James Sherbourne, Earl of Whitney, is a gambling man. Not for the money. But for the thrill, the danger - and the company: Whit has become one of the infamous Hellraisers, losing himself in the chase for adventure and pleasure with his four closest friends. Which was how Whit found himself in a gypsy encampment, betting against a lovely Romani girl.

Zora Grey's smoky voice and sharp tongue entrance Whit nearly as much as her clever hands - watching them handle cards inspires thoughts of another kind. Zora can't explain her attraction to the careless blue-eyed Whit. She also can't stop him and his Hellraisers from a fiendish curse: the power to grant their own hearts' desires, to chase their pleasures from the merely debauched to the truly diabolical. And if Zora can't save Whit, she still has to escape him.

Review

Devil’s Kiss is the first book in Zoe Archer’s new series, The Hellraisers.  This is a retelling of the classic folktale of selling your soul to the devil and is a good introduction to what promises to be a great series.  The romance is steamy, the plot is action packed and the characters compelling all combine to make this a good read.

Our hero, Whit, goes to a Rom (Gypsy) camp with his four hell-raising friends for a night of entertainment.  Whit is a gambler and is fascinated by the card tricks performed by a Rom woman, Zora.  Drunken and seeking more thrills, the five friends leave the Rom camp to investigate ruins nearby but stumble upon Mr. Holliday, known to most humans as the Devil.  Each friend has a dark desire Mr. Holliday grants in an evil agreement.  Zora attempts to rescue Whit but she is included in Whit’s dark agreement with Mr. Holliday and is enslaved to Whit.  Instead of playing the victim, Zora battles for Whit’s soul and together they must gamble on beating the Devil.

Whit is the classic disillusioned aristocrat whose self-indulgence includes gambling on any and everything.  We get some of his backstory but it wasn’t enough to make me love him as a hero.  He wasn’t a terrible hero but he was rather bland.  Now the other Hellraisers show tremendous promise as future heroes and I can’t wait for their stories, especially the physically and emotionally scarred Bram.

Zora, on the other hand, was the feminist heroine we all want be.  She was dissatisfied with her Rom life where “a belief that men’s leisure held greater value than women’s work” ruled all women.  Zora was independent and strong but also loving and unselfish.  In one scene Zora is telling Whit about a silly play she’d seen where the maiden was kidnapped from her knight by an evil dragon.  Zora says about this, “What good does screaming do? ... At the least, she could have distracted the dragon so the knight could get a decent shot with his lance.”  This self-awareness was part of Zora’s wonderful personality from page one to the very end.  This included her sexuality too, something I find very refreshing in romance novels, though not all that unusual in Archer’s wonderful books. 

The chemistry between Whit and Zora simmers from beginning to end.  This is a dark story and I think their sexual chemistry reflects that but it was tastefully done.  I liked how they communicated and opened up to each other, even having the dreaded previous sexual partners conversation!  The novel sums it all best, “they had traveled together and changed together…for themselves, and each other.” 

The plot is full of action as Whit and Zoe attempt to save Whit’s soul.  Since this plot revolves around an agreement with the Devil, expect this book to have demons and other dark elements.  Whit and Zora are in danger constantly which lent the novel a semi-frantic feel but that just kept me turning the pages. 

Lastly, I love Archer’s fanciful characters.  There is a quirky ghost who helps the couple in their quest and I can’t wait to read more about her.  The other four Hellraisers are compelling too and I look forward to their stories, especially the very troubled Bram. 

So I think the big question is do I think this novel is as good as Archer’s Blades of the Rose series?  Well, not on this book alone I don’t think so.  However, the Blades gave me four great books and this is just one; bet me after I’ve read all the Hellraisers books and I’ll be like Whit and take that bet. 

Reviewed by Janine

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