Lawson’s review of Mine Till Midnight (The Hathaways, Book 1) by Lisa Kleypas
Historical romance released by St. Martin’s 2 Oct 07
As much as I love Lisa Kleypas and her books, it’s amazing that it took me six months to read this one. I’ve got to say though that the minute I was finished with Mine Till Midnight, I really wanted to read Seduce Me at Sunrise. Someday soon. . .Oh yeah, I’ve gotten off track. Mine Till Midnight is the first in the series about the Hathaway family. There are also some scenes with characters from the Wallflower books, and it’s always nice to spend more time with Marcus, Lord Westcliff and Sebastian, Lord St. Vincent.
The story starts off with Amelia Hathaway going through the London streets in the dead of night looking for her brother. Since inheriting a title, he’s been drinking and gambling his way through London. Amelia is afraid this path is leading to her brother’s demise and has decided this is the last night and is taking the rest of the family away to the country. Looking for her brother leads her to Jenner’s, where she gets the help of Cam Rohan.
Cam helps Amelia and her Gypsy friend Merripen find her brother Leo, but not before stealing a kiss. The Hathaway family then takes off for the country the next day. The estate that comes with the title neighbors Stony Cross Park, the home of Lord Westcliff, and while walking Amelia runs into Cam again. After the introductions to the rest of the Hathaway family as well as meeting some of the Wallflowers and their husbands, Cam and Amelia keep running into each other and thus fall in love.
Cam is a different sort of hero. He’s a gypsy, he doesn’t want to have all the money he has and would be happier back with his tribe living out of a wagon. He occupies a place in the world of London, but doesn’t really live there. When he meets Amelia, he doesn’t know what to do at first. She’s a managing sort of woman, but he can get around her easily with some charm and good intentions. Cam is a very likable hero.
Amelia took some time to grow on me. She is managing, though she has to be with her family. Not that they are bad, really, but just clueless about somethings. Or at least she thinks they are and wants to tell her family how to run their lives. Her sisters, Winnifred, Poppy and Beatrice, aren’t so bad, it’s her brother Leo. Leo suffered a personal tragedy and has given up on life. Amelia has gotten to the point, though, that she feels she can’t manage her family’s issues anymore.
As Cam and Amelia interact, they are great together. There’s some great dialogue and steamy love scenes between the two. The thing that bothered me though, was since Amelia is at wit’s end about her family, when Cam steps in to help her, she just fully gives up and lets him manage everything. Maybe she needed someone else who is strong to lean on and help her out, but the fact that when things are at their worst, Amelia can’t think about things anymore and Cam shows up, she just wilts like a flower in the sun and lets Cam take care of everything.
Not the sort of behavior a strong heroine needs to have.
Other than Amelia’s eventual shirking of her strength, it’s a good love story and an introduction into Kleypas’ next series with the Hathaway family. Seduce Me at Sunrise follows Winnifred’s story and have you seen what a pretty cover it has?
Grade: B
Blurb:
When an unexpected inheritance elevates her family to the ranks of the aristocracy, Amelia Hathaway discovers that tending to her younger sisters and wayward brother was easy compared to navigating the intricacies of the ton. Even more challenging: the attraction she feels for the tall, dark, and dangerously handsome Cam Rohan.
Wealthy beyond most men’s dreams, Cam has tired of society’s petty restrictions and longs to return to his “uncivilized” Gypsy roots. When the delectable Amelia appeals to him for help, he intends to offer only friendship—but intentions are no match for the desire that blindsides them both. But can a man who spurns tradition be tempted into that most time-honored arrangement: marriage? Life in London society is about to get a whole lot hotter…
Read an excerpt.
I only just read this recently and really liked it. For me this one was all about Cam! What a man! Looking forward to the next one immensely.
Good morning dear friends–thank you Marg!–and thank you for the great review Lawson! I’ll tell you, I found it challenging to write “Mine Till Midnight” because it was the first book in a series–it introduced a new set of characters, and there were glimpses of familar characters from other stories, so it had a lot to accomplish!
But the same thing happened when I started the Wallflower series–the first book started me off, and as I got deeper into the series, I really found my footing, and the stories became more intense. I can’t wait for you to read “Seduce Me At Sunrise” because it is one of the most emotionally intense books I’ve written in years. Mainly because of the hero, Kev Merripen, who is more “out there” than any hero I’ve ever written. He is very primal and powerful, and as you can see from the excerpt, his love is a force of nature.
It was also fun to explore more of the relationship between Cam and Amelia, and to show more about the rest of the Hathaways. Leo, in particular, really surprised me in SMAS . . . in fact, I think Sybil is rather intrigued by him now!
If anyone has questions about any books I’ve written, including SMAS or my upcoming “A Wallflower Christmas,” I’ll try to give some non-spoilerish answers!
Have a wonderful day, dears 🙂
Rise and shine, give me a five, Lisa and everyone else! I’m bouncing with joy because this is the first time I actually made it on the day of a Kleypas chat!
Lisa, I hear you’re taking a break after “A Wallflower Christmas” but is it going to be a short one (less than 6 months) or a long one?
Cam is a great hero although the paranormal elements took me by surprise. I can’t wait to read Merripen’s story since emotionally intense is definitely my cup of tea. Will we learn more about the connection of Cam and Merripen’s tattoos in SMAS or do we have to wait till the end of the series? Can we wheedle one more sneak peek (pretty pretty please!)?
I hope it’s all right to ask these non-book related questions but I couldn’t resist with Lisa being here today. How did you pick up your incredible fashion sense or were you simply born like that? You have done several video-recorded interviews. Can you talk about the experience? Were you nervous at all?
Dear Jenny,
Good morning!!! Very nice to share my second cup of coffee with you 🙂
Re my break–it’s already over. LOL. I took approximately a month off, and it was WONDERFUL. We went to Disneyworld, where I behaved like a twelve-year old, running around with mouse ears and playing and eating ice cream (my husband claims he couldn’t tell any difference from my normal behavior *g*)After that, I read, watched a few movies, recharged, and now I’m back to work on my third contemporary book, with Jack Travis as the hero.
About Cam and Merripen–you will definitely learn the reason for their tattoos and their meaning in SMAS, and what I think are some very funny and touching moments in the developing acquaintance between Cam and Merripen. Because they are both Rom, they understand each other on a different level than the rest of the Hathaways do. And there are a couple of outright brawls that I had a lot of fun writing!
Dear Jenny,
Oh, you are SO SWEET, thank you . . . if I have any fashion sense, it was hard-won indeed. I guess I have spent the past two decades trying to outlive my helmet hair and shoulder pads of the eighties–LOL! But it was through interviews and appearances that I started to learn what worked best for me. I struggle with the disclipline of good taste. Having an innate love of all things gaudy and sparkly, I have had to force myself not to decorate every appendage *g*.
I am actually never ever nervous when doing speeches or interviews, simply by virtue of having done enough of them. I’ve made all the mistakes and faux pas, and endured my share of public embarrassment, so now I am ridiculously relaxed when I’m in front of people 🙂 Which is nice, because for better or worse, I can really be myself and pay attention to the people I’m with.
“my husband claims he couldn’t tell any difference from my normal behavior *g*”
How sweet of him! I’d behave like a teenager too if I were to visit Disneyland.
Oh, do you mean Cam and Merripen came to blows? That should be very fun to read about!
“now I’m back to work on my third contemporary book, with Jack Travis as the hero”
How thrilling! Is this also going to be in first person?
Dear Jenny,
Cam and Merripen definitely come to blows, at least twice. Leo gets into a couple of fights, too. In fact . . . this is a very confrontational book *g*.
Jack’s book . . . it is going to be in third person POV, because the storyline is very much like a Spencer/Hepburn battle-of-the-sexes movie. Lots of chemistry and arguing and kissing, and I realized that I can’t do justice to both sides unless it’s written in 3rd person. Right now I’m really digging into Jack’s character, because he is such a funny, macho, red-blooded guy, and yet underneath he has some surprising dimensions. I’m still at the beginning, so my mind is swarming with the thousands of choices I have to make! It is intimidating but fun.
“if I have any fashion sense, it was hard-won indeed.”
Thank goodness! That means there’s hope for the rest of us who are clueless about fashion. Now, I can say I wanna grow up to be like Lisa. 🙂 Although I’ve not had the honor of meeting you in person, I’d think readers appreciate meeting the real you.
I think it would be fun to meet you in person, Jenny!
“Lots of chemistry and arguing and kissing”
That’s like ice-cream but without the calories – so the more, the better! Sighing on “funny, macho, red-blooded”. Jack sounds delicious.
“this is a very confrontational book”
LOL I suspect there’s more than one confrontation between Merripen and Win too but the making up should be equally, if not more, satisfying.
“Leo, in particular, really surprised me in SMAS . . . in fact, I think Sybil is rather intrigued by him now!”
You have a talent for writing dissolute, alcoholic men who cleaned up intriguingly well. I think Leo is no exception.
“I’m still at the beginning, so my mind is swarming with the thousands of choices I have to make! It is intimidating but fun.”
Prior to starting a new book, what kind of preparations do you do? Do you make a collage of images of people and places?
Were any of the childhood brotherly tricks in Blue-Eyed Devil inspired by your own experiences with your brother?
Hi, Lisa!
The cover of Seduce Me at Sunrise is absolutely beautiful! Do you get a say in what your covers look like?
Leo, in particular, really surprised me in SMAS . . . in fact, I think Sybil is rather intrigued by him now!
Yay! This makes me very happy! I love Leo!
Good morning, Monica!
Good morning, Jenny!
I’ll answer all questions a little later, dears, and good morning! I have to run out for an allergy appointment, and will be back asap 🙂
–Lisa
P.S. Achoo!
Sorry to hear about the allergy. Take care, Lisa.
Hi Everyone,
Lisa,
I truly love your historicals, which is where I initially became hooked on your storytelling but your contemporaries just have an innate rawness and tangibility that I have not read in quite a long while. I wanted to ask you, with your new contemporary have you considered creating a heroine who is really career driven? A bit like your heros who are so driven to succeed. Someone who kind of like Miranda on Sex and the City very sarcastic but who has a soft side waiting to be uncovered. Lily Lawson was kind of like this. I think she was one of your decidedly complex yet somewhat modern heroines even in her historical constraints
Lily is my fav for her complexity. It was actually my first Kleypas book and I was totally blown away by her different layers.
I think what made me love Lily was that she was such a smart ass but was so unapologetic about it. She was so very “it is what it is” when it came to her attitude which was just awesome to read! Thats what made her so refreshing to me.
Dear Jenny,
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I have no artistic talent whatsoever, so I haven’t tried collages . . . I do wish I could scrapbook, but I’m awful at it!
Before I start a new book, I do a lot of thinking, both conscious-plotting-and-planning but also a lot of “drifting.” I make some deliberate choices about scenes and situations I’ve never written about before, because I love to try new things. I create scenarios for the characters’ backgrounds and try to figure out what kind of people that would make them into. Sometimes, but not always, those childhood experiences creep into the story, like in Blue Eyed Devil when Jack throws Haven’s doll Bootsie into the ligustrum bush. Or Scandal In Spring, when Lillian and Daisy reminisce about turning the canoe over with their governess in it.
About Jack’s brotherly antics . . . actually, I have one younger brother, and he and I were remarkably conflict-free. But my husband Greg admits that he was more the typical older brother type, tormenting his poor younger sister. (He adores her, by the way!) So I based Jack’s childhood behavior on my husband’s.
Dear nne,
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Thank you, I LOVE to hear that, and as a matter of fact, in Jack’s book I am featuring a very career-oriented, strong, feminist liberal heroine . . . I think it is going to be very sexy and funny to match her up with a macho good ol’ boy like Jack *g*
I’ve been anticipating those two gypsies having confrontations in the coming book, you could feel it coming when reading MTM. I can see there’s going to be a lot going on in SMAS, and Sybil’s already got me intrigued by Leo.
Lily is the one i think of when thinking of favorite strong heroines, liked her attitude.
I’m so anxious to learn more about Leo!
Leo is definitely unique *g* He has a couple of striking moments in SMAS–I can’t wait to hear your opinion when it comes out!
Lisa,
I wanted ask are you and the other Squawkers going to be attending the RWA this year?
What made you decide have Haven choose to get married at a young age instead of pursuing a career?
Do you think that Liberty is continuing to be a hair stylist or is she going to open up her own salon?
Lastly, Jeremy Raiford, Alex Raiford’s brother will he get a book and Ellie Howard Charlotte Howard’s sister will she get her own book as well? I always wondered what happened to them as they grew up.
And I just wanted to say thank you to Lisa for being so gracious. Your books are like rare treasures, so hard to find but well worth the hunt! Do keep up the wonderful work!!!!!!!!!!
-Anne A.
I really enjoyed this book and LOVED ME SOME CAM! Do we read more about the tatoos in SMAS?
I can’t wait to read the book!
Dear nne,
I will be at RWA this year! And Connie Brockway is one of the lunch speakers, which will be AWESOME!
About Haven . . . I felt strongly that her hunger to be loved would cause her to marry the first guy who really showed an interest in her. The key to Haven is her relationship with her parents, neither of whom could really seem to accept her for who she really was. She didn’t get a lot of “positive parenting.” (I felt the story of her mother not letting her have the junior tool kit was very revealing about their relationship.)I think the uncertainy and fear this creates is part of what makes some women prey to men like Nick. And then when Hardy gives her a tool kit, it’s sort of a nice metaphor for her finding the “tools” to rebuild her life, but it’s also an acceptance on his part of whatever it is she wants to be.
Dear Anne,
I think Liberty is going to be a full-time mom for a few years, and then I’m guessing she’ll want to open her own salon. Because she truly loves that vocation, and making people feel good about themselves. She loves the magic of transforming someone’s outside, and giving them confidence. In fact, Liberty is one of the most giving and loving heroines I’ve ever created.
I SO want to create a story for Jeremy someday!!! I am totally leaving that possibility open. And THANK YOU for adding so much to our discussions today . . .you are such an interesting and insightful person.
Dear Rowena,
EVERYTHING about the tattoos will be revealed in SMAS 😀
YESSSS!