Sugar Daddy

Title: Sugar Daddy (2007)

Author: Lisa Kleypas

Media: Book

In a typical romance novel, the male and female leads are introduced within the first two chapters of the book - and you just know they're meant to be! Lisa Kleypas breaks the mold with Sugar Daddy by ***SPOILER ALERT*** not introducing the key male figure until halfway through the book!

To be honest, when I first saw this book, the title turned me off and I barely spared it a second glance. This year, I finally settled for Lisa Kleypas' Blue Eyed Devil while waiting (rather impatiently) for the next book in her charming Hathaway series. The tumultous back stories of Haven and Hardy convinced me to dig deeper into the love triangle that was Liberty, Gage, and Hardy; and finally led me to pick up a copy of Sugar Daddy. I regret the realization that I would've enjoyed this book tenfold had I not spoiled the ending by reading Blue Eyed Devil first, but it's a great read nonetheless (and I finally know what an emu is!).

Sugar Daddy follows the rise of Liberty Jones from her life in a trailer park to an apprentice at an upscale beauty salon in Houston, and inevitably, as an assistant to a wealthy tycoon that would lead to one of the most important decisions in her life.

Throughout the hardships of Liberty's early life - the loss of a father, a mother with more boyfriends that she could count, the taxing role of a mother figure to her baby sister - Hardy Cates is a constant pillar of support. Driven by his ambition to drag himself out of his impoverished state, he eventually leaves Liberty behind. By the time she makes a new life for herself and her sister, Carrington, she is finally ready to open her heart to the possibility of a romance with Gage Travis - only for Hardy to step into her life once again and turn her world upside down.

*** I'm a big fan of Lisa Kleypas' wallflower series and have been following her Hathaway novels ever since. I didn't find a copy of Tempt Me At Twilight until a couple of months ago and I figure Married by Morning won't come my way until Christmas. The eagerness to finally learn about Catherine Mark's past almost convinced me to buy a Kindle. Well, almost. ;) ***