what I’m reading: dreaming of you by lisa kleypas.

When prim and proper Sara Fielding ventures into a rough part of London to do research for her latest novel, she is horrified to find a man being attacked. When she saves his life, she realizes he is none other than Derek Craven, the scandalous owner of London’s most exclusive gambling establishment. Sara persuades Derek to let her come to his club so that she can research and experience the sordid side of London.

I picked this book up because the romance book community, or at least the podcasts I listen to and blogs I read, seem to love Derek Craven. There’s even a Derek Craven Day. So I had to see what all the fuss was about.

And I have to confess, I do not understand the love for Derek Craven.

Look, this book was first published in 1994. That was a while ago and I’m sure if I had read this book in 1994, or at any time in the ’90s or early ”00s, I would have loved it and I would have loved Derek Craven. But a lot of things that I liked at that time are not on my radar now and I have different tastes in books and characters and frankly, a lot of the characters and plotlines I liked back then, I can’t stand now. So no, I didn’t love the character of Derek Craven like everyone else does.

Personally, I found him to be a bit much. He is possessive and jealous. He steals Sara’s glasses because he wants a token from her but as someone who has worn/wears glasses, I found the taking of her glasses to be obnoxious. He also is the type of man who is just so overcome by lust for a woman that he can hardly control himself when she is in the same room as him. He’s always grabbing her and doesn’t seem to hear when she tells him that he is hurting her. He also goes and sleeps with a prostitute because he can’t be with Sara to which I was like, huh?

Also, can we talk about the fact that he always seems to be standing over her which is another thing that I find weird about historical romance novels (or at least it always seems to happen in the historical romance novels I’ve read)? Why are the men always super tall and the women are always really petite to the point that they always fit underneath the man’s chin or under his arm? I’m surprised the men can find clothes that fit them because they are always so tall with such large chests but I guess when you have a tailor you can make clothes fit anyone.

But Derek is an interesting figure and if you are into that kind of Alpha hero, all the more power to you and that’s not to say this isn’t a good book.

I do enjoy a tortured hero and Derek Craven is the epitome of a tortured hero. He feels that because of his childhood and things that he had to do to survive, that he is unworthy of love. But luckily Sara is there is help him realize that he deserves love and everything else. I also liked that this book wasn’t a typical book about a lord or a duke or some other privileged rich man who has nothing better to do than ride his horse or sit around his club all day. Rather Derek owns the club that all the men want to go to. Sara seemed like a normal woman who just wanted to write her novels. Everyone loves her, including all of the servants and prostitutes at Derek’s club.

This book is highly recommended and like I said, people love Derek Craven. I thought the book was entertaining but I would probably give it 3 stars (out of 5).

To check out other reviews, find this book on goodreads or amazon. Please note, all links are affiliate which gives a small portion of profit to Rainy Days and Clichés. Thank you so much for your continuous kindness!