Blue-Eyed Devil [Paperback]

Frankly, this review is a tad biased because I am an avid fan of Lisa Kleypas's writing. She can almost do no wrong in her books for me. Fortunately, Blue-Eyed Devil proves to be almost spot-on from start to finish.

Haven Travis has grown up within the lap of luxury in her wealthy Texas home. She has tried hard to make a life for herself outside of that ritzy existence, trying to prove herself as a woman and an individual. She has fallen in love with Nick, a man her father, Churchill, does not approve in the least. But love is often blind, and in this case, love is hiding a very dangerous heart.

Against her family's wishes, Haven marries Nick. That is when the horror truly begins. Nick lacks no compunction in bending Haven to his will. Early chapters in Blue-Eyed Devil focus on that abuse: verbal, emotional, and yes, some very hard to read scenes of physical abuse. Kleypas brings you into this situation, showing you the terror Haven faces as she tries not to set Nick off. Haven has courage and she makes it out. She is now determined to forge a new future for herself, and that is where, unknowingly, love knocks again. This time, in the form of the wealthy Hardy Cates.

Hardy may be the devil to the Travis family, but to Haven, he is everything wonderful, and dangerous, in a man. She fights her attraction to him and in the process learns many new things about herself, and about love's difficult path. The danger is not over yet for Haven; she has many painful demons to battle before her happily-ever-after can start.

Despite its title, Blue-Eyed Devil is truly the triumphant story of Haven. She is a wonderful character. She is forced to face several hard realities but she does it with determination, with strength, and with resolve. Her journey is not an easy one by any means. I think Kleypas truly created a character to admire in this book. Haven may have grown up in wealth, but wealth could not protect her from everything. It is only love, family, and her own resiliency that help her keep moving forward.

Hardy is sexy, he is a charmer, and a bit of a rogue. Just the man Haven needed but not to feel complete, not to feel like a woman again. She needed Hardy for his friendship, for the desire he rekindled in her, and for the sense of peace she finds with him. Their relationship is on the one hand pure struggle as there are a lot of obstacles to overcome. It just makes their ending that much sweeter, but also realistic. Don't be fooled, Kleypas does not gloss over Haven's emotional wellbeing. This is a character who is a fighter and she comes out on top.

Blue-Eyed Devil impressed me from page one to the very end. Yes, I am a Lisa Kleypas admirer, I readily admit that. Her writing always touches a chord with me. But don't take my word on it. Give Haven and Hardy a chance. Female empowerment and the importance of love are themes Kleypas explores with depth, humility, and passion.

Haven Travis grew up in the shadow of her family's wealth and notoriety as old Texas money. Determined to prove that she wasn't the bourgeois beauty queen that people expected her to be, Haven attended Wellesley and fell in love with a boy named Nick from the wrong side of the tracks. When her father told her he would disown her if she chose to marry Nick, she was fine with it. Their love would keep them together. Haven and Nick elope to the Florida Keys and then begin their marriage, only it's nowhere near as idealistic as Haven had imagined. Before she realizes, Nick is berating her father for disowning her, Haven for her appearance and inability to iron his shirts properly, and when his verbal and emotional abuse turn physical, she knows she has to do something to get away--before she's stuck forever...

Hardy Cates is a Texas roughneck who has clawed his way to the top of the oil industry. A self-made millionaire, Hardy is no friend of the Travis family after swindling Haven's brother Gage Travis in a business deal. But when his old friend Liberty decides to marry Gage, Hardy can't pass up the opportunity to crash her wedding. When he sees Haven, he finds himself enthralled by her beauty, inflamed by her passionate nature, and desperate to find out more. When Haven elopes, two long years pass before Hardy runs into her again. But when he does, he realizes all the old emotion is still there, and the flames have been fanned over the years. Hardy is determined that he'll have Haven Travis, whether she likes it or not.

Blue-Eyed Devil is the sequel to Kleypas's first contemporary novel, Sugar Daddy. I loved that book. Loved it. Stayed up all night and was nearly late to work the next day I loved it so much. So I was skeptical about a sequel, because at the end of Sugar Daddy Hardy Cates had left a bad taste in my mouth. I needn't have worried. There are few authors who can pull emotion out of me like Lisa Kleypas.

First of all, the character of Haven Travis a well-drawn, well thought out, carefully executed heroine. It would be easy to dislike someone who was born with a silver spoon in her mouth and determined to reject it. And having an abusive husband when you know she has the resources to get herself out of it could have made Haven come off as someone who enjoyed being a victim. But that's not how it was. My heart bled for the abuse that Haven endured and I cried when she finally worked up the nerve to leave Nick. I was broken for her and could completely understand how she wouldn't be ready for another relationship anytime soon--nor should she be.

Then enter Hardy Cates, a man who I knew had it in him to be a white knight, but who hadn't displayed those characteristics at the end of Sugar Daddy. And from the way he took care of her, from the very beginning, the way he tried so hard to put the broken pieces of Haven Travis back together again, I fell in love. I don't even know why I doubted it. Lisa Kleypas has rarely done me wrong, and after finishing this books I can't even remember which ones I didn't like.

Blue-Eyed Devil is romantic, engaging, and dazzlingly well written. I've said it before and I'll say again that if all of Kleypas's contemporaries are going to be this stunningly emotional and well told then I can't fault her for going this route. Before enjoying Blue-Eyed Devil, I'd recommend reading Sugar Daddy, but just know that each is also fantastic on its own. And while you're waiting for her next contemporary, a couple of my favorite Kleypas historicals are Someone to Watch Over Me (Bow Street, Book 1) and Suddenly You.

***SPOILERS***

I'm a huge Lisa Kleypas fan. Huge. And I mostly enjoyed, but was ultimately left a little disappointed by Sugar Daddy. I was beyond excited for this one because I loved Hardy and from the glimpse we saw of Haven in the last book, I thought she had strong potential. Like Sugar Daddy, though, I finished Blue-Eyed Devil rather disappointed.

One of my disappointments was the abuse story line. I just had trouble relating. It's such a difficult topic, and I think Kleypas had a good idea there, but I found it unconvincing. The brief glimpse we get of Haven in Sugar Daddy is of this bubbling-quirky-advocate for the underdog sort of person. In fact, Gage remarked that the biggest disappointment of Haven's life was not being born disenfranchised. My point is, Haven in Sugar Daddy and Haven in Blue Eyed Devil did not match up- they seemed like two different people. And when the abuse starts, I just didn't buy that Haven would have allowed it to happen. Even the bit we see about her mother's treatment of her and her lack of "boundaries" just wasn't enough for me. I simply didn't believe that Haven would have allowed it to go on so long. It completely lost me by the time Nick renamed her to Marie. I thought she would have/should have left him right then and there. And because of the abuse story line, I felt like we never really got to know the real Haven.

The story line about her boss, Vanessa, was also really frustrating for me. First of all, she and Nick felt like two dimensional villains. They were sooo ridiculously bad it was absurd. For one character, Nick, to be this way was ok. For two, was just too much. I also became rather annoyed with Haven for being such a victim (again, because I didn't find it believeable). She didn't need the money and therefore didn't need to put up with Vanessa's crap. For her to just take it every day without protesting made it really difficult to read.

I also felt like Kleypas had a better handle on Hardy in the beginning of Sugar Daddy. What happened at the end of that book felt like a contrived plot device. He wasn't like that before, and he-from what we read of him in Blue Eyed Devil- wasn't like that after. Unfortunately, the Hardy of Sugar Daddy (at least the beginning) was missing. Like Haven, I felt like we only got glimpses of the real Hardy- more so towards the end. For most of the book, he felt kind of romance hero generic.

What was enjoyable was seeing Liberty through someone else's eyes. It was also intriguing to read about Churchill from the eyes of a daughter who had been disappointed by and sparred with him too many times. On the other hand, I missed the old Churchill. The resolution between Haven and her dad wasn't what I was hoping for, either, and also left me disappointed.

With all that being said, I still raced through Blue Eyed Devil. It's kind of a weird feeling to enjoy and yet be disappointed by a book at the same time. Perhaps it's because Kleypas is just such a good writer. Perhaps it's because I'm such a fan and am so biased in her favor. Whatever the reason, I know I'm in the minority here, but it just left me dissatisfied.