Review: BECAUSE YOU'RE MINE by Lisa Kleypas

Capital Theater #2
Historical (Victorian 1833)
Avon, an imprint of Harper Collins

Lady Madeline Matthews believes she has the perfect plan to escape the arraigned marriage her parents are planning. If she can get herself ruined everything would be fine; anything would be better than being married to Lord Clifton, even being shunned by society. When she sees a print of the devilishly handsome actor, Logan Scott, Madeline knows who she is going to engage her ruinous affair with, now if she can only entice him into a liaison, things will be perfect...or will they? 

 

Logan Scott had enough on his plate being the owner of the Capital Theater, along with being the leading male actor, without having to dodge the naïve yet enticing Madeline. But can he keep his stern disciplined life under control, or will he be distracted by the lovely Madeline?

*****

This book has had a long standing spot on my keeper shelves, I have reread it A LOT throughout the years, and I'm sure I will read many more times in the future, as it is one of my go to comfort reads. It is always a pleasure to revisit Logan and Madeline. I love the passion and the angst that flows between these pages. Madeline is very naïve, but she is just what the jaded Logan needs. I love seeing her tantalize and push Logan who does his surly best behave, but of course he eventually succumbs to her innocent charms.

BECAUSE YOU'RE MINE is one of those stories that takes me through a whole range of emotions. I was brought to tears as I hated seeing the emotional suffering each of them went through, and Logan was hateful to Madeline for a brief period. But there was also smiles and laughter as I read this book. And most importantly was the very satisfactory end Ms. Kleypas took me to.

Lisa Kleypas is an auto-buy for me, no matter what genre she is writing. I absolutely adore her historicals, but her contemporaries are on the top of my list of favorites also. I'm eagerly awaiting her next book, RAINSHADOW ROAD, the first book in her new series, though it's the second book taking place in Friday Harbor with the Nolan brothers.

Rating: 5

Review: SCANDAL OF THE YEAR by Olivia Drake

Heiress in London #3

Historical Romance (Regency)

St. Martins Press

352 pages

Release: March 2011

Blythe Compton knows that if she can marry a duke she will guarantee her parents a strong social position. But when she meets the family's dashing new servant, she can't seem to remember why she ever wanted to marry so high.

 

James Ryding is determined to discover whether or not he's been robbed of his inheritance. Integrating himself into the Compton household as a servant, he sets out to prove that Blythe's parents are frauds. But what he doesn't count on is the deep feelings he acquires for her.

*****

I found it difficult to dredge up any passion for SCANDAL OF THE YEAR. The whole plot line just seemed to fall flat and neither James nor Blythe appealed to me. James was very arrogant and sure of himself, I know, so are most romance novel hero's, but he was supposed to be acting like a servant. I just never felt a connection with him, nor with Blythe, who I found to be a twit. She was an aspiring social climber, whose only real thought was that if she could marry well in the British aristocracy, she would ensure her parents a high place in society. I felt that the characters really lacked any depth, coming off as one dimensional.

The whole mystery of whether or not the Compton's were impostors wasn't even that interesting. Of course I wanted to find out, but it just seemed that most of the investigating took place off-scene. I was surprised that James wasn't more involved in the actually searching. Sure there were a few moments where he searched some spots, but nothing intense. All in all this was a very mediocre read for me.

Rating 3/5

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