https://lisakleypas.com/
All you nerds know what I’m talking about. The Star Trek rule of thumb is: the odd
numbered Star Treks are weaker than the even numbered Star Treks. I don’t know if that theory actually holds up on closer examination, but I thought I’d might be able to apply it to Lisa Kleypas’ Ravenel series. Some of the books in this series worked for me: Marrying Winterborne (number 2) and Devil’s Daughter (number 4). And some of them not so much, I even had a DNF, Hello Stranger. I might have to go back and give that book another try. I know, I know. It's quite a stretch for the Revenel series to meet the Star Trek standards. But, somehow, in my mind, it worked. Anyway, onward. Chasing Cassandra is the sixth, and I believe the last book in the Ravenel series. Tom Severin finally gets his own book. He is paired with Cassandra Ravenel. One of the fascinating things about this story is that these two have never met. One would think with all of the past cross-overs in the previous stories in the series, they would have bumped into each other at some point. But what do I know?
Whenever Tom was in any of the past books, I always wondered about his social skills, or lack thereof. He was always stealing scenes, and hogging the background. While he seemed to be highly skilled at making money, he just never seemed to understand how some of his aggressive corporate maneuvering impacted people. He has achieved everything he has ever wanted, but he feels alone. Although talking about feelings and Tom in the same sentence is a bit of a oxymoron. As he so proudly admits, he has allowed himself only five emotions because the rest don’t serve any purpose.
I loved Tom. I loved how he viewed the world, his thought processes, and his interpretation of classical books. His interpretation of Don Quixote for instance; “A story about a middle-aged lunatic who vandalizes private properties…” I found him to be a completely adorable hero, except for alllll the money. I’ve read a lot of romance novels, and a ton of them have men with oodles of money, but Tom’s worth was staggering. I am beginning to find that kind of wealth annoying. I don’t have a problem with a male providing some financial security, but Tom’s wealth was depressing. I guess if romance writers can’t write about a duke, they have to write about a really wealthy guy. Wealth obviously means power, and it is. But it doesn’t necessarily mean honor.
As a couple, Cassandra and Tom didn’t connect. And, why is that? I blame Cassandra. She was the weak part of this book; she had no personality. She was just plain bland. The only thing I could remember about her after I finished the story was: she was overwhelmingly beautiful. Cassandra just wasn’t a good match for Tom, she wasn’t dynamic enough. Plus, there were long periods of separation, I’m not sure why the long periods of separation were added to the story. They didn’t enhance the narrative in any way, nor add any much-needed chemistry to our romantic couple. I for one am not a big fan of couples being separated in Romanceland. In this story, even a writer of Ms. Kleypas’ caliber couldn’t make the periods of separation work.
Bazzle. There was a wonderful secondary character by the name of Bazzle. He’s a street urchin. Tom takes him in. Tom at first resists Bazzle’s charms, but it isn’t long before Bazzle has crawled under Tom’s skin. Along with the lice. Normally, I don’t think bugs are funny. But, there are some rather humorous scenes involving Bazzle, bathing, and lice.
There is the requisite returning heroes and heroines from the previous stories showing up. Lucky you! If you really love the Ravenel family, you're in luck! You get to see all their little children. Overall, this book had a bunch of wonderful secondary characters, especially Bazzle. As usual, Ms. Kleypas, has given us a wonderful hero in Tom. Men seem to be Ms. Kleypas' strong point. The problem with the story was the bland heroine, Cassandra. Sorry to say, this was not one of my favorite Lisa Kleypas books. It had some great dialogue, and wonderful chemistry between Bazzle and Tom, but the heroine didn’t have any personility. In a romance, it's important that both the hero and heroine have something we can latch onto.
By the way, the Star Trek rule of thumb may not work here. When I looked back on my calculations, I discovered that I only really liked two in this series. There must be some other rule of thumb I can apply.
Time/Place: England 1870s
Sensuality: Warm
No comments:
Post a Comment