The second in the series, All Scot and Bothered is a page-turning romance full of adventure and angst. I loved the strength and independence of the heroine, as well as the emotional journey she goes on with the hero. Great addition to the series!

I have tried over two or three days to get into this story. I loved book one in the series and have loved every other book by this author but this one is one I can't relate to. I am having trouble with both characters and am on page 147 and still don't "get" the plot or find it believable. I have read the end so know what happens BUT as I have not finished word for word don't feel I can give a comprehensive review. The book won't disappear for awhile from my device so may give it a try later. If not, know that I would try another book by this author in the future as I have loved her previous books. Thank you for the ARC - it could be this is just not the right time or the right book for this time to read this story.

This is a regency type romance set in England. This book is the second in the series. While it stands well on its own, you will enjoy it much more if you read the first book. Our h, Cecilia Teague, came from an emotionally abusive home. She was "saved" by an unknown benefactor who sent her to a prestigious boarding school and University. At the boarding school she met her fellow "Red Rogues" - red haired girls who were social outcasts. They bond, and support each other without question. Cecilia, now a well known Mathematician; inherits an infamous gaming hell from her aunt/benefactor. The hell also supports a boarding school for less advantaged girls. Cecilia must now maintain two identities - the Scarlet Lady of the hell and the very proper Lady Teague! Our H, Lord Chief Justice Cassius Ramsey, was also abused as a child until he was placed with his half brother Duke Redmayne. The two characters could not be more different. Cecilia is thoughtful, kind, and merciful with a big heart. Ramsey sees everything and everyone in black and white, right or wrong. He is stern and judgmental, and fascinated with both Cecilia and the Scarlet Lady! As her aunt was murdered and someone is selling young girls; there are mysteries to solve and identities to be discovered aplenty.
I have read a number of Kerrigan Byrne books and greatly admire her ability to humanize her characters and make you love them. While Ramsey is initially difficult to even like, she gets you there! It is also difficult to have a good plot with twists and turns, great characters and sub characters, and good world building, but she does it so well.
I received an ARC from Net Galley, but the review is mine alone and done voluntarily. I enjoyed this book, not quite as much as the first; but I would highly recommend it to others.

Thanks to Netgalley, I have a new author to add to my list of favorites. Every sentence written, and this may be only a slight exaggeration, is a bit of poetry, and any author who can turn prose into poetry has my undying loyalty as a reader.

First of all, the metaphors were original and vivid, painting a mosaic of images. Examples abound: “Genny looked at her as though she’d asked her to consume the contents of a chamber pot.” “Alexandra regarded her with a horrified astonishment one would save for someone who’d suddenly begun to leak blood from her eyes.” “He grunted out a strange sound that Cecelia thought might have been a laugh if a lion had rendered it. And if one could laugh without smiling.” “He was built like an Olympian, his flesh smooth as marble poured over mounds of iron. Blood pumped through thick ropes of veins beneath his skin, warming all the earth and clay of him, animating his every impulse with strength and life.” “He was built like a conqueror put on this earth to shame and dominate lesser men.” “Her brain threatened to melt out of her ear into a puddle of simpering, preening female absurdity.”

This utterly lyrical description was one of many sprinkled throughout the book: “The night whispered a warning, but it was too late. The moon-drenched darkness had become his undoing. The garden his prison. He couldn’t have escaped even if he’d wanted to.” Then there’s this: “At first, the kiss was a ghost haunting the space between them. A specter of what might have bloomed before all of the chaos ripped their worlds asunder. Her eyes affixed on his lips, finding a hint of the divine where malice had once been. A glimpse of the eternal. An echo of forever… Her heartbeats stumbled, colliding into one another and bouncing off her ribs. Her nerves still clamored. Anxiety throbbed through her veins with every elevated beat of her heart. She closed her eyes and held her breath, unable to watch. What if he came to his senses before he kissed her? She needn’t have worried… He laced their fingers in a motion that sent shivers rocketing through her entire frame like the waves of a sea gale. One crashing over the other with no sign of a break.”

Every page brought another delicious opportunity to bathe in the words that this author poured over the pages like manna from Heaven. I never wanted it to end. The sex scenes (I almost feel that phrase diminishes them) were sublime and erotic in a way few authors can replicate. It was so much more than just a physical act. It was a celestial encounter, something ethereal that few people could ever hope to experience. Truly, every intimate meeting of the two was otherworldly and astounding.

Kerrigan Byrne contrasts the personalities of Cecelia and Ramsay, both horribly abused and mistreated, but both responding in opposite ways. Ramsay responded in the way I suspect most people would, with a profound need to prove himself and protect himself from being hurt further. Cecelia responded with love and kindness. Ramsay mistakenly believes that Ceclia’s positive outlook is a product of a pampered upbringing, and when he learns of what she actually experiences, he is horrified. I was brought to tears when I read Jean-Yves’ explanation of the suffering Cecelia experienced and the response she had to it. He explains how she was bullied, even after escaping her abusive father, and says, “And when it is the nature of many bullied children to become cruel, she cultivated kindness and empathy.” Then he adds, “Her brightness has always come from within. She looks into the darkness and smiles.” And she looks into Ramsay’s darkness and pulls him to the light

The author manages to touch on issues of societal expectations for the roles of men and women, the long-term emotional toll of abuse on children, the necessity of remaining true to yourself, even if that means rejecting those who might not accept you for you are, and honesty, even when that means revealing what others might not like to hear. She even manages to touch on the issue of body image and delicately describes Cecelia’s hesitancy to allow Ramsay to see her exposed, despite her bravado. I found this exchange remarkable:
“A self-conscious wave threatened to douse her ardor, and she instinctively lifted her arms to cover her body, curling in upon herself. Strange explanations bombarded her tongue, apologies for the roundness of her stomach, the length and girth of her thighs, and the unsightly dimples of her knees. She couldn’t seem to lend any of them voice, as they threatened to choke her.” When she tried to tell Ramsay he didn’t have to look at her, his response was priceless:
“‘How can I not look?’ he asked her as though she’d gone mad. His growl had deepend another impossible degree, to that of a Gregorian monk at prayer, “I didna know such perfection existed.’”

There is so much depth, so many layers, and so much emotion packed into this story that I am overwhelmed. I highly recommend this book and I will be reading more from this author, without question.

3 stars

A female mathematician, a stern government official, and a gambling den in between the two of them. This is a recipe for disaster...right? Well, it's a romance, so I'm guessing you can predict which way the plot goes instead.

Plot: ★★★
Female character: ★★★★
Male love interest: ★ 1/2
Worldbuilding: ★★★

Cecelia Teague is approaching spinsterhood with grace and—dare she admit it—happiness. Yes, it's true that she's lonely and sometimes wishes for a man's company. But as a wealthy single woman in period London, her opportunities and freedom to live the life she chooses for herself is only available as long as she stays single.

When her aunt dies unexpectedly and leaves Cecelia with an all girls' school fronting as a den of iniquity, Cecelia finds herself in the middle of a dangerous plot and a chilling mystery of missing girls. And it puts her face to face with Lord Chief Justice of the High Court.

The Chief Justice, or Cassius Gerard Ramsay, is a rough, large Scotsman with an exterior that makes steel look soft. There's no other way to put it. He's a hard ass. His childhood was filled with pain and abandonment, and his mother left him with a lot of hatred toward the female persuasion. I'm serious. He doesn't trust women. We can say that it comes across as reserved-ness as a way to avoid pain—and I think that's what it was supposed to be—but it comes across as extreme rudeness and inexcusable yelling/accusations.

As you can probably tell by now, the reason for my three star rating came down to one element of the story: Ramsay himself.

I loved Cecelia, and I loved the wacky, unbelievable plot line. The dialogue was snappy. I laughed quite a bit at the setups. But I could not see past Ramsay's he-man, "I don't trust women unless they fit the Madonna trope" attitude. The romance genre loves a good Alpha man—and I do too, don't worry, I'm right there with y'all—but Ramsay took the "Alpha" persona and added a lot of crap to the list. Cecelia deserved better, and the scenes where Ramsay literally praises Cecelia for her "innocence" and then has a vicious 180 degree flip when he thinks she's had a child was just...ugh. Especially as he has obviously bedded women before Cecelia so his hypocrisy was right at the forefront of the conversation.

The author attempts to bring things around with a wrapped up happy ending, and for some people I think that would work.. it just didn't for me. The Madonna/whore dichotomy is a nonstarter for my personal reading tastes.

Thank you to the publisher for my copy in exchange for an honest review.

Wow. I think I liked this one more than the first one. This was darker and angstier. Both Cecelia and Ramsay had such heartbreaking childhoods that were so similar but led them in totally opposite directions. There were several spots when the story brought me to tears.

Plain and simple, this was very good and I'm so very glad I read it.

All Scot and Bothered has a unique plot that pulls you right in and keeps you on the edge of your seat.

Cecelia had a rough childhood – her Father seemed to hate her just for being born a girl (some of this is tied in to his own past). She was saved from this awful childhood by a beautiful woman in a beautiful dress, who knew her Mom quite well. Cecelia’s whole life changed from that moment on and she cherished and embraced every moment. She is a champion of women and those who life on the edge of society – the ones that others look down on just because of their position in society or their career path. When she inherits a gambling establishment, things really get interesting!

Lord Ramsay appears to be a tough person on the outside, he follows the rules and almost seems to be heartless. But under all of that are notes of kindness, someone looking for love that he feels he doesn’t deserve. I really loved watching his character evolve throughout the novel, slowly we see him become the man we knew he could be (even if he couldn’t see it in himself).

The plot was exciting, full of action, suspense and a side of romance. It is well written, and had me on the edge of my seat. I loved the characters as they were not your typical characters that you would find in a novel set in this time period – they are flawed, they fit outside of societal norms, all of which makes me love them that much more. This was a great read from start to finish.

The opposites attract trope gets the Kerrigan Byrne angsty and steamy treatment in this sunshine and the grump story that is the second installment in the Devil You Know series. Cecelia and Ramsay were both victims of abuse as children but grew up with vastly different attitudes. Cecelia remained positive and hopeful while Ramsay turned out closed off and mistrustful of women. How they got together despite their incompatibility is the meat of this fast-paced thriller. I enjoyed this story and I'm looking forward to the next in the series. Small deduction in rating because of the cover that doesn't represent the curvy beauty of the heroine.

CW for child abuse scenes and on-page deaths.

Kerrigan Byrne knows how to write a love story. No matter how her H/h are thrown together, no matter how damaged they are, she brings them to their HEA in a way that is completely believable. This second book in the series that features the Red Rogues is just as good as the first. While the prologue here is heartbreaking, it isn’t quite as devastating as that in the first book. For that, I am grateful, but I still think content warnings wouldn’t be amiss. I look forward to the next book.

I think this book has a really appealing set up for those interested in romances that have characters who are really on the edge of society and the dark underworld of London.

Byrne has continued an intriguing mystery with book 2 in this series, and brilliantly matched Cecelia and Ramsey together. I had a hard time putting this down, can’t wait for the next abs final book!

Kerrigan Byrne is quickly becoming a favorite Historical Romance author for me.

I really am enjoying the Devil You Know series.

This book continues with the redheaded friend trio with Cecelia's and Lord Ramsay's love story.

Both have a lot of childhood mistreatments to unpack and I loved how the author showed this growth and how growing through their painful pasts also grew them closer together.

Thank you St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for an advanced copy for my sassy review.

I was so excited to get a copy of this book as I was initially intrigued by the cover and synopsis, however, by the end of the book I just felt like the story was lacking. It took a period of time before I could get into the story and romance between Cecelia and Ramsay. While the plot was overall alright, the relationship between the two characters just didn't fit for me. Maybe it was the fact that I didn't really like Cecelia and Ramsay's character. In the end, it was an overall alright read.

eARC was kindly provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed the first book in the Devil You Know series, but the differences were like night and day from that one to this one. He's a jerk, but considering the era, his attitude toward women wouldn't be too far off. The character that drove me crazy was Cecelia. Not that she was a strong woman, even in historical romance when a lot of women tend to swoon, a strong woman can be a breath of fresh air. The problem is Cecelia was all over the place. She bounced around from one response to another. She might be afraid one minute and flirty the next. I never knew how she'd react at any given moment and the result was that none of it rang true. As I said, I don't expect a lot of realism with historical romance. I expect a fun, entertaining story, maybe a bit of escapism. Unfortunately, when a character is so contradictory, it's just distracting and irritating, at least in my opinion. I really expected good things with this series after my experience with the first book, but I came away from this one disappointed. I'm hoping that this is just a one-off and things will improve with the next book, so we shall see.

I very much did not enjoy this book.

The heroine Cecelia is delightful - strong willed, intelligent, and sweet, despite a childhood of abuse. When she inherits a school for women and associated gambling hall, she finds herself in the sights of Lord Ramsey, a misogynistic, self-righteous blockhead who believes the worst of her because she's a woman and women are evil.

In addition to hating women generally, he also hates her because he desires her (Hellfire anyone?) and sets out to destroy her life because he thinks she's into child trafficking. Once it's been proven she's being framed, the ONE apology he ever gives is met with "no it's fine" 😍 because she's always wanted a protector and he somehow fills that role.

There's so much more that annoys me but I simply can't be bothered anymore.

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley

I really enjoyed so many aspects of this book—mostly because I such a huge fan of Kerrigan’s writing! I was very uncomfortable however with the use of queer villain tropes.

I love all things Kerrigan Byrne and can't wait for whatever she decides to write next.

Thank you so, so much for sharing an early copy of this title!

Another hot and sexy Kerrigan Byrne book! All Scot and Bothered was so good. The writing was perfect and the characters were everything. I really enjoyed book 2 and I can't wait till the next one in the series.

This book was hard for me to read, however I like that Cecelia was a strong person and didn't take any crap. I also liked that she fought for what she loved.. THe back and forth between Cecelia Ramsey really annoyed me and instead of this being a fast read for me I had to fight myself to finish it.


** I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for a honest review**

I love alter ego plots and this one of a high society lady who also secretly runs a gaming hell was so fun! The fact that the man looking into her establishment falls in love with both of her identities is just icing!