Love, Come to Me Book Review *Lisa Kleypas*

Love, Come to Me was originally published in 1988 and was one of Lisa Kleypas’s first books. Lisa’s earlier books such as Forever My Love, Where Passion Leads and Give Me Tonight are not her best work. Lisa doesn’t hit her stride until the mid-90’s where she really began to shine.

Love, Come to Me has been re-released from Signet and has undertones of how great of an author Lisa will become. This story takes place a few years after the Civil Wars ends and is set in Concord, Massachusetts. Our heroine, Lucy Caldwell does a pretty TSTL move right in chapter one. Lucy has a bad fight with Daniel, the man she adores and wants to marry. Lucy and Daniel have been promised to one another for years, but Daniel keeps pushing off the wedding. Lucy is sick of waiting and because of her temper, she ends up walking through the bitter cold and falling into a frozen river (which she crosses as short cut to get home). She’s saved by Heath Rayne, a Southerner and war veteran who has moved to Concord. Heath has wanted to meet Lucy for a long time, ever since he first spotted her working in her father’s store. He wants to court Lucy, even though she’s with Daniel.

Heath puts her to bed and takes care of her. Over the next few days, she gets to know Heath, although she is wary of him since he’s from the South and he makes me feel something deep inside that she shouldn’t. When she recovers, she goes back home thinking Heath will leave her be. Heath is a tenacious fellow and he wants Lucy. After observing the way she is with Daniel, he decides that Lucy is better off with him because Daniel prefers a more biddable woman. Lucy is definitely not that and after she and Heath are caught together in a romantic interlude, Lucy has no choice but to marry Heath because the town thinks she’s a fallen woman. Heath couldn’t be happier even though Lucy blames him for her downfall. Heath wants to make their marriage work. Lucy thinks it’s doomed from the start because of their differences. But Heath knows Lucy can’t get enough of his prowess in the bedroom, which he’ll use to show her that they belong together.

Lisa Kleypas is well known for writing amazingly seductive heroes. Heath is close to one of her trademark heroes. He’s protective, witty and has alpha like tendencies. Lucy is the main problem here. She’s a spoiled daddy’s girl who feels she entitled to anything she wants. She comes across very immature and at one point I felt Heath could do better than her. But Heath is so smitten with Lucy that he forgives her harpy like attitude and uses his sexual experience as a form of discipline to make Lucy succumb to him.

Love, Come to Me has nice sensual love scenes and Heath at times is too good to be true, especially when dealing with Lucy who makes his temperature rise. For what it’s worth, this is one historical romance that has a nice balance of passion, pretty interesting dialogue and a different type of setting that doesn’t take place in England or during the Regency era. I would recommend you read Love, Come to Me for the hero Heath alone and how he brings Lucy to heel in almost an almost old school bodice ripper romance way. (Signet)

Final Grade: B-