The Southern Devil (Paperback)

by Diane Whiteside (Author)
Key Phrases: three needles, Diane Whiteside, Somerset Hall, Uncle Heyward (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist
Jessamyn Tyler, an impoverished Civil War widow, is in Kansas City for the reading of her uncle's will, which first of all dictates that a man must accompany her to the reading. She runs into Morgan Evans, who is on his own angry mission, and reluctantly asks him to attend. He agrees, as long as she agrees to go to bed with him. The inheritance is gold hidden in the Colorado mountains, with the spoils going to either Jessamyn or her cousin, depending on who reaches it first. Again she must rely on Morgan to help her on this dangerous quest. He again agrees, contingent on her continued presence in his bed, and Jessamyn more than meets Morgan's demands in bed and out. Another Whiteside winner, filled with raw sex and realistic portrayals of the sights and sounds of the Colorado West. Newcomers may be a bit shocked, but fans will find it a satisfying tale. Maria Hatton
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review
"Whiteside has created another entertaining adventure set in the late 1800s that includes scenes so steamy readers will singe their fingers as they turn the page."

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Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Brava (September 29, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0758212100
• ISBN-13: 978-0758212108
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 3.7 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #566,781 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Beter than average for the genre and considerably better than the first two books, November 23, 2006

By	G. Robinson "Extensive reader" (CO) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is kind of an odd book it is reminiscent of Louis L'Amour's Civil War and post westerns with some perils of Pauline thrown in but then you get to the bondage, Ds and erotic scenes which are well done.

The plot starts off very slow but finally gets started when Jessamine (Northern Sympathizer) figures out how to prevent Morgan (Southern Spy) from getting out with the information without turning him in and involving her terminally ill father, ingenious and sort of funny.

Inspire of a slow start and uneven plot the characters are compelling, the villains are good and the plot at least somewhat original.

19 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing southern western featuring a union sympathist and a rebel spy engaging in bedroom antics on the trail, September 20, 2006

By	Jane Litte "Jane at DearAuthor.Com" (US) - See all my reviews

I wanted to like this book. It had a nice cover (albeit very modern in feel) and it was a Western. You know how they say authors should start with the action? I believe that wholeheartedly. The book should start with the action. It shouldn't pretend to start with the action with a two page teaser which then plunges into several hundred pages of backstory. It was Chapter 5 before we were back where we started in the opening two pages. And those first four chapters were such snoozers that I can barely remember why I continued reading the book.

What did I learn in the backstory? That Morgan and Jessamyn were promised to each other. That Morgan betrayed Jessamyn's trust early on. That Jessamyn married someone else and had good sex with him but not great sex because really good sex ONLY comes with the hero. That Morgan got a taste for bondage on night with Jessamyn when she held him hostage. Ha ha ha ha. I am sorry, but that just seems ridiculous. I mean, maybe it is completely true but I felt it was used solely for the purpose of creating a plausible reason for Morgan to have perverse sex tastes.

It's perfectly fine for characters to have different sexual tastes. There doesn't need to be a reason for it. Saying that its because of x, y or z reason seems ridiculous to me. There's never any explanation for why characters like oral sex (i.e., their mother made them suck on their thumb for 3 days straight). Or why characters like to have sex in the shower (i.e., first time they jacked off was in water). But whatever, that was the least of the problems in the book.

The plot was part search for gold and part dairy farming. Why do I say that? Because the heroine creamed so many times she should have been a cow. Was there no other word the author could have used? According to word search on my ebook reader, she used "cream" 18 times.

The villian was a cartoon. Let's not spend time creating a multi dimensional villian. Let's just think of all the evil, disgusting characteristics that a person could have and give that to the villian. (Spittle, impotence, cruelty, deviance, bad table manners). There's a ton, A TON, of telling in this book. Just because a character tells us something in dialogue, doesn't make it showing. That's still telling. Showing is having the character act in accordance with the traits the author is trying to imbue. I.e., if the author tells me the characters are being clever, show me that they are clever. Don't have them have this exchange which is completely devoid of cleverness:

Her husband pursed his lips (I think men should never purse their lips unless they are Carson Kressley), considering his general manager. "You can repay me at cost." He put his hand over his wife's.
"Cost plus-"
"Cost" william said flatly.
Morgan laughed. "Deal. I should have known better than to try to outwit you."

The hell? Not negotiating is "outwitting"?

There is so much sex in this book that there isn't much time for plot advancement or character development. In between the search for gold, we are treated to some stunningly awful sex scenes in which Morgan asserts his dominance over Jessamyn to pay her back for a) tying him to the bed so many years ago and b) for marrying his cousin and c) for actually having eyes that might accidently land on a man other than himself. The trouble with these books with all their sex scenes is that romance seems to be lost. Do Morgan and Jessamyn really love each other or do they just like a roll in the hay/dirt? I am guessing the latter.

4.0 out of 5 stars The Southern Devil, January 6, 2009

By	M. Pentecost "luvs2read" (NC USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Really enjoyed the whole Devil Series by Diane Whiteside. Great heroes,women are fiesty and strong.