Dreaming of You by Lisa Kleypas

She stood at danger’s threshold—then love beckoned her in.

A prim, well-bred gentlewoman, Sara Fielding is a writer who puts pen to paper to create dreams. But now curiosity is luring her from the shelter of her country cottage into the dangerous world of Derek Craven—handsome, tough, and tenacious—and the most exciting man Sara has ever met.

Derek rose from poverty to become the wealthy lord of London’s most exclusive gambling house. And now duty demands that he allow Sara Fielding to enter his perilous realm of ever-shifting fortunes—with her impeccable manners and her infuriating innocence. But there is a hidden strength and sensuality to the lady that captivates him beyond his better judgment.

And in this world, where danger lurks behind every shadow, even a proper “mouse” can be transformed into a breathtaking enchantress—and a cynical gambler can be shaken to his core by the power of passion and the promise of love.

AFFILIATE LINKS

MY RATING

This is the first book of the series that I read and I loved it. It has to be one of the best Lisa Kleypas novels that I have read to date.

The premise is that Gothic author Sara Fielding, looking for more material for her next serial accidentally finds a man being attacked and saves him from certain death. This man is Derek Craven, a gambler turned businessman/owner of an exclusive London club. And so starts their road to finding love.

I fell in love with Derek Craven the moment I met him. Course and gruff, he is the perfect tortured hero, in my opinion. Kleypas really made him up to be a “gentleman” despite his background and his attitude towards everyone. I thought the way he was resisting Sara saying that he was not good enough for the likes of her was romantic and this part made me like him more. Growing up on the streets was not easy for him but he showed that he was a person worthy of Sara’s love through his actions.

The heroine Sara is also a likable character. Although headstrong, stubborn, and naive, I thought she was the perfect pair for the tortured hero. Derek proved himself worthy of Sara’s love by not running after her immediately and seducing her. Their one sexual encounter was not even his own doing! I liked that he thought the person was someone other than Sara, who was masquerading so she could attend a ball held at Craven’s.

Their love story was simple yet believable, especially since both of them are not from the aristocracy. The twist at the end of the book was perfect, with Sara leaving and trying to marry her fiance and realizing that she had changed and didn’t want to be in a marriage where she was under her fiance’s mother.

Although I’ve read this book multiple times, I still get caught up in Sara and Derek’s love story and at times, I can’t help but shed a tear or two.

I recommend this book to anyone who loves to read about tortured heroes.