Scandal in Spring (2006)
Lisa Kleypas
Rating: 2/5
At first I was disappointed that this was about Cam. Hadn’t he been groping her in the book I just read in this series. By the end of the third chapter, however, I had decided I like Matthew for Daisy better.
I think I would have enjoyed this more if I had read the first book in the series (or may be the first two for that matter). As it was I wanted to slap Lillian for the majority of this book and it wasn’t even about her, so I don’t think I’ll be reading her story any time soon. Anyway, my point was, that if I knew more about her or was invested in her character in anyway, I may have understood why she was so selfish and controlling and mostly mean.
After spending three London seasons searching for a husband, Daisy Bowman's father has told her in no uncertain terms that she must find a husband. Now. And if Daisy can't snare an appropriate suitor, she will marry the man he chooses—the ruthless and aloof Matthew Swift.
Daisy is horrified. A Bowman never admits defeat, and she decides to do whatever it takes to marry someone . . . anyone . . . other than Matthew. But she doesn't count on Matthew's unexpected charm . . . or the blazing sensuality that soon flares beyond both their control. And Daisy discovers that the man she has always hated just might turn out to be the man of her dreams.
But right at the moment of sweet surrender, a scandalous secret is uncovered . . . one that could destroy both Matthew and a love more passionate and irresistible than Daisy's wildest fantasies.
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Book two-eighty: Scandal in Spring
Book two-seventy-six: Devil in Winter
Devil in Winter (2006)
Lisa Kleypas
Rating: 3.5/5
I really enjoyed this. I thought it started at just the right place: with her asking him to marry her. No boring background or build up or prologue. It started at the start of the story and I was sucked into the story straight away.
Also, I pretty much laughed at anything Sebastian said.
A devil's bargain
Easily the shyest Wallflower, Evangeline Jenner stands to become the wealthiest, once her inheritance comes due. Because she must first escape the clutches of her unscrupulous relatives, Evie has approached the rake Viscount St. Vincent with a most outrageous proposition: marriage!
Sebastian's reputation is so dangerous that thirty seconds alone with him will ruin any maiden's good name. Still, this bewitching chit appeared, unchaperoned, on his doorstep to offer her hand. Certainly an aristocrat with a fine eye for beauty could do far worse.
But Evie's proposal comes with a condition: no lovemaking after their wedding night. She will never become just another of the dashing libertine's callously discarded broken hearts -- which means Sebastian will simply have to work harder at his seductions...or perhaps surrender his own heart for the very first time in the name of true love.
Finished: Friday 25/1/08
Monday, October 8, 2007
Book one-eighty: Where Dreams Begin
Where Dreams Begin (2000)
Lisa Kleypas
Rating: 1/5
The heroine was so annoying. There was no conflict apart from that created by her annoyingness.
Also, the end drags way on past the point where I cared.
Zachary Bronson has built an empire of wealth and power -- now he needs a wife to help secure his position in society...and warm his bed in private. But not just any woman will do for a man whom all of London knows is not a gentleman. Then he unexpectedly swept Lady Holly Taylor into his arms for an unasked for -- but very alluring -- kiss, and suddenly he knew he had found a woman whose fierce passions matched his own.
Lady Holly Taylor was beautiful, generous, and, as a widow, destined to spend her life playing by society's rules, even when they went against her bolder instincts. But Zachary's kiss had aroused her, and though the shocking offer he made didn't include marriage, she was compelled to risk everything and follow him to the place where dreams begin.
Finished: Sunday 30/9
Sunday, September 30, 2007
Book one-sixty-six: Because You’re Mine
Because You’re Mine (1997)
Lisa Kleypas
Rating: 2.5/5
Pretty good. It does drag on for quite awhile, but at least its not all about one week of their lives.
Because the Dream...
Young, high-spirited Lady Madeline Matthews is expected to wed an aging, lecherous lord. But she would rather shame herself in the eyes of society than sacrifice her freedom, and resolves to render herself unmarriageable by indulging in a torrid affair with Britain's most acclaimed actor and notorious womanizer, Logan Scott.
Because the Heart...
He is legend in the footlights and in the bedchamber. But when the curtain falls, Logan is an intensely private, guarded man still tormented by past betrayals that cut deep into his pride and his heart. Now a forward little minx who seems completely out of place in the bright, sophisticated world of the London stage is disrupting his orderly existence with her constant presence, her unspoiled beauty and vibrant charm. And what begins with an onstage kiss threatens to blossom into something more rapturous and real. But first Logan and Madeline both must drop the masks they hide behind...and reveal their true selves in the golden glorious light of love.
Because You're Mine
Finished: Saturday 15/9 more...
Book one-sixty-one: Only with Your Love
Only with Your Love (1992)
Lisa Kleypas
Rating: 2/5
All right, but it did kind of drag on for a bit. And Giffin was quite mean. Very mean most of the time, actually.
The newlywed bride of a Creole aristocrat, Celia Vallerand prays for deliverance from the blood thirsty brigands who abducted her from a New Orleans-bound schooner.
Though she believes her beloved husband slain and despairs for her own life, the shy French beauty fears above all the dashing privateer who pays a king's ransom to claim her ... and boldly risks capture to possess her.
The most notorious pirate of the open seas, he is called "the Griffin" — a rugged and powerful renegade who arouses within Celia desires as dangerous as they are irresistible. But the magnificent adventurer is a man trapped in a perilous deception-and he guards a shocking secret that could deny him the love of the gossamer-haired enchantress who stirs his manly passions and enslaves his heart.
Finished: Tuesday 11/9
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Book one-hundred-and-fifty-nine: Dreaming of You
Dreaming of You (1994)
Lisa Kleypas
Rating: 3/5
I always see blurbs by Lisa Kleypas on everything, so I t thought it was time I tried reading something of hers.
It was good. Very good. The “bad boy” was actually bad. And he continued to be bad. Throughout the whole story. Shocking stuff.
In the shelter of her country cottage, Sara Fielding puts pen to paper to create dreams. But curiosity has enticed the prim, well-bred gentlewoman out of her safe haven -- and into Derek Craven's dangerous world.
A handsome, tough and tenacious Cockney, he rose from poverty to become lord of London's most exclusive gambling house -- a struggle that has left Derek Craven fabulously wealthy, but hardened and suspicious. And now duty demands he allow Sara Fielding into his world -- with her impeccable manners and her infuriating innocence. But here, in a perilous shadow-realm of ever-shifting fortunes, even a proper "mouse" can be transformed into a breathtaking enchantress -- and a world-weary gambler can be shaken to his cynical core by the power of passion...and the promise of love.
Finished: Thursday 6/9