I can see why this is a lovable book. I think Kleypas basically caught lightning in a bottle with her two main characters, Evie and Sebastian, but I don’t have faith that she can recreate the magic in other books, so I probably won’t be reading any of her other stuff. I’m glad I finally read this one, though, even if I didn’t think it was A M A Z I N G or anything.
The plot here is that Evangeline Jenner needs to marry quickly in order to get away from her abusive family, who only want to secure her fortune. They won’t let her see her dying father, and are trying to force her to marry her cousin because they want to retain control of her money. She knows she needs to find someone just as desperate as she is who will agree to an elopement and a marriage of convenience. Enter Sebastian, Lord St. Vincent, an unrepentant rake who apparently kidnapped her friend last book and tried to get her to marry him because he needs to marry a wealthy woman in order to maintain his lordly lifestyle. But don’t worry about that, he didn’t *really* mean her harm. (This is addressed in the book, and I think Kleypas successfully digs herself out of the hole she’s created, but it’s a bit of a strange choice to begin with. Plus I didn’t even get fifty pages in to the second book where that happens before I stopped reading it out of boredom.)
The chemistry between Evie and Sebastian is really good, and the dialogue is as well (something I thought was lacking in the first two books in this series). I thought some of the plot machinations once they’re already married were a bit overdramatic, but I also appreciate a good hurt/comfort storyline, and this had a great one. It was also suitably detailed in the medical aspect as well, which I liked. At times, Sebastian seemed too overbearing for me, but overall I liked that Evie and Sebastian were equals in their partnership, and they fit well together.
I’m not sure I’d ever revisit this, but it was a good book.
