Rinse and repeat ad-nauseam until even the laziest reader finally picks them up. And what better way to show this, than occasionally peppering dialogues with random French words like: Oui, mon mari, d'accord, bien-aime. Then there is the awkward world building, that has everyone and their bulldog speaking French. Bonus points, for her lack of soul, due to having sold it to the (evil underdog of the) devil. Lisette's mother got the short end of the cliche pile: ex-great beauty (duh!), now an invalid due to too much pretending to be one ( karma's a bitch?).

Her older sister, ex-loving confidante, has now turned into the opposite due to a boring marriage ( say wha-?!) Lisette's stepfather is all about his debt and his lack of success in getting rid of it. Since I'm mostly character-driven in my enjoyment of these romances, their little shortcomings just kept adding up, making for one exasperated reader (moi!): And as any self respecting protagonist, she manages to instantly stumble her way into the arms of a hero, who is of course besotted enough to feel considerable reluctance in wanting to curb such 'exuberance'. Starting with their father (or stepfather, as is the case) and continuing with their husband, even highborn women can never really hope to become more than glorified slaves.īefore you despair, remember that this is still Lisa Kleypas' brand of universe, so our lovely heroine is (obviously) quite the little rebel. While the English and New York citizens of the female persuasion may find themselves in possession of a modicum of freedom, even if mostly for show, New Orleans has a law against such frivolities. Unlike the above-mentioned novels, ' When Strangers Marry' will not immortalize our heroes frolicking around in the romantic English countryside, but it does give them a decent amount of prancing within the 'exotic' New Orleans' Creoles' society. that's kind of the whole point for these types of books. According to the description blurb, this has been rewritten, but I still wouldn't call it 'memorable enough' nor even entertaining enough. After plowing through the books listed here on GR, it was inevitable that I stumble on one of her older works. Of course, everyone has to start out somewhere, and generally not that well.

But rather, the general feeling of giddiness they cause, making me anxiously root for the heroes to find themselves in each others' bed(s) ASAP. It's not because of their historical accuracy, as some of her characters seem more like modern heroines dressed in regency garb. Lisa Kleypas is one of my all time favorite historical romance authors, most notably for her Gamblers of Craven's and Wallflower series.

When Strangers Marry by Lisa Kleypas