Wednesday, October 29, 2014

Lisa Kleypas - Secrets of a Summer Night

Four young ladies enter London society with one common goal: they must use their feminine wit and wiles to find a husband. So a daring husband-hunting scheme is born.
Annabelle Peyton, determined to save her family from disaster, decides to use her beauty and wit to tempt a suitable nobleman into making an offer of marriage. But Annabelle's most intriguing--and persistent--admirer, wealthy, powerful Simon Hunt, has made it clear that while he will introduce her to irresistible pleasure he will not offer marriage. Annabelle is determined to resist his unthinkable proposition . . . but it is impossible in the face of such skillful seduction.
Her friends, looking to help, conspire to entice a more suitable gentleman to offer for Annabelle, for only then will she be safe from Simon--and her own longings. But on one summer night, Annabelle succumbs to Simon's passionate embrace and tempting kisses . . . and she discovers that love is the most dangerous game of all.


Comment: In my attempt to go through some of the beloved books by Lisa Kleypas I've been buying some of them to have them all ready to read one after the other. 
This month I've started the Wallflowers series, and this is the first book. It's about a group of young women who are wallflowers for some reason. They joined forces to find husbands for each other but their plans don't seem to always go according to plan...

This is Annabelle's story and how she wants to marry fast to avoid her family's demise into real poverty. So far, they seem to hang on barely, but everyone surely knows they're almost penniless. After many seasons however, Annabelle doesn't seem to be close to marriage so with the newfound friendship with the other wallflowers, she goes onto a country party in hopes of catching a husband. If only mr Simon Hunt weren't there to ruin her plans...
Simon Hunt is a very rich man, but he's no peer. He knows Annabelle wants to marry an aristocrat but since he met her he can't seem to forget her. Will she change her mind if she knows him a bit more?

I liked this book. I think the author knows her art and knows her strengths and does a good job in creating a solid, entertaining story.
What I liked the most in this book were all the little details about the character's lives and how a scene can have so much meaning. There's a purpose in this story and the things around the character's actions aren't there just to fill up space, they mean something and help to create and idea to better savor the story. Sometimes this isn't achievable with only words, the author has to dedicate time to think and write the details. In my opinion, this was done well here.

The story is very likable, there are the four wallflowers we know would have had a bad time on those days where image and reputation was everything (how far we've come, huh? Not.)
They talk about their difficulties and they start a friendship I hope to see continued on the following books. Once again, this is creating an environment where the main characters have to interact with others, not just between themselves, something I always thought important.

The romance between Annabelle and Simon starts with a lot of pre conceived ideas they both have about each other. There is a certain reluctance for Annabelle to see Simon as someone she might like, but he's in the way a lot and when the time comes for her to finally make a decision, when things are close to be solved for her, she realized all the interactions she had with Simon were just steps into making her opinion change about him. Their romance was slow to develop but each day and meeting had importance.
I liked how Simon seemed to have only one thing in mind but he changed too, as he knew more about Annabelle.

I think the book is very good, very entertaining and with many things that captivate the reader to keep reading, Personally, I liked the secondary characters too, and how the wallflowers antics were a funny side to a seriously toned story. I feel very curious about the other girls' stories and can't wait to read them.

This romance is very enjoyable. The writing and the plot details match quite well. I think the author imagined well formed characters and although the main plot is a bit predictable, after all we all know how the HEA will certainly happen, the way things are told seem alive and special.
I'd change a thing here and there in the pace mostly, because there were times where t seemed things moved along fast. Simon and Annabelle knew each other years before but it was just an acquaintance, I still wonder what in her made Simon feel so fascinated, besides her beauty I mean. But overall, that didn't distract me from my enjoyment of the story.
Grade: 8/10

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