Seduce Me At Sunrise by Lisa Kleypas

I decided to go ahead and read the next book in this series right away, while the characters were still fresh in my mind.

Seduce Me At Sunrise by Lisa Kleypas
(2008, Victorian) 12/7/08
Grade: 3.5

Win Hathaway has been drawn to Kev Merripen since childhood, when her family rescued the Gypsy boy from death. But her poor health kept them from anything but friendship. Now that she has returned home, healthy enough to make a new life, Win is determined to overcome Kev’s barries and make him admit his feelings for her - despite their differences.

Although this book was more successful than the previous one, I still felt that the book lacked emotional intensity. Kev is a compelling hero, and I was fascinated by the glimpse into Gypsy life and his struggles to live in the gadjo world. But somehow, the romance between Win and Kev didn’t come together. It felt like the author was telling me they were in love, rather than showing me, and the barriers between them felt forced. Also, there was a lot of space devoted to the secondary characters - revisiting Cam and Amelia and setting up the future romances for other Hathaway siblings. It took away from the main story. I can’t really say why this book wasn’t compelling to me - it just felt predictable, despite the unusual setting and characters.

Why can one author write a book with a well known plot and characters, and make it seem fresh and new? And another author can write a book with characters that seem unique - Gypsy heroes are not that common - and yet, every move the characters make seems blah and predictable? I guess if I knew the answer to that, I'd be a writer instead of a chemist.