Tell Me a Story

This was a surprise for me. I loved it after finishing it couldn't put it down but it was missing something I felt at times. Of course Kleypas managed to win me over once again with her amazing writing, she manages to make you to fall in love with all her characters which is why this book surprised me some ways. I adore Poppy, she's such a unique lovable interesting heroine. I felt I could relate to her so much which is why I love her. The fact that she was so understanding and open-minded and not vengeful was a breath of fresh air. I loved the fact that she bravely faced everything that happened head on and didn't complain once but made her feelings be heard. To me that's a real heroine. What I love most about Kleypas is her heroine's for the most part are relatable, written realistically, they have flaws but you manage to love them even more for it. Especially with the Hathaways, they are all lovable and very endearing.

Harry was a very different hero, very flawed and at times he is villanious. At first I loved him, this mysterious over-paranoid, intelligent and private man who is quickly charmed and enthralled by Poppy. Had me swooning and intrigued. Yet I didn't know what to make of him after the stunt he pulled to win Poppy. I honestly wasn't expecting it given their very first meeting and made it difficult to get passed but thankfully as the story progresses you get to know and understand how Harry's mind works, you get to know him and I ended up loving him in the end. He broke my heart and I thought Poppy was perfect for him. I just felt at times the story was dragged out too much there really wasn't any real conflict until the end and the beginning. And another thing that I had a little difficulty grasping and was a bit contrived was Poppy's first love Michael Bayning. It's made quite clear several times that Poppy loves this man completely and wants to desperately marry him yet I had difficulty believing that considering she let Harry kiss her and felt no guilt or shame over it simply assuming she would never see him again. That to me felt completely disjointed and I couldn't buy her loving Michael so completely when she clearly reacted to another man's kiss. After that first meeting she's completely focused on marrying Michael not once thinking of Harry which I didn't believe for a second. I know Michael is a catalyst to Poppy and Harry coming together but I just didn't buy her loving him and I'm glad that was touched upon later on. I love the fact that the 'villain' as Poppy refers to Harry becomes her very own prince. :P Fun read and enjoyable characters!