Gigi's Company discussion

Please post comments and discussion here for the August '10 Book of the Month:

Mine Till Midnight (Hathaways, Book 1) by Lisa Kleypas

(Selected by Sam, Kristie, Ruby, Gina, Wendy, Kathleen)

I'm half way through. Slow start but it's picking up. I'm liking it so far.

Alright I finished it, sigh, it was a good book!!! Has anyone else started reading it yet or finished it?

I'm hoping to read it when I get it, Kristie. I ordered it on Friday, so I hope it'll be in this Friday when I hit Coles, LOL! I have the books I order shipped to the store, then it doesn't cost me shipping, LOL, as they ship with the rest of the order Coles places. Neat, yeah? This one came highly recommended to me, so that's why I put it in for suggestions. I'm really glad it was voted on - gives me an excuse to try an author I've never tried before.

I really liked it!!! I think that both of you will enjoy it, I am already on hold at the library for the next in the series.

My copy came in! Picked it up last night. Not sure when I'll get to read it though; I'm having a problem keeping myself focused on a book. I've only read 2 full books this month! *gasp* And for me, that's totally NOT normal!

Five star, rock solid, well-done, historical. All the characters were perfectly created and reflective of their era. I haven't read a Kleypas' historical in a while, but reading Mine Till Midnight was like getting reacquainted with an old friend. I loved the Hathaway sisters and have hope for Leo becoming as good a man as the women that are his sisters. Cam was a wonderful hero who would delight any romance fan. I hope to continue with the rest of this series.

I agree Kathleen!!! I thought this book and its characters were great! I thought Cam and Amelia were great together. I'm looking forward to reading the next book in the series. I thought Lisa Kleypas set up the next book wonderfully. I'm really excited to see where it goes.

That's great to hear, and now I'm super anxious to read it. I'm hoping to finish the book I'm on tonight, then I have The Book Thief to read, then Mine Till Midnight's next. This month has been stupid crazy. Would you believe I managed to start and finish only 3 books? For this whole month, only 3. Yikes! And one I started in July, I still haven't finished. I'm up "you-know-what" creek without that dang paddle!

Gina, I so thought of you when I finished this series and wrote to you to tell you about it. I hope you aren't disappointed but I think they are totally your cup of tea.

I love this whole series and thought that the first book was a good introduction to the characters and family that I totally fell in love with by the end of the series. I would love to be a permanent dinner guest to this family, as the banter and coversations are always witty and fast paced. I personally don't think I could keep up by contributing but would totally enjoy just sitting there listening to them. I found myself laughing out loud numerous times.

I am not a huge historical romance fan as I usually find the heroines tstl sometimes. All the characters in this book were real feeling and I liked the romance between Cam and Amelia, with her fighting it as she wanted her independance and was afraid of loosing it but in the end finding that sharing her life with Cam she almost becomes more empowered. The love scenes were HOT but at the same time refreshing as they weren't overboard in action.

This book was my first introduction of Kleypas and I am currently working my way through the WallFlower series now. I have read one of her contempary books Blue-Eyed Devil which was okay, but her historicals ROCK!

I get really annoyed when the hero or heroine are TSTL kind of characters. If an author is "worth his/her salt", they'd write characters that aren't dumb.

I'm currently reading The Book Thief, and as soon as I'm done, I'm grabbing Mine Till Midnight from my shelf. With this being Labour Day weekend, I'm hoping to be able to get both read, but as it is, Mine Till Midnight is staring me in the face and burning a hole at the back of my head, LOL! I have this feeling I'm going to have to set The Book Thief aside, LOL!

What does TSTL mean?

too stupid to live. :-)

Sam, girlfriend, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!! You were the one who recommended this one to me, and I'd put it in as a nomination. I'm so glad for your recommendation! I read it, and I loved it! It's late, and I don't have time to post my review, but I'll have that on here over the weekend. A frozen computer and "family issues" got in the way since Labour Day weekend. I started and finished it on Sunday! Can't wait to get my hands on the rest of the series!

Glad you liked it Gina, the series actually gets better as you go along. BTW. You will totally fall in love with Leo by the end of the series.

Thanks for the heads up, Sam. I still have to get my hands on the rest. But I'll tell ya - in the first book, I wanted to jump in there and give him a swift kick in the patootee! Yes, I could understand his grief, but to put his family through it... oh, boy, was he making me mad.

Gina wrote: "Thanks for the heads up, Sam. I still have to get my hands on the rest. But I'll tell ya - in the first book, I wanted to jump in there and give him a swift kick in the patootee! Yes, I could under..."

Me too!!! I hope he starts turning around because I was ready to kill him off myself, as the reader, LOL! I'm going to start the second book in this series sometime next week. I can't wait!

HOLLY COW!!! Let's talk about the second book .

1- this book was completely 5 stars for me.

2- Why can't Kev be a real person?

3- I loved the struggle that Win and Kev go through.

4- I really liked the way Leo's character is starting to form.

5- I can't WAIT to keep reading on in this series.

Kristie, you're review makes me want to go back and read this again and it's only been a month or so since I read it. LOL. My tbr pile is too high right now but I definately want to go back and reread this again.

Completed Book 2 of the Hathaways Seduce Me at Sunrise. Loved becoming acquainted with the family again. Thought that Kev could be a butthead at times, but was glad that he finally decided to grow up and stop living in the past. Think that Leo was the only believable character who could have given the speech that turned things around for Kev. Glad that the bad guy was exposed. Would love to know what becomes of the half-sisters, but assume that will be explored in future books. Another five-star historical for Lisa Kleypas.

Glad you enjoyed it Kathleen. I just finished the Kleypas's Wallflower series and enjoyed it to, not nearly as much as the Hathaways though. . . I love Leo . . have I mentioned that before? LOL?

The free e-story A Hathaway Wedding (The Hathaways, Book 2.5) is the delighted story of Win and Merripen's wedding in which pretty much nothing goes as planned. Much of the story was centered on Beatrix and her propensity for collecting animals. Wonderful addition to the books!

Tempt Me at Twilight (The Hathaways, Book 3) was the best Hathaway book that I have read yet. In Book 1, I found Amelia could be a little pushy, and in Book 2, I thought that Merripen could at times be a bit of a butthead, but I just adored both Poppy and Harry, heroine and hero of Book 3. Well done historical set in the Victorian time period. Five stars and a recommendation for romance fans who would like a change of pace from Regencies.

Enjoyed Married By Morning (The Hathaways, Book 4), the 4th installment of the Hathaways, but I didn't like Cat and Leo as much as I liked Poppy and Harry. Don't know why Cat couldn't understand that Leo and her brother could handle Latimer and at times I thought that Leo's sarcasm was inappropriate. Yet, overall, Married by Morning was a delightful read about second chances, starting over, and family. Another five star hit from Lisa Kleypas.

Just finished , the 3rd book in the series. I loved it just not as much as I I did !!! I just fell in love with Merrpin and I didn't think that Harry lived up to him.

I liked Poppy and Harry together, even when they weren't on the best of terms. There was something between them since the first meeting that made me cheer them on from the very beginning. I can't wait to get my hands on the next book and read about Leo and Cat.

Love in the Afternoon (The Hathaways, Book 5) is a great conclusion to the Hathaways series. Heart-warming story of youngest Hathaway, Beatrix, and an emotionally wounded Crimean war hero, Captain Christopher Phelan. Beatrix is the perfect heroine for Christopher and transfers her ability to work with skittish wild animals to help Christopher heal. I liked Beatrix, the most eccentric Hathaway, as much as Poppy, and felt that Christopher was the perfect hero for her. I hated to see the series end and hope these characters visit in future books. A five star keeper for sure!

- - - a bit of a spoiler - - - -

In Love in the Afternoonmy absolute favourite line was:

Bending his head over hers, Leo murmurred, "When I give you away at the alter, Bea, I want you to remember something. I'm not really giving you away. I'm merely giving him the chance to love you as much as the rest of us do."

I had tears coming down my face. I don't usually get overly emotional when reading but this scene totally took my heart!

Sam wrote: "- - - a bit of a spoiler - - - -

In Love in the Afternoonmy absolute favourite line was:

Bending his head over hers, Leo murmurred, "When I give you away at the alter, Bea, I ..."

Thst was one of my favorite lines as well.

Ok I took a while to finish this series because I really didn't want it to end. But I finished. My two favorites were Merripen and Win's story and Leo and Cat.

In Love in the Afternoon one of my faviorte scenes was when Christopher came to Ramsey house to talk about marrying Bea with Leo and Cam. To see the way the two bickered but laughed with each other just showed the growth in both of them.

I'm really sad to see this series done but I look forward to reading more from Lisa Kleypas.

Kristie wrote: "Ok I took a while to finish this series because I really didn't want it to end. ..."

I think this is why I'm dragging my feet, too. I haven't read Bea's story yet.

SPOILERS FOR LOVE IN THE AFTERNOON . . . .

KRISTIE: I'm assuming you meant this one, I had written it out previously elsewhere and commented how much I had enjoyed it.

Leo looked at Cam expectantly. "Well?"
"Well what?"
"Now is the time when you dredge up one of your blasted Romany sayings. Something about roosters laying eggs, or pigs dancing in the orchard. It's what you always do. Let's have it."
Cam gave him a sardonic glance. "I can't think of one right now."
"By God, I've had to listen to hundreds of them. And Phelan doesn't even have to hear one !"(less)

as the conversation continues:

Cam says "As the Rom say, 'Take too much time, and time will take you.'"
Leo looked smug. "I knew there would be a saying."(less)

SPOILER ALERT!!!! LOVE IN THE AFTERNOON


My favourite line in the whole book:


Bending his head over hers, Leo murmurred, "When I give you away at the alter, Bea, I want you to remember something. I'm not really giving you away. I'm merely giving him the chance to love you as much as the rest of us do."

Yes Sam that was the conversation I was thinking of! And I loved that line from Leo too. =) I just help but smile when I think about this book.