A Totally Biased, Unabashed Fangirl’s Mini-review of Seduce Me at Sunrise
Today we end our Super Tuesday celebration with a look at Seduce Me at Sunrise, the second of Lisa Kleypas’s Hathaway novels.
Kleypas has a gift for creating secondary characters that leave readers hungry for their stories. Derek Craven (Dreaming of You, 2003) and Sebastian, Lord St. Vincent (Devil in Winter, 2006) were secondary characters and unlikely hero material in their initial appearances, but Kleypas transformed them into her two most popular heroes. When I fell in love with Cam Rohan, a secondary character in Devil in Winter, I felt confident that he would follow Craven and St. Vincent into my personal Romance Heroes Hall of Fame. But while I liked Mine Till Midnight (2007) and was happy to see Cam written into perpetual bliss with Amelia Hathaway, I was also a bit disappointed that Cam just didn’t measure up to the quintessential Kleypas heroes. In fact, I found myself more interested in a new character, the mysterious gypsy, Kev Merripen and his love for one of Amelia’s younger sisters, the fragile Win. I was thrilled when the first teasers for Seduce Me at Sunrise revealed that it would be Merripen and Win’s story. I have been anticipating this book with great eagerness ever since, and I am pleased to report that it did not disappoint.
Seduce Me at Sunrise is Kleypas at her best: the tortured hero who feels himself unworthy and is determined to save the heroine from his tainted touch, the heroine whose heart is won by the wounded beast and the vulnerabilities only she can see, and a powerful, instinctual connection between the two of them. If you like your romance with an emotional intensity that flirts with excess but never surrenders to it, you’ll love SMAS. Several reviewers have evoked the name of Bronte’s Heathcliff in describing Merripen’s love for Win. I was disenchanted with the destructive darkness of Heathcliff and the incest issue by the time I left my teens, so I prefer seeing Merripen solely as a Kleypas creation, a man capable of tenderness and sacrifice as well as fierce passion. He was the hero I expected from my impressions of him in MTM. Sigh!
The book that I am reminded of as I reconsider SMAS is Deborah Smith’s A Place to Call Home, the story of Roan Sullivan, son of an abusive father and Claire Maloney, daughter of a prominent family. Their relationship too begins in childhood, Roan becomes for a time part of the Maloney family, and two must overcome class differences to achieve their HEA. The childhood connection that become a fateful romance is a theme I love when it’s done well. Smith handles it superbly in APTCH, and it is one of my all-time favorite romances. Kleypas uses the theme to craft a heart-twisting story in SMAS; it may well become one of my all-time favorites too. I’ll let you know after the second reread.
While I thought SMAS was essentially Merripen’s book, the book would never have been an A read for me if I had not liked Win as well. I found her fully credible in her attraction to Merripen, in her attachment to her family, and in her courage to take risks. Moreover, I believed in the two of them together. I believed in their ability to build a life together. I would have liked the ending better without Lord Cavan’s part in the story, but that’s a small flaw.
I enjoyed the other Hathaways as well. I liked seeing Amelia’s happiness with Cam, Poppy promises to be an interesting heroine, and Beatrix is an interesting mixture. But I particularly enjoyed the now-sober Leo, who possesses charm, humor, empathy, and some of the most memorable lines in the novel.
Kleypas has said that the next Hathaway book will be Poppy’s story, and I expect it will be another keeper. But I admit the book I am most looking forward to is Leo’s; he is clearly destined to be another of LK’s secondary characters turned unforgettable hero. In the meantime, A Wallflower Christmas will be on bookshelves in just over a week, and Smooth Talking Stranger, Jack Travis’s story, is due March 17. Kleypas fans have reasons to celebrate.
Who is your favorite Kleypas hero? What heroes do you count in your Heroes Hall of Fame?
Without a doubt Mckenna is my favorite hero ever(not just favorite Kelypas hero but, I stress, favorite hero EVER). Of course Mr. Darcy and Atticus Finch(he was my hero in To Kill a Mockingbird) and Gilbert from Anne of Green Gables rank high for me. I honestly prize ALL of Kleypas’s heroes on my list. And then there’s JQ’s Michael, Colin, Anthony, Gregory, Phillip, Jack, Thomas, and the list goes on and on. I love Mary Reed McCall’s Gabriel(Sinful Pleasures). I love both of Victoria Dahl’s heroes. I love Connie Brockway’s Harry(As You Desire). Gena Showalter’s Lords of the Underworld. Every hero Kresley Cole has created. Many of Sherrilyn Kenyon’s guys. Any guy Juliane MacLean puts on a page. I love so many more. The list is way too long.
Great post! It’s always fun to recount all of the great heroes I’ve experienced!
I can’t wait for Leo’s story either. Naturally, I fell for him in Mine Until Midnight. I haven’t read Surrender at Sunrise (does she not have the best titles or what) but as a true Kleypas fangirl I’ll be taking care of that in short order.
My favorite Kleypas hero? Derek Craven always tops the list. The delicious St. Vincent is always up there along with Simon from Secrets of a Summer Night. He’s self-made and the son of a butcher. He speaks to me on that level. Andrew of ‘I Will’ rocks my boat every time I re-read that story. I’m excited that it’s being re-released.
Most of Jo Beverly’s heroes top my list. The Dark Angel holds a special place. Rafe from EJ’s Essex sisters series along with Lucian and Mayne. JQ’s Colin Bridgerton and Sir Phillip from To Sir Philip with Love. Wulf from Mary Balogh’s ‘Slightly’ series. I just loved reading about his emotional side he showed when he thought no one was looking and he’s hot to boot. I am sure I’m missing dozens of them.
OH! Dain from ‘Lord of Scoundrels’. A big brute of a man who speaks Italian. Delicioso!
no contest. st vincent.
Wow, Kelly, that’s an impressive list, and that’s quite a range too. McKenna is another terrific Kleypas hero. In fact, I don’t think LK has ever written a less than extraordinary hero. I also love Brockway’s Harry and her Avery Thorne (My Dearest Enemy) and Justin Powell (Bridal Favors) are favorites as well.
Santa, Derek Craven is unforgettable. I think Lisa is the undisputed genius of the self-made hero, and DC is her best IMO. But Ross Cannon (Lady Sophia’s Lover–my favorite LK book) is actually my favorite Kleypas hero. In some ways he’s just such an unlikely hero, but Klepas makes him a noble and definitely sigh-worthy protagonist.
You know I agree with you about Jo Bev’s heroes. Rothgar, Sax, Race, Nicholas, Dare–and the list goes on. I love Balogh’s Wulf too–and Aidan and Sydnam and Hartley Wade. Of course, we can’t forget Dain, and I love Chase’s Rupert and Benedict Carsington too. MJP is another whose heroes I adore, as are Carla Kelly, JQ, Nora Roberts, Robyn Carr. EJ’s Rafe and Mayne are in my top ten, and I have a feeling that Villiers may join them when the current series is complete.
Maya M, I can see that you are a woman who knows her own mind. St Vincent is a great favorite on the EJ/JQ board too.
Janga, your mention of Bridal Favors reminded me that I’d left Elliot from Bridal Season off of my list. I so love the ending when he rushes into the theater and professes his love, again, to Letty. Beauthiful!
Make that *beautiful *g*
Count me among those anxiously awaiting Leo’s story. He did have the best lines in that book! He was such a hoot, very self deprecating and I love that. My prediction is he’s going to be telling himself through the next however many books it takes what a prickly, unattractive shrew Catherine (the girl’s governess) is until he gets hit between the eyes with his destiny! I just loved their verbal sparring. It got kind of nasty there, but so hilarious at the same time. The love at first sight plotline is fun and I like reading it, but I absolutely love when an author shows the hero and heroine truly disliking and finding each other unattractive and then turning it around. I’m hoping that’s what Lisa has in store for Leo.
Wow… my favorite heroes. That’s a rough one. I think I’ve got more than Kelly! It’s especially difficult to pick a LK hero. She does do heroes so well! I love Marcus Westcliff, Alex Raiford, Derek Craven, Jack Devlin, Zach Bronson, Ross Cannon, Simon Hunt. She does the self-made man better than any other author I’ve read.
Some of my other favorites include Balogh’s Wulf Bedwyn, Gabriel, Hartley Wade, Aidan Bedwyn, Ralf Bedwyn, Kit Butler. EJ’s Sebastian, Mayne, Rafe, Elijah. JQ’s Anthony, Simon, Colin, Benedict. Jo Bev’s Reynald, FitzRoger, Rothgar, Nicholas Delaney, Lucien, Francis Middlethorpe, Race, Hawk. Madeline Hunter’s David, Rhys, Daniel, Dante, Julian Hampton. Robyn Carr’s Jack, Preacher, Mike (and I’m sure much more when the new books come out!). SEP’s Dan Calebow, Bobby Tom Denton, Heath Champion. Nora’s Grayson Thane, Aidan Gallagher, Murphy Muldoon, Devin MacKade, Bradley Vane, Zach Todd, Byron DeWitt, Cameron Quinn. Just to name a few. LOL
Irish, you’re a girl after my own heart! You named all of the ones I missed!
You are a reader after my own heart, Irish. I bet you could have doubled your list.
I would add Seidel’s Quinn Hunter and Alec Cameron to the list, and although I love all of NR’s MacKades, Rafe is my favorite.
Janga, I agree with every word of your blog! I read SMAS in one day. Actually, “read” is kind of tame. “Devoured” is much more accurate. I adored Kev and Win and their story was everything I could have hoped for. Lisa’s brilliance took center stage with this one!
I’m so sleep deprived from the weekend that my poor brain couldn’t possibly come up with any other heroes at this point so I’ll just say “ditto” to Irish.
Hardy is my favorite. *swoons* And that’s all I need to say about him. *LOL*
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