Absolutely awful!!

DNF! I refuse to read a “romance” novel in which the so-called “hero” treats his wife like this!
Insulting her, humiliating her, berating her, and then CHEATING on her, right after he demands that she be faithful to him!! What a bastard:(((
I really don’t understand all the good reviews

37 people found this helpful

Repulsive Hero

The hero is an abusive bully with a large capacity for self pity. He may go on to regret his treatment of Abby and work to win her back but I’ve been an observer of human behavior for 75 years and self centered people like Michael rarely change permanently.
Julia London writes well and creates complex characters. Anne Flosnik is a marvelous narrator.
I have a very open mind about all sorts of damaged and difficult characters in the romances I read but I draw the line at emotional or physical abuse.

21 people found this helpful

Romantic Love Times One!

Michael Ingram, Marquis of Darfield, prefers to be a recluse, because of his family's past indiscretions, debts, and scandal. Even though he agreed to a betrothal to Abbey, a wealthy merchant-captain's daughter, many years ago, in exchange for paying off his wastrel father's debts, when the time comes to fulfill the contract Michael does not want to marry her.

Abbey had fallen in love with Michael when she was 9 years old when he was aboard her father's merchant ship. She followed him around the ship with her pirate sword at the ready to get his attention, but he ignored her when he could.

Over the years her father regaled her with stories about Michael's love & devotion to her, even giving her periodic reports on him and telling her of his continued devotion to her; giving her gifts supposedly from Michael via her sea captain father. After her father's death, remaining a naive ROMANTIC little girl mentally, she travels to England to marry him, expecting Michael to be in love with her and pining for her, as much as she has pined for him. Although she has not seen him, nor talked to him in 10 years, she has a portrait of him supposedly painted just for her, and her father's romantic stories telling of his unfailing love for her. All he recalls of Abbey is a wild, dirty hellion whom he couldn't stand.

She excused his ignoring her, still dreaming of a grand love...until she learns the truth, that her father had been lying to her all those years, and in reality Michael did not even like her. Michael offered her a way out of the marriage, but Abbey was devastated and confused and having no place to go, she married Michael.

She was so naive, but she was sheltered all her life and she was only nineteen. She had built an image of Michael in her mind and heart of an honorable man who loved her desperately. She had dreamed of their perfect love and marriage built on her father's lies.

Despite his uncaring attitude during the day, she never stopped loving him.

The story includes humor, revenge, shooting, betrayal, murder, sexuality, duels, and unrequited love.

20 people found this helpful

First half was sooooo good

I absolutely loved the first half of the book. There was no angst, there was communication, no stupid misunderstanding, I didn’t want to slap anyone, and there was a lot of love building. The second half I was disappointed. I was annoyed and thought she was being stupid and stubborn. It was hard finishing it.

18 people found this helpful

This will twist your heart!

Would you listen to The Devil's Love again? Why?

This book has been a favorite of mine for a very long time. I've been re-reading/re-listening to some of my favorites. This is one that has been on my mind for years, because I loved it, but couldn't recall the title. Much to my delight I am able to listen to it, which I can't thank the publishers enough for. Once I started listening I could not stop, and when I finished it, I immediately started it over.

What did you like best about this story?

This has all of the ingredients that make a romance perfect for me. I laughed and cried, and, could not put it down.

Have you listened to any of Anne Flosnik’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I think Anne Flosnik is an excellent narrator. Sometimes she gets a little too excited during the love scenes, so I fast forward a bit. I hesitate to critique an animator when I think about what a difficult job it is to forget the narrator, and become immersed in the story, that makes a narrator, like Anne Flosnik a great narrator, in my opinion.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Sometimes it takes courage to find a perfect love.

Any additional comments?

I'm thrilled to have found this at Audible. I am a huge fan of this author, and I am hoping to find her other books here as well. For some authors it is their earlier books are their best. That isn't to say it is the case with Julia London, but I think of them as buried treasure, so please keep them coming.

15 people found this helpful

A FAIRYTALE THEN A NIGHTMARE BUT A TRUE LOVE STORY

As a romance lover I am never disappointed with a Julia London book, especially if she teams up with Anne Flosnik because together they whisk you away to a bygone era where, thanks to richly described imagery, you can imagine each scene as it unfolds. With a full cast of interesting characters, a storyline that is bound to get your heart beating faster and a hero and heroine that will overcome everything to end up in the arms of each other. Then sometimes she creates a story that is so intense that you just want to stop everything and immerse yourself.... well this was one such book for me.

Briefly starting in 1813 then fast forwarding to 1825 it tells the story of Abigail a beautiful, very naive but courageous, happy and well educated innocent and her hopes and dreams of her childhood love aboard her Father's ship - Michael who's now a handsome Rake and the Marquis of Darfield (aka the Devil of Darfield) but destiny, along with her Father, has played a cruel trick on them both which crushes and destroys those dreams and leaves heartache in their place.

I'm not going to spoil this journey as it's yours to take with Abigail and Michael but as their chemistry ignites there's lots of angst, arguments, misunderstandings, verbal sparring, humor, heartache, emotional turmoil, revenge, conflicts, manipulation, murder, tragedy, passion, tender touching times and a couple of frenzied love making scenes. At the start Michael is arrogant, dark, cold and dislikable and Abigail is too naive but through their many hurdles together there's such character growth which makes them into two loveable people.

Worth a credit? My emotions have been put through a full 13 hour workout... angry, sad, hopeful, angry, hopeful, annoyed, sad, happy, worried, shocked, speechless, devastated, worried, sad, frustrated, hopeful again until I was finally moved at such a declaration of love and a JOYOUS Epilogue. This entertaining and enjoyable listen will eventually leave you with a smile on your face that was so worth the credit.

12 people found this helpful

Fun Story... terrible. narration.

What did you love best about The Devil's Love?

The story is good for a typical romance... I didn't get immediately bored. It would have been ten times better if not for the insulting narration.

What did you like best about this story?

The heroine... in spite of the terrible infantile narration of her character.

What didn’t you like about Anne Flosnik’s performance?

Horrible... absolutely horrible... I felt like she was mocking the story the entire way through. She does fine so long as she is not attempting voice overs... however her character interpretations are insulting and insipid. The men are dull and vapid, the women are childish and speak with an unbearable baby voice. I actually thing that the narrator simply hated the story and tried to make the character as stupid and uninteresting as possible. Thankfully the writing wasn't as bad as the narration.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Yess... the narration made me want to vomit... it was SOOOOOOO... bad.. I think the story deserved better.

Any additional comments?

Really would like to have the time to read this story on my own without the annoying narration... It would have been really charming with Rachel Weiss and Ralph Fiennes narrating.

11 people found this helpful

Awesom Book

What did you love best about The Devil's Love?

It holds your interest from the very start to the finish. I loved Abbey's strong character.

Which character – as performed by Anne Flosnik – was your favorite?

I like AF especially for the women's characters and the children, but not so much the men.

Any additional comments?

I don't want to give the story away but I hated what Abbey's father did to her and Michael had every right to feel the way he did. I enjoyed the love, romance and stormy words between them. It makes you wonder how it will end.

9 people found this helpful

Very Good!

Ms London is one of my preferred authors and she did not disappoint me in this one. It made my day during a gloomy rainstorm and kept me from going insane. I loved the characters especially the gardener and his roses that no one can touch. I also loved when the family came to visit from America, hilarious!!! Anne another of my preferred narrator did a great job as always. Well worth the credit!

7 people found this helpful

Very well done

Once in a while I will read a book that brings a tear to my eye. This book was one. Abbi's own naivete helps create her sad situation. You can almost feel her pain. I liked this book a lot.

7 people found this helpful