Two comments on books by Susan Elizabeth Phillips and Lisa Kleypas

 Kev Merripen has longed for the beautiful, well-bred Winnifred Hathaway ever since her family rescued him from the brink of death when he was just a boy. But this handsome Gypsy is a man of mysterious origins—and he fears that the darkness of his past could crush delicate, luminous Win. So Kev refuses to submit to temptation... and before long Win is torn from him by a devastating twist of fate.
Then, Win returns to England... only to find that Kev has hardened into a man who will deny love at all costs. Meantime, an attractive, seductive suitor has set his sights on Win. It’s now or never for Kev to make his move. But first, he must confront a dangerous secret about his destiny—or risk losing the only woman he has lived for...

Fleur Savagar is the most beautiful woman in the world . . . to everyone but herself. With her oversized hands and paddle-boat feet, her streaky blond hair and funny green eyes, she lives a life filled with secrets that began before she was born. That was when her bewitching mother left home to find James Dean and met Errol Flynn instead. Now Fleur has to grow up quickly, and life won't make that easy.
Jake Koranda is both New York's most brilliant playwright and Hollywood's hottest actor. Difficult, talented, and tormented, he has no patience for international glamour girls, not even ones with beautiful bodies and smart-aleck mouths. But there's more to the Glitter Baby than shine, and Fleur's tougher than Jake expects. Even with the odds stacked against her, she's fiercely determined to discover the woman she's destined to be.
An ugly duckling who can't believe she's turned into a swan . . . A tough-guy movie star with a haunted past . . . In a land of broken dreams, can two unlikely lovers trust their hearts?

Comment: I'm placing these two books together in one post to save time and because I have the same grade for both. Both belong to ongoing series I'm following and my opinion was pretty much the same about both.

I think both stories had interesting elements but didn't get exactly to the point where I think they would be more than good.

Glitter Baby is the 3rd book in the Wynette, Texas series and is a special story and I liked it but not as much as its predecessor simply because the action jumped moments too much. This means the narrative went from one moment in the character's lives to another and another. I understand the tactic but it interrupts the story and the flow, so I don't think we feel as connected to the characters. I was glad they found happiness but I wasn't as invested in them as I feel with some characters in other books by the author.

Something I also feel wasn't as positive was the behavior of certain characters. I can justify this by the time the book was written but many situations didn't feel as interesting or something I cared about. The setting didn't help, I'm usually not a big fan of books about Hollywood or featuring the lifestyle and ideas that surround the film industry.

But it's a SEP book and it shows and I felt glad by the amazing end, especially the way the protagonists found happiness and contentment. I'm looking for to see them again in incoming books.

Seduce Me at Sunrise is the 2nd book in the Hathaways series by Lisa Kleypas. I also liked this story but not as much as I did the first one, simply because the romance in this book wasn't as special, even more so after the glimpses of it we've had in the first book. It promised to be amazing but, again, the interruptions in the time frame of the narrative - even if necessary by important goals - made the romance feel less thrilling. Yes, we have some good scenes with the protagonists and we know they love each other but it wasn't as romantic as I imagined. Their HEA is quite good though and I feel it was good they could put aside any problems and focus on each other.

Also good was the interactions between the characters, especially the secondary ones and something else, the news we learn about the hero throughout the book also made me happy even if, when one thinks seriously, they aren't as credible as that.

I'm also looking for to read the next installment, in particular to see more interactions between these family elements, people I'd like to know in real life and what makes the series good. This book wasn't as addictive but it's still a good installment.

- > The two stories are well worth the time to read them and I liked getting one step further in reading and going towards the goal of finishing more series, and even more so when it's with characters I liked overall and in settings I feel interesting in reading.

Still, their little less than stellar elements made me lower the grade a bit when comparing to the previous books, but they are still in the positive zone.

Grade for both: 7/10