Recent Read

Sugar Daddy by Lisa Kleypas

Why this one: Well – that’s really a no brainer. It’s a Lisa Kleypas book. Plus she sent a copy to me. I kept meaning to read it sooner but there are just so many books to read that it took longer to read it than I thought it would.

Level of Steam: I could sure feel the heat!!

Amazon Blurb: Money is tight while Liberty Jones is growing up in Welcome, Texas, but somehow she and her mother Diana manage. Having good friends like Miss Marva, Lucy Reyes, and especially Hardy Cates, on whom Liberty has a crush, helps. Then tragedy strikes and Liberty must take care of her younger sister and find a way to support them. Hard work and determination get Liberty through cosmetology school, then, while working in a Houston salon, she meets wealthy older businessman Churchill Travis, who offers her a job as his personal assistant. At first Liberty is reluctant to accept, especially since Churchill's son, Gage, seems to think she's a gold digger. Then, just as Liberty is settling into her new life and her initially frosty relationship with Gage is heating up and turning romantic, Hardy Cates, her first unrequited love, reappears.

My thoughts: I don’t know if I should confess this or not. When I filled out my AAR ballot, this was my pic as Best Chick Lit/Women’s Fiction. But I hadn’t read the whole book yet. I’d read half of it and I knew it was going to be the best one (and the only one) And I must quickly add – that this was the only ballot that I filled in that I hadn’t finished the whole book yet.

But it turned out I should have finished it first! Then I might have picked it for more categories. I LOVED this book.

When I first heard Lisa Kleypas was going into contemporary books unlike many other readers, I wasn’t dismayed. She is such a talented writer that I knew no matter what she wrote it would be good and since I love contemporaries too that was fine with me. I think there are a number of authors who can write good in different settings – Anne Stuart for example. And then I heard she would be continuing to still write historicals and I was even happier that we would be getting both.

Then I heard it was going to be in first person and I had a bit of a qualm as I don’t normally read first person books. But since I love the Stephanie Plum books I wasn’t really that concerned.

Sugar Daddy was amazing. I loved Liberty. I loved her down to earthness. I loved the love she had for Carrington. I loved the way she didn’t let life get her down. And another confession time here. When I was in Grade 3 I met a boy a couple of years older than me – the son of good friends of my parents – and I has a SEVERE crush on him for YEARS. Years I tell you. Right up until I moved to another city when I was 18 he was my main crush although others came and went. And if I were to see him today, I would still have strong feelings. So I could really relate to her feelings for Hardy and her mixed emotions when he showed back up in her life.

Both Hardy and Gage were interesting men. I could see why she was torn for a while.

And at the end – I’m glad Liberty made the choice that she did. I wasn’t sure I would be – but I was.

My advice – if you haven’t read this book yet because it was out in hardcover, it will be coming out in paperback soon. Buy it! Do not miss this wonderful story by a wonderful author.

Grade: 5 out of 5