The Trouble with Sin by Victoria Vane

Who is Sin?

Simon Singleton is the third person in Devil's small circle of friends. The poet in their group, he has the devil's golden tongue and can talk his way out of difficult situations. To craft his verses, he seeks out inspiration by enjoying the pleasures the life. But Simon has neither Devil's wealth nor standing. As the youngest son, Simon is doing his best to avoid the inevitable careers of younger sons: the church or the army.

A chance encounter with Jack Harris provides Simon with an income and a way out of his parents' controlling grasps -- but trouble always seems to find Simon and this is one of those things that he can't seem to talk his way out of.

This is another installment in Victoria Vane's Devilish Vignettes and introduces us to Sin. In A Devil's Touch, Sin was the reason for Devil's abrupt departure, leaving Diana with so many questions and not as many answers. We got a glimpse of a tired, broken man who has just come home from war and we wondered who he was in Devil's life.

In this vignette, Vane continues to build on the world and the characters of her the Devil DeVere series. She provides us with a glimpse into the three men's past and the "adventures" they had as young men. We can see the bonds that have tied Ned, Devil and Sin to each other -- and we understand why Devil made that trip to London in the previous vignette.

The story itself is very light and shows the madcap escapades (read about the twins in Chapter 5) of Simon and his friends, but there's a circumspect (kinda tragic) element to this story as well: this is Simon before everything happened to him. Carefree and relaxed, content to work on his poetry and enjoy the company his friends. The troubles he finds himself in this story are nothing compared to the troubles that he finds himself in after this story --

In that, I appreciate the author's vision for this massive project. With each installment, she shares a different view of her characters and allows them (and us) to experience a wide gamut of emotions and experience: light to dark, fun to dreary, etc.

Simon, I think, is the missing link in the spectrum that has Ned on one end and Devil on the other. He loves women and loves to enjoy himself -- but he also has cares and desires beyond the simple physical realm: he enjoys poetry and, while he doesn't realize it, he also makes sure that all women are treated properly.

Harris stroked his chin with a look of triumph. "Always the gentleman, eh, Singleton? Even to the commonest whore."

"All women are deserving of gentle treatment, heedless of their circumstances, Harris." Simon looped an arm around each voluptuous feminine bundle. ...
- loc 601 - 611

I look forward to The Jewel of the East, the novel about Simon and Salime. ^_^

To find out more about Victoria Vane and her books, visit her website. She's also on Facebook and on Goodreads.

Disclosure: I received this review copy from the author. Yes, this is an honest review.