AAR

[jaime]

Read it and finished it in one go and liked it a lot. It has that special readability that all Kleypas books I have read seem to have.

It is more a women's fiction though than a romance focused solely on one couple. Sam - who is a very likable hero, truly a good guy - and the heroine Lucy get their due but there is lot of family stuff going on.

At the beginning poor Lucy gets dumped by her long-term bf for her own younger sister. That bf is a piece of work (I had nasty wishes of his winkie falling off throughout) and as for the sister - with family like that who needs enemies. Lucy's friend Justine pushes Lucy to date her friend Sam (Justine and Sam used to date and have remained friends). That's the thing about Sam, while he is a guy who is afraid of commitment and goes from one casual relationship to the next one he does like women and treats them well while he is with them. Justine wants Lucy with Sam because understandably, after what she's been through she needs a boost to her self-confidence and an ego-boosting rebound man. Also understandably Lucy is hesitant to get involved with a man again. But then she has an accident that pushes her and Sam together.

The reader also gets to see what's going on with the other two Nolan brothers - Mark's on the road to marriage and family, and Alex, the troubled and emotionally starved alcoholic youngest brother has gotten divorced and taken to the cleaners. Alex has the next book in the series - his teaser chapter at the end is really, really intriguing!

[Sputnik]

[jaime]

[Sputnik]

[Natalie]

At the risk of sounding shallow, how hot is this book? Is it on the level of LK's historicals or closer to the first novella? I don't mean the explicitness per se, but the passion and sexual tension - Kleypas is usually darned good at that.

[erika]

Curious, is there happy happy families with the sister stealing bf in the end?

[jaime]

[jaime]

[Nicole]

I just finished this book tonight, or actually this morning. I really liked it. I don't think it really reads all that much like women's fiction. The story was central to the courtship of the main couple, and while it touched on other relationships it only did so briefly. So yeah, to me this reads way more like a romance.

Like some of you, I didn't care for the magical realism elements in the book. I felt like it didn't add anything to the story, and was just sort of put there. I don't understand the why of the glass turning into animals or what was accomplished by it happening or even what it said about Lucy as a character. I'm actually curious about the meaning behind the animal choices, not sure I got what they were supposed to symbolize.

The magical realism aside, I really liked this book. Once again a beautiful love story delivered by means of truly fantastic writing. I can't wait for the next book. Alex and Zoe both intrigued me, and can't wait to read more about them. I also think the magical elements in their story will appeal to me more. I'm curious to find out about Alex's relationship with the ghost thing, and I'm wondering if Zoe is going to have a kitchen magic element brought around her culinary skills. I can't wait and August is so far away.....ARG!
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She is too fond of books, and it has turned her brain. -Louisa May Alcott

[jaime]

I find it interesting that some readers seem to have an easier time accepting the Alex and his ghost angle than the Lucy and her glass magic thing. I personally find the magic thing a bit - twee, and the ghost storyline appeals to me more. Even though though both elements are supernatural and I can give no logical reason for my preference.

[Nicole]

I didn't have an issue with accepting Lucy's glass magic, I had issues with it's place in the story. It didn't seem to have a purpose other than to just be there, and it just didn't feel all that special to me.

I think the ghost plot line appeals to me more because I think it will have a bigger place in the book than the glass magic did in this one. It seems like it'll add something to Alex's story, or at least I hope it does.
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She is too fond of books, and it has turned her brain. -Louisa May Alcott

[Cee]

For some reason I had totally missed the fact that this book was a paranormal, so I was pretty surprised when magic was brought up in the first couple pages. I really can't stand magic/fairy/witch stuff and it put me off the book entirely. It's such a pity that such a great author had to go down the paranormal path like every other author out there just because it's "trendy."
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"When the day shall come, that we do part," he said softly, and turned to look at me, "if my last words are not 'I love you' -- ye'll ken it was because I didna have time."

[stl_reader]

Got this out of the library and read it this past weekend. Pretty fast read.

I'd give it a grade of "meh". It wasn't bad. It wasn't memorable, either.

This is basically a lust-at-first-sight novel. I never exactly understood why Sam ultimately fell in love with Lucy. TBH, though, I never got to know either of them enough to care.

I am in the camp that wonders why there had to be an element of "magic" in this novel. I agree with those who think it added nothing of value to the story.

I also found it interesting that Sam (who casually dates and sleeps with women but then leaves if they get too serious) mumbles something about "protection" when he and Lucy decide to do the deed, and Lucy (whose ex-fiance has been sleeping with her sister) blithely reassures him that she's on the pill, so not to worry. (She is on the pill due to undisclosed "medical" reasons. Odd, I'd have thought she was still on the pill simply because she'd been sleeping with her boyfriend until recently. Whatever.)

Anyway, my point is, with all the potential sleeping around and lack of trust (who else has Kevin perhaps slept with over the last year or two?), wouldn't you think the H/h would want to protect against more than just babies?

[Nicole]

[Tee]