Sugar Daddy. What was I waiting for?!

I am so late to the party!! And I am ashamed to say I have finally just finished Sugar Daddy. I led myself to believe that with Lisa Kleypas’s first contemporary she would fall under the Julie Garwood or Elizabeth Lowell syndrome. The syndrome I am talking about is when a historical romance author, who writes outstanding books in that genre, moves onto another one with less than pleasing results. Oh, how wrong I was! If I had read Sugar Daddy last year, this book would have been in my top five with no argument. And if you are not a big fan of contemporaries or first person POV to begin with, I recommend you sit down and give Sugar Daddy a read. This is possibly the best contemporary I have read in the past decade and the character of Liberty is so real and insightful that I wouldn’t be surprised if she becomes most read favorites heroines of all time.

Yes, I am gushing, plain and simply. I am not a big fan of the like contemporary romance. I am more of a fantasy/paranormal or historical romance reader. When an author can “show me the light” with one of their books, I am sold. I have been a big fan of Lisa for over fifteen years and I can say she is one author you can always count on to deliver.

What I really enjoyed about Sugar Daddy is not necessarily the romance between the teenage Liberty and her first love Hardy and then her adult one with Gage. I really enjoyed Liberty’s various relationships throughout this story. Liberty’s relationship with her mother was a lovely one between a mother and daughter who don’t have much, but only have each other. Mrs. Jones is not perfect, but she loves Liberty. Lisa did not write the stereotypical cold or bitch of a mother. Mrs. Jones is a simple woman trying to find happiness in her life wherever she can. As we see Liberty age, her relationships change from simple friendship, such as her one with her quirky neighbor, Miss Marva to even that of her childhood crush Hardy. When Hardy walks away from Liberty, it is a turning point in her life. The girl must now become a woman.

Liberty does have a hard life but she doesn’t “boo-hoo” to the point where I wanted to smack her over the head. She takes the good with the bad, which unfortunately is the death of her mother and the responsibility of being the sole caretaker of her two-year old sister Carrington. The relationship between Liberty and Carrington is the one that matters most. Liberty’s decisions on who she should be with all depend on the well being of Carrington. Even when Liberty must choose between her employer’s son, Gage, (who gives her the best sex of her life and cares for her in ways no other man has) and that of Hardy who waltzes back into her life, thinking Liberty will drop everything to be with him, she still has to think of her little sister. In a way, Liberty has sacrificed herself for everyone around her, and her shot of true happiness is deciding between these two men who have given her so much at different points in her life.

I also enjoyed the relationship Liberty has with the older, rich gentleman Churchill who is Gage’s father and who helps Liberty in ways that are bit suspect. And if you were like me, you probably where thinking perhaps Carrington had a past with Liberty’s mother and could be more than just a simple father figure. Well, Lisa throws in some twists and turns that will not disappoint with that.

Sugar Daddy is a great novel, period. And if anyone tells you otherwise, they seriously need to check themselves. I urge you, if you have not read this book, go and read it. Lisa Kleypas has done it again and continues to prove she is one author that is not to be missed. Now I just need to read Hardy’s story - Blue Eyed Devil; which I will probably be gushing even more so than I did with Sugar Daddy.

Oh! And my absolutely favorite scene in Sugar Daddy? After Liberty’s mother has died, Liberty must become Carrington’s guardian. And when Liberty signs those guardianship papers and sees Carrington in her stroller with her friend Lucy, and Carrington is holding a cardboard sign that says: PROPERTY OF LIBERTY JONES.

A tear fell down my cheek and I knew this is one story that hit me hard in the heart and I won’t soon forget.

5 out of 5 stars!

Katiebabs (KB)