Victoria Vane | A Chat With The Devil Devere

He has the bluest eyes I've ever seen, startling even, and a half smile that hovers over his mouth that makes one wonder what he's thinking. He's sprawled in the chair when I enter, but rises immediately  and crosses the room with long strides and a formal bow.

"Ms. Vane, I am enchanted," he says. He takes my hand and I feel my pulse quicken. I've always fantasized about having my hand kissed. The sensation of his soft, warm lips barely skirting over my fingers does not disappoint. "How may I be of service?" he asks.

I begin without ado after rising from my own obeisance. "My Lord DeVere, it seems you have intrigued my readers. I've been asked many questions about you and hoped you would be kind enough to answer them."

When his full smile appears, the effect is knee-weakening. "But of course." He gestures me to a chair and waits until I am seated before he resumes his own place.

"We first meet you as Sir Edward Chamber's best friend in A WILD NIGHT'S BRIDE. Many have marveled that you and he are so close when you are virtually nothing alike." He tents his brows silently encouraging me to elaborate.  "It's just that Ned is so—"

"Dull?" he suggests.

"I was thinking more along the lines of respectable, responsible, reputable—

He waves his hand in a dismissive gesture. "—boring, bland." 

"But then you set out to change all that," I prompt.

"Damn right!" he chuckles. "The man may as well have retreated to a Tibetan Monastery for all the excitement he's had in the past three years. He first began the decline when he left my sphere of influence to wed, but then when he lost Annalee, he slid completely into the abysmal abyss of mundane monotony. It then became my mission to save him...from himself."

"But who can blame him when he lost a beloved wife?" I give him a censorious look that he completely ignores.

"And I deem three years is night long enough to wear black," he replies. "It was long past time for dear Ned to return to the land of the living. Thus I appointed myself his guide."

"But tastes vary, my lord.  Not every man is such a voluptuary as you are. Perhaps Ned prefers quiet living and rustic pursuits. Simple taste does not always equate to a deficiency in or of life.

"You mean one man's potion is another man's poison?" he suggests.

"Something like that," I answer.

"Very well then, as a purveyor of poison, I needs must ask, if Ned was indeed so blissful in his reclusive rustication, why did he come to town?"

"He told you it was to find a house for the season for his daughter Vesta's come out."

DeVere countered with a shrewd smile. "When he could easily have hired an agent for the task?  No. The truth is my best friend was bored to distraction and came to town in desperate need of diversion. Whether he will admit it or not, he sought me out knowing I was precisely the man to answer that need."

"By taking him to an orgy in a brothel?"

"You know about that, eh?" DeVere laughs outright. "It wasn't just any brothel, my dear. It was King's Place, the most exclusive house of pleasure in London. Moreover, it was not ordinary orgy, but a private, subscription-only affair."

"And you thought that would answer?"

"But of course. It was unnatural how Ned was going on. Bad for his health even."

"That's highly debatable," I reply with a disapproving frown. "And it seems to me, poor Ned got much more than he bargained for."

"I would have to agree with you there, my dear lady," DeVere chuckles. "He did indeed."

A WILD NIGHT'S BRIDE by Victoria Vane (THE DEVIL DEVERE Book #1)

What happens when a struggling actress and a grieving widower come together in a night of unbridled debauchery orchestrated by a bored and machinating rake? With the devil in charge...there will be hell to pay.

She's a lonely lady down on her luck... Phoebe Scott, alias Kitty Willis, is a struggling Covent Garden actress with a bruised heart and a closely guarded secret.

He's steadfast and eminently respectable...Sir Edward Chambers, Ned to his intimates, is guilt-ridden over his beloved wife's death and avowed to live out a rustic and mundane life ... of celibacy.

With the devil in charge — there will surely be hell to pay. Devil in disguise, Viscount Ludovic DeVere, is determined to return his best friend, Ned, to the land of the living. His meddling machinations result in a night of mind blowing passion after which "dull dog Ned" awakes to find himself in the King of England's bed! A WILD NIGHT'S BRIDE, a sexy, rollicking Georgian romp!

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

A lover of history and deeply romantic stories, Victoria combines these elements to craft romantic historical novels and novellas for a mature reading audience. Her writing influences are Georgette Heyer for fabulous witty dialogue and over the top characters, Robin Schone , Sylvia Day, and Charlotte Featherstone for beautifully crafted prose in stories with deep sensuality, and Lila DiPasqua for creative vision in melding history with eroticism.

Ms. Vane also writes award nominated romantic historical fiction as Emery Lee.

http://authorvictoriavane.com  and http://authoremerylee.com

VICTORIA VANE TITLES: A BREACH OF PROMISE, Ellora's Cave 12/23/11
A WILD NIGHT'S BRIDE, Breathless Press 4/27/12
THE VIRGIN HUNTRESS, Breathless Press, 6/29/12
THE DEVIL YOU KNOW- Breathless Press, 7/27/12
THE DEVIL'S MATCH - Breathless Press TBA

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