
Devil in Winter
Lisa Kleypas · 2006
The "reluctant hero" romance distilled to its essence. Sebastian St. Vincent, villain of the previous book, marries Evie Jenner in a marriage of convenience and is humanized by having to actually love someone. Kleypas writes his gradual transformation with real psychological intelligence; by the end, readers who despised him are weeping for him.
Romance · the Pro canon
The case for it, the case against, and the rest of the canon open with Pro.