But Merritt is willing to risk one night with him regardless, after which it will all be over. Their romance is, of course, Doomed, because an Earl’s daughter, even one who is In Trade (gasp!) cannot possibly marry a lowborn Scotsman who lives in a cottage on a tiny island. I absolutely loathe the taste of whisky, but that made me want to give it another try. We’ll toast health to our friends and peace to our foes… and we’ll drink to the loves lost to time’s perishing as well as those yet to come.” Whisky is yesterday’s rain, distilled with barley into a vapor that rises like a will-o’-the-wisp, then set to bide its time in casks of good oak.” His voice had turned as soft as a curl of smoke. It could taste of a long-ago walk on a winter’s eve… or a kiss you once stole from your sweetheart in the hayloft. “Islay whisky starts as hot as the devil’s whisper… but then the flavors come through, and it might taste of cinnamon, or peat, or honeycomb fresh from the hive. Whisky is, of course, the cure for all injuries, and Scotch whisky is the water of life itself: He is very patriotic, and doesn’t really trust any innovations that don’t come from Scotland. He insists on wearing a beard because he is so handsome without one that his friends tease him about it (!).

He is big and strong and speaks in a brogue, and he scatters his English with Scots words. Keir is very much your fantasy Scottish romance hero (though this being the 19th century, he doesn’t wear a kilt, alas). She first meets Keir when he storms into her office after an accident involving a shipment of his whisky, and the attraction between the two is instantaneous. She takes a very hands-on role in the business, and the welfare of her workers is paramount to her. Merritt is an extremely competent and charming heroine, who inherited her husband’s shipping firm and continues to run it with the help of her youngest brother, Luke.

I am honestly not quite sure how well this story would work if one had not read the Wallflowers books, but I definitely enjoyed myself reading it. It’s very much fanservice for readers who enjoyed the Wallflower series, with Lillian, Westcliff and Evie all appearing in the story, and Sebastian, who is now the Duke of Kingston, playing a particularly prominent role. Theme: Class Differences, Mistaken/False Identity, Nursed Back to Health, One Night Standĭevil in Disguise is a fun, hot romance that tells the story of Lady Merritt Sterling, the widowed daughter of the Earl of Westcliff, and Keir MacRae, a whisky distiller from Scotland.

Devil in winter