The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea (The Grumpy Devils) Paperback – January 14, 2022

I'm going to take the time to write about a couple things in this that incensed me, and why, but highlight the fact that even in the face of those things it was worth rating this book 5 stars.- The beginning of this story, Drew is catty and nasty about Sloane. Even after Sloane leaves, she continues to say nasty stuff about her. The plot of this book would not change in the slightest even if these women were respectful to each other. I personally love and think we need more bawdy main characters, so I adored Drew. But her shaming an otherwise intelligent and respectful character over her "robotic" ness was just so disappointing to me. We literally do not need this in books, guys. Women vs women is so old and lame.- There is a part in this where she jokes with her friend about her bits (not sure if even the anatomical word is allowed on Amazon) getting ruined by childbirth. The friend then says her husband is already asking about scheduling a C section so it can all stay nice and the same. (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) I wanted to throw my Kindle. I've worked with L&D nurses my entire adult life and I will tell you, that if a father ever said some abusive sh*t like that, he'd deserve to get lit the hell up and he'd be spoken about later. That was so triggering and off putting and just plain gross - not to mention, false. Again, unnecessary. For anyone who read that and wondered if that would happen to you if and when you have children. No, it most likely will not and that was just stupid to say.That being said, I'm pointing out again that this is a 5 star read even with all that, even with how strongly I feel about the above. I loved and adored the representation of messy people working on their business, who use humor as a deflection. That, to me, was so real and wonderful. I loved that when they popped that champagne cork on finally getting together, they didn't hold back. It wasn't rushed at that point, it was realistic. They were overall such wonderful characters and the writing, pacing, and storyline was incredible. I cannot wait to read more from this author and I just pray that we don't have more petty jealousy over other women (we're better than this ladies, even those of us who are insecure or working through our crap, we do not need representation when it comes to cattiness to each other)... I'm so happy I stayed up reading this, even with those very strong feelings that surged. Happy to have seen a review that lead me in this author's direction.

The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea is a standalone, forbidden romance with connected characters from a Deal with the Devil which I loved.This book follows Drew Wilson and her ex-boyfriend musician Joel “Six” Bailey, as she does some deep soul searching while on vacation in Hawaii with his parents and his brother, Joshua, a medical doctor on leave from his service in Somalia where travel is highly discouraged. Drew knows her past relationship with Six was toxic, but he is asking for another chance and even though she is a successful pop star, she lacks confidence and struggles with self-worth, and agrees to attend the trip to see how things go...When Six is detained from joining the family for a few days as he found himself in jail, she finds herself spending time with Josh watching the sun rise and early morning runs. She only met Josh once before and was not impressed with his surly attitude. He actually hurt her feelings with a comment he made so she is very guarded when they reconnect.Josh is equally guarded and opinionated by all he has seen as a doctor in a war torn country, and as the two spend more time together, they realize they misjudged each other. Josh is everything that is opposite of his brother. He is attentive, a great listener, selfless, a family man, responsible and caring, and builds her up rather than break her down.Josh embraces all that she is, flaws and all, and isn’t aware that her relationship with Six is non-sexual as she was just trying to see if she should take him back. He never pursued her romantically thinking she was off-limits, and I loved how they formed a solid friendship first.When it came to light how she is treated by her own mother and step-father, as well as her manager, the paparazzi, and the fans who can be so heartless, you just want to give her a giant hug and tell her how very special she is. Good thing Josh was so level-headed and already on it. He wanted to know the real Drew, not the stage persona, and he made me swoon time and time again with how he protected her.This slow burn had so many surprises and was not what I was expecting, in a good way! Please know, there is absolutely no cheating, and you become very emotional as she starts to believe in herself once again and that anything is possible. As someone who felt very unloved and unappreciated, a silent voice in her own life, Josh helped Drew learn she is valued and has the power to steer her own course. But in which direction will she go? The heart wants what the heart wants, but is she strong enough to risk it all for the man she loves?I just loved her character growth throughout the entire story, and was thrilled there was a bonus epilogue that was equally thrilling and angsty, but ended with the HEA we were all hoping for.

Drew and Josh...Josh and Drew...I love them.Let me set the scene, Drew reluctantly agrees to a family vacation with her ex-boyfriend -Six in Hawaii but when she arrives she is delivered the news he won't be arriving anytime soon because he's been arrested. She then gets to be the fifth wheel as Six's parents and his brother and his girlfriend travel around the island...I should also mention Six's brother Josh seems to despise Drew for no particular reason...or so she thinks. Did I mention Drew is a Rockstar?Cue the angst and pining.As Josh and Drew navigate their way through the trip it quickly becomes apparent they have a lot more in common then either expected...and actually enjoy each others company. Once they both are honest about their situations the story really unfolds.I listened to the audiobook, it's performed in dual narration by Samantha Brentmoor and Lee Samuels. It was perfect and I feel like it truly enhance Elizabeth's words. Samantha constantly amazes me with her broad range of voices as well as the ability to convey such strong emotions, be it sarcasm, anger, sadness, euphoria, etc. Lee was phenomenal, he brought Josh to life and the many other characters he voiced. In the last several chapters they both had me sobbing.Read this whole series please.

If you have any doubt about reading this, I’m telling you right now to go for it.I love how the relationship developed and how he helped her believe in herself and go for what she wanted. God, and their banter was just * chefs kiss *.Drew is definitely a fighter and endured so much pain in her life, I felt so much for her.Josh is just the Dream man. Really, who wouldn’t want a Josh Bailey with how caring and selfless he is.Thank you Elizabeth for the perfect book. I’m excited to read more books from you.

Another amazing read in this series. I loved everything and especially all the places that we see during this book ( Hawai, Paris, Somali, etc..). I loved the way Josh is taking care of her .

4.5 stars rounded up. Excuse me if this review is just nonsensical gushing but I just can’t help it?! 😂HELLO?! Josh and Drew have me all caught in my feelings!!! UGGGGH. I liked the first book in this series well enough but I loved this one so much more! THE ANGST got me so good I think I’m gonna have to change my stance about not enjoying angst in romance because my gosh, even though they put my heart through the wringer thinking about how they’ll make things work, I loved every minute of it! The angst really only served to make their love that much stronger and made me fall even harder for their love!Drew is an international pop superstar who’s surrounded by despicable spineless POSs who control her every waking move. I hated how everyone treated her and talked so horribly about her. Not to get too personal but Drew was relatable to me in many ways and it hurt to see her make herself so small to please others and to see her accept the way people treat her because she believes she deserves nothing better. 😢 I loved how she grows and even though it takes a while and she gets treated even more horrifically along the way, she learns to fight for herself and that moment made me cheer for her so much harder! Then we have Josh—sexy, hard-shelled yet soft-hearted Dr Bailey. We stan a simp hero and my gosh, the way this man protected, stood up for and encouraged Drew to love herself made me love him so much more! 😭 He doesn't get growly about it but I loved the way he was ready to fight those who mistreated her and it didn't even come off in a macho alpha way. Mate really had me cheering for him so hard!They start off not being able to stand each other thanks to some overheard mutterings, misunderstandings and misconceptions. There's definitely an attraction there but they both assume that they aren't enough for the other. I absolutely loved the way their relationship evolves and how they allow themselves to be vulnerable and develop a strong friendship before their romance takes off. Even when they’re not on friendly terms, their energy was off the charts. When they were antagonistic toward each other, the connection and sexual chemistry were so palpable that you didn’t know whether they’d fight or have hate sex. Needless to say, it was hot! 🥵Overall, there’s very little that I didn’t enjoy about this. There were some cringe and inappropriate and extremely privileged comments about Hawaiian locals, and Somalian refugees, particularly of children that felt incredibly inappropriate? Even though these moments were 'minor' overall and they were acknowledged to be in poor taste by the characters, they felt awkwardly unnecessary. However, the chemistry, the friendship, and the soft, sweet and swoony moments made this book amazing for me. It was also great seeing Talia and Hayes again and seeing how far their relationship came from their book, and now I’m super excited to read Ben’s story next!

I read and loved A Deal with the Devil last year and fell in love with Elizabeth O’Roark’s writing. I also fell in love with Drew Wilson through the bits we saw of her and Tali together. But when she announced this book, I didn’t know I would fall so deeply in love with Drew and Josh, that I would be thinking about them for days after finishing the book. I’m not joking when I say that I had already known this book was going to be rated five stars before I was even halfway through the story. The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea is a slow burn, ex’s brother, enemies to lovers, grump x sunshine romance that is angsty and beautiful and set against the backdrop of Hawaii. How can you go wrong with all of that?Drew Wilson accepts an invite from her ex boyfriend to join him and his family on a Hawaiian holiday. Their relationship is messy and complicated and after being on and off for a while, Drew hopes that this is the final chance to really make things better. Plus, this is an escape for Drew, thanks to all the noise and scandal around her career, she needs an escape. Except, when she gets to Hawaii, she finds out that her rockstar ex has been detained in a Japanese prison and she has to spend the holiday with his family, which includes his brother Josh. Josh is a doctor, much like his father, and he’s clean cut and grumpy. He has no feelings for his brother and doesn’t really want to be on that holiday, but he’s doing this because it’s all his mother wants. He’s even sucking it up when his mother invites his ex to join them on the holiday in hopes of some rekindling. Josh is not interested and he’s definitely not hiding his disdain for Drew being there either. The last thing either of them wants is to like each other, but the more time they spend together, well…things start to change.Unlike the first book, this one has dual POV, which I loved so much. Because I’m so glad we got to see things through Josh’s eyes. Drew and Josh don’t care much for each other and they’ve never hidden their dislike before. Their banter and constantly poking at each other is so entertaining. I loved that the more intense and rude Josh got, the more Drew fought back. She’s a tough woman and I loved that about her so much. But under all of this banter and frustration, you can sense the sexual tension and the chemistry that’s brewing, which only made their constant battling so much fun. Even though it’s a ‘family’ holiday, Drew and Josh spend most of the time together on morning runs and hikes, going on walks and just constantly bumping into each other everywhere they go. Their scenes together are so great, because you can see the two of them slowly warming up to each other, while trying not to cross any lines at the same time.There are secondary storylines that are so important to the big story, and I’m not going to give too much away because it’s crucial to enjoy it at your own pace. Drew is a musician who sold her soul to her a**hole manager and has no way to get out of her contracts. She’s been through so much and she’s struggling on most days, but when she’s with Josh, everything seems to fade away. Their relationship is the most delicious slow burn, because they don’t even realise just how much they feel for each other till everything comes to head. I enjoyed watching their walls come down, the truths and secrets spill out of each other, the ease with which they fell in love and held on so tight. I loved how deeply and passionate Josh gave in to Drew, while she held onto him like her life depended on it.Every time I thought I knew what was coming, I was surprised with something else. The angst in this book is so beautifully written and the relationship, the build up and the setting so wonderfully crafted that once you start reading, you won’t be able to put the book down. I’m still thinking about Drew and Josh, their Hawaiian romance and just…everything about this book, because it left me feeling so content, but at the same time, I wanted more!