Loved Kleypas and Sands, as usual. The other two stories were pretty good, too. (3.5 stars) ( )

Loved Kleypas and Sands, as usual. The other two stories were pretty good, too. (3.5 stars) ( )

4/14/14

I WILL

This is a very good novella. It could have been a great novel. I love a story were love reforms a dissolute rake into a caring and compassionate man, of course, that man has to have the predisposition to being caring and compassionate hidden in his soul somewhere for a transformation to occur. Andrew, Lord Drake, has been on a downward spiral for a long time, probably his entire adult life. He is determined to show his father that he is as bad as his father thinks he is and can get worse. When his dying father inherits Andrew it is a wake up call for Andrew to change the way he acts or lose the family fortune. His scheme backfires on him though. The proper Miss that he picks to fulfill the role of prospective wife is more than she seems. It is funny to watch Andrew come to realize that Caroline Hargreaves is just the woman that will make him want to be a better man. This is where the story could have been great. It would have been nice to see the courtship progress and read the banter between the two as they get to know each other. Andrew does show that he can be a caring landlord, a loving man and a good friend. I loved seeing him and Logan Scott, Andrew’s half-brother, interact with each other. By the end of the story I had come to love Andrew and was glad that he had found someone that would care for him.

Caroline is a bluestocking and spinster. She would like to have a husband and family but she has never met that man that she wants to spend her life with. Caroline loves to garden and read which I am sure would make a lot of men uncomfortable in this time period. She isn’t happy about being part of Andrew’s scheme but to save her brother and mother she agrees. She is so confused by her attraction to Andrew at first. I am sure she thought she had lost her mind. Caroline seems to see more to Andrew than anyone else does. Her quite calmness hides a passionate and sometimes reckless nature. She takes some risks that I had not expected of her. I liked Caroline and was glad that she was willing to fight for Andrew.

This is a wonderful example of Ms. Kleypas's writing style. She writes some of the most enjoyable characters. For the most part they are likable, never bitchy and draw the reader into the unfolding story. I love her work and she continues to be a must buy author. ( )

This was ok. I enjoyed two stories, skimmed one of them (it's hard to enjoy a story when you really, really don't like the heroine), and quite liked the last. So, pretty much a standard collection of romance short stories. ( )

As with most anthologies, this one is uneven. The Lisa Kleypas story is good, and I really liked the Lisa Cach story despite the hasty ending. This one has the most interesting premise and characters who will stick with you the longest, IMO. The last two stories are good enough but nothing to rave about, by any means. I read them willingly enough, but I couldn't remember the plot of either one a few days later without re-reading a few pages. ( )