>>>Author thread: Lisa Kleypas

Lisa blogged at sqwakradio today and said that Mine till midnight will be out on Oct. 2nd. Woohoo!

Julia

Is that Cam's story? I'm dying to read it! October is so far away....

Katy, it is! You can read an excerpt on Lisa Kleypas' website. The link is:

http://www.lisakleypas.com/inprint07/minetilmidnight.asp

CC

I think Lisa Kleypas is great! I loved her Wallflower series. It is hard to decide which one I liked best. Her books are keepers and I have reread some. I am looking forward to her new historical.

I cannot wait for Cam's story either! But part of me wanted to see him as a Wallflower hero!

I was expecting to see him with Daisy too

I was, too. They did kiss... I wonder if Kleypas thought about Daisy and Cam as a couple and then changed her mind?

CC

Lisa mentioned that she started to write Daisy and Cam's book and just realized that they are to alike.

Julia

Really? I thought Cam really challenged Daisy. Not that I don't like Matthew, but Cam IS a gypsy dreamboat.

I'll have to read Cam's story as well. I really liked his character in Devil In Winter.

If I remember it correctly Lisa said, that both are dreamers and that Daisy need someone whose feet are firmly planted on the ground. Or at least something along those lines.

Julia

I've been listening to the Gipsy Kings all weekend (I love their music) and I'm really in the mood for a good gypsy story. Too bad I have to wait until October. I think that is the main reason I read more older books than new. Waiting for serial installments can be excruciating!

I just finished "Worth Any Price". I'm emotionally involved with those characters.

I've read the Wallflowers too, those were amazing. Where should I go next in Kleypas?

Hi, Ireland. Welcome!

If you'll type in Kleypas in the search box on the group talk page, you'll find that several of us have recommended many of Kleypas' books on various threads. You can't go wrong with any of them, though.

CC

ireland - Kleypas was a new author for me too when I joined this group. Have you read Then Came You and Dreaming of You yet? Derek Craven's story is one of my favorites by her. I would recommend reading these two in order. I also enjoyed the Bow Street Runners series.

I can't believe it!!! I haven't been watching Lisa's website, and I just found that there were TWO book signings in March that were close to my house!! I feel like Derek Craven just before Sara showed up (in case you haven't read Dreaming of You, he thought his life was over).
I just signed up on her mailing list, so maybe I'll get another chance sometime.

Richard

Has anyone read her latest book? It's called Sugar Daddy. If you've read it, what did you think of it? I placed it on hold at the library and it'll be a while until it's available to read.

BL79, I read it and reviewed it somewhere here, can't remember which thread. It was a good story, but not what I was expecting from Kleypas. I hope she sticks with the historical genre in the future.

CC

Just read Then Came You and it was my first Kleypas book. I really enjoyed it.

After reading the above posts I can't wait to start Dreaming of You!

I'm almost finished with Secrets of a Summer Night and would be done if I hadn't had to come to work (which I really should be doing right now). I hate it when work comes between me and the book I'm reading!

Okay, just out of curiosity, since we all LOVE Lisa, what do you think are her worst books? I may have to go back and reread and there are 1 or 2 that I haven't read but I think they are the Vallerand books. They just don't do it for me.

Gracer, I agree. The Vallerand novels are more of what I think as bodice rippers. They would be my least favorites, but when she wrote them, the plots and treatment of the heroines was the standard.

CC

What are the vallerand novels that you speak of? I'm new to Kleypas and making my way through right now...Want to avoid any "duds".

ireland

>23 irelandapaige: Me Too!

I just mooched the last Wallflower book I needed for my collection and will have all four to keep for myself :-) Once I've read It Happened One Autumn (the only one I haven't read of that set) which Kleypas book/series would you all suggest reading next?

The books in the Vallerand Series are Only in your Arms, which came out in 1992 and was reissued under the title When Strangers Marry in 2002. The second book is Only with Your Love, which was also published in 1992.

They are not bad books by any means. I think they were just more formulaic than her more recent books. I think everyone should read them as well. They are very exciting, but the treatment of the heroines by the heroes is not as appealing to me.

Here is a list of her books, which we've posted elsewhere on the board, but I can't remember where! LOL

Vallerand Series

Only in Your Arms (1992) reissued as When Strangers Marry in (2002)
Only with Your Love (1992)

Derek Craven Series

Then Came You (1993)
Dreaming of You (1994)
Against the odds included in the anthology Where's My Hero? (2003)

Stokehurst Family Series

Midnight Angel (1995)
Prince of Dreams (1995)

Capitol Theatre Series

Somewhere I'll Find You (1996)
Because You're Mine Wrong Touchstone! (1997)
I Will included in the anthology Wish List (2001)

Bow Street Runners Series

Someone to Watch Over Me (1999)
Lady Sophia's Lover (2002)
Worth Any Price (2003)

Wallflower Series

Secrets of a Summer Night (2005)
It Happened One Autumn (2005)
Devil in Winter (2006)
Scandal in Spring (2006)

Stand Alone Titles

Where Passion Leads (1987)
Forever My Love (1988)
Love, Come to Me (1988)
Give Me Tonight (1989)
Surrender Wrong Touchstone! (1991, novella)
Stranger in My Arms (1998)
Where Dreams Begin (2000)
Suddenly You (2001)
Again the Magic (2004)
Sugar Daddy (2007)

My personal favorites, after the Wallflowers, are the Bow Street Runners. I love that they are regular, working men, not Lords and Earls and Dukes. They're more earthy and extremely sexy.

CC

Ok, When Strangers Marry wasn't all that great, but I didn't think it was terrible. However, Midnight Angel was SO BAD I couldn't finish it. BAD. And it was the first Kleypas book I read I think. I think the vallerand series and the stokehurst series are some of her earlier works, though. Glad I stuck with her!

DL: Again the Magic takes place before the wallflowers books and tells Westcliff's sister's story. It's actually a double-romance because there is a secondary romance story to it that is almost as fully fleshed-out as the primary story. Both stories are very compelling. It is probably my favorite of hers after the wallflowers and Dreaming of You.

Oooh! I really like the description for Again the Magic! I'm going to go see if I can mooch it :-) I thought after reading Secrets of a Summer Night that there might have been more to the story of Westcliff's sister.

Thanks!

I finshed Dreaming of You the other night. I liked it way more than Then Came You and I absolutely loved Derek!!!

Can't wait to read the wallflower series!

I really liked Midnight Angel and Prince of Dreams when I read them several years ago, but I might feel differently about them now, so I think I'll start re-reading all of them just to see.

Maybe we could read the same book at the same time and then discuss it? Anybody game?

CC

I'd be up for doing a group read. I just left another book group that I was doing monthly reads with and have a gap to fill :-) Just let me know what book. I'm not particular.

BTW - I was able to mooch Again the Magic, yeah! Of course, now I'll have to try and find some more books to list to send out and get more points.

Demon, did I miss something? What happend to your name?

I'm also game for an LK group read. I'm not particular about the book since I read them all, except Sugar Daddy, which I will wait for to come out in paperback.

I read the Vallerand series a long time ago, I think they were one of the first books I read by LK, but I can't remember anything particuar that I didn't like about them.

I think if I have to pick my least favorite of her books it would be Stranger in my arms, maybe because I read it in German and it lost in the translation otherwise I couldn't put my finger on what it is.

Oh and I felt she could have put a little more effort into Scandal in Spring. At some point it felt like she had to write the book more because the wallflowers were supposed to be a quartet from the beginning. But here it also could have something to do with Daisy not being matched up with Cam, as she originally wanted to do.

Julia

What about Demon's name? I'm lost, too! I don't like to be lost, except when I'm watching Lost, and then I stay lost!

How many of you have just finished or very recently read Then Came You? I still have it, and I can do a quick re-read. I think if we read a book in one of her series, we ought to start with the first. Heck, we can read all of her books from the first to the last if you want! I'm game!

CC

Julia & CC- I put this over the BookMooch thread just now too. I've just switched my profile name to something less freakish. I wanted to put f/k/a (formerly known as) DL but I didn't think the slashy thingies would work. What I wound up with is what's there now. I've been changing my LT stuff around a bit, leaving and ignoring some groups I'm not interested in participating in anymore and revised my profile a bit. I'm totally sorry for the confusion!

I don't mind reading Then Came You. I'll hop over to the library and put in a request. I might not be able to participate in a discussion for a few weeks though.

Then Came You is Lawless Lily and Wolverton's story, right? I don't remember liking it as much as Dreaming of You. What about doing a stand-alone first, then if we like it, we could do a series read? I was thinking something like Suddenly You but if everyone else wants to do Then Came You I will surrender to the powers of group think.

Whatever the majority wants is fine with me. Y'all better get in here and vote! :)

CC

I have a copy of Suddenly You and haven't read it, but don't have a copy of Then Came You...however, I can get it fairly easily if we decide to do that. I'm excited about this prospect!!

Well I just read Then Came You and Dreaming of You, as i posted above.

Those are the only Kleypas books I have ever read, so it doesn't matter to me.

I vote for Lady Sophia's Lover (haven't read it in awhile), or Suddenly You.

I have a suggestion:

Perhaps doing a group read of the same book could be done on a regular basis, say weekly (or bi-weekly, or whatever). We could choose and discuss one book each week. That way everyone would have the same starting date for the discussion and also, everyone would have time to obtain (and read) the book.

For example, everyone agrees to read Lady Sophia's Lover or whatever and then we would start the discussion on a certain day (like maybe Monday). People could read the book between now and Monday and then everyone would have the whole week to discuss it.

Perhaps the next book up for discussion could then be chosen on Monday and (while we're discussing Lady Sophia's Lover) everyone would have the whole week to read it and then that book would be discussed for a week and so forth. That way we would have a book a week to read and discuss with the group, but we'd all have plenty of time to read the other stuff we want to read also (handy for folks who read 3+ books per week).

DL: you mentioned that you were in a monthly book reading group - how did yall handle that?

---Ok, now I've demonstrated how anal retentive and "planny" I am. *sheepish*

Edited to add that I vote for starting with Suddenly You since it's not in a series and it should be fairly easy to get a hold of since it's one of the more recent novels.

Katybear - In the groups I'm in we vote on a book (like we're doing here) and then we all agree to read that book and discuss it during that month. If we were to follow that formula what we wind up voting for now would be our May book. Then at the beginning of May we can start a thread dedicated to the discussion of just that book. Kind of like what we did a while back with Causing Havoc, although that wasn't really planned, it just sort of happened. People can add to the discussion during that month and after. So, those that have already read whatever book we choose can start off right away and the rest of us can comment and discuss when we have the opportunity to read the book.

I know it might sound like a long drawn out sort of thing, but it seems to have worked on the other groups. Unfortunately I don't think I could do a book a week turn around because the majority of the bookclub books I read and comment on I request from the library. Sometimes it can take a week just for the book to come in. Also, I still have a huge TBR pile and books out from the library to work through.

Ummm, I guess this whole longwinded thing makes me kind of "planny" as well? LOL

What do you think? Is a monthly book too slow? If everyone wants to do a weekly thing that would be okay. I'll do my best to keep up :-)

I guess my votes would be for Again the Magic and Suddenly You, providing it's okay to vote for more than one.

I think we should pick a series to read instead of a stand-alone title. It would be more fun to discuss each book that way. It might be hard for everyone to find the 3rd story in the Derek Craven series, since was part of an anthology, but wouldn't that make sense to do the series?

If we do stand-alone, I vote for Where Dreams Begin. If we do series, I vote for the Bow Street Runners!

CC

I would be interested in doing a series, monthly like f/k/ademon suggests (I have too much on my plate to even think about weekly!), and would love to start with the Bow Street Runners series as I am really interested in exploring the genre of historicals that don't feature the usual titled gentry/landed property set.

So put me down as voting with CC!

I've got the BSR series ready in my TBR pile. Until June, I'm going to be a little busy, but depending on "stuff" I could probably read along.

I've got Where Dreams Begin coming from PBS, but it could be two weeks before it gets here... unless I get lucky.?.? (ha ha ha)

Count me in, too. ... with any of the choices.

I'm always happy to reread a Lisa Kleypas novel!!! So, I'd love to do this as well. Let me know what you pick...and I'll be here!

B

Cast your vote, B! :)

CC

I can do the monthly version, but not the weekly. I live overseas at an APO address. I order my stuff from amazon.com to get free shipping since I read a lot. Between their delay and the APO delivery system, the mail is not fast. Even if I paid shipping I wouldn't be able to get a book in a week!

That, or if the list was planned out three or four weeks in advance, so I had time to order the books. That would work.

I'd also like to do a series...it's been a while since the Bow Street Runner series. Can we start with that series?

I vote for Suddenly you, since I wanted to reread it this year anyway.

I also vote for either bi-weekly or monthly, since some of us the acquisition and shipping takes very long or are simply slower reader or don't have much time.

Also because I want to be included in the planny/anal group ;) I suggest we post these threads like

###Book group: Suddenly you by Lisa Kleypas or
___Book group: Lady Sophias Lover by Lisa Kleypas

just so we are able to find them sooner within the timeperiod.

Julia
Queen of Anals, LOL

I would like to read Suddenly You. It is a Kleypas book that I have not read before. A monthly group would be easier for me than a weekly one.

Why don't we leave the voting open through the weekend, and I'll tally up the votes Monday morning and announce the winner on a new thread? Let's go with monthly to start, we can always change later.

Ria, bummer about APO. You must have endless patience! :)

CC

Just started Secrets of a Summer Night - it's my first Wallflower, and the first Kleypas in several years. I think I read Lady Sophia's Lover forever ago, but I don't remember much about it, so I'm calling this my first Kleypas.

>51 CarolinaCatherine: Sounds good to me! Thanks so much for suggesting the group read! It certainly has generated a lot of interest and it looks like it will be a fun group :-)

>52 Caramellunacy: Secrets of a Summer Night is the book I just finished(coincidentally for another book group). I really loved the story! I'd be interested in knowing if you enjoy it as well.

I've read the 4 Books in the Wallflower Quartet and Again the Magic and LOVED them. I'll definately read more from her later on.

CC---What I really miss is the chance to go to a US bookstore.

The APO requires patience, but it is also exciting. I order a lot of stuff (ok, it's really expensive here, with little base shopping, almost everything!) from the internet. Every trip to the post is an adventure. Some things come in a timely fashion---two weeks or so---but some arrive up to two months after shipping. Sometimes I forget what I've ordered or give up on something, and then it will arrive. :)

Monthly sounds good to me also. Can't wait to see what the group picked for our starter novel! Thanks for tallying, CC!

Those of you who said one or another, I'll count the first one you mention as your official vote.

CC

I vote for Where Dreams Begin.

Richard

Unfortunately, in my LK-zeal, I started Someone to Watch Over Me. I'm between 1/3 & 1/2 of the way through & I'm hooked!! I'll probably try to finish it today, but it depends upon how much other work & chores I get done.

I finished Someone to Watch Over Me, Lady Sophia's Lover AND Worth Any Price!

Very Good!!

didn't get enough stuff done... will try to do a lot this evening.

gonna hide my books!

Drum roll, please! The winner is: Suddenly You! I tallied 4 votes for Suddenly You, 3 for Where Dreams Begin, and 1 each for Stranger In My Arms, Lady Sophia's Lover, and Again the Magic.

I opened a new thread for discussion, too. This is going to be fun!

CC

It's about time to decide which book to read for July. If you all still want to continue with single titles based on previous votes, it would be Stranger In My Arms or Again The Magic. I think they each got one vote.

If you all want to start on a series, the Bow Street Runners got several mentions before when we were voting.

I would like to read all Kleypas' books with you, and think we should continue with the single titles and work our way towards the series. What does everyone else think?

We also need someone to lead the discussion for July. Any volunteers?

CC

I kind of think of Again the Magic as a kind of prequel to the wallflowers series because it tells Westcliff's sister's story, which takes place just before the wallflowers books begin and Westcliff is in it quite a bit. And (since I'm just THAT anal about reading books in order) whenever we decide to do the wallflowers we might want to do Again the Magic beforehand. Just a thought.

I also like the idea of doing the standalone titles first before launching into the series.

I vote for Stranger in my Arms if for no other reason than that I haven't read that one yet and the description on amazon looks really good!

I vote for Stranger In My Arms, too, and I would like to save Again the Magic to read when we start on the Wallflowers.

CC

My vote is for Stranger In My Arms, as well. I read it not too long ago and would not mind rereading it at all. It's one of my favourites!

I don't mind either way but would also say that Again the magic would make sense as a prequel before we start the wallflowers.

Julia

I'll go along with whatever as well :-)

Hmm, no volunteers yet to lead the July discussion. Would anyone like to nominate someone else to do it?

CC

Stranger in my Arms is a good choice. It happens to be one I have not read so I am looking forward to it. I also agree that Again the Magic would be a good one to read before we do The Wallflower series.

If no one else will volunteer to lead the discussion I will be happy to post a review of the books and discussion questions once we have definitely decided on the book.

Great, PM! Thanks for volunteering to lead us in July. I can't wait for us to start discussing.

CC

The discussion questions have been posted for the July discussion of Stranger in My Arms which I think should start the end of this week or sooner if anyone wants.

The next book with votes was Again The Magic, which most of you wanted to reserve until we read the Wallflower series, since it is a prequel of sorts.

So, I thought I'd suggest the first book on the list of single titles, Where Passion Leads, for August's selection. Any objections?

CC

CC, Where Passion Leads works for me. I haven't read that one so will have to pick it up.

Okay, I'll post a new thread. Passion it is! :)

CC

Since we are reading Again the Magic in August, the prequel to the Wallflowers series, I assume we will be reading Secrets of A Summer Night, the first of the Wallflower books, in September? If no one objects, I'll post a new thread for it 9/1.

CC

CC - I concur. Let's start the wallflowers!

Until there was trouble with the Aug pick, I had no idea that Lisa had so many OOP titles.

If you've read them, what do you think? Are they must-reads, or just "if you happen to find them"?

And, does anyone know why they are OOP? Is it a change in publisher rights, etc? Or is it her choice?

If you can find the old Onyx books cheap at a used bookstore or at a garage sale it is worth your while to pick one up.

1. You can see how Lisa has evolved as an author.
2. If you don't want to keep the book you can throw it on ebay and make your money back easily!

Lisa Kleypas' new book Mine Till Midnight is due out in October and it was reviewed favorably in Romantic Times and received 4 1/2 stars. It features Cam Rohan from The Devil in Winter as the hero. It sounds very good from reading the review.

I don't know about yall, but I'm counting the days till it comes out!

:D

Me, too! I already pre-ordered my copy.

CC

I haven't pre-ordered mine yet, but I'm very excited as well. I hope it lives up to my expectations, especially as Cam didn't end up with Daisy and I've suffered one big disappointment already this summer, although not from Kleypas.

#77 Irelandpaige

I think I've read somewhere (perhaps on her website?) that Kleypas feels that some of her older titles are best kept OOP because her style has evolved and so has the genre as a whole, so fans of her current works might be disappointed by these older titles.

Oh. Thanks.

I guess I can understand that.

Only TWO more days until Mine Till Midnight comes out!!

Katy, I ordered two copies this morning. I can't wait!

CC

You ordered them today??? I ordered mine months ago. I couldn't do that, I'd always think I forgot some of them.

Julia

Julia, I keep a very close watch on the upcoming releases. It's been on my wish list at amazon for months, but just ordered it today. :)

CC

Amazon just sent me a note that the delivery will be delayed till the 8th. Argh!

Julia

Well I got one that said delivery was estimated at 10/15 to 10/25! Double Argh! :)

CC

Mine til midnight was awesome!!!!!

On the YMCA 25 cent book shelf I found Midnight Angel which is a Lisa Kleypas novel I haven't heard of before. I picked it up because I've loved everything I've read by her so far and the price couldn't be beat :-)

Midnight Angel was great, and I also enjoyed the next Prince of Dreams, although I don't think it was as good. Enjoy!

Did yall see that Lisa Kleypas is working on a story to follow up on the Hathaways from Mine Till Midnight? I was fiddling around on her website just now and saw it. Apparently, it's going to be titled "Seduce Me At Sunrise" and there's an excerpt up and everything.

Check it out:

http://www.lisakleypas.com/inprint08/seduceme.asp

Great! Thanks, Katy!

CC

This may be a stupid question that was already addressed but I was curious. Are the Bow Street Runners books (I think that was the name) any relation to the Bowman sisters from the Wallflower series? Just curious.

Demon, not a stupid question at all. I get confused myself sometimes. Here's a link to Lisa's site, where she lists her "bookhopping" characters.

http://www.lisakleypas.com/bookhoppersc.asp

CC

Thanks for the link! I checked it out, it was interesting but didn't answer my question so, I requested Someone to Watch Over Me (indicated as the first Bow Street Runner book on the link you gave me) from the library. I figure if I want to know, I should just read the book!!

Westcliff shows up in at least one of the Bow Street Runner books.

DL - I read the Bow Street Runners books after I read the wallflowers series and really enjoyed them. The heroes are all working men, which sort of sets them apart from the average historical romance heroes. Also, I found that trilogy to be a bit darker in tone than the wallflowers books - especially Someone to Watch Over Me. I kept picturing creepy, damp, foggy London at night the whole time. I think you'll like that series.

edited to add that I don't recall them being linked to the wallflowers series.

I went and checked - Westcliff appears in the beginning of Worth Any Price as the heroine's employer. I don't recall him making any appearances in the others but I wouldn't be surprised if he's mentioned since doesn't he donate money to the runners? I just reread Scandal in Spring and I think there's something about that said.

DL, I hope I'm not misunderstanding you question. But the Bow street runners are no relations to the Bowman sisters.

Bow street is an actual street in London and housed the Bow Street Magistrates' court which closed July 2006 and is being converted into a hotel.

Last time I was in London I stoped by to see where some of my favorite charaters lived/worked.

Julia

Julia - Nope, you didn't misunderstand. The "Bow" part is why I thought they might be related. I didn't realize that it was an actual street. Now I feel really silly!

Okay, now that we've finished the Wallflowers series, what do you all want to read next? Jump to Mine Till Midnight, or start on one of the other series? I would love to start the Bow Street Runners Series myself, but I'll go along with whatever the majority wants.

CC

I would like to read the Bow Street series as I have not read all of them.

The Bow Street Runner books works for me since I've read the first one and really liked it.

I concur. Bow Street Runners series sounds good to me also.

Okay. I'll go post a new thread!

CC

I'd have to say my least favorite Kleypas books would be all four in the 'Wallflower' series. Terrible.

I just finished WHERE PASSION LEADS and enjoyed it. You can read about it here:

http://www.romantictimes.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=12339

This may be old news to some people here, but I was just fiddling around on Lisa Kleypas' website and noticed that there is now an excerpt up from her upcoming book A Wallflower Christmas! It looks like the hero is going to be Rafe Bowman, the brother of Lillian and Daisy. The book is due out October 14, but according to Amazon, it will be a hardcover so I'll have to wait to buy it after it hits paperback... :(

Great, thanks for mentioning, it Katy. I'm on my way over to read it.

Lynda

Just to let you know A Historical Christmas Present, Lisa Kleypas's Christmas anthology is a reprint of the anthology Wish List.

Julia

the touchstone for the anthology wish list goes to a different (very) book with the same title.

Here is the link:
http://www.librarything.com/work/2788798

the authors for Historical are: Kleypas, Sands, Greenwood

the authors for Wish List are: Kleypas, Sands, Cach, Dain.

So, although the stories are possibly the same for Kleypas & Sands, the other stories are different, so the books should not be combined. Without having the books, I can't tell right now if they are the same stories. I do have Wish List, but not where I can get to it right now.

I have Wish List. The stories in it are:

"I Will" by Lisa Kleypas
"Puddings, Pastries, and Thou" by Lisa Cach
"Union" by Claudia Dain
"All I Want" by Lynsay Sands

I don't have A Historical Christmas Present, but if someone else does and could post a list of its stories, that would be great!

Stories in A Historical Christmas Present are:

I Will by Lisa Kleypas
Three French Hens by Lynsay Sands
and
Father Christmas by Leigh Greenwood

Thank you Skittles and Katy and Jingle!

CC

According to her website, Lisa Kleypas' new book in her Hathaways family series is coming out in October! Looks like it's going to be titled Tempt Me At Twilight. Here's the link to the site:

http://www.lisakleypas.com/inprint08/temptme.asp

A long wait but something to look forward to. Thanks katybear.