To Desire a Devil

Elizabeth Hoyt

Seven years earlier Reynaud St. Aubyn's best friend saw him burned at the stake in the Colonies by Indians. Except the Indian who captured him stripped his clothes and someone else was wearing them in that fire. Instead, Reynaud was captured and held as a slave by the Indians. Now, in 1765, the Lord Hope returns home more of a savage than the English aristocrat he once had been. He's determined to gain back his title as Lord Blanchard.

Beatrice Corning's uncle Reginald became Lord Blanchard when Reynaud was declared dead. She lived with her uncle and aunt after her parents died when she was quite young. Now, with her aunt also dead, she is his hostess. They are hosting a political tea party the afternoon the wild man with black eyes, tangled hair, a cross earring in one ear, and tattoos over his eye breaks in. The stranger is demanding to see his father. He is raging in French. He also is running a fever. Beatrice gets him up to one of the guest bedrooms. She also thinks he resembled Lord Hope, the man in the painting in the London house.

When Reynaud's illness and fever break, he becomes lucid and demanding once again. The current Lord Blanchard doesn't want to give up the post - he now has nowhere else to go. Once he accepts that his father has died, Reynaud claims the title. The claim will have to go before a special board of the House of Lords. Reynaud's tendency to pull his wicked knife at little provocation makes him appear mad. Lord Blanchard hopes to have the younger man declared mentally incompetent.

Beatrice is the buffer between the two men. Her uncle is like a father. This younger man, though, stirs her senses, her compassion, and her passions. She tends to him as he recovers and worries about him after. Then, when someone tries to kill him, she is there to help discover the plot.

Reynaud has walked into another plot. His previous military companions who still survive have learned that someone betrayed them in the battle where Reynaud was captured. Once he and Lord Vale (his best friend) work out their misunderstandings he also perceives the plot. Rumor says the man was an aristocrat. What man in their circle would have betrayed a regiment of English soldiers like that?

To Desire a Devil is the last novel in Elizabeth Hoyt's Four Soldiers series. Yes, it is a passionate romance. But there is a meaty story behind the romance. Because it's a romance, it's not real deep. Even so, it is easy to imagine Reynaud's fight for his inheritance and his place in society now that he has changed so much. He is focused on regaining what he has lost. He is also focused on keeping Beatrice. From almost the moment he meets her, he feels a sense of possession for her. She is his.

There is also the other story - the one told in snippets at the beginning of each chapter. The fourth soldier is Longsword. He is tricked into becoming a slave of the Goblin King.That doesn't stop him from wanting to return to his own realm.

I enjoyed To Desire a Devil both for itself and as the conclusion the the Four Soldiers series. . It can be read on its own but there are final conclusions of the other three also included. The historical romance reader will be glad to read this novel.

Notice:  Explicit sexual content, Non-graphic violence

Publicist provided for review

To Taste Temptation
To Seduce a Sinner
To Beguile a Beast
To Desire a Devil