#CBR5 Book 43. "Love in the Afternoon" by Lisa Kleypas

Page count: 336 pages
Rating: 4 stars

Finally the time has come for Beatrix Hathaway's book. Of all the peculiar and eccentric Hathaway siblings, Beatrix is possibly the freest spirit, the one most unorthodox and unlikely to fit comfortably into the staid norms of polite Victorian society.  She rescues strays and injured animals and nurses them back to health, and if they can't be released back into the wild, then she adopts them as pets, to the mixed amusement and frustration of the rest of her family. Her mischievous ferret was partially responsible for the match her sister Poppy made with Harry Rutledge, and somewhat instrumental in the romance of her governess Catherine Marks and her older brother Leo, as well. Sensitive, philosophical and with a deep love of animals, Beatrix has always been able to charm men, but she is not what they would consider a good marriage prospect.

So Beatrix has pretty much resigned herself that she will become the spinster aunt, when she overhears her friend Prudence complaining about the dull letters from her suitor, Captain Christopher Phelan. One of the handsomest and most eligible gentlemen in Hampshire, Captain Phelan has been called off to fight the war in Crimea. Prudence finds his letters deathly dull, and being a vivacious and attractive beauty, she has many more suitors available to her at home. She has no real intention of writing a reply to Christopher. Beatrix, despite the fact that she overheard Christopher dismissing her as fit only for the stables at a picnic (a comment Prudence saw fit to share with as many people as possible, ensuring that most of the county knew about it too), realises that someone has to write to the brave young man, to comfort him in the hell he's living. She convinces Prudence to let her write a reply, then they'll sign Prudence's name to it, and no one will be the wiser.

Of course, Beatrix and Christopher's correspondence doesn't end with the one letter.  It's clear that the letters are the only bright spots in Christopher's life, and Beatrix can't make herself stop writing, even when she is forced to admit that she's falling in love with him. She finally makes herself to stop, hating that she is deceiving him. Of course, then the war ends, and Christopher comes home, broken in spirit, to find that his beloved older brother has died, leaving him his wealthy grandfather's only heir. He's determined to find Prudence and figure out why her last letter was so cryptic. Why does his widowed sister-in-law keep suggesting he reconsider his opinions about the strange Beatrix Hathaway?

When it comes to romance heroes, many of them are brooding and tortured in some way or other. There is usually only so many ways to explain why they are tortured. In Harry Rutledge's case, it's cause he had a truly awful childhood. On the odd occasion, it's cause some woman did them wrong, or they've lost everyone they loved previously under tragic circumstances,  but the most common cause of tortured heroes in romance is PTSD. They are former war heroes, always excellent soldiers and commanders, who went through hell on Earth while in battle, and now return to face the real world, where no one truly understands what they've gone through. I've seen this story done dreadfully badly, and I've seen it done well. This is definitely one of the best depictions of coaxing a shell shocked war hero back into a semblance of a normal life.

It helps that Beatrix is used to injured and frightened animals, who can't communicate in the same way as humans. When Christopher returns from battle, accompanied by his trusty, but badly behaved terrier, Beatrix treats him the way she would any skittish and traumatised animal. Having shared a tiny part of what he's gone through by reading his letters, she is deeply aware of how hard it is for him to return to Hampshire, where everyone wants to laud him as a conquering hero, and he can only dwell on the many men that he killed, and the comrades he frequently failed to save. There is of course the added complication that she's madly in love with him, and while terrified at how he'll react if he knows she wrote all the letters, she's also worried sick that he'll actually believe the vain and selfish Prudence wrote them, and marry her before he learns the truth.

I really enjoyed Beatrix and Christopher's romance, and a less talented writer would probably have inserted a lot more unnecessary drama into the situation before it was satisfyingly resolved. That's not to say that the road to their HEA is a a smooth and easy one, but the obstacles in their way are realistic ones, that they deal with together. There is no insta-fix here as soon as they acknowledge their feelings for each other. Beatrix has always been used to doing her own thing and having her own way, without having to answer to everyone. Her family have never forced her to give up on anything she enjoyed or stop doing things just because they might be seen as inappropriate. She's never had to compromise, and certainly never consider the feelings of a person who hasn't known her most of her life. Both Beatrix and Christopher have to grow and adapt to fit comfortably with each other, and it's so satisfying to see them manage it. Another highly recommended historical romance, and more evidence as to why Lisa Kleypas is one of the greats.

#CBR5 Book 42. "Married by Morning" by Lisa Kleypas

Page count: 352 pages
Rating: 4 stars

WARNING! This book, being the fourth in the Hathaway series, contains certain spoilers for the third book in series, Tempt Me at Twilight. If you want to avoid them, skip this review until you've read that book, which you should go do right now, because it's excellent!

For nearly three years, the secretive Miss Catherine Marks has been the governess and companion of the two youngest Hathaway sisters. As the family is unorthodox and eccentric, and two of the sisters have married Gypsies, it's not the easiest task in the world for Miss Marks to instruct the girls on suitable behaviour, attire and conversation topics. She's grateful for the safety and comfort the position provides, but lives in fear that one day the dark secrets of her past will come out, and she'll be forced to leave them. The only fly in the ointment is Leo Hathaway, Lord Ramsey, a carefree and dissolute rake who takes great pleasure in needling and teasing her every time they meet. Lately, the teasing and barbs have changed in nature, though, and it seems as if there may be more than mutual loathing between the two of them.

Leo Hathaway never expected to become a Viscount, but when a distant cousin of the family died, he inherited the title and a large estate in Hampshire. After his fiancee died in the same scarlet fever epidemic that also nearly killed him and his sister Win, he became inconsolable, and spent several years drinking himself into a stupor or drugging himself into a laudanum haze. In time, the care and affection of his family helped him recover his spirits, and together with his brothers-in-law he worked to turn the ramshackle Ramsey estate into a prosperous enterprise. While not quite as scandalous and dissolute anymore, he's in no hurry to marry and settle down, until his family inform him that there was a condition in the former Viscount's will, stating that Leo has to marry and produce an heir before the end of his first five years as Lord Ramsey, or the Hathaways will lose a large part of the estate, including the house they've worked so painstakingly to restore and turn into a home.

After Leo observed the always proper Miss Marks in the garden with his new brother-in-law Harry Rutledge, in what was clearly an intense, and intimate conversation, they have a heated argument that ends in a passionate kiss. Catherine seems determined that they never speak of it again, but Leo can't get the governess out of his mind. So when his family inform him he has to find an eligible young lady to marry soon, he flippantly suggests he'd rather marry Miss Marks. After kissing her, however, he starts to get more and more comfortable with the idea of spending the rest of his life with her. Of course, he has to convince Catherine first, and that proves more difficult once a figure from her past returns, threatening to reveal who she really is.

In the earlier books, it becomes clear that the prim and proper Miss Marks has dark secrets, and that she's clearly hiding from something. In Tempt Me at Twilight, it was revealed not only that Catherine dyes her shiny, blond hair a dull brown, and spends a lot of time making herself look as plain and unattractive as possible, but that she's the younger half sister of Harry Rutledge, the wealthy and powerful hotelier that marries Poppy Hathaway. In this book, we finally find out exactly what nature her dark past takes, and what unpleasantness Harry rescued her from when she was fifteen.

Any reader who reads the Hathaway series in sequence, can see from pretty much Leo and Cat's first meeting that they are meant to end up together. Two characters who loathe each other quite so much, and spend so much time sniping at each other, are clearly meant to fall madly in love. In the previous book, their arguing was more like banter than biting snark, and in the epilogue, it became clear that something had happened to change their relationship further. That something is the kiss which takes place after Catherine and Harry finally have a chat about their estrangement, and settle into a more comfortable sibling relationship.

Once the truth about Cat's past is revealed, it's more obvious to the reader why she took such an instant dislike to Leo, whose public persona is that of a lazy, carefree rake, happily seducing women left, right and centre. As she sees him interacting with his family, and all the hard work he puts into improving his estate and bettering the lives of his tenants, she can't entirely dismiss him as a useless fop. Because of her upbringing, Cat has learned to distrust men, especially those bent on seduction. She's never really known the warmth and affection of a real family before she came to work for the Hathaways. She's terrified that her past will be revealed, and that the ensuing scandal will tarnish their already patchy reputation irreparably. Of course all of her worries are laid to rest, and the couple eventually whether all their challenges to find their happy ending.

I very much enjoyed seeing Leo's determined wooing once he made up his mind that Catherine was the only wife he wanted. His interactions with Harry Rutledge were fun in the last book, and are even better here. It's also lovely to see more of Harry and Poppy, who have now settled comfortably into marriage. One of my favourite things about this series is seeing the continued relationships of the Hathaway siblings whose stories were told in the earlier books. It's also why I'd recommend reading the books in sequence.

#CBR5 Book 41. "Tempt Me by Twilight" by Lisa Kleypas

Page count: 384 pages
Rating: 4.5 stars

Poppy Hathaway is the second youngest of the Hathaway siblings, and frequently wishes that her family weren't quite so unconventional and colourful. When her sister's pet ferret runs off with one of her love letters, while her family are staying at the fashionable Rutledge hotel, she is desperate to retrieve it, so the truth of her secret courtship with the promising young isn't revealed. She runs into Harry Rutledge, the enigmatic, powerful and reclusive owner of the hotel, who seems amuse and intrigued by her predicament.

While Harry may be a highly eligible bachelor, he hasn't seriously considered marriage until he meets Poppy. It doesn't take many meetings before he decides that he wants to have her, though, and he will use any trick necessary to win her, even if it means fighting very dirty indeed. Soon Poppy finds herself jilted by her gentle suitor, whose father has found out about their hopes, and not long after finds herself very publicly compromised by Harry Rutledge, who of course promises to marry her (despite assurances from her family that they'll weather the scandal and she needn't marry anyone at all), and give her everything she could have hoped or dreamed of. Except closeness and affection, as these are things Harry himself have never experienced either.

[book:Tempt Me at Twilight|6264710] is by far my favourite of the five books in this series. Harry is a wonderful anti-hero, almost, but not quite rivalling [author:Lisa Kleypas|27847]' most wonderful villainous hero, Sebastian St. Vincent in [book:Devil in Winter|114166]. Harry is ruthless, manipulative and brilliant, not caring one bit if he has to break Poppy's heart in order to win her hand. Successful at pretty much everything he turns his hand to, with a small army of extremely loyal staff, he get what he wants, through any means necessary. Poppy discovers the full extent to his perfidy shortly before she is about to walk down the aisle, but chooses to marry him anyway. Of course, she swears she'll never love him, but we all know how likely that is, right?

Of course, Harry is such a cold-hearted villain because his mother left him when he was four, and his father treated him like dirt. Having devoted himself completely to his work since he was old enough to strike out for himself, Harry is completely unprepared for what it's like to share his personal space with a wife, especially one who's used to a close, supportive and loving family. She completely refuses to listen to him when he forbids her to befriend the hotel staff and treat them more like friends than employees.

The main plot is obviously concerned with how Harry and Poppy find a way to make their marriage work, and a very enjoyable read, it is, but there is also a sub-plot involving the younger Hathaway sisters' governess, the mysterious Miss Marks, who has some sort of connection to Harry Rutledge (she's extremely against the match, and determined that Poppy not marry him). The antagonistic relationship between Leo Hathaway and Miss Marks seem to be escalating as the book goes on, and the epilogue makes it clear that they are the couple to find love in the next book. The only reason I'm not giving this book five stars is because Kleypas insists on inserting a really unnecessary kidnapping plot towards the end of the book, where Poppy has to work with her brother and the various hotel employees to rescue her husband from a nefarious scheme. While it was nice that the heroine gets to be the rescuer, for a change, the episode brings nothing further to the story, and I think the book would have been better off without it.

#CBR5 Book 40. "Seduce Me at Sunrise" by Lisa Kleypas

Page count: 384 pages
Rating: 2.5 stars

Kev Merripen has loved Winnifred "Win" Hathaway since the first time he saw her, when her eccentric family took him in after the Gypsy tribe his uncle was the leader of left him injured and dying. Having been trained to fight anything and anyone, and been treated no better than a vicious dog, Merripen is hostile and distrustful at first, but the care and kindness of the various Hathaways, especially Win, ensures that the family have his undying loyalty. As the years go by, everyone in the family know that Merripen and Win love each other, but their feelings go unspoken, mainly because Merripen is convinced that Win is far too good for him, and he would harm her if he was with her.

Before Win goes to France with her brother Leo (now a Viscount after a distant cousin died and left Leo the only heir) to France to a health clinic (having never recovered entirely from a bout of scarlet fever that killed Leo's fiancee which sent him into a destructive grief spiral), she tries to confront Merripen. They kiss, but he sends her away, heart-broken. She returns two years later, healthy and more beautiful than ever. Merripen has become cold and bitter, having used all his energies into getting the Hathaway estate into shape. He's not happy to see that Win has brought along the handsome and charming doctor who runs the clinic, and who seems quite determined to marry her, if she'll have him.

This is the second of the books in the Hathaway series, which each deal with one of the five Hathaway siblings. I read the first one, Mine Till Midnight, last year, but didn't review it. While the books in no way require you to have read the others, the story progresses throughout the series, and the characters keep recurring in each other's books. In this case, having the heroine in the previous book, the eldest Hathaway sister, Amelia, and her now husband, the half-Gypsy Cam Rohan, as well as the rakish Leo Hathaway as such prominent recurring characters, is probably what made me bother finishing this book at all, because Win and Merripen - I couldn't care less.

Their angsty relationship, with Merripen's haughty faux-Heathcliff brooding bored the socks off me. He and Win keep confronting each other, kissing passionately, then swearing off each other again and again and again throughout the book. The supposed mysterious family origins of both Cam and Merripen, despite the fact that they are both Gypsies, and both have the exact same tattoo (that is very unusual and that no one else they talk to seems to have come across on anyone else EVER) was another tedious sub-plot, and the reveal that SPOILER... they turn out to be brothers (gasp!) is something I called in the previous book, when it was first revealed that they both had the blasted tattoo in the first place. The further reveal in this book of who their father really was, and what they stand to inherit from him just made me roll my eyes more.

There's also a third sub-plot involving the sort of love triangle with the handsome doctor. He's never really set up as a proper rival, as it's quite clear that Win loves only Merripen, and as soon as she and her family can get it into his thick skull that they're meant to be together, it's clear that the doctor will have to go bye bye. But they have to complicate things with sinister rumours about him maybe killing his first wife, and a preposterous poisoning plot (although this leads to Win honest to God setting fire to a wardrobe with the doctor locked inside to get him to confess, which was insane, but sort of fun).

I would highly recommend anyone thinking of reading the Hathaway series to just skip this book entirely. In the later books, Merripen and Win are married. It's not worth suffering through the angst and drama to see how they got there, just move along to another Hathaway sibling instead.