Lisa Kleypas: Sugar Daddy

Sugar Daddy: A
Liberty Jones & Gage Travis

I wasn’t too tempted to read this one, but when I saw Trollop giving it praises over at The Book Bitches, I was piqued… and good thing too, because this read was so totally worth it. I keep on doing that thing where I tell myself that I’m only going to read for thirty minutes before bed, and end up staying up all night to finish the book. So the next morning, I’m in that tingly mood from having finished a good love story, but also look like shit because I got no sleep.

This novel is written in first person and tells of the life of Liberty Jones, a poor girl from a small city in Texas. (Interjection: what kind of a name is Liberty…?) She and her mom live in a trailer park where she meets endearing friends and falls in love with a boy named Hardy Cates. It tells of her first experience with makeup, the multiple boyfriends her mother had, and the relationships Liberty went through in high school. It tells of how she raises her younger sister, born when Liberty was fifteen (?), and how after their mother’s death, Liberty fights to support herself and young Carrington.

Eventually, Liberty moves to Houston to work as a hairdresser at a swanky salon where she catches the eye of bajillionaire and much older man, Churchill Travis.

At this point in the book, I was totally praying she would NOT hook up with Churchill. Liberty is approximately twenty-four years old and Churchill is fifty-something. That would have been icky.

However, Liberty and Churchill develop a very caring relationship, and when Churchill asks Liberty and Carrington to move into his house, she consents after long consideration. They continue their father-daughter relationship.

It isn’t until Liberty meets Churchill’s eldest son, Gage Travis, that sparks start to fly. (Interjection 2: And the name Gage? Kinda like, ‘I want to gage the temperature of this thermometer… that kind of gage? …weird.) He assumes she is one of his father’s “side thing,” and is a total douchebag to her. She tries to ignore him, his rudeness, and his completely dark-tall-and-handsomeness.

May I add in here that I absolutely loved the scene where Gage realizes how soft-hearted and kind Liberty is? It reminds me of Paradise when Meredith goes over to Matt’s farmhouse and he’s dying from sickness. (Note to self: if hot boy is ever dying from sickness and is in need of assistance, go over to his house ASAP. Romances indicate something poignant and amazing will happen.)

So Gage and Liberty are mightily attracted to each other, do the I-like-you tango, and have some awesome bedroom moments… when Hardy Cates shows up in his blue-eyed splendor. He is now a self-made millionaire and ten times more potent than when he was seventeen.

Liberty is confused.

Gage is pissed.

Hardy? Hardy is hot.

What to do what to do?! Which drop-dead gorgeous super-rich hunk will she pick? OH man, if only my name was Liberty Jones…

This was such a powerful read, though I wanted to read Gage’s perspectives too. What was he thinking? Was he totally drooling over beautiful Liberty? When did he really start loving her? The chemistry between Liberty and Gage is to die for and will give you shivers…

My two complaints: I wish more pages of the book were devoted to Liberty and Gage’s romance, not so much of Liberty-growing-up, even though her background helped me to understand what kind of person she was. And even though I really liked the HEA, I disliked the epilogue.

*Spoiler*

Come on, Lisa Kleypas! Liberty just spent eight or nine years raising her younger sister, who basically was Liberty’s very own baby. Why did the book have to end with Liberty getting pregnant? Doesn’t she want a freakin’ break? I would, even if it is Gage’s baby!

*End spoiler*

With that said, I heartily recommend this book. Fo’sho, it’s a satisfying (and drool-inducing) read. No kidding!

Lisa Kleypas: Blue-Eyed Devil

Blue-Eyed Devil: A+

Haven Travis & Hardy Cates
Sequel to Sugar Daddy


Scenes of domestic abuse and the journey to recovery make Kleypas's modern romance anything but fluff. A Wellesley grad and daughter of a Houston energy baron, Haven Travis is an unlikely romantic heroine until her brief but ardent encounter with a man who turns out to be Hardy Cates, the East Texas roughneck from Sugar Daddy who worked his way up from poverty and then outmaneuvered the Travis clan in a business deal.

Haven's engaged to Nick Tanner—a man her dad thinks is unfit for her—and though she and Hardy have a charged interaction, she elopes with Nick, and her father cuts her off. Nick turns out to be a bad guy, and a beaten and bruised Haven returns to Houston, where Hardy's still at odds with her family. Their passion proves as fervent as ever, but demons from Haven's recent past—as well as strife with her family and troubles at work and in bed—stand in the way. Kleypas isn't a literary stylist, but she delivers a page-turning, formula-breaking romance that takes on social issues and escalates passion to new heights. (amazon)

Ohhhhhh my goodness, I am so in love with Gage Travis and Hardy Cates. It’s unbelievable. Even though both men are in the oil industry, I forgive them for it.

Haven is the only daughter of the Travis family, younger sister to Gage, Jack, Joe (I could be wrong about this particular Travis. He is still very obscure to me). The book starts out at Liberty
and Gage’s wedding. Sugar Daddy was also a very satisfying read (but one whose ending I did not like) and I loved seeing them again in BED.

It is at their wedding that Haven first meets Hardy Cates. Tall, weathered, tanned, and broad-shouldered, he is what dreams are made of. And who can forget those electric blue eyes? Hardy is at the wedding, but is uninvited, due to the debacle that happened at the end of Sugar Daddy. Haven is attracted to Hardy (though honestly, who wouldn’t be?) but she has a boyfriend whom she is in love with, and one her family disapproves of. Feeling that Nick is the man of her dreams, they marry… and Haven’s life is changed forever.

She is domestically abused and returns to her family when she divorces Nick. It’s then that Hardy reappears in her life – tanned eyes, blue eyes all. Haven is thrown into a funk when she is unable to tamp down the attraction she feels for Hardy and struggling to put her past behind her. It’s even harder when Nick refuses to disappear from her life, and she is plagued with a jerk boss at work.

To tell you the truth, I thought Hardy was a douchebag when Sugar Daddy ended. But readers, do not fear. Hardy fully redeems himself in Blue-Eyed Devil. Not only is he an amazing kisser and smoking hot, he is with Haven as she battles her sexual insecurities and memories of her ex-husband. He saves her life and in turn she saves his. The love that they experience is fast-paced, but the tale is so engrossing, you can’t help but to believe that what they’re experiencing is true.

The book is in first-person, so I still don’t really know what Haven looks like. And I don’t know what Hardy really thinks of her, as you would know in a regular third-person story. But really, that’s not important because you get a wholly satisfying story with a very delicious hero. I love Hardy! I love Gage! I love this book!

I keep striking gold with Lisa Kleypas… and I’m so glad. I hear that the next contemporary is going to be Jack Travis’s story. I’m psyched for it – it’ll be an auto-read (and maybe auto-buy, depending on the state of my back account) for me.