Blue-Eyed Devil by Lisa Kleypas

The New York Times bestselling author of Sugar Daddy is back with her most breathtaking, hot-and-bothered novel yet!

MEET THE BLUE-EYED DEVIL

His name is Hardy Cates. He's a self-made millionaire who comes from the wrong side of the tracks. He's made enemies in the rough-and-tumble ride to the top of Houston's oil industry. He's got hot blood in his veins. And vengeance on his mind.

MEET THE HEIRESS

She's Haven Travis. Despite her family's money, she refuses to set out on the path they've chosen for her. But when Haven marries a man her family disapproves of, her life is set on a new and dangerous course. Two years later, Haven comes home, determined to guard her heart. And Hardy Cates, a family enemy, is the last person she needs darkening her door or setting her soul on fire.

WATCH THE SPARKS FLY. . . .

Filled with Lisa Kleypas's trademark sensuality, filled with characters you love to hate and men you love to love, Blue-Eyed Devil will hold you captive in its storytelling power as the destiny of two people unfolds with every magical word.

I don't think it will be a surprise to anyone who reads this blog if I was to say that I am a bit of an Lisa Kleypas fan girl - not a rabid fan girl though - just a person who really enjoys nearly everything that she writes, and who looks forward to her next book all the time.

It should also therefore not be a surprise if I was to say that I really, really enjoyed this book! Before I read Sugar Daddy (the prequel to this book), I was a little skeptical about LK's change from writing purely historical romances to doing both contemporary and historical novels. Fortunately, she has handled that transition very well, and there was no need for any concern on my part. (I am sure that she will be relieved to know that!)

Once again, this novel is not a pure romance in that Haven spend much of the first part of the novel married to another man - in this case an abusive and violent man. When she is rescued by her brother Gage and comes home, she has many, many issues to deal with as a result of her marriage. The last thing she needs is to fall in love with Hardy Cates, especially with the opposition to the relationship from her overprotective family.

Hardy is a man who knows what he wants, and who gets what he wants. What he wants for most of this novel is Haven. What he doesn't realise is that she has lots of emotional baggage that she is carrying around with her, and yet, in the end, it may well be his emotional baggage from his childhood that ultimately comes between the two of them.

The author pulls no punches in relation to Haven's past and the events that happened within her marriage - we get to see what she had to deal with in detail - and yet, as horrifying as those events were, the book is so well balanced, that it didn't have the effect of bringing the reader down or lessening the emotional richness of the book.

Hardy is in many ways the modern equivalent of many of LK's best historical romance heroes - a self made man who has pulled himself up from the bootstraps and now finds himself involved in a world of rich and powerful men, and holding his own in that world.

This is another entertaining read from Kleypas, and one that I basically devoured in one session yesterday. I even read it instead of paying full attention to my football team playing a winning game!