And by “taking charge” I mean she manages every detail of their new lives as a titled family with a new estate with a relentless “can-do” attitude that would come across as completely annoying as hell if it weren’t for the humility of her character. She also has three sisters, Win, Poppy and Beatrix (sequels ahoy!) and since her brother has sunk into a dark party of alcohol, drugs, and depression following the death of his fiancee, Laura, Amelia has taken charge of the family. The book left me in a happy, mellow mood, and sometimes, most of the time, really, that’s exactly what I want from a historical romance.Īmelia Hathaway is the managerially inclined sister of the new Lord Ramsey, aka her brother Leo.

I started Mine Till Midnight (and by the way, the title has minimal to do with the story, and those who are sticklers of historical detail should ignore the lace up strapless dress on the cover) last night, and thanks to Baba O’Riley having a bottle and then a long nap on my shoulder, I finished it today in about two hours. Not the Malaysian kind or the crapass grocery store chocolate kind, but the kind of candy that you stop and devote a good few minutes to enjoying, doing nothing else but savoring the calories that add nothing to your life nutritionally but make you feel happy and indulgent. Yum.Īnyway, as I was saying, Kleypas = candy. Or those really rich sweet candies made from real sugar and not high fructose corn syrup – the kind that are swirled into really fragile lacy shapes and come wrapped in individual bits of paper at the holidays. More like Cadbury imported (random trivia: Hubby’s favorite Cadbury bar is called “Whole Nut” and he can’t eat one without giggling like a 12 year old boy). But not candy like “Oh, it’s 3pm and I’m starving and in the grocery checkout and hey that Twix bar from God-knows-how-long-ago looks pretty tasty” candy. I wouldn’t call Kleypas novels my crack, however. I know the story isn’t going to demand too much of my brain or toss me into a hot maelstrom of overblown emotional angst. Even as my brain questioned the possibilities and the circumstances of a happy ending for the two protagonists, I smiled and read along anyway, because her historical romances are comforting and happy in the way that soft flannel and hot cocoa are reassuring. Candy once said that Lisa Kleypas is her romance novel crack, and I can see why.

Mine until midnight