Hello again.
I am happy to say I have accomplished another yearly challenge for myself. I have finished the “Ladies of Devon” series by Kasey Stockton. Technically, I’ve been done for about a month and a half but publishing these reviews slowly made the entire journey longer than it really was.
Pippa Sheffield has a penchant for trouble. She doesn’t ask to be thrown into slippery situations, but they tend to find her. She has worked at maintaining good behavior—she owes that much to her sister—until her new neighbor, William Blakemore, moves in. Come to find out, he is nothing but trouble.
Book Five of the Ladies of Devon takes place ten years after the four friends in the literary society each find their soul mates. Mabel’s sister is all grown up, and ready for her own adventure.
taken from Amazon.
Our main character is Pippa, she was introduced to us at the age of seven and she plays a key role in romance around Mabel and Mac in “The Lady of Larkspur Vale” and when she appears during the last bit of “The Recluse of Wolfeton House” (after going ahead in time 10 years) as I didn’t think we needed another book.
“Regardless of what her older sister and surrogate mother, Mabel, wanted for her, she would never leave the Devon coast.”
Another thing I was worried about was, Pippa would end up with Jacob (who was her archenemy in her sister’s book), it was pretty easy to assume that she would end up with him in the end. I think going in this direction would have been a little cliche, but an easy narrative to everyone, so the fact Kasey added a new love interest, it was slightly sad, but then again, I thought better of it.
And then, we meet William Blackmore and his family of smugglers.
It’s interesting since before I read this book, I’ve heard nothing about smuggling goods in this period, and afterwards I found another story about the pros and cons of smugglers. By the way, the other book was “Wyndcross” by Martha Keyes. Anyways, William understands this is his family’s business and it’s not really frowned upon, but since Pippa’s father and brother-in-law were part of the Royal Navy at one time, they each have their own views about it, but nobody wants their youngest daughter raised in middle class society, to marry into that type of lifestyle and Pippa is very wary of her new neighbors.
“At this moment, William did not want anything more. He watched Pippa’s bare hand ball into a loose fist, the back of her knuckles stroking her nephew’s soft cheek. William’s heart constricted, the love in her tender touch so achingly apparent it flooded him with grief over his own loss.“
My initial thoughts about William were positive, even though after the hell both Mac and Charles dealt with their previous stints, I’ve been on the fence of Pippa meeting a respectable man and her views, but like her younger self, she’s become a stubborn woman and wants to do all she can to watch over William even if he wishes her to be as far away so personal history doesn’t repeat itself and ruin not just one family, but two like the events that killed off Romeo and Juliet.
By the time we’ve reached the end of the story, I was a little teary-eyed because that meant I was done with this series. I had spent three months reading about these ladies and was hooked to each one for a reason or two, but honestly, I’d really love it if Kasey could talk about Lady Olivia Pepper, James Mackenzie, Lady Faith Fox and of course mention a section about Pippa and her husband’s children later on as they go into the early days of Queen Victoria’s reign. I feel like that has their challenges and see how they came out of the Victorian age safe.
Have you read the final book of the “Ladies of Devon” series by Kasey Stockton yet? If you are, which book are you currently reading? Let me know your thoughts in the comments. What series should I dive into next?
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