Kleypas' Dreaming of You (Gamblers 2) / Happy Derek Craven Day!
Dreaming of You
The Gamblers, Book 2
Stars: ⭐⭐⭐⭐+ (smart heroine; tortured hero—my favorite kind of man; gaming hell—which is an automatic MAR star)
Heat rating: 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥 (see the SEX-AND-SPOILERS section)
Cover rating: Heroine from the back in a red dress, heading up some stairs. It’s not a bad cover, though it doesn’t feel particularly connected to the story. Part of me wishes Derek were pictured, but also happy that he’s not, so I am able to imagine this amazing man in my head. But it’s a nice cover that can pull a solid B.
So . . . Derek Craven. Let’s talk about Derek Craven. Okay, MAR Constant Readers know that I have several #BookBoyfriends. Winter Makepeace. Sir Carlton Morley. The Magpie. Captain James Trevillion. I could go on (and I will—I have so many books to review). But Derek Craven is something. Ohh, sookie sookie, he is. 😍
Lisa Kleypas is a master at writing the tortured hero. I have fallen for several of her men, including Logan Scott from Capitol Theatre: Because You’re Mine, several from The Hathaways—Cam Rohan from Mine Till Midnight; Harry Rutledge from Tempt Me at Twilight; and Kev Merripen from Seduce Me at Sunrise, Sebastian, Lord St. Vincent from The Wallflowers: Devil in Winter and several more from the Ravenels series—Ethan Ransom from Hello Stranger; Rhys Winterbourne from Marrying Winterbourne; Gabriel, Lord St. Vincent (Sebastian’s son) from Devil in Spring. (Full disclosure, if you haven’t figured out: I have read almost all of LK’s books and I LOVE THEM.) I also have to say that I was suspicious of most of these heroes, because a lot of them come off as pretty severe, disturbing, arrogant, even possibly dangerous, in the beginning—most of these guys are products of their time and circumstances. But you have to stick with them, because love changes them, saves them, redeems them. Some folks have issues with LK’s flawed heroes, but it really is the redemption arc that matters to me. Not all of us are born or raised in perfect circumstances, but those of us who change ourselves . . . those are the peeps I can roll with.
So, let’s get back to Derek Craven. We first meet him in the first book in the series, Then Came You, which was published a while back—mid 90s possibly? WHY didn’t I know about Lisa Kleypas then? Well, believe me, I got up to speed AND FAST. The “good” news is that there was a pandemic, and when public health officials tell me to stay home, I hunker down with books and blot out the world. I binged a bunch of LK’s books; I am always delighted when series tie into each other. So, you’ll be surprised to know that I bought Then Came You and Dreaming of You more than a year ago, but didn’t read them. I started TCY, but kept getting distracted in the first few pages. It wasn’t until I saw a tweet by another favorite writer, Sarah MacLean, that mentioned Derek Craven that I sat down and pushed through the first few pages in TCY that were holding me up, becoming quickly engrossed in the book. I could quickly see what the fuss was about. Oh, Derek. 😮
Anyway, we learn that Derek Craven is a gaming hell owner with a pronounced Cockney accent, and best friend of the heroine in the first book—Lily Lawson. Their friendship is strictly platonic, though you know he feels something more than friendship for her. By the time we meet him in the first book, they’ve been friends for two years. Everyone thought they were together, which worked out well because it kept men from bugging her—nobody wanted to cross Derek Craven. Derek was born to a prostitute in a drain pipe, and raised by pimps and prostitutes in the rookery. He doesn’t even know how old he is. Lily feels that Derek is unable to put another person’s needs before his own. He’s worked the most dangerous jobs; had to steal, lie, and prostitute himself to survive. 😭
Our first description of Derek comes in the first book:
“With his black hair and tanned face, and features that were neither chiseled nor coarse but somewhere in between, he was handsome . . . almost. His strong white teeth were slightly snaggled, giving him the appearance of a friendly lion when he smiled. Nearly irresistible, that smile, although it never reached his hard face.” (TCY, page 21)
I looked up from the book and said, out loud, to absolutely nobody (the cats weren’t even there at the moment):
First of all, I could hear Tom Hardy’s voice as he played Bronson. But more than that, it was the descriptions of him. I ran to IMDb (y’all know MAR is always checking that out) and picture after picture after picture after picture just cemented it in my mind. If you clicked those links, and still don’t believe me, I can go on: here and here and here and here. MAR loves Tom Hardy and thinks he’s gorgeous, if you haven’t noticed. Sorry for that. Squirrel is in control.
Sooooo, yeah, we learn some things about our man in TCY. He knows how to please a woman, which he’s specifically learned to do because it gives men power— “Tickle a woman’s tail right, an’ she’ll do anyfing for you. Anyfing” (TCY 22). He is tempted by his friend Lily, but getting intimate with her would mean he’d lose her, and he doesn’t want that. He’s got hella sangfroid; he doesn’t yell or get upset, but people know not to square up on him. He took elocution lessons to tame the Cockney accent. His focus is money and power.
When
we meet up with him again in Dreaming of You, it’s five years later. Lily
has her HEA, she’s married to Alex, Lord Raiford. Derek is still working at his
club with Worthy, his factotum (who I
loved in the previous book, and love even more in this one), and is richer than
Croesus. We thought that
Derek paid lightskirts for his pleasure, but it appears that he’s solely focused
on unhappily married women and widows now. This, of course, will be his downfall.
Usually, in situations like this, there are husbands/fathers/brothers involved who
will call them out for a meeting at dawn. Usually.
Like I said, five years later and LK reintroduces us in a very clever and unique way. See, he’s being attacked on the street outside his gaming hell. Two bad dudes are tailing him, and they may be toughs sent by his rival Ivo Jenner (who you’ll hear more about in Wallflowers series 3, Devil in Winter); if that’s the case, he needs to beat feet or he’s good as dead. But these two seem to have something else in mind—they clock him upside the head and brutally slash him across the face. We don’t know what else they may have planned because his savior shows up right then. Her name is Sara Fielding and she is a quiet, virginal country girl from a place called Greenwood Corners (if that ain’t a perfect name for the quintessential country idyll, I don’t know what is) who happens to be a bestselling author of two books about things she knows nothing about personally, such as prostitutes, but meticulously researches. Her next book is about gamblers, so she’s staking out the gaming hell, checking out her source material. She also carries a gun, because her research takes her to dangerous places. When she sees them attacking the man (Derek), she tells them to stop, and attempts to give a warning shot. Instead, she blows one dude away. The second dude hauls ass, of course, because you don’t bring a knife to a gunfight, right?
She goes to check on the injured man, who is bleeding like a stuck pig, though she can see that his clothing is expensive and finely made. She tries to call for assistance, but he says they need to get off the street ASAP, since they’re in more danger than ever. Okay, so Sara is legit inquisitive, and is full of questions. When he says they need to get to Craven’s, she asks what he knows about the place, and he admits his identity. Her response:
“The Mr. Craven?” Her eyes widened in excitement. “The same one who founded the famous club and came from the underworld and . . . Were you really born in a drainpipe, as the legend says? Is it true that you—”
“Lower your voice, damn you.”
Sara couldn’t believe her good fortune. “This is quite a coincidence, Mr. Craven. As it happens, I’m in the process of researching a novel about gambling. That’s why I’m here at this time of night. Greenwood Corners isn’t a very worldly sort of place, and therefore I found it necessary to come to London. My book will be a fictional work which will include many descriptions of people and places significant to the gaming culture—”
“Jaysus,” he growled. “Anything you want—a frigging fortune—if you’ll keep your mouth shut until we get there.” (DOY 9)
I’m telling you, these guys hit him on the head and carved up his face. He’s got blood pouring everywhere, he’s probably got a concussion, he can barely stand, they’re in the middle of a dangerous area, and Sara is asking questions a mile a minute. She’s a tough cookie, though, because she helps him to the side door of the club, where he is safe. He sends an employee to find Worthy, who is basically his consigliere, and Sara and Derek climb six freaking flights of stairs to his private apartment. Holy crap. I couldn’t climb six flights of stairs on a good day! This lady is a trooper, as well as being a gunslinger. Anyway, tada, it’s the first time she’s ever been in a man’s bedroom, but she doesn’t have time for blushes because Derek is in bad shape. It’s a bad cut, starting at the right side of his face and, somehow, avoiding his beautiful green eyes, across his nose and down his left cheekbone.
Worthy and the doctor rush in, and Worthy sees his boss is in terrible condition: “I hope this young woman was worth it, Mr. Craven” (DOY 13), he says, right in front of Sara. Now you see why I like Worthy. No, Derek says, it wasn’t her—it was Jenner’s men, and she saved him: “This little mouse . . . pulls out a pistol an’ shoots one ow the bastards” (DOY 13). Oh, okay, Worthy, says. (Squirrel wants to talk about Worthy quickly. I called him consigliere because he reminds me a lot of the character Tom Hagen in The Godfather.)
Okay, back to business. Sara tells Worthy her name, and once he and the doctor learn that she is the illustrious author S.R. Fielding, they want to talk about her books, particularly Mathilda, which is fiction but, for some reason, everyone believes is a true story. Wherever she goes, folks ask what Mathilda is doing now. Before they can really get into a discussion of her work: “ ‘Excuse me,’ said an icy voice from the bed, ‘I’m frigging bleeding to death. Mathilda can go tip a pike.’ ” (DOY 14). Now, do you see why we love Derek Craven? And you also have to love you some Sara, because she immediately pulled out a notebook to write down “tip a pike.” Anyway, she heads to the next room to wait while they work on Derek’s face. The room is filled with insanely expensive furnishings, and Sara calls it “ a splendid and lonely palace,” which is a great way of putting it. She can see them working on stitching Derek up, and the doc is trying to use careful stitching to minimize scarring. Derek, however, is being an absolute bear. So Sara comes in and starts yapping away to distract him. Speaking of distractions, she’s checking out his chest, which is hairy. (Okay, MAR must remind you that she is a fool for hairy chests. It all began when I was around 10 years old, watching Magnum P.I. The first sight of his chest ruined me. Btw, check out Magnum’s fancy technology back in the day. We laugh at this now, but back then, that ish was freaking STATE OF THE ART.) Anyway, back to Craven’s.
He wants her to tell him about herself, so she says that she’s been courted by Perry Kingswood for four years, but his mother is a problem—oh, what a problem this lady is. I immediately loathed her (and Mr. Kingswood). Derek is being his usual obstreperous self, sneering at her beau and her village. I mean, he is in pain, and the knife wound is long, so the doc is digging into his flesh. But nah, he’s just being Derek. “Writing books about whores . . . I’ll bet you newer . . . joined giblets wiv a man in your lily-white life” (DOY 19). Sara is, of course, totally unfazed and more interested in the term “joined giblets” than offended. Finally, the doctor is done, and Derek wants Sara gone, but she asks a favor—she wants to tour the club and talk to his employees. Miss me with that bullshit, Derek says (I’m paraphrasing, if you didn’t notice). Worthy takes her out of the room, and Derek laughs (a bitter laugh) and says, “Damn you, Joyce.” Ooooh. That’s mysterious and very intriguing.
Worthy. Oh, he’s the best. As soon as they’re away from his grumpy assed boss, he tells her he will make arrangements for her to come back and tour the club and talk to the employees. He knows how to thank someone for saving a life! But, there’s rules—we’ve got some rules around here (tell me you didn’t hear Grandpa from The Lost Boys?! And holy God, Kiefer Sutherland and Jason Patric were my all-time crushes after that movie. Did you know that lubed up saxophone guy—yeah, you know who I’m talking about if you’ve seen the movie—does conventions? Once this pandemic is behind us, I would love to see him at one. Seriously, I really do feel blessed for growing up in the 80s. It was a magical time. And the fashion was fire!).
Damn, has anyone seen a Squirrel?
Okay, so yeah, she can come the next day, but she’s got to steer clear of Derek. Sara clearly ain’t catching a clue, because she starts talking about how she wants to talk to Derek (um, did you not just spend the last hour or so with him as he cursed, belittled, and pissed off every single person around him?). Well, you tell me about him, Worthy, she says. And WTF, he does! “He’s not easy to describe. Derek Craven is by far the most complicated individual I’ve ever met. He is capable of kindness, but . . . I’m afraid that all too often Mr. Craven reveals himself as a man of ruined potential. He comes from a world more savage than you could begin to comprehend” (DOY 23). Worthy knows Derek is a good person who has done amazing things, considering where he came from. And he passes that feeling on to Sara. But he also tells her something that she should pay attention to:
“What is his goal? What does he ultimately want?”
Worthy smiled faintly. “I can tell you in a word. More. He’s never satisfied.” (DOY 24)
Worthy and Sara bond. He notes her “quaint, old fashioned prettiness,” that there is “something almost otherworldly about” her. It’s her innocence, he reckons. She wants adventure; this is why she writes the books she does and traipses off to London from her country paradise.
Derek is still lying in bed, feeling self-disgust. “He almost would have preferred it if his attackers had made a proper beast of him, instead of giving him a piddling slash that made him look less a monster and more a fool” (DOY 26). Yeah, though he blamed it on Jenner, he knows who did this. Joyce, Lady Ashby. See, Derek’s got everything, money, women, power, but about two years ago, it just stopped mattering. It was less melancholy than apathy. He just stopped giving a F. And in walked Joyce, who was married to a much older man at the age of 15. Whoa! This lady makes Alex Forrest seem sane. And she’s also a freak in the sheets. Which worked for Derek . . . until it didn’t. “He couldn’t deny there had been many entertaining nights, filled with sophisticated games and sensual depravity . . . and it took a hell of a lot to make him feel depraved. Finally, Derek had ended the liaison, disgusted with himself as well as her” (DOY 26). Yeah, you don’t just stop seeing Joyce, who is if “I won’t be ignored, Dan” was a person. Dude needs to watch for a bunny in a pot. This lady is legit cray cray, LK calls her “a lovely predator.” Joyce actually begs, cajoles, and finally threatens him, but, as I said before, Derek has ice in his veins. He didn’t take her threats seriously. And now she’s sent some folks after him to attack and torture him.
It’s early the next morning, and Sara is staying with family friends while she’s in London. Well, a fancy ride pulls up out front (with armed guards) and it’s for her. Worthy didn’t want her walking to the club again. Her mom’s friend be like, “yo, what is going on? Last night, you came home covered in blood.” (Paraphrase.) Her mother warned the friend that Sara does whatever she wants. Sara was not offended—hells yeah, she basically says, and that’s not where it stops. Anyway, she’s soon at the hell, and Worthy is taking her on the grand tour. But she gets a feeling that someone is watching her, following them, but she cannot see anyone. She shakes it off and he continues the tour, getting delightfully flustered when she asks about specific rooms, and he must tell her it’s for the hell’s prostitutes—but, he is quick to point out that Derek is NOT a pimp, the girls keep all their money. She’s not impressed, so he says he’ll let her talk to the girls herself. And right then, the head prostitute, Tabitha, heads them off—she thinks Sara is Mathilda. No, she explains, I just wrote the book. Oh, Tabitha says, so you’re a friend of Mathilda’s. No, Sara says, Mathilda is a fictional character. But Tabitha refuses to believe it.
Anyway, Worthy has to fix an issue with Molly and Lord F, who refuses to pay, so Sara wanders the picture gallery, taking note of the expensive and elegant works of art by Gainsborough, Stubbs, Rubens, and Van Dyke. There’s one portrait that is a little of out place, of a lovely dark haired woman and her young daughter. And just like that, she’s being dragged into a dark space. If you know anything about gambling hells (MAR’s Constant Readers know she loves books about gambling hells), there are usually secret doors and concealed corridors for staff to monitor what’s going on and to move about quickly. And now she’s in the dark with . . . Derek Craven. Yes, Lawd, LK describes his voice as soft as frayed velvet, the sort of voice that you feel more than even hear. He wants to know WTF she’s doing there. She agrees to leave but he is still holding onto her—why do you want to write about gambling? She tells a story of a boy in her village who lost everything at Craven’s. Yeah, and? He says. If they didn’t come to Craven’s, they’d go somewhere else. He’s made a fortune from it.
She’s taken aback by the callousness of what he said, but he stops her, telling her about his horrifically traumatic childhood. This girl has no damned fear, though. She’s in the dark with him holding onto her, but she claps back with “In my opinion . . . you use your poor beginnings as a convenient excuse to . . . discard all the ethics the rest of us must live by” (DOY 44). Anyway, Worthy finally opens the panel and saves the day. Finally, she gets to see Derek, clean and not bleeding like he was last night. He’s dressed better than anyone she’s ever met before “not even Perry Kingswood, the pride of Greenwood Corners,” but he definitely doesn’t look like a gentleman. “He was a powerful man with street swagger and absolute confidence.” Yes, yes, he is. 💓
Worthy said he wasn’t going to show her the hidden passageways, but Derek says they’re there so he can know everything that happens in the club. Oh, and since she is absolutely not allowed to approach his guests, maybe she can make use of them. Nope, she doesn’t like that, but he’s the boss. Anyway, after a snarky comment to Worthy saying to keep Sara from shooting anybody else, he struggles back to his bedchamber, and falls into a fretful sleep with dreams of Joyce Ashby and blood. All of a sudden, he’s awake, and knows he’s not alone, and sees . . . Lily, Lady Raiford, his best friend who is now married and happy with her two children.
He rarely sees Lily alone since she got married, though they’ve been friends for at least 7 years. Besides Worthy, she’s probably his only friend. Worthy made Lily aware of the attack against Derek, and she wants to know what happened. Lily is the only one he will come clean with—he admits it was probably Joyce Ashby. Okay, full disclosure here, I didn’t love Lily when I first met her in the previous book. It took a lot for me to warm up to her, but I eventually did. And it’s lines like this that won me over: “Why in God’s name? . . . Derek, tell me you weren’t having an affair with her! Tell me you weren’t like all the other poor rutting fools who were so entranced by that false yellow hair and lip-puckering and breast-jiggling that you fell right into her greedy clutches” (DOY 50). It’s clear that Lily cannot stand Joyce Ashby, and Derek taunts her, saying she is jealous. She points out that there was never anything between her and Derek; that he, in fact, pushed her into her husband’s arms. Which is true; although he cared for her, Derek knew he wasn’t fit to be a husband or father. Lily married Alex and became part of the privileged society that Derek can never be part of—so, instead, he sleeps with all of the wives and sisters of the lords who disdained him.
Oh, wait, Lily saw Sara, and asks who she is. When Lily finds out that Sara is S.R. Fielding, she wants an introduction. He actually opens up a lot about Sara, sharing all sorts of information. Lily just listens, and makes note of the fact that he’s getting right heated about the fact that Sara’s beau allows her to traipse around London. The more he talks, the more his Cockney accent returns, a sign, Lily notes, that he’s “considerably excited or angry about something.” Lily is NOT a fool, and wonders what Sara thinks of him: “Appalled by your lurid past, as I would imagine?” Nope, she is fascinated by the dark side of life and Derek. Hm, Lily says, shame she hasn’t seen you when you’re not disfigured. Whatevs, he says, she ain’t his style—Sara would “lie there and take notes the whole time” which makes him start thinking about her naked and wait, what? He’s imagining little mouse naked beneath him. That’s interesting.
Anyway, Sara has a blast at the hell over the next several days. She’s befriended the kitchen staff, including the fancy French chef, as well as all the whores. They are the funniest—telling her stories of their experiences, while she takes notes and asks questions as if she’s some anthropologist doing fieldwork. They are quick to note that Derek never has relations with the house whores, he likes the aristos, countesses and duchesses, “won’t touch anyone lower than a baroness” (DOY 62). Sara has had time to observe him, and she notes his strict self control. He is never angry and never yells. Btw, the ladies of the evening still don’t believe Mathilda is a fictional character, and are forever telling Sara how someone has seen the woman recently or heard things about her. Nothing Sara can do will disabuse them of this.
Usually Sara works at Worthy’s desk, but one day he needed his office, so she’s working in Derek’s private apartments. Of course, he’s got personal correspondence all over, and though she tells herself she isn’t going to snoop, you know she does, and she finds an odd letter, in a woman’s hand: “Now you wear my mark for everyone to see. Come take your revenge if you dare. I still want you. —J” (DOY 67). Dude, this woman is nuts. She needs to be in Bedlam. Sara considers this note, and puts two and two together—clearly the knifing is the mark and this woman has a “kind of twisted love for Craven that was aligned with hatred” (DOY 67), something that is completely foreign to Sara, who has only known the best type of love (YET, she thinks now about her beau Perry Kingswood, and how he didn’t understand her . . . hmmmm). Before she can get too deep into her situation with Perry, Derek appears, wondering why she’s in his home. He looks at her notes, and tries to sound out the words she’s written. And it’s like he can just TELL she’s been thinking about the situation with Perry, because he brings him up. How close are they, he wonders? Close enough that she’s going to tell him she shot and killed someone on a London street? And Derek keeps berating her until she tells him to stop shouting at her. “I’m not . . .” he starts to say, but he was, something he absolutely NEVER does. But she provokes him; she thinks she’s strong and fearless, but she needs someone to protect her. And worst of all, he’s finally realized that she’s a good looking woman. Now he wants her to take off her lace cap, and suddenly, she’s uncomfortable enough to flee—leaving her reticule. She might have felt bad about snooping through his letters, but he does NOT feel the same way about going through her bag. He does it almost immediately, checking out her gun and finding her spectacles. And for some reason, he takes her glasses; “it was the first act of outright thievery he had committed in ten years. But he had to have them. He wanted to own a little piece of her” (DOY 71).
Worthy talked to him about Sara yesterday, and it is clear that Worthy admires her. She started writing letters for the staff who are unable to read and write, so they may communicate with their families. She sewed one of the fancy women’s gowns. And the staff have been complaining about what an asshole Derek has been to Sara—they believe she deserves more respect from him. And he starts thinking about her, and the fact that she will soon be gone and married. And he’s confused and disturbed with himself for what he’s been thinking. “He felt as if he should brace himself for some cataclysmic event. The air was charged with white-hot currents. His nerve ends seemed abraded. Something was going to happen . . . something . . . and all he could do, it seemed, was wait” (DOY 74).
Anyway, we next see Sara entering the club early one morning, and watching some club employees bicker with one of the liquor vendors. She’s not paying attention, and runs right into Derek (girl, we wish), and it dislodges the hated lace cap. Well, he keeps going and pulls it off (dropping into the mud) and plucks off her glasses. “This was what she had kept hidden beneath the old-maid disguise . . . She was beautiful. He could have devoured her in a few bites, like a fragrant red apple. He wanted to touch her, take her somewhere and pull her beneath him, as if he could somehow erase a lifetime of sin and shame within the sweetness of her body” (DOY 78). Sigh.
Okay, seriously, y’all have to understand. We are just at the 1/5 point in this book. You never want it to end because Derek is just . . . magical. He’s not a nice man, but he’s never been able to be. You want to help him and change him and teach him about love. You want to make things right for him. You see the good man inside him, and you want to do whatever you can to excavate that man from the ruins. This is the appeal of Derek Craven.
Well, at this moment, Sara is NOT feeling this. She’s irritated AF with him. He takes her to see the decorations for the hazard room; see, they’re having an “assembly ball” that night. She’s looking forward to it, but oh no, he never said anything about her mingling with his guests—she can observe from the second floor balcony. Oh hells no, she says, she wants to be down in it. No can do, he says, this isn’t for her, mouse. Oh, she HATES that he calls her that. Anyway, he advises her not to attend the ball (note, he does not forbid her). But he’s struck a chord—her entire life, she’s been the little sister (same, girl, same). She’s always wanted to be seen as a woman. Once, she begged Perry to make love to her (they’re getting married, so what’s the big deal, she thinks) and he refused. Something about the memory shows on her face, and he asks her what’s wrong. She asks Derek to kiss her.
Oh,
Derek wants to kiss her. He doesn’t know why she affects him the way she does.
He sounds like he’s had hundreds of women. He is honest with her—he would like to
do more than kiss her, but he can’t. So Derek also refuses her. And she’s crushed.
This just reinforces what she knows about herself. But wait . . . what if she
could become someone different? So she races to someone she can trust, Worthy,
and tells him she needs help—she’s got to attend the ball that night; she needs
a gown and a makeover. Worthy acts like an older brother and counsels her that masks
cause people to lose their inhibitions. She presses him, and he caves . . . he
knows exactly the person who can help.
Derek’s back upstairs, hot and bothered at the fact that she asked for a kiss. He wants her bad. He’s wanted her since he first saw her at the hell, the morning after she shot and killed a man to save him. And this is screwing with him bad. This is not like him and he doesn’t like it. But he’s got a visitor—Alex, Lily’s husband. Now these two used to loathe each other, but Lily has brought them together. They’re sort of friends. Alex pulls no punches, he knows Joyce is the cause of this, and will more than likely continue. See, Joyce has been crazy AF with every man she’s been with. Why did Derek succumb? Alex says: “There’s something emotionless about her. She’s like a beautiful, deadly serpent” (DOY 91). Derek’s response? “I knew better . . . but I didn’t care.” Where’s Lily, he asks. We get our first hint: Alex says she ran off to the dressmaker. Hmmmm.
And, yup. Worthy sends Sara right to Lily, who hustles her off to her fancy dressmaker to have some of her own gowns reworked. And this allows Lily to speak candidly to her. Sara recognizes her as the woman in the portrait at the hell. Lily is delighted to assist in garbing Sara, but she wants to find the right dress for their purpose. Huh, Sara says, there’s no purpose. Oh, okay, sure. But Lily ain’t gonna let her get by with that “ . . . I assumed the point of all this was to make someone notice you” (DOY 99). Sara keeps denying and dude, Lily has to talk to her like she’s an idiot, “I’d thought you might be entertaining an interest in Derek Craven.” More denials, but Sara’s still holding that secret—he thinks she is a country mouse and she wants to prove to him that she’s a woman. Well, Lily has some info—Sara is a threat to Derek, because he’s a coward when it comes to his own feelings. Okay, so this brings me to his name. I believe his name is a hint to his character. The dictionary definition of “craven” is cowardly. It would seem that this is a grossly unsuitable depiction; Derek is not afraid of anything! But he is. Derek is terrified of love and needing or relying upon another person.💔
Lily sets Sara up to look amazing. She’s poured into a blue dress, and now they’re basically tailgating in Lily’s carriage, drinking from a flask. Okay, it’s time for Sara to enter the ball, but Lily gives her some more advice: “Strange things have been known to happen at these assemblies. I ended up married after a particularly memorable one” (DOY 105). But does Sara listen? Of course not. Lily goes home to her husband and kiddos and Sara enters the hell . . . running into one of the staff she’s talked to dozens of times, who totally doesn’t recognize her now. He thinks she’s . . . Mathilda! Of course he does. So now she’s going to have fun, and get her kiss. She runs into Worthy, but tells him she will behave, while throwing back the potent punch.
But before she can approach Derek, he runs into Worthy himself. She’s here, Derek says, find her. WHO? Worthy asks, terrified he’s figured out that Sara is there. No, it’s Joyce Ashby. Yep, that crazy woman showed up at the ball. Derek finds her, and snatches her by her hair—why the hell are you here? She wanted to see his face, to explain, she didn’t want to hurt him, she can’t let him leave her, every man she’s ever depended on has left her. He doesn’t care. He says she didn’t hurt him, but she looks at the scar and is clearly delighted at what she caused. He tells her to leave, and she threatens him again—she can have his face cut to ribbons. He says he’s never met a woman who needed to threaten a man into her bed, and basically throws her out of the club.
Then he sees a woman in a blue dress and mask, and he has to meet her. It’s Sara, of course, but he is totally clueless. (I am always blown by the fact that these folks cannot recognize people they already know when they slightly alter their appearance. It’s like how Clark Kent could put on a suit and glasses, and nobody knew he was Superman, though HE LOOKED JUST LIKE DUDE. Same with Wonder Woman. We have been wearing masks on the lower halves of our faces since early 2020, and I can recognize people I know with no issues. WTF?) Anyway, Squirrel needs to apologize. Back to the ball—they waltz and he’s smitten by this strange woman.
“Everything else he’d had to work, suffer, steal, and cheat for. It had all required effort. But she had simply appeared, like a perfect fruit dropping from a tree into his outstretched hands. He was almost light-headed with desire. She must have felt it too. Her responses dwindled to wordless murmurs as she stared at him through the mask. She was beautiful, experienced, and worldly enough to understand and accept the terms he offered. Not like the other one. Not like the fine, innocent lady who was as different from him as ice from fire.” (DOY 119)
Holy hell, my dude, you have no freaking clue. Anyway, she’s popular but he’s guarding her like a dog with a bone. She’s all his. And finally, he takes her into a private room, where he can kiss and touch her. She protests, because she knows she’s over her head, but she wants this. Soon, she’s stripped to the waist, and he’s kissing her all over, but she won’t let him remove her mask. He’s using her to forget; he can pleasure her like he can’t do to the one he really wants, Sara. In fact, this woman reminds him of her . . . and holy shit, the heavens part and the angels sing and FINALLY he catches a damned clue.
This scene is legit fire. If you want to bookmark a scene in a book that is just charged with electricity, it’s this one. They are lying on this chaise, he’s hard a steel, she’s bared to the waist, flushed from his kisses and it hits him. “It’s not you . . . Oh, damn you, it’s not . . . ” But when he knows it’s her, he gets even more excited. And she starts squirming, which doesn’t help matters. Stay still, he keeps telling her. Why did you do this? She wanted to be someone else, she says, someone he would be attracted to. Oh, he’s in hell from his desire for her, which you can tell because he’s carefully constructed accent falls away, and he admits how much he has wanted her since the first morning she showed up at the hell. But he won’t do this, so she needs to leave and never return to the hell. When he says that, she can’t help herself, and starts to cry, and Derek is lost. “It was going to happen. He couldn’t stop it” (DOY 127). They’re lost in each other, and he’s opening his pants. They’re rounding the bases and heading for home, and . . . Worthy bursts in. Ivo Jenner has been seen at the club. Derek thinks Worthy is bullshitting him, and is just saving Sara, but he will be out presently. Sara is still holding fast to Derek, trembling with unsatisfied desire that has her in literal pain. And he banishes her from the club forever.
She’s bereft and therefore, when she runs into Ivo Jenner, she decides to leave with him—oh dear God, not him. He says she can visit his club, and hey, what a great idea, she thinks—I can finish my research. Did I say yet, oh dear God, not him? And she leaves with Jenner, which is perfect timing because he’s set up a raid on Craven’s. Luckily, someone saw “Mathilda” leaving with Jenner and tells Worthy, so he comes to Derek. Oh, he’s pissed; he’ll kill Jenner, he’ll kill Sara. And he takes off to find her. Thank goodness, because she and Jenner end up in the middle of a riot, and Jenner leaves her to thugs and rapists on the street. But here comes her knight in shining armor, who beats up the men who are trying to attack her, saying “she’s mine,” which blows Sara’s mind. Because she knows she is his. They ride away to safety, and he’s mad, OMG, he’s mad. He can’t speak, he’s so mad; he just stares at her. And she starts bawling. It’s been one helluva night for her. And now the man she just realized she maybe loves is just staring at her so coldly. And he goes to comfort her. He tells her about his past, mudlarking, chimney sweeping, grave robbing, dangerous and terrifying things, even prostituting himself and blackmailing his lovers. But he tells her to forget what happened that night and go back home. And most importantly, he tells her: “I want you to leave. You’re not safe here. As long as you’re in London you’re not safe from me” (DOY 162). He’s trying to frighten her and make her hate and fear him. But she doesn’t think she can. She wants him. Even when he says he wants to take her innocence and ruin her for anyone else. “A man should never come so close to hell as this . . . but even with the devil whispering in my ear to take you, I can’t do it” (DOY 163). He won’t do it, not matter how much he wants to and no matter how she begs. He will forget her.
And
. . . it’s over. She returns to Greenwood Corners, to her parents and Perry. Perry’s
mother Martha Kingswood loathes her and is a passive aggressive piece of work.
Perry won’t do more than kiss her (and she is feeling very unmoved by his
kisses, to be honest). Sara is tired waiting for him to propose, and hurls an ultimatum,
which is never good. Oh, even her mother can tell she felt things for Derek—she
says she hears something in Sara’s voice when she speaks of him that she’d
never heard before. But Sara feels that Perry is her only hope, and tries to
make herself believe that he’s the right one for her. And her manipulation
works, and Perry proposes. It’s the happiest day of her life . . . except, it’s
not. Plus, his mother is now losing her shit. She actually wants to live with
them after they’re married and her spineless son just goes right along with it.
Oh, and he seems to think that she’ll stop writing once they’re married—he’s
never approved of her occupation as an author. Everything plods along, until
sometime in January, when everything changes. 💥
Tabitha, one of the prostitutes from the hell, comes to visit. She’s heading to see family (who don’t know what she does for a living). They talk about everyone else at Craven’s but Derek, and finally, Sara can’t hold back anymore—she has to ask Tabitha how he is. And what Tabitha tells her is sad and strange and devastating. See, Tabitha and Sara favor each other a little. And a few nights before, Derek took Tabitha to bed for the very first time ever. He wanted her to stay silent, and let him hold her, all the while calling her by Sara’s name. Sara cannot hear any more, but Tabitha says she had a right to know, because clearly Derek loves her, but he thinks Sara is too good for him so he doesn’t act upon it. Sara doesn’t know what to do, and she rushes to Perry, thinking he can fill the void of her broken heart. She begs Perry to make love to her, but he rebuffs her. She’s changed since she came back from London, he says, “I loved you the way you once were, Sara. But I don’t want you as you are now. If you want to be the next Mrs. Kingswood, you’ll have to find some way to change yourself back into the girl I fell in love with” (DOY 203) and thank 8-pound, 6-ounce, newborn infant Jesus, our girl grows a backbone and breaks the engagement.
And, just in time, a letter shows up—it’s from Lily, inviting her to stay at her estate for a weekend. Sara wonders why she was invited, but . . . come-the-hell-on-girl, were you born yesterday? Lady Raiford has a PLAN. Sara’s mother is more excited that Sara is friends with a countess, lol. So she accepts.
Back in London, Derek is a fucking mess. Constantly drunk, he’s ruined the expensively decorated apartments. He’s being a monster to everyone on staff. Worthy tries to be his friend (notably, he won’t keep supplying him with gin) and tries to talk to him about Sara. All Derek wants to do is drink and sleep, which he does, having a beautiful dream that he’s about to make love to Sara—and wakes to find a naked Joyce Ashby beneath him; she claws his back when he calls her by Sara’s name. He grabs her by the throat and chokes her—Joyce is actually triumphant at eliciting some sort of emotion from him—but he won’t give her that pleasure, and lets her go. This lady is cuckoo. “I’d like to die, and take you with me” she says. He gets Worthy to eject her, and she tells her she loves him (this lady understands zero about love). She’s insane. She’s Fatal Attraction and Hand That Rocks the Cradle, with some Basic Instinct and Unlawful Entry thrown in for good measure—LMFAO, did I just date myself or what? But really, Joyce is a menace. She’s been added to my list of Craziest Villains, which is right now (1) Clarence Boddicker and (2) the Cigarette Smoking Man. Whole lotta crazy going on. Screw the bunny in a pot; Derek is about to find a horse head in his bed (I was going to link to that image from The Godfather, but it looking at it again freaked me out too much, even though it’s been at least 35 years since I first saw the movie and I’ve rewatched it dozens of times—so you’ll have to IMDb that yourself).
So off to the house party weekend at Lily’s. We get to see Burton (you’ll remember him from TCY; he was Lily’s butler and is a treat—the best butler in England). Lily doesn’t even let the poor girl go to her room and freshen up; she starts introducing Sara to all the guests, which includes, you guessed it, Derek Craven. During introductions, he behaves as if he’s never met her before, but it fools no one. That room is a powder keg with the two of them staring at each other. Alex pulls Lily aside, though Sara gets snippets of what he’s whispering to his wife, which is basically: what in the actual fuck are you doing with your misbegotten cupid ass, woman? Lily knows that Derek loves Sara and he’s brought them together to make things happen. Sigh. You mean well, my girl. But the cold and impersonal way that Derek treated Sara just breaks her heart. She broaches the subject of leaving and Lily won’t hear of it. Lily is a pistol:
“He’d like to strangle me,” Lily admitted cheerfully. “Slowly. But the way he looked at you . . . Good God, it was priceless!” She gave a peal of laughter. “How does it feel to have the most unattainable man in England at your feet?” (DOY 219).
Oh, Sara cannot see that, and ends up pouring her heart out to the lady’s maid assigned to her, Françoise, who speaks almost zero English. But, Sara’s turmoil is easy for anyone to understand, so Françoise gives her some advice—follow your heart. She also makes sure Sara looks beautiful for the afternoon activities—we have to understand, not only is Sara in knots over Derek, but she feels out of her league around all of these rich and titled people. She wonders if Derek feels the same. Sara heads downstairs and, as usual, she can tell Derek is behind her. He’s not friendly, and his first question is about Perry Kingswood. They’re not getting married, she tells him. Oh, so you and Lily set this up together, he asks. Oh hell no, she’s not going to take the blame for this—she had no idea he was going to be there. He grabs her, and I just love how LK describes how he feels: “the violent joy of being near her caused his blood to sizzle” (DOY 223). He pulls her closer, and the angry, hateful façade starts to crack: “I can protect you against everything except myself.” And in the middle of their embrace, she feels something in his coat—it's her spectacles that she thought she’d lost at the hell. He took them, and kept them with him all this time. But as always, someone interrupts them, allowing him to flee his emotions and her. “In her wild mixture of emotions—relief that he still wanted her, fear that he would leave—nothing was as strong as the desire to comfort him. She wished she had the power to reassure him that his love wouldn’t hurt her . . . that she would never ask for more than he could give” (DOY 225).
Lily and Alex are in his hunting room talking, when Derek nearly kicks the door down. He’s mad AF. She’s not stupid; she literally jumps into Alex’s lap. He wants to know why TF Sara is there. Alex is protective, but he is also irritated with Lily—he’s sick of her meddling with Derek and Sara’s lives. But I am not giving him any credit because HOLY WTAF, Crazy Joyce and her husband will also be attending the party. He throws out some bullshit about how Joyce’s husband is his father’s friend and he’s an ally of Alex’s in Parliament, but c’mon, y’all. Oh, they say, as long as Joyce doesn’t realize Derek’s feelings for Sara, they should be okay. Um, what? You just said that the room nearly exploded when the two of them saw each other. Do you really think JOYCE THE LUNATIC IS NOT GOING TO NOTICE THAT? I just did an eye roll that would do Prince justice (seriously, Google “Prince eye roll GIF”; you’ll thank me). And . . . boom, Joyce approaches Sara and asks her name and puts two and two together in a millisecond. Sigh. Sara’s right in Joyce’s crosshairs. And Joyce DGAF; she tells Sara that Lily’s illegitimate daughter is Derek’s—RIGHT IN FRONT OF LILY. Of course, if you’ve read TCY, you’ll know Nicole’s background and the fact that Lily had the kid before she ever met Derek, which Lily explains when she gets Sara alone. Lily also tells Sara that Joyce is the one who arranged Derek’s attack.
Finally, we get through dinner and it’s time for the ball. Sara is surrounded by handsome men, and it’s killing Derek, but WTF can he do? He can’t marry her and he won’t make her his mistress. So he just stands there, dying inside. All the attention is a little overwhelming, and though it’s January in England, Sara heads outside to the garden. Of course, he follows her. She knew he would. He knew he would. We knew he would. And she’s tired of pretending:
“I want to be with you,” she whispered. “No matter what happens.”
No one in his life had ever said such a thing to him. Derek tried to think above the pounding of his heart, but she brought her soft mouth to his, and all reason was lost. (DOY 247)
Alas, they’re not alone. Lily is watching them, smugly satisfied that her machinations are working. She’s caught red handed by Alex, who drags her back to the ball, but not before they both find Joyce, who is out crazying. (Yeah, I made that word up, but you know what I mean.) Thank goodness for Alex, who drags both these women away.
You would think things would be going well with Derek and Sara; they’re together, they’re kissing, but he is still fighting it. She’s damned near begging him to succumb to his feelings, but he says it will do nothing but make them both miserable and he’ll ruin her. So Sara tells him that she loves him, and begs him to let her love him. But that is really the last straw for him—we know his fear of love AND Crazy J just said the same words to him a few days previously. He can’t take what she’s offered, and he walks away from her.
So, did you really think Crazy J was going to let things lie? Hahaha, hell naw. She knows that there are a ton of men who want her (WHYYYYYY? She’s the epitome of cray cray. Men, you cannot be THAT stupid!), so she heads to the ton’s biggest manwhore, Lord Granville, who has been trying to get with her forever. Force yourself on Sara, she tells him, and I’m yours. Okay, how it the hell does he think this is a good plan? His only, seriously, his only consideration is the fact that rumors say Derek likes her and he doesn’t want to get on his bad side. The fact that it is wrong to force himself on a woman isn’t even in his universe. I want something really bad to happen to that guy. REALLY bad. Joyce promises that Sara wouldn’t tell Derek, so this POS races off to attack her. (Google “Prince shaking his head GIF” if you want to imagine my face while reading this.)
Derek is talking to little Nicole when Joyce strolls up. She looks like the cat who ate the canary, and that makes him suspicious AF. The thing is, Joyce is a straight up sociopath, so she has zero problem with telling Derek what she set up for Sara. This lady is a snake. Luckily for Sara, Crazy J is proud of what she’s arranged, and spills the beans so Derek is able to save Sara before Granville can rape her, beating TF outta Granville as well (good). Sara’s screams and the sound of the fight drew a crowd, which is probably why Granville isn’t dead. Derek throws them all out of the room, closing the door so he can hold onto Sara, who is traumatized and in shock. Lily sweeps in, gives Lily whiskey, and they watch her until she falls asleep. It comes clear to Lily that Derek is really and truly in love with Sara. Well, Lily, says, he has to understand that Sara is in trouble—she is almost irreparably compromised. Her life is over. I got here in time, Derek protests. That’s not how these things work, Lily reminds him, Sara has got to get married, and they have to find someone for her to marry.
The next morning, Sara asks Françoise to pack. She’s got to leave the party. But before she can skedaddle, Lily summons her. Sara heads to Lily’s sitting room and finds . . . Derek. He is all business—he’s got a list of the 20 most eligible bachelors in London and she needs to pick the one she wants. They all owe him, so he can ensure whoever she chooses will marry her. Bruh, seriously???? Miss me with that bullshit, Sara says, to nobody’s surprise but Derek’s. She doesn’t want to marry anyone; she doesn’t need to. Yeah, you do, he tries to explain. Too bad, says she. Okay, then marry me, he says. Record scratch—whaaaaaat?
And we all clapped.
Once he’s decided, he wastes no time. Lily goes into wedding planner mode, but to no avail. See ya, Lils, we’re heading back to London. Also, now that they’re getting married, he’s not holding back anymore. He wants to get back to the hell and his bedroom ASAP. Which is why my longtime MAR readers know to hit up the S&S right about now.
Sara had no clue how rich Derek is. There’s the club, estates, mansions, a chateau in France with vineyards, yachts, jewelry, artwork, horses, even a crumbling ruin of a castle in Bath. It is damned overwhelming, so she jokes to him that she’s going back to Greenwood Corners, and he overreacts when he thinks she might actually leave him. He grabs her and he’s legit terrified and more than a little angry. She’s gobsmacked; she was just teasing him. I won’t let you leave me, he warns her. She doesn’t want to leave him, Sara replies. This is his vulnerability . . . once he’s finally let someone into his heart, his greatest fear is that they might abandon him (as he’s been abandoned throughout his life).
Oh Lord, next stop is actually Greenwood Corners. Time for him to meet the family. I cracked the hell up at her parents:
Taken aback, Katie stared at the two of them with round eyes. “Isaac,” she called, her voice higher-pitched than usual. “Sara’s brought someone home with her. A man.”
“Has she? Well, let me have a look at him.”
Abruptly, Derek found himself confronted by two small gray-haired people. (DOY 298)
I immediately pictured these two from The Princess Bride. Also, they’re super confused because they didn’t realize Sara and Perry were no longer engaged. Awkward. But Derek’s slowly bringing Isaac around to the idea of them marrying when, OMFG, Perry busts in. And makes a scene. And tries to throw Sara under the bus when she explains she and Derek are getting married. Did that tool really bring up Sara’s “insatiable lust”? Her dad is watching, trying not laugh at these two, and says, “I’ve seen and heard enough, Mr. Craven. If you and my daughter are already talking about ‘insatiable lust,’ I think I’d better give you my approval . . . and hope for a quick wedding” (DOY 304).
And just like that, Sara and Derek are married. Happily ever after time, right? Oh no, y’all haven’t forgotten about the crazy woman who has sworn she will have Derek or no one else will. Where’s Lady Ashby? What’s she planning? Well, you’re going to have to read the book to find THAT out. So get to reading! Today’s Derek Craven day, so it’s a perfect excuse to head to the bookstore or Amazon and snatch this up.
Unrelated books: You want to read all of Lisa Kleypas. I promise you. I will point you toward the Capitol Theatre series first, but then run, do not walk, to The Wallflowers and then read The Hathaways and then (nope, I’m not finished), jump into The Ravenels. Listen to me here. You need to do this.
I would love to hear what you have to say about this book, or this review, or any of my reviews, or if you want to know more about the Cult of Squirrel (no, that’s not actually a thing)! You can leave a comment here on the blog or hit me up on Twitter or Facebook!
Now, it’s time for the SEX-AND-SPOILERS section.
Reminder, don’t continue if you don’t want to hear about sex and/or you don’t want to hear things that may spoil the ending. Second reminder: these are primarily HEAs, which means H (Hero) and h (heroine) are getting together before the last page. So you know what’s c o m i n g.
Sex
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So we are almost ¾ of the way through the book before these two get their freak on. We are all panting in excitement when it happens. We have heard his past—he was a male prostitute, for God’s sake, and he’s slept with hundreds of women. We know this is gonna be good. She even mentions that he’s done it a LOT, but he assures her, it’s the first time he’s done it with someone he loves (which, of course, he doesn’t actually say because, holy cow, this man knows how to repress his emotions). But man, the guy who has known no tenderness in his life is such a tender lover with Sara. I cannot even rate this scene with the usual 🔥, I think for this, we gotta use hearts. And this is definitely a 🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍 scene. There’s detail, but not as much as we are used to with LK, but it’s the right amount here. Sara is brand new to all this. And Derek recognizes how the sex was different with her, because there were hearts involved. “I was just better, all the way through . . . I don’t know how ‘happy’ feels . . . But I know I want to stay inside you forever” (DOY 288). That’s got to be as close to admitting love as Derek Craven has ever been.
A few pages, later, though, holy hell. We get the type of hot sex scene that brings us back to Lisa Kleypas over and over. Who needs a bed when you’ve got Derek Craven. This one is detailed and OMG, you will read that bad boy twice (tell me you didn’t, and I will call you a liar). Yeah, it’s time to teach her new things, and he’s ready to make a meal of her. She tries to stop him because she’s never even fathomed the act exists, but she soon learns to like it. I mean, you know Derek Craven is gonna tear it up.
Oh wait, there’s a THIRD sex scene? Yes, please. He’s got some tricks up his sleeve, and our girl soon learns that missionary ain’t the only way to get it on. What? A FOURTH? Oh yeah. That one is shorter, but still good. Okay, and we are up to FIVE, and this one is on the hazard table. There’s not a lot of detail, but you know you Googled hazard table. Um, they even get it on in the epilogue, and LK adds something I actually haven’t seen in another romance novel—I refuse to spoil that for ya, though. You’ve got to read it yourself.
Spoilers?
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Derek’s love for Sara is just so beautiful. It made me love him so much more. And he was terrified of the perfect happiness. “Frequently Derek felt a deep sense of unease, as if some invisible, monumental debt was being accumulated in his name” (DOY 333). We cannot be happy and comfortable in their HEA because we know that Joyce Ashby is still there, plotting. You know she’s past the point of caring who lives or dies, and the last quarter of the book fills you with tension. You’re waiting for Joyce to leap out of every shadow, dash around every corner. And you know that whatever she is planning is going to be big bad. And it is. But, oh, she’s underestimated Sara. “Whatever his taste was in the past, my husband has no interest in anyone but me now” (DOY 356). Mic drop, my girl.
And OMG, if you thought you loved Derek before, you’ll love him more in the last few pages. I have never ached for a fictional character the way I did for him.
HAPPY DEREK CRAVEN DAY!
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