuse (rapping of hands/smacking), custody dispute between mcs (fmc’s son used to manipulate her by the mmc), accusation of paedophilia (against mmc by villains), FMC hits mmc with a poker, mmc throws something out of anger (when alone), illness (influenza), pregnancy (side character), parental abandonment, mention of death of pet dog (in childhood, suspected poisoning), arson, fire, kidnapping, firearms, murder (of children, in the past, brief mention), death/homicide, brief descriptions of rape of MMC as a child, age gap (about 10 years), MMC’s parents were 15/17, description of parent’s illness