THE DEVIL' S DUE
Melanie George
Zebra Historical Romance 11/01
ISBN No.0-8217-7010-1, $5.99
Five Thistles - Outstanding Read
Reviewed by Lynne Remick, (c) 2001
What the hell had happened to him? And where in God's name was he? Scotland came to mind. Then again, so did purgatory..
"Note to self," Gray muttered in a raspy voice that had the quality of the sun-scorched Sahara. "Stop drinking."
His head pounding from the 'mother of all hangovers,' pirate Gray Sinclair awakens, shackled, in a dark, damp prison cell. Strangely, he discovers a tender lump on his head that couldn't be a result of drinking. When a fiery Scottish lass named Bonnie MacTavish appears before his cell, calling him an English scoundrel, he realizes she holds the answers.
"So what's the matter, sweetheart? Did I pass you over for another woman?Is that the reason for the venom? Or is clubbing unsuspecting men on the head merely a part of your nature? A mating ritual, perhaps?"
"I wouldn't lend ye a cup of air, ye craven swine, let alone let ye touch me..."
"I want to know why you have me locked up," he demanded. "What am I being accused of?"
The answer was quickly forthcoming, gut-wrenchingly simple and rife with infinite condemnation. "Murder."
Being held by a bunch of headstrong Scots for a murder he didn't commit wasn't Gray's idea of a holiday, but when given the chance to steal away to his ship, Gray decides to stay and clear his name. However, a farce of a trial sentences Gray to hang and leaves him with no alternative but to escape. When the beguiling lass with the sharp tongue crosses Gray's path of escape, on the spur of the moment, he decides to take her with him.
From the moment Gray takes Bonnie hostage, his course turns to unchartered waters. No docile captive, Bonnie MacTavish proves a force to be reckoned with. And perhaps, just the woman to dispell the demons in Gray's haunted past and give him a chance to head off in the right direction.
Admitting here that I titled the book as a result of my entry being chosen in a contest to name the book, I must also say how proud I am for my title to be emblemed across such an outstanding book!
Continuing in the style of the first two books in the Devil Trilogy, "Devil May Care" and "Handsome Devil," "The Devil's Due" boasts bold and devilishly beguiling main characters that one will want to follow, no matter where they venture. As an added plus, though, the book primarly takes place in my beloved Scotland, and then moves along on a treasure hunt to another intriguing but more obscure local--the Azores. Needless to say, these are just some of the features that make this pirate journey one that shouldn't be missed.
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