10 Books Like Devil in Winter
Sebastian, Lord St. Vincent, is the gold standard of the reformed rake — a dangerous, silver-tongued scoundrel who becomes utterly, helplessly devoted to shy, stubborn Evie. If you finished Devil in Winter and immediately wanted another bad man who's soft for exactly one woman, this list is for you. Ten rake-redemption romances that deliver the same slow thaw.
What makes Devil in Winter so rereadable isn't just that Sebastian is charming — it's that his redemption is earned. He doesn't stop being clever or ruthless; he simply turns all of it toward protecting Evie. The picks below chase that specific alchemy: a hero with a genuine reputation to lose, a heroine who refuses to be dazzled, and a devotion so total it rewrites him from the inside out.
If you want the definitive rake redemption
1. Lord of Scoundrels — Loretta Chase
The other pillar of the reformed-rake canon. Dain believes himself unlovable and unloved, and Jessica Trent walks in and levels him with wit, backbone, and a well-aimed pistol. If Sebastian is your favorite scoundrel, Dain is the hero who belongs beside him on the shelf.
2. It Happened One Autumn — Lisa Kleypas
The Wallflower right before Devil in Winter, pairing brash American Lillian with the coldly proper Marcus, Lord Westcliff. If you loved Kleypas's voice and want to stay inside the same world, this is where the quartet's chemistry runs hottest before Sebastian takes his turn.
3. The Duke and I — Julia Quinn
Simon Basset, the Duke of Hastings, is a rake with a wounded core and a scheme that runs away with him. Quinn's lighter, banter-forward touch makes this the perfect palate companion to Kleypas — a scoundrel undone by the one woman he was only pretending to court.
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If you want the dangerous, dark-edged rogue
4. How to Tame a Shameless Rake — Margot St. James
Cora Aldridge needs a mask society will fear, and she finds it in Gareth Lockwood, a disgraced war hero bleeding in a gutter. Their bargain has three rules — no gambling, no spirits, no intimacy — and every one of them is doomed. A charming wildfire of a hero brought to heel by an icy strategist: exactly the Sebastian-and-Evie dynamic, flipped and sharpened. Part of the ten-book Margot St. James collection. See the full bundle →
5. When He Was Wicked — Julia Quinn
Michael Stirling is London's most charming rake precisely because he's hiding a hopeless love for his cousin's widow. It's a slower, aching read than most of the Bridgerton books, and the payoff — a rogue who has quietly adored one woman for years — hits the same devotion nerve as Sebastian.
6. A Reckless Wager for Her Virtue — Margot St. James
Louisa Carmichael, a mathematical prodigy wagered to a depraved baron, walks into the citadel of Lazarus Cole — an untouchable kingpin who treats every soul as a debt to be collected. He calls her his "Little Mouse"; she plans to bankrupt her way to freedom. A possessive, dangerous man and the one woman who does the math on him: pure gambling-den rake energy. Also part of the ten-book bundle above.
If it was the quiet, brave heroine
7. Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake — Sarah MacLean
A wallflower decides to stop waiting and start living, and enlists London's most notorious rogue to help her. It has the same wish-fulfilment charge as watching shy Evie march into a gambling hell — a woman claiming her own life, and the scoundrel who falls for her nerve.
8. Married By Morning — Lisa Kleypas
From Kleypas's Hathaways series: a sharp-tongued governess and a rakish, infuriating employer who bicker their way into something real. If the marriage-of-convenience-turns-genuine spine of Devil in Winter is what you loved, Leo and Catherine deliver it with heat and wit to spare.
If you want the whole reformed-rogue world
9. The Rules of Scoundrels — Sarah MacLean
Four owners of a secret gambling hell, each hiding a ruined past, each undone by love. Start with A Rogue by Any Other Name. This is the closest series-length experience to Devil in Winter's world of card tables, scandal, and dangerous men with soft centers.
10. Devil's Bride — Stephanie Laurens
The launch of the Cynster series, where a notorious rake finds himself outmaneuvered into marriage by a woman he can't stop wanting. Classic, indulgent, and built on the same fantasy: the man everyone warns you about turns out to be the safest place in the world — but only for you.
How to pick your next read
If you want the definitive rake redemption, go straight to Lord of Scoundrels. If you loved Kleypas's exact voice, stay in the Wallflowers and Hathaways with It Happened One Autumn and Married By Morning. If it was the dangerous, gambling-den danger, Sarah MacLean's Rules of Scoundrels will keep you up all night. And if you want a whole pile of reformed-rogue Regency romance without choosing one book at a time, the ten-book Margot St. James collection is the fastest — and cheapest — way to refill the shelf.
Frequently asked questions
What should I read after Devil in Winter?
Reach for rake-redemption romance where a notorious hero falls hard for one woman: Loretta Chase's Lord of Scoundrels, Julia Quinn's The Duke and I, and the rest of Lisa Kleypas's Wallflowers quartet. For a big batch of reformed-rogue Regency romance at once, a curated 10-book bundle keeps the swoon coming.
Do I need to read the Wallflowers series in order?
Devil in Winter is book three of Lisa Kleypas's Wallflowers series, but it reads beautifully as a standalone. Many readers start here, fall for Sebastian and Evie, then go back for Secrets of a Summer Night and It Happened One Autumn.
What makes a good rake-redemption romance?
The best ones give the hero a real reputation to redeem and a heroine who never lets him off easy. The magic of Devil in Winter is that Sebastian doesn't become a different man, he becomes an honest one — and quiet Evie is the reason.