After finishing Bridgerton, I needed a new historical romance to keep me tide over and since I’ve heard Kleypas’ name several times (and her covers are beautiful) I decided to tackle the Hathaways. Another eccentric family of siblings and my final post for the month of love.

1: Love in the Afternoon. Kleypas’ final book in the series and I loved it best. It all starts out as a correspondence while Christopher is at war. Beatrix sensing he just needs someone to come home to, writes back. Alas she is writing in her shallow friend’s name. Such drama. But the most important thing was, their romance was sweet, they meshed well together. I loved how Beatrix saw the world through animalia and kept her eccentricity even in marriage and I enjoyed the vulnerability/angst Christopher had in acclimating back to civilian life due to his shell shock. Or as they called it in the Victorian era, insanity.

2: Married by Morning. Leo Hathaway is my favorite Hathaway sibling. He has such irreverent humor which hides how deeply he feels for everything which makes him push pull with the stern governess Catherine Marks all the more delicious. Especially as she hides a dire secret past. I loved the progression of their relationship, seeing true tenderness between them. 

3: Seduced at Sunrise. Winnifred was a frail woman after her bout with scarlet fever. But after two years away, she has returned healthier and eager to pursue her love, their adopted Rom brother, Merripen. But he is stuck in the past, seeing her as too fragile, and himself as an aggresive dog and is determined to push her away. I enjoyed how Winn was the more sexually interested of the two and it was clear to see the intense connection between them. Which made the repeated kissing then pushing away so annoying. Like seriously annoying, Merripen was so stubborn about not wanting to be with her. He literally told her to go find a better man than he but also would go into jealous rage when she tried to. It was ridiculous. 

4: Mine till Midnight. This one was okay. It’s a solid intro to the family and has a cool supernatural thread within it, but it didn’t quite have a spark for me. The hero, Cam was supposed to be levelheaded, allowing Amelia to relax and not shoulder everything but I found him kinda condescending about it. And like Merripen I found his Rom jealous rages ridiculous.

5: Tempt me at Twilight. The beginning started out well, and I was rooting for them to get together since they shared a cerebral banter. Plus it was novel as the hero was a self-made American man at the edge of the industrial age. There were also some serious Beauty and the Beast vibes as the employees could be taken as expys of Cogsworth, Lumiere and Mrs. Potts, Harry as the Beast and Poppy as the beauty. But Harry Rutledge, rich hotlier and heartless rake ruined it by being an ass. In fact I kinda wanted him to be punched and wished Poppy stayed with the other guy. Yes, the other guy was a little cowardly but Harry saw Poppy as a possession most of the time and even said he wanted a marriage without love so basically a lustful marriage. He manipulated Poppy into it and repeatedly said he had no remorse for it. Yet didn’t understand why she resented him for it. In fact, her resentment made him think to himself “If she thinks me a beast, I’ll show her how heartless I can be.” Seriously! And no, his sob story did not redeem him for me.