Sunday, October 11, 2009

Tempt Me At Twilight by Lisa Kleypas

Okay, so this is the British cover, but I absolutely love it. Why do they get such classy covers while the States is stuck with pictures of half-naked women?

Tempt Me at Twilight is the third book of the Hathaways series. Both Amelia and Win ended up marrying their Romany lovers, so this story focuses on the story of Poppy.

Poppy is in her third season in London and is expecting a proposal from long-time suitor Michael Bayning. Gentle and conventional, Michael is everything Poppy wanted in a husband. What she didn't count on was that her unconventional family was a mark against her and the appeal she held for Harry Rutledge, the owner of the most successful hotel in London.

Rutledge, whose common past has pushed him to strive for excellence, would do anything to have Poppy, including ruining her chances with Bayning. But is marriage enough for Poppy?

As in all of Lisa Kleypas's books, I really enjoy her characterization. She rarely falls back on relying on the peerage to fill her books, instead mostly choosing more common characters. Her favorite time period is the Victorian period, where the middle class was rising due to the opportunities the Industrial Revolution afforded those willing to take advantage of it. I love her characters.

Where the book falls flat is with the plot. Kleypas's stories are very character-driven, but she also throws in a bit of mystery into each book. Sadly, this one fell flat. The villain was weak and not apparent until 3/4s of the way through the book. I didn't buy it at all.

B. Characters were great, but the plot holes were distracting.

2 comments:

The romantic query letter and the happy-ever-after said...

Love Lisa Kleypas, the UK cover and your blog. I will visit often now I've found your blog.
All the very best,
Simone

Christine said...

I love how she doesn't write during the Regency period. I'm over it. :) She's an auto-buy for me long after I've dumped other authors.