Scan barcode
A review by chloe_liese
Married by Morning by Lisa Kleypas
The enemies-to-lovers banter and snark in this story was just delightful. The ferret Dodger was so damn delightful, and all the family antics had me smiling. My issue was that this didn't have that delightful dip into a truly softened dynamic after all the enmity, and the reason for that is what I dive into below.
There's a bit of antiquated toxic masculinity in this book: "I'm a man; I can't help myself; I won't be able to stop" and while I can place these stories in their context of being written a decade ago about a long-ago time, I just find those attributes in a male hero not incredibly sexy or compelling; they're overdone and unoriginal if there isn't depth or a twist on them somehow, and while there were sparkling moments as we saw Leo's mind about architecture, his penchant for certain *ahem* sketches, and his architect's eye in Cat's new glasses, Leo just grated on me sometimes.
Cat was reserved and I felt for her. I think I wanted a bit more depth from her but overall she was tough and smart and I really enjoyed seeing her make peace with her past as she opened herself to love.
What I liked about this book was the banter, the repartee between Cat and Leo, the hidden tenderness and the slow work of unraveling each other. I would have liked more unraveling to happen in the show rather than tell like "mornings spent having deep conversations" wrapping it up but that seems to be a style that Kleypas had well through the Hathaways and has since outgrown to a large extent in her Ravenels. I want the nuts and bolts of the relationship's arc on-page, not alluded to.
In summary, this one was an easy hot read that had me twitching some moments with its toxic masculinity, but overall I liked the heroine, the best parts of the hero, and I'm intrigued enough to try another book in the series: probably Beatrix's because she's an eccentric and I live for an eccentric heroine.
There's a bit of antiquated toxic masculinity in this book: "I'm a man; I can't help myself; I won't be able to stop" and while I can place these stories in their context of being written a decade ago about a long-ago time, I just find those attributes in a male hero not incredibly sexy or compelling; they're overdone and unoriginal if there isn't depth or a twist on them somehow, and while there were sparkling moments as we saw Leo's mind about architecture, his penchant for certain *ahem* sketches, and his architect's eye in Cat's new glasses, Leo just grated on me sometimes.
Cat was reserved and I felt for her. I think I wanted a bit more depth from her but overall she was tough and smart and I really enjoyed seeing her make peace with her past as she opened herself to love.
What I liked about this book was the banter, the repartee between Cat and Leo, the hidden tenderness and the slow work of unraveling each other. I would have liked more unraveling to happen in the show rather than tell like "mornings spent having deep conversations" wrapping it up but that seems to be a style that Kleypas had well through the Hathaways and has since outgrown to a large extent in her Ravenels. I want the nuts and bolts of the relationship's arc on-page, not alluded to.
In summary, this one was an easy hot read that had me twitching some moments with its toxic masculinity, but overall I liked the heroine, the best parts of the hero, and I'm intrigued enough to try another book in the series: probably Beatrix's because she's an eccentric and I live for an eccentric heroine.