This book was a little disappointing, relative to the others in the series. I’m not sure why. The heroine was both strong and adorable, the hero was both strong and sensitive, and I was pleased that the story didn’t stop at the wedding, as so many stories do.

But…

The heroine’s quirkiness seemed a little cloying. The hero’s willingness to adapt and accept strained my ability to suspend disbelief, even knowing that I have to exercise more determination in this area when I read in this genre. Maybe I’ve just had my fill of Romance (capital R) for now and need to spend some time away from the genre.

Audiobook, borrowed from my public library. Once again, Mary Jane Wells provides an excellent performance.
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I've always loved Lisa Kleypas, but this book almost made me applaud her. Before this book, I wasn't too keen to read about Pandora's romantic journey. She seemed a little too manic pixie dream girl and too modern for the setting. It was hard to find her interesting, but, somehow, Kleypas managed to make me care about this eccentric character, as well as creating a hero who wasn't unrealistic in his adoration of her. He didn't seem like an automaton who loved the heroine because the author declared it so, but because Pandora complemented him in ways neither he nor I the reader expected.

The book starts out with Pandora being an avid entrepreneur in the board game business. There wasn't as much detail on this as I would've liked, but this is a romance and not a historical fiction novel, so I'm not too disappointed. Her fears about marriage were founded and also unique. Lots of heroines and real life women fear the loss of their independence when they marry. Pandora was no exception here, but the added variable of her thriving business added an interesting complication to the mix. It made her need to be independent that much more believable because she had more to lose.

Most of the heroes in historical romances are scarred in some way but usually they're emotionally traumatized by either poverty or neglect or both. In this case Gabriel is the son of a much loved couple from another of Kleypas novel: The Devil in Winter's Evie and Sebastian. So, I wondered, what on earth could be Gabriel's sore point? What's the one thing he can't seem to overcome after having loving and attentive parents? The answer was surprisingly astute and believable: he was tired of being the perfect son. This is something that isn't easily overcome, and while I do wish Kleypas spent a little more time indulging in his transformation, I still enjoyed it nonetheless.

While of that is all well and good, there was one, serious issue for which I docked this book a whole star, and that was how Pandora came around to marrying Gabriel. For someone who was terrified of losing her business, of being restricted, and of being controlled, she surrendered fairly easily. While she obviously likes him and doesn't want to turn him down, her final acceptance of him feels out of the blue. I get she's upset but one additional act of kindness from him sends her over the edge, and I never really feel that she comes to love him. Love between them is kind of accelerated when she's suddenly attacked. Personally, I don't mind the seemingly random violence as all of Kleypas's novels have it, but it was Pandora's seemingly sudden love for her husband that felt out of place.

I still highly recommend this novel to all historical romance and especially Kleypas enthusiasts. It's entertaining, sweet, immersive, and nuanced. And at the end of the day, what more do you need? ( )

Cracked me up throughout. I really like the Heroine. I kinda liked the hero but I continually compared the poor guy to his dad. ( )

Per me la Kleypas è la garanzia di leggere sempre storie avvincenti e ben scritte e anche questa volta non si smentisce con questa serie che mi è piaciuta tantissimo, dalla prima riga del primo libro fino all’ultima dell’ultimo.
Protagonisti Lady Pandora Ravenel, la ribelle, ben decisa a non sposarsi per non sottomettersi al volere di un marito per poter essere libera di seguire in prima persona i suoi affari, e Gabriel, Lord St. Vincent, impenitente libertino ben deciso a restare un irriducibile scapolo. Una coppia che farĂ  scintille.
Bellissimo e imperdibile.
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I enjoyed this in the way I enjoy Godiva chocolate. It's chocolate, so it's delicious, right? It's better than, say, Hershey's, but you know there is better stuff out there. Don't get me wrong, I really love Lisa Kleypas books (and Godiva), because they are so purple and and OTT and also still really smart, but this was even more purple than usual. I mean, it was so purple it should have been trimmed in ermine.

My biggest beef is that instead of exploring the conflicts established early on (come on, Pandora's wanting to be a woman of independence was plenty of conflict [because let's be real, dudes have stacked the deck against women being people for a hella long time} but also, lol, Gabriel's sexual proclivities), these get dropped for some left field business to do with Home Rule.

But I was kind of right to be apprehensive about this being a hook. Not 100% right, but still, preeetttyyy right. ( )