Lawson’s review of Mine Till Midnight (The Hathaways, Book 1) by Lisa Kleypas
Historical romance released by St. Martin’s 2 Oct 07
As much as I love Lisa Kleypas and her books, it’s amazing that it took me six months to read this one. I’ve got to say though that the minute I was finished with Mine Till Midnight, I really wanted to read Seduce Me at Sunrise. Someday soon. . .Oh yeah, I’ve gotten off track. Mine Till Midnight is the first in the series about the Hathaway family. There are also some scenes with characters from the Wallflower books, and it’s always nice to spend more time with Marcus, Lord Westcliff and Sebastian, Lord St. Vincent.
The story starts off with Amelia Hathaway going through the London streets in the dead of night looking for her brother. Since inheriting a title, he’s been drinking and gambling his way through London. Amelia is afraid this path is leading to her brother’s demise and has decided this is the last night and is taking the rest of the family away to the country. Looking for her brother leads her to Jenner’s, where she gets the help of Cam Rohan.
Cam helps Amelia and her Gypsy friend Merripen find her brother Leo, but not before stealing a kiss. The Hathaway family then takes off for the country the next day. The estate that comes with the title neighbors Stony Cross Park, the home of Lord Westcliff, and while walking Amelia runs into Cam again. After the introductions to the rest of the Hathaway family as well as meeting some of the Wallflowers and their husbands, Cam and Amelia keep running into each other and thus fall in love.
Cam is a different sort of hero. He’s a gypsy, he doesn’t want to have all the money he has and would be happier back with his tribe living out of a wagon. He occupies a place in the world of London, but doesn’t really live there. When he meets Amelia, he doesn’t know what to do at first. She’s a managing sort of woman, but he can get around her easily with some charm and good intentions. Cam is a very likable hero.
Amelia took some time to grow on me. She is managing, though she has to be with her family. Not that they are bad, really, but just clueless about somethings. Or at least she thinks they are and wants to tell her family how to run their lives. Her sisters, Winnifred, Poppy and Beatrice, aren’t so bad, it’s her brother Leo. Leo suffered a personal tragedy and has given up on life. Amelia has gotten to the point, though, that she feels she can’t manage her family’s issues anymore.
As Cam and Amelia interact, they are great together. There’s some great dialogue and steamy love scenes between the two. The thing that bothered me though, was since Amelia is at wit’s end about her family, when Cam steps in to help her, she just fully gives up and lets him manage everything. Maybe she needed someone else who is strong to lean on and help her out, but the fact that when things are at their worst, Amelia can’t think about things anymore and Cam shows up, she just wilts like a flower in the sun and lets Cam take care of everything.
Not the sort of behavior a strong heroine needs to have.
Other than Amelia’s eventual shirking of her strength, it’s a good love story and an introduction into Kleypas’ next series with the Hathaway family. Seduce Me at Sunrise follows Winnifred’s story and have you seen what a pretty cover it has?
Grade: B
Blurb:
When an unexpected inheritance elevates her family to the ranks of the aristocracy, Amelia Hathaway discovers that tending to her younger sisters and wayward brother was easy compared to navigating the intricacies of the ton. Even more challenging: the attraction she feels for the tall, dark, and dangerously handsome Cam Rohan.
Wealthy beyond most men’s dreams, Cam has tired of society’s petty restrictions and longs to return to his “uncivilized” Gypsy roots. When the delectable Amelia appeals to him for help, he intends to offer only friendship—but intentions are no match for the desire that blindsides them both. But can a man who spurns tradition be tempted into that most time-honored arrangement: marriage? Life in London society is about to get a whole lot hotter…
Read an excerpt.