Some new books

I wanted to read some new writers so Shasha my daughter introduced me to Lisa Kleypas.The title wasn't really pulling me (Mine Till Midnight)  and neither did the first lines: " Finding one person in a city of two million is a formidable task..." Hmmm I wasn't attracted. But I went on reading and going on found that I did like the would- -be hero of the story, Cam Rohan. I find that Lisa Kleypas writes a moderately good tale - I'd give her a  3 star rating, though some of her characters are a bit unbelievable. Mine Till Midnight is the first in a series (Yes, there are more) and is about a family that is very unconventional in an era that is nothing but conventional - Victoria's England. Amelia is the oldest of four sisters and one older brother, who after his fiancee died, seemed to change for the worse and became a morose drunk and an inveterate gambler. Afraid that he would lose all their fortune and their home, Amelia went to London to look for him, accompanied only by Merripen, a gypsy boy their father had adopted. All kinds of danger and excitement ensues , Amelia herself meets Cam Rohan, another half gypsy. Leo the brother is brought back to Hampshire but troubles seem to dog her footsteps. Amelia tries to deal with the problem of Leo and his visions of his dead fiancee and his drinking and at the same time finds that she is very much attracted to Cam. Like most romance novels the story ends positively - its an okay book to pass the time of day, but nothing to shout about.

                                                            

The second book by Lisa Kleypas that I bought was "Love in the Afternoon." I found that I liked this book much better compared to the first one. Its still about the Hathaway sisters, this time Beatrix, the second sister. Beatrix is considered 'weird' by most of the local gentry- she wears pants sometimes, goes out into the woods all the time, rescues wild animals from sure death and even keeps a hedgehog as a pet! 

When she first meets Christopher Phelan he commented that her manners belong to the stable. Christopher is the typical dashing hero - he is handsome, charming to the ladies and  a man about town. Then Christopher is sent to the Crimea as a soldier. He writes a letter to Prudence, Beatrix friend telling her about his experiences in the fighting and its horrors. Prudence is disappointed that Christopher doesn't talk about her, or about her beauty.When Prudence refuses to write back, the soft-hearted Beatrix  agrees to write to him, using Prudence's name. What started as something done in kindness and sympathy becomes something deep and fulfilling for both Christopher and Beatrix. But the war is finally over and Christopher is a hero who has saved many lives. However he is a changed man. Will he still look for Prudence who is beautiful and conventional or will he realise that his love is someone else - a girl the old Christopher will not even look at, at one time? Its a much better read than the first book and I fully recommend it to anyone who wants to read it. When I read the descriptions about the Crimean war they reminded me so much of Tennyson's poem - The Charge of the Light Brigade , which was actually written about this war.