Blue-Eyed Devil by Lisa Kleypas Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Blue-Eyed Devil
Book Review: Lovin' Me Some Blue Eyes!
Summary: 5 Stars
Haven Travis is the youngest in the Travis clan and the most rebellious. She fights their excessive and rich lives and is bound and determined to do the exact opposite of what her father, the infamous Churchill Travis, demands. When Haven falls in love with the man she wants to marry, she doesn't necessarily seemed surprised that her father despises her choice of Nick and cuts off her monthly allowance and any gains from the family will. Haven, while hurt by her father's actions, is more bruised by his unwillingness to speak to her as opposed to her being dropped from the Travis Will. Thus, Haven boldly turns her back on a life of privilege and elopes with Nick and the couple moves to Dallas, TX.
For the next two years Haven endures a marriage of pure hell. It started off with little things like Nick's insistence that Haven press and starch his shirts to his exact specifications. Then there was Nick's sudden desire to refer to Haven by her middle name, Marie. Haven complies with Nick's wishes because she desperately wants to please him and make their marriage work not only because of her love for him but for her pride as well. Things deteriorate rapidly with verbal abuse escalating into physical. Finally, after a physical blow out, Nick kicks a bloody Haven out the door.
This time period of Haven's life was extremely difficult to read through but very informative regarding Nick's abuse and his reasons behind it. Kleypas sheds light on the warning signs that women and men need to be aware of so that a couple, if capable, can receive counseling or treatment. If things have escalated beyond hope than a person has a view of the possible future abuse through Nick and Haven's story, and thus hopefully giving them courage to leave the situation.
Haven is rescued by her older brother Gage and even I felt immediate relief when he calls her darlin' and cradles her gently in his arms promising to keep her safe. Yet a battle between siblings is not far behind with Gage pressing Haven to divorce Nick immediately. Haven, having been systematically abused, is incapable of making any decision and opts to sleep on it before delving hastily into a divorce. But after a few days of rest and a hefty unloading of pain and suffering to the welcoming and understanding ears of her sister-in-law, Liberty Travis, Haven agrees to a divorce and once her mind has been made up the proceedings cannot be completed fast enough.
Haven, finally rid of Nick, embarks on her road to recovery. She learns that Nick's pattern of behavior fit that of a someone with narcissistic personality disorder, which unknown to both Haven and me is a very common abusive disorder for husbands. Unfortunately, this disorder is highly untreatable because narcissists are very resistant to therapy for with their sense of superiority, don't feel the need for any change. Haven is also dealing with her rash behavior when any man, even her trusted brothers, make any move to touch her. She reacts almost uncontrollably by flinching or pulling away sharply before any physical contact is made. This sort of behavior, while understandable, is very hard on not only her family but Haven as well.
It is during this recovery period that Haven runs into Hardy Cates, the suitor once vying for Liberty Jones' hand in 'Sugar Daddy'. But he no longer has eyes for Liberty, he wants Haven. And while she wrongly assumes it's for revenge, Hardy soon opens her mind to the fact that he no longer and will never desire Liberty in that way again, nor does he wish for vengeance (which is in complete contrast to the blurb printed on the back cover).
Hardy hasn't changed much since we last saw him except for the fact that he's acquired more wealth. Yet, he doesn't brag. He describes his business as "We're doing okay" and with regards to his mature oil fields "we're getting some good play out of it" while in fact the man is turning over millions in profits that would soon rival the Travis wealth. This behavior fits with Haven for while she has been reinstated into the Travis will and a very wealthy heiress in her own right, she doesn't care to call it out to any who would care to listen.
Hardy moves quickly with Haven, knocking down every road block she constructs. While she refuses to see him in a personal way, he makes a point that she sees him in a professional way and after a daring rescue Haven finally opens her heart to him. I craved every moment the two had together. Hardy swept me off my feet as much as he did with Haven's. And when she finally describes for him the marriage she endured I wept with her and fell in love with Hardy.
Yet danger still lurks with Haven's husband making a final attempt to get Haven back resulting in Hardy injured and Nick behind bars.
I loved this book from beginning to end and would recommend it to any woman not only for the romance but for an eye opening education as well.
Book Review: Not Worth it in Hardcover
Summary: 2 Stars
I loved "Sugar Daddy" so I was pretty excited to read this book. And, because of this, I put down the $$ for a hardcover and I regret it a lot. Should have waited for paperback. I'm a fan of Kleypas'... I've read most of her historicals and a couple of them are some of my favorite books. I also love contemporary romances/chick lit, so I was open to liking this book quite a bit.
~ Spoilers in Review ~
Unlike a few of the other posters, I didn't mind the abuse plot. I didn't mind the amount of time spent on explaining exactly the details of Haven's marriage to Nick. In fact, it was one of the only periods of the book where I felt that I was getting a picture of Haven that I could understand. [Be warned, though, that some of the abuse scenes are quite graphic.]
The part where Kleypas really lost me was the point when Haven actually leaves Nick. From that point onwards, I just didn't understand the woman. She constantly made choices that bewildered me. Also, I felt like she was - inherently - a very hypocritical character. She is always going on and on about how she doesn't want to be one of those rich girls who gets stuff handed to her on a platter. But... um... she does. All the time. And I just couldn't get over the fact that Haven wants to pretend to be a disenfranchised when - in reality - she's not. How can I emphasize with a girl like that? How can I root for a girl like that? Of course, I feel pity for her because of the abuse she suffered, but Kleypas gives us no indication that Haven learned anything from her mistakes and her horrendous marriage. She has no character development. If you compare the first page to the last page, you'll think that Haven is the exact same person on the last page as she was in the beginning. And that means that Kleypas dropped the ball somewhere. She kind of forgot to make her main character have any growth.
The book tells us that Haven is offered a job by one of her brothers (he owns a company) and she decides to get a low level position, instead of a management one, because it wouldn't be fair for her to take a better position away from someone who deserves it more. And that's when things stop making sense. She does take, however, a luxury apartment that she admits that no assistant would get. She also has her best friend - an expensive designer - decorate her apartment. Where'd she get the money for that? I'm guessing not on an assistant's salary. She also, of course, continues to lead the exclusive lifestyle that only the rich can have - goes to a fancy club with her brother and his girlfriend & she goes to a fancy party. (I will say that she didn't necessarily want to go to these places, but it's still says something about what her real identity is and how she won't accept it.) One of the problems I had, at this point, was that she wasn't just realizing that instead of running away from the fact that she's rich, she could just deal with it and make it work FOR her, instead of against her. Like her brothers. She could have borrowed some money from Gage and opened up her own business. Or gone back to school to get a Master's degree. So many doors and opportunities were available to her to stop pretending to be disenfranchised (because what good did that do anyone) and, instead, use her money to HELP the disenfranchised.
But, no. She, instead, plays the "damsel in distress" card to the hilt. Even going as far as to take the abuse heaped onto her by her evil boss and choosing to get fired, passively, rather than use her power to take down the woman. Her brother(!) ends up having to fight the battle for her. WHY? It makes no sense.
~ End Spoilers ~
To me, this is the story of a woman who is first taken care of by her rich father, then her rich brothers, and then - finally - a rich husband. She has a brief and horrible marriage in between being shuffled from one rich man to another. She can never stick up for herself and must always be rescued somehow. And, frankly, those aren't the sorts of heroines I want to read about. Hell, no.
And regarding Hardy: I don't know if he's a different character in this book or not (as other posters have said). I mean, we didn't know much of him last time, except from Liberty's POV. I would say, however, that he was very much a generic character here. The romance between him and Haven is pretty much reduced to sex. Not much else. The two never hvae a conversation that explain exactly what Hardy sees in her - if at all - beyond lust. Haven, for her part, seems to want a man who can take care of her and is strong and like her Daddy. I didn't think that he needed to be the Hardy Cates character all. They could have re-named Joe Smith and he would be, basically, every generic romance character I've ever read. Filled with massive cliches, too. I think that he suffered because the book was in first person and Kleypas couldn't get into Hardy's head properly for that reason.
I think the best way to describe this book is to say that it's a historical in a contemporary skin. The way that Haven is taken care of by all the men in her family and how she has such inability to take care of herself reminds me of the heroines of historicals. And the way that Hardy is allowed to act like the biggest jerk and it's excused (because he's rich and strong and SAYS he loves her so much) reminds me of the way that alpha-men Dukes and Viscounts are written in historicals. I don't have to point out that - a lot of the time - this scenario doesn't even work well within the historical setting. But to take it and place in a contemporary setting really does the hero and heroine a disservice.
Bottom Line: The characters are not well sketched enough to make this worth a read. However, if you must read anything by Kleypas or you loved "Sugar Daddy" so much, you have to read it, I would say that you should check it out from a library. If you must buy it, wait for the paperback. Please don't make the same mistake I did.
Book Review: Not as good as her historicals but better than her other contemporary
Summary: 3 Stars
Lisa's Kleypas's second contemporary novel is better than her first. The story about Haven (I don't know why she picks such different names for modern day heroines) is touching but at times hard to read and hard to believe.
She marries a physically and verbally abusive husband. Apparently he showed no signs of this before they were wed. Haven, who is wealthy, suffers from rich girl liberal guilt but this never comes across in her actions. I fully expected her to be involved in an environmental or social issue or at least finding a job in that field. She is a Wellesley grad and even described herself in terms of being a privileged liberal.
Her husband Nick is incredibly mean. I was surprised that Haven stayed as long as she did with this monster. Her marriage was a nightmare and reading about it was almost depressing. At every page I kept hoping she would finally leave. It was stunning she didn't since she had means and family to take her in. Many battered wives have children and very little financial means to leave their husbands.
When she finally does leave she does the smart thing by going to counseling. She gets a job through family connections and reacquaints herself with Hardy, who used to have a tender for her sister-in-law.
Haven and Hardy are wonderful together. Haven is drawn to him but so scared of giving herself to another man. Also, unlike Liberty, the heroine of Kleypas's first novel, Haven believes sex goes with love.
All in all I enjoyed this book except for the inconsistency of Haven's character. She never suffered from the problems many victims have previous to abuse like low self esteem. Also a huge problem for me was this book was told in first person. Therefore, we never got inside Hardy's thought life and I am sure there was a lot to explore. His childhood was terrible and we never read when he fell in love with Haven. This gets 3 1/2 stars. I would have given it four or five if I could have read Hardy's point of view too.
Book Review: Not as well devolped as her historicals
Summary: 1 Stars
I agree with some of the reviews that having read her historical novels, the characters in this Blue Eyed Devil were not as well-developed. This seemed just a so-so modern day romance novel. The kind that gets easily forgotten after one reading. Books that I really enjoy I will read over again, including some of Ms. Kleypas' historical novels. But trying to write contemporary romance is not as fulfilling to me. It's almost as if the book was rushed through to get to the publisher. Try reading her earlier books and you'll see what I mean.Book Review: One of Her Best!
Summary: 5 Stars
After reading "Sugar Daddy", I thought that Kleypas was just better at historical novels. I thought it was good, but not great. "Blue Eyed Devil" on the other hand, I could not put down. The action moved along, the story was compelling, and the characters were very likable. Great summer READ!