It was a bit…. boring. Chasing Cassandra by Lisa Kleypas [Audiobook Review]

Everything has a price.

Railway magnate Tom Severin is wealthy and powerful enough to satisfy any desire as soon as it arises. Anything—or anyone—is his for the asking. It should be simple to find the perfect wife—and from his first glimpse of Lady Cassandra Ravenel, he’s determined to have her. But the beautiful and quick-witted Cassandra is equally determined to marry for love—the one thing he can’t give.

Everything except her.

Severin is the most compelling and attractive man Cassandra has ever met, even if his heart is frozen. But she has no interest in living in the fast-paced world of a ruthless man who always plays to win. When a newfound enemy nearly destroys Cassandra’s reputation, Severin seizes the opportunity he’s been waiting for. As always, he gets what he wants—or does he? There’s one lesson Tom Severin has yet to learn from his new bride: never underestimate a Ravenel.

The chase for Cassandra’s hand may be over. But the chase for her heart has only just begun . . .

SERIES: The Ravenels, BOOK 6

LENGTH: 8 hrs and 58 mins

PUBLISHER: HarperAudio

FIRST PUBLISHED: 2020, AUDIO PUBLISHED 2/18/20

Narrator: Mary Jane Wells

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heat level: sensual

We finally have the last Ravenels book and one of my highly anticipated books of 2020! Unfortunately, Chasing Cassandra was a bit of a disappointment for me. But at 3.5 stars, it was still an enjoyable book.

Let me explain.

I have been intrigued by Tom Severin since he first appeared in Cold-Hearted Rake. As you now already know, I am a fan of self-made men and Lisa Kleypas writes the best ones! Derek Craven, John McKenna, and Simon Hunt, anyone? But I digress.

Chasing Cassandra was sweet and fun and quirky (not too quirky, like Pandora’s book) and it also made me LOL sometimes, but I wanted more Severin and Cassandra together. For the most part, the book focused more on each of the character’s personal growth and not on their relationship growth. Now, it’s not to say that I don’t love personal character growth, but for a romance, I expect there to be a lot of romancing, KWIM?

I liked that this book was a friend-to-lovers hybrid sprinkled in with an arranged marriage trope, but I wasn’t wowed by it. I actually liked the part where Cassandra and Tom talked more, that cookstove scene was my favorite! So, I really wanted to have more relationship development, mainly because Tom ghosted Cassandra after this scene!

Also, can we talk about all the classic books mentioned here and how Tom was analyzing each book but not really understanding the point? I NEED to be in a book club with Tom Severin, please! Bonus points for the mention of one of my fave sci-fi authors Jules Verne AND “meeting” him at the end of the book.

So, I mentioned personal character growth, right? I loved that Tom had a ward of sorts, Basil. He really made Tom seem less of an asshole and I love that. The scene with Dr. Gibson, Basil, and Tom was epic!

As much as I wanted to love Chasing Cassandra, I was a bit disappointed with the lack of relationship build-up. I also didn’t care for the situation that happened that made Tom ask for Cassandra’s hand in marriage. And because there wasn’t a lot of relationship development, I still don’t believe that Tom and Cassandra are in love just yet. Especially since Tom isn’t big on showing his feelings.

Lisa Kleypas still weaves a compelling story and really ended the series on a good note. We also meet a lot of our favorite characters from The Ravenel series and visits from our favorite Wallflowers and their brood! I really, really, really hope that she will write a Wallflowers Next-Generation series because I NEED that yesterday!

Thoughts on the Audiobook

I purchased the audiobook for Chasing Cassandra and I can’t complain about Mary Jane Wells’ narration. She is amazing at narrating historical romances with her tone and pacing and her British accent!

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