Seduce Me at Sunrise

Seduce Me at Sunrise (2008) Lisa Kleypas

Set in England in 1848

Kev Merripen was found beaten and ailing by the Hathaway family, who took him in and treated him as one of their own, despite his obviously being a Rom. He’s stayed only because since the day he laid eyes on her he has been in love with Win Hathaway.

Win and her brother Leo almost died of scarlet fever, and were saved only by Kev attempting a treatment he remembered learning when he was on the road as a child. Leo recovered physically, but Win did not, so after her sister married the wealthy Cam, Win and Leo went to France so she could attempt to recover her strength.

I have really complicated feelings about this story.

I very much liked Kev and Win. I got that Kev didn’t trust himself, and feared he would destroy Win. I also wanted to know more about Kev’s story and whether he and Cam were related.

What I didn’t much care for were the bits of plot seemingly thrown in to confuse the story, all circling around the handsome doctor who returned with Win from France. I mean, really? WHY? Could he have been any flatter? Could he have had less reason for his actions? WHY?

It would have been a much better book had it simply been about Kev and Win coming to terms with Kev’s pasts and Win’s recovery and the uncovering of the relationship between Kev and Cam.

And as far as THAT goes, the end felt entirely too pat.

Which is too bad, because the parts of the story that weren’t aggravating were quite good.

But I’m glad I borrowed this one from the library, because it was pretty much required to read if you wanted to finish Cam and Amelia’s story, but so many elements of this plot were just aggravating.

Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Rating: 6/10

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