Customer Rating:  
Summary: My first Kleypas disappointment
Comment: I am a big Lisa Kleypas fan and have read most of her books. However, this one was a big disappointment. I was enjoying the story but somehow it just fizzled about mid-way and never pulled me back in.
If this is your first Kleypas book and you were less than thrilled, be sure to read others. We are all entitled to a hiccup and I'm sure that is the case with this book.
Customer Rating:
Summary: A Romance Novel starring an entire family - not quite what I was looking for
Comment: Let me state that this was the first book I've ever read by Miss Kleypas, so I can in no way comment on how this book compares to her previous works as some other reviewers have done.
What drew me to this book was the description - I admit to a weakness with the 'bad boy' outsider and the prim and proper lady in romances. However, this book didn't quite give me what I was expecting from the description.
What I was expecting was this sizzling, erotic read. What I got was the adventures of a loving family in crisis with some lip service to romance.
The heroine has a ne'er do well brother (but he's this way because his true love died), a sickly sister, another sister who steals things, and one final sister who is worldly beyond her years, and the heroine is trying desperately to keep her family together after their parents death. In addition to this there is a manservant/ unofficial brother who has more than brotherly feelings towards one of the sisters, an assortment of odd pets, a ramshackle estate in desperate need of repair and tenants who are looking to her (or at least her brother) to help them. Add this all up, and it's a wonder there is any time for our hero to show his face.
I tried to think of a delicate way to put this, but I just have to be blunt. The only reason the hero seems interested in the heroine is because if he wasn't, there would be no romance novel - which I hate to say because I actually like the heroine, but as a romantic partner, there is zilch there to go with. There is no subtlety, no tension to their courtship. They seem to just be going through the expected romance novel motions, with the appropriate number of separations and declarations that they shouldn't be together, until of course they sleep with each other.
The ending is just a complete mess, with emphasis on everything but romance - fires, family near death, a villian that came out of left field and some weird supernatural twist that in no way belonged in this book.
I must also respectfully disagree with the reviewers who say this book is in any way sizzling or erotic. True, there are depictions of sexual acts in this book, but because there wasn't any true build-up or tension between the h/h, it was really just more words. I actually just skimmed these scenes because I didn't feel any connection or heat between the leads.
Finally, I do have to say this. I am not one to demand strict historical accuracy in my romance novels. However, I found the heroine's very modern attitude slightly hard to swallow. The author tried to justify this (heroine was going to remain a spinster, she wasn't in society often, she was around people who were liberal in their attitudes, etc.) but it was just a little too jarring, especially for someone who was supposed to be sensible and proper. I do admit that if I wasn't overall disappointed in areas that I mentioned above, this probably would not have niggled at me as much as it did.
I liked the characters, I really did. I found the writing style to certainly be above average, and overall, if I had to pick one word to describe this book, it would be 'warm'. I felt great affection for this family, and I enjoyed spending time with them. If I was picking up a novel to read about a family drama with large amounts of romance and adventure, I would have been satisfied. However, when I picked up this book, it was with the expectation of a sizzling hot romance, and the book in no way lived up to this expectation.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Poor Rohan!
Comment: This was the first book of Kleypas that I read. The reviews made me buy it. Oh boy, was I disappointed. I did not like the heroine. She seemed too bossy and domineering with her family and with Rohan. And enough already about all the family problems. It seemed that the heroine just went from one family crisis to another. I understand that the author is setting the stage for a series, but I felt that she spent way too much time developing the characters of the siblings for future books, in addition to bringing the reader up to speed on three couples from the wallflowers series, that the actual romance between Rohan and Amelia was never really given the time it deserved. The romance between the two was almost an aside, a back story to the rest. I didn't believe her reason for rejecting his suite. Okay, he's a gypsy. But he was kind, dependable, smart, gifted and did so much to help her all the time! The man was there for her every single time she was having to deal with a crisis with one of her troublesome siblings. If he wasn't supporting her through it all, he was stepping in to fix it for her. She obviously had some strong feelings for the guy if she'd run off to sleep with him like she did. Remember, this is the Victorian age, not the modern age. And then when he asks her to marry him--she can't-not because she doesn't love him, but because she doesn't want to give up her independence? Gimme a break, please. I'd fall for Rohan in a heartbeat. I felt he deserved a better love interest, one who would appreciate him more than she did. She seemed to use him a lot, treat him like her other gypsy servant, Merripen. Amelia seemed to be looking down her nose at the poor guy even while she was sleeping with him, and I did not like the way she treated him most of the time. All in all, it's a good start to an interesting family series. I plan to read about the other siblings, but I do hope future installments have a stronger romance between the main couple of the book and less about the support characters. If not, I won't get past the second book.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Lisa Kleypas kicks off another great series!
Comment: Setting: London and Hampshire county, England, 1848
Sensuality rating: 8.5 (well-written sexual tension, multiple love scenes)
Just read Mine Till Midnight (The Hathaways, Book 1) for the second time, since I had wanted to refresh myself on the Hathway family before starting the second book in the series, Seduce Me at Sunrise (The Hathaways, Book 2). I loved it as much as the first time I read it. Lisa Kleypas is definitely one of the most talented (if not THE most talented) historical romance authors out there.
I absolutely loved the entire Hathaway family and reading about them makes you want to be part of the group. Amelia and Cam's relationship was very authentic (scenes to make your heart melt and toes curl!) and they were both very well thought out and well-written characters. Cam was wonderful: mysterious, possessive, loving, tender, intelligent, has a sense of humor, and I could go on and on. Amelia was also great (and we know how we're usually more critical of the female characters). She's a strong and independent woman, always trying to take care of and manage her family (sometimes to excess and their annoyance). She is loving, smart, and sweet, and finds in Cam a person whom she can finally let her guard down with.
CRITICISMS:
The insertion of a "bad guy" was unnecessary and did not add to the story in any way. I also was not a fan of the supernatural element of Laura's ghost or spirit or whatever it was (very light, so don't let that put you off).
BOTTOM LINE:
Read it right away and then read #2 in the series. I can't wait for #3!!
Customer Rating:
Summary: LIKE EATING A PUDDING PIE.
Comment: LISA KLEYPAS BOOKS ARE ENJOYED LIKE EATING A PUDDING PIE, PLEASENT FEELING LEAVE US WHILE ENJOYING HER STORIES.
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