Will his duplicity be the end of them when he will have to go back to his real life ...

Wow, this is my first read by Mrs Liana LeFey and I much loved it, such I can’t wait for its sequel.
It was so entertaining to watch the sinner impersonating the saint all while he must discourage the woman drawn to the holy man.
Devlin but for a letter bears well his name, for his age, he is still quite childish, and like for a child, his pranks have often consequences. Thus here he finds himself having to switch his room with his reverent of a twin. With the mission to not endangering her his brother’s living and fend off a very determined miss who has set her cap on the man of the cloth.
Least he expected to be charmed by said miss, and now he finds himself conflicted between the pull he feels toward Mary and the need to hide his deceit. And what ever he instigates to repel her, she thwarts his every attempts, by genuinely being kind and fair. And then arises feelings much deeper than everything else he has ever felt.
Mary after a heart’s deception has sworn of rogues and rakes, why the reverent has so much appeal, that and her need to put down some roots. But the holy man always finds a way to evade her attempts, until by some fate’s game she finally has her chance to get closer. But it is nothing like she expected, she goes from hot to cold and vice-versa at every turn. One moment, she feels like he likes her, then he rebuffs her. Her time with him is like going from Charybdis to Scylla. Yet, she discerns a very different than the one he shows to his other parishioners. The more time passes, the more his mask cracks, and he lets slip he is also a man of flesh and blood, not only of holy words and prayers.
A man she comes to like more and fall for, instead of his other more refrained self.
I loved to see Devlin and Mary getting to know one another as both came to see the errors of their way, Devlin and his meaningless pursuits of wealth and pleasures and Mary for considering a position before the man. Yet, I wondered when and how Devlin’s trickery will blow to his face.

Mrs LeFey gives her words full reign to explore the many faults of her characters, they are flawed, they make mistakes, they hurt one another yet they also lift a weight in the other’s heart, their love healing their soul.
5 stars

I was granted an advance copy by the publisher Entangled, here is my true and unbiased opinion.

This is a cute (if unrealistic) premise; twins switching places. They are so identical that even close family takes some time to figure out who is who. Mary is totally infatuated with Daniel the real vicar who won't give her the time of day. But he persuades his devil of a brother to please try and dissuade Mary. The ruse backfires when the Devi, Devlin, falls for Mary.

I enjoyed this as a sit down and relax, no angst, romance. It was witty and charming and rather sexy but not over the top. It did feel a bit repetitious toward the middle but the side characters were so well drawn and interesting I didn't mind. I can recommend this book to romantics everywhere. It is a breath of fresh air in these troubled times.

It's an interesting read and I enjoyed it. The story is well-paced and as far as historical romances go, it's a fun one. I quite enjoyed the premise of identical twins switching places. The characters are all likable as well. I especially loved how everything concluded so well in the end. It has one of my favorite endings.

Lord Devlin Wayward us going home for Christmas. He's happy to leave London for a short while to get away from a woman, but must return quickly. His twin brother is a vicar but also has a problem woman. Devlin takes the opportunity to help his brother. This has very unexpected results.

Miss Mary Tomblin has travelled to lots of places because of her father's work. She really wants to settle in a home of her own, preferably as the wife of the handsome vicar. She is one determined woman. She also has a lot to learn.

This is a really fun story. Our devilish hero doesn't know how to solve the problem he started, it just gets bigger and bigger. There are lots of twists and turns and more than a few tears.

I loved all the characters and can't wait to read the next book.

Great fun.

3.5 stars I went into this story with the expectation of a lot of funny situations. This was not the case, so if this is what you are looking for while choosing your next read, you are better to try a different book. Instead, we have a story with a surprising amount of character growth from our heroine Mary. Then there is our hero Devlin, who for someone who decided not to be ordained, seemed to really enjoy the majority of the duties of a vicar. His character growth was a steady feeling of finding the frivolities of London to be no longer appealing. I really liked seeing this couple get to know each other. I didn't care that much for Devlin's hot and cold, though I do understand that he was continually at war in his commitment to dissuade Mary from liking Danial (his twin brother) and from his own want of spending time with her. I will say the family aspect and some of Devlin's history just didn't make a bunch of sense - maybe this was in earlier books? All the family interactions just seemed off, and the fact that NOT ONE of his close living family attended Sunday service or came and helped him will he suffered, living alone, with a broken leg, just made we wonder WHY you would do anything to protect the reputation of this seemingly uncaring and selfish lot. The initial prank was also way overblown, easily explained away with little to no repercussion - but the resulting fall out for continuing with the switch? WOW. The other thing hit a nerve with me (I didn't research it to see if all the other books that I read were wrong) but he wore his priestly robes EVERYWHERE. I've never seen that before, in 20+ years of reading regency historical romances - so take that for what ever that's worth. Overall, I did enjoy the story, but some things just were a little off for me. *I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley and this is my voluntary and honest review.

Twins exchanging places due to an accident and a bold heroine? How can you go wrong with this one?? I absolutely love when such hijinks get used to bring a couple together. There are so many ways it can play out, and this one had romance, character growth, and funny moments. I couldn't put it down! This is my first book by Liana LeFey and I can unequivocally say it won't be my last.

Devlin and Daniel are twins that couldn't be more different. One runs a gaming hell and the other a vicar in the town where they grew up. Can you imagine which one our hero might be? When the vicar find himself the subject of a crush from our bold heroine, Devlin steps in to gently set the girl straight. Only to break his leg on his way back to his house, this results in our more outgoing and devilish brother having to keep up appearances and keep company with Mary.

Mary was a great character, she was bold and owned up to her mistakes. She started out hurt from previous wrongs and a little vain but came into her own. As she got to know the village elders, they got to know her too, which helped Devlin to see that she was more than a girl who didn't know her own mind.

The end was something special in itself, and set it up for us to get the Reverend Daniel's story next which I can't wait to read. The only pause I had in this book was how much the "flock" and the church played a part. But it didn't detract from the overall story. Definitely worth your time!

All opinions included are my own and freely given.

Posted to B&N and will post to Amazon when released.

I was instantly intrigued by the plot of this one. How could a rake and the owner of some of the most infamous gaming halls in London possibly trick a town full of parishioners that he the vicar they have come to know and love?

And while this story definitely had its moments, I have questions. To start, with their families home close to the village (in fact, the family attends the very church Daniel is the vicar at), how did none of the older parishioners NOT know their vicar had a twin? Added to that, when the brother's personalities were so different from one another, how did no one (especially Mary who fancied herself in love with Daniel) guess the truth? There were moments when Mary started to question things (one example being before the switch, Daniel would barely look at her, another stronger example being when she found him drunk) and I was hoping she would figure it out - thinking that watching Devlin try to win her back would be an even more exciting story. Unfortunately, we don't get to see that except for a few rushed feeling pages at the end of the story.

For the most part, I enjoyed their interactions. I liked the way Devlin forced Mary to look inside herself and realize that she was not the pious person she had thought she was. I also liked how the two of them challenged one another to grow in other ways as well. In fact, I was surprised to find out that Devlin acted the way that he did (and seriously never considered there might be repercussions to his actions)?

Some of the interactions with his "flock" seemed to drag on a bit, as did some of the inner musings of our two characters. I also wish that Devlin hadn't been so "hot and cold" with Mary. I understand he was conflicted in his feelings, but at times he could be awfully confusing (not to mention judgemental of her actions and reactions considering he was the one who was a fraud). However, I can understand why the author chose to include them as a way to show character growth and give our two main characters a reason to be alone so that they could get to know one another.

All things considered, I do believe this story was a good start to a new series (and in fact am hoping to read book number two when it comes out - I am insanely curious to find out how a vicar managed the day-to-day business dealings of his brother, not to mention the countless women I'm sure his brother was "acquainted with". I am also hoping to find out just what happened between him and Miss St.Peters).

DISCLAIMER: I received a complimentary copy of this novel in exchange for my honest review. This has not affected my review in any way. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are 100% my own.

MISTAKEN IDENTITIES LEAD TO SWEET ROMANCE

At the beginning of this book I was sort of on the fence - I liked that the romantic interest was a vicar (which isn't all that usual in Historical Romance, at least as far as I'm aware) but I was not a fan of Mary, the female main character. Soon I was taken over by the story, the evolution of Mary and the ending really had me going.

"Honey catches more vicars than vinegar."


👍 WHAT I LIKED 👍

Premise: Devlin and Daniel, the local vicar, are identical twins. One day, during a prank where Devlin dressed up as Daniel to fool some of the parishioners, Devlin breaks his leg. With everyone believing that it was actually Daniel, the vicar, who broke his leg, the two twins decide to switch places until Devlin's leg heals. Honestly, it sounds ridiculous and far fetched but it was quite entertaining. Especially seeing Devlin, who is a bit of a scoundrel, taking over his brother's duties of vicar.

Mary: Like I said, at first I didn't like Mary. She felt very shallow, having firmly decided on marrying the vicar without ever having talked to him. But as she spent more and more time with Devlin (posing as the vicar) I saw her true character - kind, intelligent, tenacious. I really started to like her, care for her and want the best for her.

Ending: It is not often that a Historical Romance novel hits me so deeply that I actually start to tear up, but the ending of this book did it. It tugged at my heart and brought tears to my eyes.

Absolutely loved this story. Great llot, good pace, time to really get to know the characters.

Devlin is the perfect bad boy, and Mary has such s good heart. Enjoying their banter and growth together makes for a lovely story. Now I'm looking forward to Daniel's tale.

I had been having a bad few days: washer quit, faucet leaking, I decided to read for a while and try to regain my sanity. All I can say is " This book hooked me from the very beginning. A heroine who is not typical at all:, practical, and willing to go toe to toe for what she thinks is rightfully hers. No shrinking violet here! The hero is handsome, .' if you like strong heroines, flawed but gorgeous heroes, and witty dialogue....this is it!

This book was infuriating. Dev is more villain than hero, devoid of integrity, courage, or, honestly, logic, and the way the entire book conspires to gaslight the poor heroine is appalling.

Full review will appear on Smart Bitches, Trashy Books in due course.

Didn’t end up meeting my expectations.


Devlin, riddled by a sudden broken leg out of nothingness, swaps identities with his twin brother and becomes the vicar (whilst his twin goes to take his place in London).

Mary has been... Ehhh, determined? That the vicar of her village is the perfect character to marry, therefore he just has to be her future husband!


For having pined after the real vicar for such a long time, I was surprised Mary didn’t see through the ruse quicker (I actually thought the story would have been about that).
The rest is some contrived bore of them visiting the locals to ask about their welfare, help them if in need, and so on and so forth.... Extremely boring.

I wanted a romance, not a guide on how to care for my sheep flock if I suddenly found myself a vicar.

Ahhhhhhh this was just such a wonderful book and I just thoroughly enjoyed myself. I didn’t want to put this book down. I just fell in love with this wonderful story and it’s wonderful characters. I will most definitely be reading more stories from this wonderful author.

Miss Mary Tomblin is a young woman who knows what she wants...and what she wants is for the handsome reverend to realize that she'd make the perfect wife for him. However, he has proven remarkably resistant to her charms. That all changes one day, but she has a hard time reconciling the reverend's prior pious behavior with the roguish charm of the man in priestly garb before her...

Lord Devlin Wayward, former black sheep of his family, returns home for Christmas and on a lark, masquerades as his saintly twin brother. After breaking his leg during his ruse, he risks opening up his family to scandal, so he and his brother continue the lie, wherein his brother will handle Devlin's affairs in London, and he will tend his vicar brother's wayward flock...and discourage the advances of the irrepressible Mary Tomblin.

Devlin and Mary are drawn to one another, but Mary can never know that he is not the reverend. What will happen when this sinner falls in love with an innocent who believes him to be a saint?

This novel is for you if you like the bleakest of dark moments. You'll also love it if you've read Sierra Simone's "Priest"...and want a somewhat tamer historical version of that. This book is a doozy -- and I could not put it down! The chemistry between the hero and heroine is incandescent and I found myself screaming at the book even as I was rooting for these two to get their respective acts together. The motivations for the characters were delicious and very fitting with their personalities, and I just loved the two of them butting heads.

The secondary characters were fleshed out wonderfully, and I felt completely drawn into the world that Liana LeFey has created. The only drawback is that the "dark night of the soul" moment required a lot more groveling from our hero in my eyes, but that's also because I love a good grovel. 5 stars for sure, and I will be keeping an eye out for more of LeFey's work!

The description of this book held such promise, but I found the story disappointing. The first thing that felt off was all of a sudden Devlin has broken his leg and there was no reference to how he did that. The story trudges along with Mary trying to mold herself into what Devlin desires. I was hoping for some witty banter, but that didn't happen either. I was also surprised that Mary didn't realize that Devlin was not the vicar. For someone who watched the vicar so intensely, this should have been quite apparent.

The storyline got me all curious. Twins exchanging places, one is a vicar and the other one is a gambling lord. And the love story happened in the country and not in a London ballroom.

The hero and his brother exchanged places due to a series of events and they had to maintain a consistency (Of deceit) sort of. And the Innocent heroine originally liked the original vicar brother due to his qualities as a vicar. But when the gambling lord brother pretended to be the vicar the heroine felt attraction for the first time. Anyway, they develop feelings for each other and the heroine got compromised but the hero walked out. And I think this is the point where other readers might hate the hero. He abandoned the heroine literally and tried (unsuccessfully) to resume his old life. In the end he redeemed himself. The heroine made him work for it which is good. I just wish several chapters were dedicated to this. There is an epilogue as well as an intro to the next book.

The things I did not like about this book but is in no way a deal breaker was the narrative introspection part. I did appreciate getting i to the minds of the character but not maybe several pages at a time. It could have been more fast paced in my opinion but nonetheless it is well written.

3.5 stars

Not a bad story, a bit contrived. Devlin (identical twin) decides to help his brother Daniel disuade our heroine Mary that the vicar is not in the market for romance. Obviously it gets very confusing. There were quite a few anomalies: If you've broken your leg you don't get up soon after and deliver bounty to the village. Why do all his siblings have names beginning with D. Why having said they were mirror twins didn't anyone spot the mannerisms were also handed. It was a good idea to use twins to start off a series as the author then has at least two books to write!

I might look out for Number 2 in the series.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Lord Devlin Wayward pretends to be his identical twin brother, Reverend Daniel Wayward, and in the process breaks his leg. Because Devlin is unable to travel to an important meeting in London, Devlin and Daniel switch places. Miss Mary Tomblin is taken with the very handsome Reverend and believes him to possess the moral character she is looking for in a husband. Mary doesn’t understand why the Reverend keeps rebuffing her advances but, when he allows her to help with parish duties, she’s determined to show him what a perfect wife she could be.

I was drawn to this plot and I felt like it was well done. At first, Mary seems very shallow and her attraction to the Reverend superficial. As her character is revealed, she’s aching for normalcy and a settled home. Devlin tries to dissuade Mary for Daniel, but he’s drawn to her and sends constant mixed signals. I liked seeing them spend time together doing visitations to the elderly neighbors.

I believe this is a continuation of the author’s previous series, Once Wicked. I have never read her books before and this one can be read alone. This is Devlin’s story but there is a set up for a second book to describe what happened to Daniel during the switch. I look forward to that story!

Lord Devlin Wayward is a rake and a gambler who is bored in London and decides to go home. His twin, Daniel, is the local vicar who agrees to swap places with him. The blurb sounded quite good, but the story just felt forced. Daniel has been avoiding the parson's net with Mary, a local unmarried miss who had a bad run-in with another rake, yet the reader is supposed to believe she doesn't notice the difference in personality between the reticent vicar and his rakish twin which doesn't give her character much credit. Devlin ends up with a broken leg, so he turns to Mary for help with the Parrish duties.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I'm not usually a historical romance person unless there's something paranormal afoot, but the premise of this one was too amusing for me to pass up. This plot is fueled by a twin-swap scenario. In a prank gone wrong, the gambling den magnate, Devlin, takes the place of his twin, Daniel, a vicar, only to absorb the affections of Mary. She has long been infatuated with the idea of both the reverend and settling down in their small down.

Devlin's frequent misogynistic thoughts were entirely unflattering. For one, he likes Mary as an alternative to the "immoral" women of London. These other women are unsuitable because they engaged in either consensual or paid sex with him in the past. How dare they 🧐? For another, he ponders wether Mary will become a "shrew" in marriage and decides it's not possible because his love is so fulfilling. There are so many upsetting layers to his thoughts, and I can't even unravel all my rage-hazed thoughts on the subject.

Mary is so innocent as to become not realistic, especially as her primary interest is getting herself married. Their courtship plays out in a battle of one-upmanship for the moral high ground, i.e. who helps others the most and for the most pure objectives. She readily accepts any moral judgment from Devlin and molds herself to suit his desires. Never mind that Devlin is lying about who he is the whole time...

I'm essentially disappointed that a book with this premise not only lacked the subversive humor I sought but endorsed norms where women have to maintain moral purity even to earn the affections of a liar. Mary is flattened into a character that seeks perfection to earn a man, and while I could not fault her for it, I did not love the author for locking her in that position. Not only was I not swept up in the romance, but the resolution left a bad taste in my mouth. I will keep my spoilery rage on that topic to myself.