Lisa Kleypas, Dreaming of You Reviews

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Good Points: The romance (including the love scenes) does not merely encompass the physical realm, as with many other romances (especially in the beginnings of such novels). Here, the romance is deeply rooted in emotion.

Bad Points: Occasionally stilted dialogue--usually when a character is interrupted by their thoughts, or what they're feeling.

General comments: In Lisa Kleypas's previous novel, "Then Came You," readers were introduced to Derek Craven: Cockney gaming club owner, with a mountain of fortune, as well as a guard that he lets ... more down for *very* few people. Refusing himself the prospect of love, Derek's existence has actually been quite lonely. Choosing lust over any true feelings, the pinnacle of his long list of past paramours is Lady Joyce Ashby, a married noblewoman who is rather debauched in nature, and is drawn to Derek's sullen, sexual nature. It takes a lot for Derek to feel at all depraved, but in Joyce he finally knows the limits of his soul, and ends the relationship--unconscious of the fact that Joyce's nature is quite vengeful...

Sara Fielding, pen name S.R. Fielding, is a modest, proper, and engaged country girl, as well as a famous English author (though most do not know her true identity). After publishing one classic novel, "Mathilda" (the story of a runaway prostitute), she has become in-demand, and leaves her hometown of Greenwood Corners to do research in London for a new novel. Her main points of interest: gambling clubs...

In a bizarre twist of fate, while walking through London's St. Giles rookery (an area he is quite familiar with), Derek is attacked. He thinks he is about to die... when an Englishwoman (with a gun!) comes to his aid, shooting one of his attackers. The ironic savior is Sara, and she guides him to Craven's, where she finds out that he is in fact *the* Derek Craven, and after he is made well she wishes to conduct research at his club. Derek is undeniably, unexplainably drawn to Sara, but due to the fact that he can't bring himself to love anyone (that would mean letting his guard down and baring his soul--after all he's been through in life, that's not an option), he wants Sara away from him.

However, fate doesn't obey Derek's will, and Sara and he repeatedly find themselves in the same place. He really thinks he is falling in love with Sara, but convinced that he doesn't deserve her, he attempts to drive her away by exposing his terrible past to her (thievery, grave robbing, prostituting himself, etc.). However, Sara is not only *not* a pushover who'll just give up on him like he wants her to, she is a kind and understanding soul, and she takes in what he tells her with compassion. That further aggravates Derek--in his confusion, the walls around his soul slowly begin to melt.

There is a period of time when they are forced to be apart, though. In Sara's absence, Derek falls into a drunken depression and winds up causing some damage to his club. (He ends up needing to redecorate.) Meanwhile, back in Greenwood Corners, Sara is faced with the harsh reality that the man who has been courting her for the past four years, Perry Kingswood, is not the one for her. Perry and Sara both sense it, but while the former wishes to "resolve their differences" and keep their engagement, headstrong Sara realizes just what she needs--and who.

If the battle of emotions between Derek and Sara didn't already create enough problems... they cannot forget about Joyce Ashby, Derek's dissolute ex-lover with a torch powerful enough to consume both of them...

***

"Then Came You" was an amazing novel that was hard for Lisa Kleypas to top, especially since she wanted to continue the Craven's gaming club series. However, in writing "Dreaming of You," Kleypas gave us one of the most iconic romance heroes to date: Derek Craven, the quintessential demon-filled badass. The amount of love that pours forth from the two main characters is unreal, and the story sweeps the reader into their world. This book should get movie rights.

baerro's review has yet to be rated - Be the first!
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In writing "Dreaming of You," Kleypas gave us one of the most iconic romance heroes to date: Derek Craven, the quintessential demon-filled badass. The amount of love that pours forth from the two main characters is unreal, and the story sweeps the reader into their world. This book should get movie rights. "Then Came You" was an amazing novel that was hard for Lisa Kleypas to top, especially since she wanted to continue the Craven's gaming club series. In Lisa Kleypas's previous novel, "Then Ca ...