Review: Love in the Afternoon

Love in the Afternoon by Lisa Kleypas
Genre: Historical Romance, Romance
Pages: 352 pages (paperback)

Excerpt:

Captain Christopher Phelan
1st Battalion Rifle Brigade
Cape Mapan
Crimea

June 1855

Dearest Christopher,
I can't write to you again.
I'm not who you think I am.

I didn't mean to send love letters, but that is what they became.  On their way to you, my words turned into heartbeats on the page.

Come back, please come home and find me.
--[unsigned]

My Rating:

My Review...




This is book 5 of the the Hathaway series.  Don't do what I did and read this one first [insert sheepish look here].  Though set in the 1850s it is a surprisingly relevant story about about a war-worn soldier, Captain Christopher Phelan, returning home and learning to relive in society and Beatrux Hathaway who feels more at home with her various pets than in the ballroom.  His goal is to both adapt to a world that has changed little--unlike himself--and to find the one person that gave him a reason to live.  However, she isn't exactly who he thinks she is.

I absolutely LOVE Lisa Kleypas and it is just what I needed to close out my break before law school.  The characters were believable and not too perfect.  And their flaws weren't distracting.  Even thought I read the book out of order, I wasn't confused.  I'm prevented from rating this book "awesome" only because of the additional plot twist at the end of the book.  While everyone loves the unexpected, its late arrival prevented the ending from feeling truly fulfilling.  Instead it felt a little rushed and unnecessary.

Other than that, this is a great feel-good book for a relaxing evening.  Doesn't require much thought and it is quite believable.