Book Review: Then Came You by Lisa Kleypas (The Gamblers of Craven #1)
I’ve been recommended Kleypas to read quite a few times, so when this came up as a Book of the Month challenge and it was also on sale for a couple of dollars, it felt the stars had aligned and I decided to give it a go. (Well, maybe it wasn’t quite that dramatic but anyway…)
I must say the first couple of chapters of the book were horrid. Our heroine, Lily, was such a cliche. She is, of course, so beautiful that all men fall instantly in love/lust with her! Not content with her role of decorating the world, she pursues wild manly pursuits with such gusto that she earns the respect of all she meets! She has access to all the best card games (the book is the first in a series of books which will feature the Craven gambling den) where she always manages to win! She rides with the men, astride on her horse instead of side saddle, in the foxhunt! She is super clever and understands politics! Yes, the term Mary Sue was invented for Lily.
Our hero, Alex, meanwhile, is still in love with his late girlfriend who died in a freak accident. He doesn’t want to fall in love again, in case something should happen and he has to go through all that heartache for a second time. He’s settled on a nice easy marriage of convenience to Lily’s sister, Penny.
Lily is fretful for Penny who she believes is a gentle soul and will never be happy with Alex so she sets out to break up the engagement as well as wreak havoc in his life in general.
This is where Kleypas settled into a better rhythm and the book improved enough to keep me reading. I’m not saying it’s literature, however.
Kleypas’s head hopping habit in random spots was distracting. She also added to the plot perhaps too much. I think Lily trying to prevent her sister’s wedding could have almost sufficed. Abusive teachers, bear-baiting, kidnapping, extortion, white slavery… It just became a little silly at times and Kleypas would have been better advised to use some of her ideas in future novels.
Kleypas also uses the owner of the gambling club, Derek Craven, as the link to the next book (where he will be hero) quite unsucessfully, in my opinion. Other than the fact that Derek is madly in love/lust with Lily (obviously, blah) Derek has zero to do with the actual plot of this book and didn’t assist in adding any characterisation to Alex or Lily. His character and presence in the club could have been mentioned in passing and everything would have worked just as well. Using a character for no reason other than as a marketing ploy for another book is annoying/insulting.
I did like the way Kleypas wrote the secksy times though. They’re probably what kept me reading when the rest of the book was wearing thin! LOL
Overall, I wouldn’t say this was the best thing I’d read but it was probably good enough that I’ll try another Kleypas soon.
3 out of 5
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