Then Came You by Lisa Kleypas

Title: Then Came You (The Gamblers #1) Author: Lisa Kleypas Genre: Historical Fiction, Romance, Regency Published: June 1993 My Rating: 4/5 Reckless and wild, beautiful Lily Lawson delights in shocking proper London society and in breaking any rule to flaunt her independence. Now she′s determined to rescue her sister from an undesirable marriage to the ruthless Alex Raiford, the arrogant Earl of Wolverton. She succeeds in rescuing her sister, but in the meantime Alex decides that Lily must be his. He has resolved to make her pay dearly for her interference—with her body, her soul... and her heart.

My first Lisa Kleypas novel! Hurray!

I usually like to have a little bit of romance in my books, but I don't like it when it's the main genre, so I tend to stay away from romance novels. However, I felt in the mood to change that and see if I could find something that I might enjoy, so why not try the so very well-known Lisa Kleypas? And, of course, I had to read one of the historical romance ones.

First of all, I have to say that I actually liked this! Lisa Kleypas sure knows what she's doing and she definitely has a way with words. And I just loved the main character, Lily.

Spoilers ahead.

I was so surprised when I read what Lily says when people ask her if she believes in love... because it's the same thing I usually say!!! (Yeah, don't judge me).

'No, not that kind of love... I believe in the love a mother has for her child. And the love between brothers and sisters. I believe in friendship. But I've never seen a romantic match that lasts.'

TWINS!!

Except for the part about having a mistress or whatever. I'm all against cheating... Yeah yeah, that's actually my answer for when people ask me if I believe in love, I'm really sad, blah blah blah, let's not get into that now.

But seriously, I love Lily. She was just there, doing what she liked, gambling at the men's club, wearing breeches... now that's a woman who doesn't let people tell her how to live her life (well, with the minor exception of the thing with Giuseppe, but that's a whole different thing).

When I first found out about Nicole I was really confused. Of course, Kleypas just gives us little hints every now and then before telling the whole story. At first, I thought that everyone knew about Nicole and that Lily's parents were the ones who took her from her, then I was confused again and didn't even know what was going on. Oh well, it all clears up later.

We also see Lily trying to keep her sister away from Lord Raiford, and she actually succeeds! Yay! Then Zachary and Penelope get married and are happy and cute together and it's all sunshine and rainbows for them... but not for Lily.

At first I didn't know what to think of Raiford, I'm not into bad boys, but after a while I think we find out he might be a nice guy in disguise. Aaand he actually realizes he loves Lily and lets go of Caroline. Way to go, Alex!

I must say that there's more sex in this than I expected... But then again, I wasn't expecting any. Just bear with me, I haven't read anything by Kleypas! I didn't really know what to expect haha. And for a little while I was kind of worried, because he did trick her to take her to bed... so I was just there reading, thinking to myself 'This feels kind of wrong, man. Can this be considered rape? Is it rape?... Or maybe not?'

Ugh so confusing, I just tried not thinking about that and kept reading and then things got better, Raiford was actually a nice, sweet guy! Who knew! (Well, I think we all suspected that).

Oh and I really liked his brother Henry, so cute.

Then we also have Derek... I don't really know what to think of him. Seriously. He's all mean not helping her with the money for Nicole and that's why she took the bet against Raiford! But then he's all nice and says he's not good enough for Lily and that he wants better for her. Aaw, adorable bastard... But really, why not lend her the money?! Mean. Just mean.

After that, she's just 'Well, fuck this!' and wears the Eve dress... Because everyone just thinks the worst of her, all men want her to become a courtesan to get into her pants (uhm, breeches?) aaaand why not?? So take that, Derek! Look what you created! Are you happy now? Huh? No wonder she doesn't trust men, Derek, no wonder!

But, of course, Raiford takes her with him before anything happens and tells her that she can only be his... And I just love how Lily thinks he means for her to be his mistress, how adorable. Obviously he has to clear things up and asks her to be his wife... which she doesn't really like.

Tell him, sis!

And we also see Raiford always suspecting the worst of Lily. I mean, dude! You now know most of the things she's been through (except the biggest part, the thing with Nicole) and you still judge her without knowing! I actually got mad when he thought she lost all the money just gambling or whatever. Give her a chance! The girl is not as bad as she seems, she's just been very unlucky and too trusting, poor thing.

Oh and can we also appreciate the part when Raiford thinks Lily is a lesbian? I just love it.

But yeah, he ends up being really sweet and, after he hears the story about Nicole and helps Lily... Oh my, that was really adorable. It's also very cute how he wants to be a father to Nicole... See? He really was a nice guy in disguise.

Another thing I wanted to share with you, because I thought it was so, so awful:

'You never disappoint me because I never expect anything of you.'

Lily's dad, ladies and gentlemen! Father of the year, for sure.

Well, I'm going to be honest now, I have to take a little break from the heavy romance. I know, I know, it was just one book, but it's not exactly what I tend to read, like I mentioned (although I do enjoy historical fiction a lot), so I might give another romance novel a try after I read other stuff... I need my action and fantasy and comedy and what not.

Thank you for reading! Bye-Bye! ♥