Blue-Eyed Devil by Lisa Kleypas Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Blue-Eyed Devil
Book Review: I really really liked this book.
Summary: 5 Stars
I got this book from my library and didn't realize it was a sequel, though I realized it must be just by the brief glimpses of Gage/Liberty.
What startled me was that I was halfway throught the book before I noticed it was written in first person! I was shocked because I don't read chick-lit and normally do not like first person novels, especially romances. This author has done what no other author I have ever read has done - written a wonderful romance in first person.
The plot was not unique or anything special, but the romance sizzled so hot I couldn't help but turn the pages as fast as I could to see what would happen next between Hardy and Haven.
Given it was written in first person POV, I didn't get as well acquainted with Hardy as I would have liked and would have given this 4 stars instead of 5, but the romance made up the slack and it deserves a solid 5.
Way to go Ms. Kleypas. Well done!!!
I can't wait to go find Sugar Daddy now and read it.
Book Review: Kleypas Soars With Another Sexy Texas Saga
Summary: 5 Stars
There's nothing steamier in romance than a privileged miss with a cool and cultivated exterior who's got a secret craving for rugged men from the wrong side of the tracks.
Haven Travis is a different kind of romance heroine. As a modern feminist, and a graduate of the prestigious Wellesley College (author Lisa kleypas' real alma mater) she's at first reluctant to admit how attracted she is to rugged and blue-eyed Hardy Cates. But after a bad marriage and some intensive therapy cause her to rethink her priorities, she takes the incredibly brave decision to give love a try with a man who is definitely not of her background.
Of course, it helps that Hardy Cates is a man on the rise -- worth millions, shrewd and aggressive, he takes on Houston's old guard with the same self-confidence that he uses to make Haven shed her prim, cool facade and to gradually loosne up all of her inhibitions in bed!
This exciting contemporary romance is sexy, touching, and even funny in places. There were only a couple of minor thematic issues I would have liked to see clarified or handled differently.
Haven's "feminism" is never really developed in a way to engage the reader. She says she was the type of little girl who always wanted tool kits and not dolls, but as an adult she never shows the slightest sign of savvy or guts or know-how in any technical field. When she gets stuck in an elevator, all she can seem to do is grab her cell phone and scream for Hardy to come and rescue her! As Shakespeare once said so eloquently, feminism should be made of sterner stuff. Haven always reacts to danger by looking for a big strong man to turn to. This would be fine in a Victorian historical, and Kleypas has written some very good ones. But it is not a feminist attitude. Lisa Kleypas seems to want her heroine to be called a feminist without having to do any of the nasty, dirty stuff feminists have to do, like stand up for themselves or do gunky boy stuff with tools.
Hardy Cates is also not fleshed out as much as he could have been. Lisa Kleypas is so in love with the idea of powerful, "ruthless" men, but she tends to be very squeamish about describing the business world honestly. There are no Willy Lomans, no decent men who believe in the system only to be shattered by the rise of the rich and ruthless. Only Horatio Alger stories of hard-driving heroes who beat the system without having to hurt anyone in the process.
If Hardy is really "ruthless," what rules does he break? Is there blood on his hands, or only oil? How exactly does a welder with no education at all rise to become a multi-millionaire while still having time for a sexy social life and lost of four hour workouts at the gym?
Lisa Kleypas is a brilliant writer at the crossroads of her career. Part of her wants to be taken seriously as a writer, which is why she's getting her feet wet in weighty topics like feminism and domestic abuse. But part of her still wants the easy fantasy of hitting the jackpot, marrying the rich guy with the big muscles, and living happily ever after. There are conflicts here that could make for great literature, but they need to be explored more honestly than they are in BLUE EYED DEVIL.
Book Review: Kleypas almost always rates a 5 - even when she's a 4
Summary: 5 Stars
I've been a fan of LK's for a long time, loving the romantic mood she sets and the incredibly appealing characters. Also, more and more, she has a great comic twist to her stories that just makes you grin as you read. And, always, she is the absolute best at steamy love scenes, writing a really satisfying scene without getting at all tacky about it, which is a hell of alot more than I can say for 99% of the so-called writers out there. She does her research, and she tells a really good yarn.
I have just one wish, and thus far it is a wish in vain. The only gainful employment she will allow her heroines to have is authorship, I guess because becoming a industry mogul or anything else would be considered unfeminine. Why? I just don't know. Now, for her historicals, she'd probably tell me that it just wasn't very likely for a woman to succeed in business, and she's be right. But, let's face it, we're talking fantasy here anyway! Why not fantasize about this? And for her contemporaries, it is simply unforgivable that the most a female protagonist can aspire to is a profession as a hair stylist, or latching onto your successful elder brother for a job as an office manager. LK has so far never created a heroine who has risen above her beginnings with strength and cunning. Almost ALL of her heros have done that very thing. Why the sexism, LK? And, please, stop it!
The heroine of "Devil" is born into a wealthy, dynamic family. She has a powerful father, and 3 brothers, each of whom has created a place for himself professionally. What a shock (this is irony, in case you didn't recognize it) that the only girl of this group just drifts along as the useless rich ornament, and is unable to amount to anything at all. Added to which, she doesn't seem to have grown up in the same family as her siblings did. A critical, unyielding mother, and a father who doesn't teach her she can be whatever she wants to be? This is Churchill we're talking about, who was so wonderful in "Sugar Daddy". I'm willing to admit that everyone has a different perspective, but the situation with Churchill is never resolved. He is never brought to understand his very great failings as a father. Again, since we're talking fantasy, that loose end is just v. dissatisfying.
I'd be thrilled if only LK could create a heroine who could take care of herself, without running to one of the boys to get her out of whatever hole she's dug herself into. And it sure would be nice if said heroine could also find her own damn job, instead of taking the position offered by her (of course successful) brother. Too much to ask, as always. I guess we still haven't evolved to the point when a woman will still be "womanly" if she can succeed on her own guts and merits, and not some man's. Too bad. I've love to read LK's rendition of it.
You're thinking, "why did she give this book 5 stars if she can't stop whining about these things?" Because LK always entertains, and she is so much better than the usual, she belongs in a different universe. So she's not perfect from a feminist standpoint. She's still great.
Book Review: Kleypas does it again!
Summary: 5 Stars
Frankly, this review is a tad biased because I am an avid fan of Lisa Kleypas's writing. She can almost do no wrong in her books for me. Fortunately, Blue-Eyed Devil proves to be almost spot-on from start to finish.
Haven Travis has grown up within the lap of luxury in her wealthy Texas home. She has tried hard to make a life for herself outside of that ritzy existence, trying to prove herself as a woman and an individual. She has fallen in love with Nick, a man her father, Churchill, does not approve in the least. But love is often blind, and in this case, love is hiding a very dangerous heart.
Against her family's wishes, Haven marries Nick. That is when the horror truly begins. Nick lacks no compunction in bending Haven to his will. Early chapters in Blue-Eyed Devil focus on that abuse: verbal, emotional, and yes, some very hard to read scenes of physical abuse. Kleypas brings you into this situation, showing you the terror Haven faces as she tries not to set Nick off. Haven has courage and she makes it out. She is now determined to forge a new future for herself, and that is where, unknowingly, love knocks again. This time, in the form of the wealthy Hardy Cates.
Hardy may be the devil to the Travis family, but to Haven, he is everything wonderful, and dangerous, in a man. She fights her attraction to him and in the process learns many new things about herself, and about love's difficult path. The danger is not over yet for Haven; she has many painful demons to battle before her happily-ever-after can start.
Despite its title, Blue-Eyed Devil is truly the triumphant story of Haven. She is a wonderful character. She is forced to face several hard realities but she does it with determination, with strength, and with resolve. Her journey is not an easy one by any means. I think Kleypas truly created a character to admire in this book. Haven may have grown up in wealth, but wealth could not protect her from everything. It is only love, family, and her own resiliency that help her keep moving forward.
Hardy is sexy, he is a charmer, and a bit of a rogue. Just the man Haven needed but not to feel complete, not to feel like a woman again. She needed Hardy for his friendship, for the desire he rekindled in her, and for the sense of peace she finds with him. Their relationship is on the one hand pure struggle as there are a lot of obstacles to overcome. It just makes their ending that much sweeter, but also realistic. Don't be fooled, Kleypas does not gloss over Haven's emotional wellbeing. This is a character who is a fighter and she comes out on top.
Blue-Eyed Devil impressed me from page one to the very end. Yes, I am a Lisa Kleypas admirer, I readily admit that. Her writing always touches a chord with me. But don't take my word on it. Give Haven and Hardy a chance. Female empowerment and the importance of love are themes Kleypas explores with depth, humility, and passion.
Book Review: Kleypas's second contemporary is just as stunning as the first
Summary: 5 Stars
Haven Travis grew up in the shadow of her family's wealth and notoriety as old Texas money. Determined to prove that she wasn't the bourgeois beauty queen that people expected her to be, Haven attended Wellesley and fell in love with a boy named Nick from the wrong side of the tracks. When her father told her he would disown her if she chose to marry Nick, she was fine with it. Their love would keep them together. Haven and Nick elope to the Florida Keys and then begin their marriage, only it's nowhere near as idealistic as Haven had imagined. Before she realizes, Nick is berating her father for disowning her, Haven for her appearance and inability to iron his shirts properly, and when his verbal and emotional abuse turn physical, she knows she has to do something to get away--before she's stuck forever...
Hardy Cates is a Texas roughneck who has clawed his way to the top of the oil industry. A self-made millionaire, Hardy is no friend of the Travis family after swindling Haven's brother Gage Travis in a business deal. But when his old friend Liberty decides to marry Gage, Hardy can't pass up the opportunity to crash her wedding. When he sees Haven, he finds himself enthralled by her beauty, inflamed by her passionate nature, and desperate to find out more. When Haven elopes, two long years pass before Hardy runs into her again. But when he does, he realizes all the old emotion is still there, and the flames have been fanned over the years. Hardy is determined that he'll have Haven Travis, whether she likes it or not.
Blue-Eyed Devil is the sequel to Kleypas's first contemporary novel, Sugar Daddy. I loved that book. Loved it. Stayed up all night and was nearly late to work the next day I loved it so much. So I was skeptical about a sequel, because at the end of Sugar Daddy Hardy Cates had left a bad taste in my mouth. I needn't have worried. There are few authors who can pull emotion out of me like Lisa Kleypas.
First of all, the character of Haven Travis a well-drawn, well thought out, carefully executed heroine. It would be easy to dislike someone who was born with a silver spoon in her mouth and determined to reject it. And having an abusive husband when you know she has the resources to get herself out of it could have made Haven come off as someone who enjoyed being a victim. But that's not how it was. My heart bled for the abuse that Haven endured and I cried when she finally worked up the nerve to leave Nick. I was broken for her and could completely understand how she wouldn't be ready for another relationship anytime soon--nor should she be.
Then enter Hardy Cates, a man who I knew had it in him to be a white knight, but who hadn't displayed those characteristics at the end of Sugar Daddy. And from the way he took care of her, from the very beginning, the way he tried so hard to put the broken pieces of Haven Travis back together again, I fell in love. I don't even know why I doubted it. Lisa Kleypas has rarely done me wrong, and after finishing this books I can't even remember which ones I didn't like.
Blue-Eyed Devil is romantic, engaging, and dazzlingly well written. I've said it before and I'll say again that if all of Kleypas's contemporaries are going to be this stunningly emotional and well told then I can't fault her for going this route. Before enjoying Blue-Eyed Devil, I'd recommend reading Sugar Daddy, but just know that each is also fantastic on its own. And while you're waiting for her next contemporary, a couple of my favorite Kleypas historicals are Someone to Watch Over Me (Bow Street, Book 1) and Suddenly You.