Review: Don't Bargain with the Devil

Title: Don't Bargain with the Devil
Author: Sabrina Jeffries
Genre: Historical Romance
Series: School for Heiresses (Book 5)
Grade: 3 out of 5 stars

Summary:
The future of Charlotte Harris’s finishing school is in jeopardy when a charming Spaniard, world-famous magician Diego Montalvo, arrives to turn the bordering estate into a scandalous pleasure garden.

Valiantly ignoring his wicked flirtations, outspoken Lucinda Seton intends to derail his plans and save the school--unaware that Diego’s true mission is to spirit the long-lost heiress away to Spain for a handsome reward!

But before long Diego’s heart is playing tricks on him, and Lucy is falling under the conjurer’s spell. How can the Master of Mystery go through with his devilish scheme when all he wants is to make the lovely heiress his own?


Review:
I place Sabrina Jeffries on the second tier of my favorite authors list: her books may not be my top picks, but I can always rely on them to give me a fluffy but satisfying read. Don’t Bargain with the Devil was both fluffy, satisfying, and a good set up for the next book in the series involving Charlotte Harris and cousin Michael.

Initially, I enjoyed the passionate sparring between Diego and Lucinda. They have an instant, fiery connection that made me root for them from the beginning. However, somewhere toward the middle of the novel, Diego and Lucy begin to go back and forth between love, lust, betray, angst and anger so much that it becomes dizzying. It’s not the big misunderstanding- it’s the misunderstanding that never ends (until the last five pages).

The book is mainly set in England and is a fairly traditional historical, but still has an enjoyable exotic element from Diego and Lucy’s Spanish heritage, the use of the language, and the few scenes set in Spain. Though Don’t Bargain with the Devil was not my favorite, I’ve still enjoyed the School for Heiress series and plan on finishing it shortly.