Mine Till Midnight (The Hathaways, #1) in What's the Name of That Book???

Jan 19, 2011 Nadine in NY Jones rated it did not like it

Shelves: historical-romance

I'm not quite done with this one, but I can't imagine much happening in the last tenth of the book that will change my mind. I won't be reading any more in Ms Kleypas's "Hathaways" series, and it's unlikely that I'll be reading any more of anything by Ms Kleypas. Such a disappointment, she came so highly recommended, and this book has so many rave reviews on this site!!

The romance is between the obnoxiously co-dependent Amelia Hathaway and the mysterious, handsome, and multi-talented Gypsy busin ...more

3 likes · Like · see review

Jan 05, 2023 Trin rated it it was ok

Shelves: romance, american-lit, historicalfiction, 2000s, fiction

Well shoot. I really enjoyed the first Lisa Kleypas book I read, Marrying Winterborne, but this one, rather than building on that novel's good qualities, accentuated its bad ones without compensatory pleasures.

In Winterborne, Kleypas is a bit fetishy and weird about the Welsh. Okay, whatever; you do you, girl. Here, though, she turns her eyes on two Romani gentlemen, and it became much more uncomfortable. I sense that her intentions were good, in the mode of a certain type of liberal white woman Well shoot. I really enjoyed the first Lisa Kleypas book I read, Marrying Winterborne, but this one, rather than building on that novel's good qualities, accentuated its bad ones without compensatory pleasures.

In Winterborne, Kleypas is a bit fetishy and weird about the Welsh. Okay, whatever; you do you, girl. Here, though, she turns her eyes on two Romani gentlemen, and it became much more uncomfortable. I sense that her intentions were good, in the mode of a certain type of liberal white woman, but it still felt...iffy to me at best, with way too many uses of the words "civilized" and "civilizing" being thrown around, for example, and not often enough in a way critiquing the very concept. I'm not Romani and it's not for me to offer a firm judgment one way or another but overall: ick taste in my mouth.

Worse, though, for me personally: the hero, Cam, didn't respect the heroine's boundaries. He's pushy sexually and about marriage and about her arrangements for her family, who as the oldest sister she's been left in charge of. There's even a bit where he forbids her from being alone with any man other than him or her brother and pseudo-brother, and while he backs down from that eventually: not great, Bob! Not a promising aspect to a romantic relationship -- especially in the 1800s, when marriage will make Amelia more or less her husband's property. Again: ick.

Which is really a shame, because I really enjoyed how Kleypas wrote Amelia and her sisters. I think she's exceedingly good at crafting familial relationships -- this was present in Winterborne too, and may be why I continue on to the next book in that series, even after my disappointment with this one. Alone with each other, her female characters are vivid and nuanced. So it's a shame that the romance here was such a dud for me.

Also, it doesn't really matter but I have to say: is this cover ghastly or what? The dress looks hideously anachronistic, which normally I wouldn't care too much about, except it's also just plain hideous: a bridesmaid's nightmare. And the position the model's lying in makes her neck look broken. Say it with me again: NOT GREAT, BOB. ...more

2 likes · Like · see review

May 20, 2011 Destiny rated it liked it

Shelves: historical-romance, read-historical-romance

Well this was a cute book and a great introduction to the Hathaway family.

Amelia was admirable. I can understand a lot of her reasoning even though I just wanted her to just...you know let go for a moment.

Cam was a good hero, he didn't seem to be dickish and I thought he was charming. I like the way Ms. Kleypas handled both parts of his heritage.

...more

2 likes · Like · see review

Nov 27, 2007 Sara ♥ rated it liked it

Shelves: books-i-own, romance

Lisa Kleypas's new one. It was interesting--it didn't really grab me like her other books, but it was good. And, holy cow--the guy on the scary picture behind the cover.... He was HOTTTTT!! I was like, "Mmmmmmmm..."

So, I'm going to copy this from someone's blog:

Amelia Hathaway is the oldest daughter of a slightly disreputable family. Since her parents are dead, Amelia is the one who takes care of everybody--no easy feat. Her older brother has recently inherited a title, which unfortunately comes Lisa Kleypas's new one. It was interesting--it didn't really grab me like her other books, but it was good. And, holy cow--the guy on the scary picture behind the cover.... He was HOTTTTT!! I was like, "Mmmmmmmm..."

So, I'm going to copy this from someone's blog:

Amelia Hathaway is the oldest daughter of a slightly disreputable family. Since her parents are dead, Amelia is the one who takes care of everybody--no easy feat. Her older brother has recently inherited a title, which unfortunately comes with a crumbling estate and not enough money. He's also just lost his fiancee to scarlet fever and seems determined to completely self-destruct. The book opens with Amelia searching the gambling halls of London for him. She finally tracks him to one called Jenner's, where she meets Cam Rohan, the half-gypsy (who was in Devil In Winter, apparently) who manages it. Instant attraction as he helps her find and retrieve her brother. It seems like they will never see each other again, but of course they run into each other again when the Hathaways move to their new estate, which happens to lie right beside one of Cam's friends' (who happens to be Lord Westcliff (Marcus) from It Happened One Autumn (which I'm reading now), and Aline's brother (from Again The Magic)). Cam comes to the rescue as Amelia struggles more and more to keep her family together.

Anyway, so they hook up, but she doesn't want to marry him for reasons I didn't really get. And he's possessive beyond all imagination, which was slightly annoying. I would have killed him, personally. Like, seriously... He went as far as to say: "You are never to be alone with him, or any man, except your brother or Merripen, unless I give my permission." (Merripen is a long story--another gypsy--but he's in love with Amelia's sister, Win...) She is upset by this, but she literally gets half a sentence out, and then he kisses her into submission. Argh! Like I said. I would have killed him. BUT, if you like that sort of thing, Amelia... (I totally don't blame her for kissing her ex-almost-fiance after Cam said that... Okay, HE kissed HER, but still...)

Anyway, this had BETTER be book one in AT LEAST a Trilogy, because when I finished reading this book, I was like, "That was pretty good..." and then I was thinking about it a bit later, and realized that the ENTIRE Win/Merripen storyline had gone NOWHERE. So that needs to be an entire other book. And then poor Leo (the brother)... HOLY COW, he needs to find some love, too. He was SO DEPRESSING this ENTIRE BOOK.... Not to mention the younger sisters--Beatrix and... whatever her name was...

So, all-in-all, not terrible. I liked it okay. It would be great if you like gypsy books... ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Sep 05, 2020 Christina rated it really liked it

Shelves: historical-romance

As far as I've gone in my exploration of the works of Lisa Kleypas, I think "The Hathaways" has to be my favorite. I loved Love in the Afternoon in a major way, and now I'm back to the beginning, I really enjoyed this one, too. This family of unconventional siblings has a way of working itself into your heart, and there's nothing wrong with starting with Amelia, who's the oldest sister trying desperately to keep them all together after tragedy. When we meet her, she's out with Merripen, the Roma As far as I've gone in my exploration of the works of Lisa Kleypas, I think "The Hathaways" has to be my favorite. I loved Love in the Afternoon in a major way, and now I'm back to the beginning, I really enjoyed this one, too. This family of unconventional siblings has a way of working itself into your heart, and there's nothing wrong with starting with Amelia, who's the oldest sister trying desperately to keep them all together after tragedy. When we meet her, she's out with Merripen, the Romany foster brother their parents took in years ago, trying to find her oldest brother Leo and save him from drinking and partying himself to death. She runs in to Cam Rohan, a half-Romany brilliant business man (what exactly is his job? Like...casino manager? I realize now I have no idea and I only finished the book a few hours ago), who helps.
Now, I was a little concerned about having Romany characters in here, but as far as I can tell, Lisa Kleypas has done a good amount of research into the traditional culture (my own exposure to Romany culture is limited to having dated a guy with Romany ancestry back in college, and I'm pretty sure the culture had long since been forgotten in his family given the suburban white boy from Arizona quality...but I digress). Cam and Merripen are individuals with different life experiences that have shaped them, and different experiences with both Romany and white English culture. Whatever Merripen's past, it makes him instantly distrust Cam, but that isn't the only barrier Cam and Amelia have to overcome on the way to their Happily Ever After.
One of the things that made me root for them the most was that when Cam takes Amelia, he also willingly takes on her family. He takes on the elder brother role that her sisters are desperately missing with Leo out of commission, and even gets Leo and Merripen to accept his help. I was close to cringing at times when Cam and Amelia would get in an argument (usually over him trying to boss her around) and he'd basically just sex her into submission. However, post-seduction he'd usually be the one who'd decided to compromise. And I didn't mind him being pushy about marriage. We find out fairly early that Cam is used to women finding him good enough for a fling but not for anything serious, so it's in character for him to be getting a little anxious to get Amelia to put a ring on it.
Amelia and her level-headed, stubborn, caring eldest sister character is just delightful, and I wanted to hug her a lot.
Really, my only complaint with this book was (view spoiler). ...more

Like · see review