Tempt Me at Twilight [Mass Market Paperback]

I loved this book and just spent the whole of my day off reading it when I had a million other things to do. I really have not much enjoyed the first two books in this series but with this one I think Lisa Kleypas is right back on top form. Harry Rutledge is a gorgeous hero. Apparently ruthless and determined to get his own way but with such a damaged past which becomes clearer as you read that he is also desperately vulnerable - for me a fatal combination. Poppy is also charming and she is just perfect for him - her and her family are just what he needs. I love a romance where the couple get married early on and you see them forced into intimacy, getting to know each other and falling in love and that is what you get with this book. I enjoyed the Hathaway family much more in this book than in the others and their part in the story was well done and didn't feel in any way gratuitous. I can't wait for Leo's story now. He became much more interesting during this book as well when previously I had thought him rather weak and spoilt. The romance in this book is slightly darker and less straightforward than in the previous two Hathaway books but it makes for more emotional intensity and drama and a more satisfactory outcome. Loved it.

Best Hathaway book from the one family member I always saw as completely unnecessary. It seemed that each Hathaway had an important role - Amelia the leader, Leo the lovable sexy wastrel, Win the beauty and Bea the baby of the group. Poppy seemed to be the Kitty Bennett - really, what's the POINT of her?

Lisa Kleypas just near made her my favourite, and Leo was a given anyway. Since his book's not out till next year, let's just go ahead and say this has been my favourite one yet.

Poppy is brilliant - her inner voice is fun without being annoying, and she has the guts to follow up on things she says. There's no bluffing, and she is perfectly able to live with rejecting Harry despite loving him - I didn't realise what a breath of fresh air this would be after the desperate passion of Win and Merripen's book, but it really does work. Her loyalty to Bayning is quite speaking of her tenacity - she doesn't just throw aside previous feelings because the hero crooks his finger. She's wonderful, what a sense of purpose this girl has, I adored her.

I often find the liveliness of one the main characters in a romance novel overshadows the other, even in a Kleypas sometimes, either the hero is one note and too perfect, or the heroine is bland and archetypical (read: spunky! Ugh!). I LOVED Harry, and Harry and Poppy together are gorgeous. While his appearance is quite Kleypas (tall, dark haired and green eyes), he possesses the ruthlessness of Prince Nicholas and the entrepreneurial energy of Jack Devlin but the anguish of his own inner dialogue shows how much he is preoccupied with his love for Poppy which gives him a humanity Nicholas seemed like he lacked. His actions towards her are awesome at the moment of first being together properly - considerate is too sweet a word to describe it, but the intention behind it does boil down to that. Like Emma with Nicholas, in some ways they're foes - it's only when being faced with the equal strength of mental will that the hero is brought back from the edge of cruelty. If you're tired of heroes being just so frigging PERFECT and SWEET all the damn time (!) this is the pairing for you.

But let's face it, you - like everyone - want the dirt on Leo and Miss Marks! There are several interactions and great inner dialogue of Leo's who at this stage genuinely doesn't think of Miss Marks as anything other than something to annoy until a certain event in the book, and from then on, it's full steam ahead and the book even ends on a small cliffhanger regarding an incident that apparently happens over the course of the book which we didn't see but undoubtedly will in the future. Not until next year. Cruel, Lisa. Cruel.

Still haven't come around to Bea, but hey, yesterday I didn't even like Poppy and look at me ranting on now.

If you were thinking about avoiding this one like I was, really reconsider.

Despite being a member of the eccentric Hathaway family, all Poppy wants is a quiet life - and in Michael Bayning she thinks she's found it. But real life isn't a fairytale, and Poppy soon discovers that the serving maid doesn't always marry the prince. Sometimes she's left with the villain instead. And Harry Rutledge is certainly one of those.

In the third of the `Hathaways' series (Mine Till Midnight, Seduce Me at Sunrise) LK focuses on sensible, talkative Poppy. Intelligent and honest, she has moments of both endearing naïveté and iron-willed strength. Like all the Hathaways she has her own views on society and its rules, and a deep sense of integrity that she will never compromise.

Unlike Harry, who is truly ruthless - in the tradition of LK's most beloved heroes (Derek Craven, St. Vincent, Nick Gentry) - when he wants something, he'll stop at nothing to get it. I did take a while to warm up to Harry, I'll admit, but Poppy brings out the best in him. He's smart and a little too clever for his own good, but his past explains a lot, which is why his relationship with Poppy is such a delight to read. She's no pushover, nor is she overdramatic. She doesn't get hysterical or throw tantrums, and often Harry has no idea what to do with her. She certainly doesn't make things easy for him.

As with the rest of the series, Poppy's family plays a large part, with welcome glimpses of Amelia and Cam, Win and Merripen as well as further developments between brother Leo, and the mysterious governess Catherine Marks. (The epilogue leaves no doubts about the subject of the next book). There's also more from the youngest - and my favourite - Bea, with her wonderful menagerie of pets, including Dodger.

With all of them arrayed against him, Harry doesn't stand a chance.

Full of wit and warmth, and the problems of thinking too much about everything, the Hathaways continue in fine style.