Someone to Watch Over Me by Lisa Kleypas ***
Extremely predictable, fairly cliche, but not awful
It was hard for me to choose whether to give this 2 stars or 3. Ultimately I decided that the book was not terrible enough to warrant the lower rating. I've only read 3 books by Lisa Kleypas, one of which I enjoyed (Dreaming of You). The other (Devil in Winter) I wasn't terribly fond of, but for different reasons. My experience is that this is an inconsistent writer.
This story-line was incredibly predictible. To the point where, by halfway through the book, the only thing I didn't *know* was "why". Every single other "twist" or "mystery" was completely obvious to me. Unfortunately, this really did interfere with my ability to enjoy the story. However, I can still acknowledge that the writing was better than average, the characters were mostly likeable, and the sex scenes were sweet and enjoyable.
Grant Morgan was more than just "tall, dark and handsome". He was HUGE. Most of the time the heroes hover at about 6 feet tall, but as much as we don't see those of average height or short, we also don't see exceptionally tall heroes. I liked that Grant didn't wear a hat because of his height. I also liked that Grant wasn't "perfect". He harbored a grudge against Vivien Duvall. It was petty, and silly, but she had hurt his feelings. And he was human, so he wanted to get back at her. These are little things, but they're signs that the characters were more than just cardboard cut-outs, which happens all too often.
Vivien was very much a caricature of the "naive" and "innocent" miss, which is what made her history so hard to accept. As I said, the "twist" was exceedingly easy to discern, and was very stereotypical. What sold it to me at all was the the amnesia was somewhat reasonable, and that her hesitation at the acceptance of her lifestyle and profession were tinged with some degree of acceptance -- just overpowered with distaste. I could completely accept that even if she were to regain her memory, she would not revert to her prior life.
The combination of the two of them was both sweet and appealing. It was easy to want them to be together, it was easy to accept that they loved eachother. That's not common with many romances, because time constraints usually just force the reader to accept their attraction and emotions, rather than seeing them unfold.
All of these positives cannot make up for the fact that this story was like a Lifetime Movie of the Week, though. Amnesia is done to extremis, and done much better in other books. The conflicted, guilt riddled hero is done repeatedly, also just as well or better. And the heroine wasn't TSTL, but she was a little too "goody-goody" for me. If she'd been a little more like what he thought she was, it probably would have been better.
I found the situation unrealistic, but I was able to suspend belief enough to enjoy it. But it would be nice to see a "bad girl" once in a while. This story would have been more unique and more enjoyable if Vivien were more like what she appeared and less like what she became.
Another part of the story that settled less than well with me was the sheer logistics of such a large man with such a petite woman. C'mon, he's a giant, she's a little-bitty thing, and yet they're "embracing" standing up? How is he managing to kiss her neck without contorting like Stretch Armstrong? Really, I've said it before and it bears repeating: if you have no experience with the physical aspect, either try it or talk to someone who has. I would have rather seen more creative scenes that were realistic than the standard love scenes that would be impossible for such a disproportionate couple.
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