Thursday, February 18, 2016

Book Review: Tempt me at Twilight by Lisa Kleypas

Tempt me at Twilight by Lisa Kleypas
First Published: 2009
Kindle Bundle
Adult, Historical Romance
Rating:
He was everything she'd sworn to avoid.
Poppy Hathaway loves her unconventional family, though she longs for normalcy. Then fate leads to a meeting with Harry Rutledge, an enigmatic hotel owner and inventor with wealth, power, and a dangerous hidden life. When their flirtation compromises her own reputation, Poppy shocks everyone by accepting his proposal—only to find that her new husband offers his passion, but not his trust.
And she was everything he needed.
Harry was willing to do anything to win Poppy—except to open his heart. All his life, he has held the world at arm’s length…but the sharp, beguiling Poppy demands to be his wife in every way that matters. Still, as desire grows between them, an enemy lurks in the shadows. Now if Harry wants to keep Poppy by his side, he must forge a true union of body and soul, once and for all...
When I started Tempt me at Twilight I was slightly disappointed to learn this was the story of Poppy, the third Hathaway sister. To me, Poppy was the least appealing Hathaway in the first two books, simply because she seemed pretty boring.

The Poppy I discovers in Tempt me at Twilight ended up being my favorite part of the novel. She was just... so great. She was brave. She didn't back down. She sees the best in everyone. She's exceptionally kind, but that won't stop her from telling some harsh truths. She is no doormat!

Then there's Harry. While I was compelled by him from the first moment, I can't say I liked him initially. His manipulative ways left a sour taste in my mouth, partly because he saw nothing wrong with them but mostly because I couldn't quite understand why Poppy brought it out of him. 

Sure, she's delightful - she's smart and inquisitive and all what I said before, but he knew her for mere minutes when he decided he wanted her. Needed her. Would "sell" the last parts of his humanity to have her.

Why?

This was a little too insta-love for my liking on that aspect. I would've liked for them to have had more talks, more interactions, before Harry decided on her so completely. Or at all, for that matter. And after they had married, I would've loved for more of those sweet small moments that explained why he (and she!) fell in love. That explained the change in Harry, which was fun to watch but done a little too quickly and drastically to be completely realistic.

They were there, it just... they weren't exactly enough.

Despite these, they were a really cute couple. I mean, really. They were funny and baffled and interesting and I just loved their interactions; how she was constantly a thing of marvel to him, how she found him both hateful and yet impossible to hate, because there was just something behind his eyes that spoke of a different story. How she made him better and he made her more daring. Made her appreciate the peculiarities of her family. Of their love.

Not to mention the hotel crew surrounding them was simply delightful. I would love for a spin-off series for Valentine, the Chef and possibly more eccentric hotel personals that we don't know yet. Make it happen, Kleypas!

So, a bit of tweaking here and there would have made this a full round four star, but in all honesty I enjoyed this greatly anyways. 

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