There’s no better sandwich than a manwich.
“It Happened One Autumn” by Lisa Klepas
First impressions can be wrong. Take for example, Mimi. Now when one first meets Mimi, one sees a gorgeous, sultry, voluptuous beauty, with a penchant for plaid. You would think she spends all her time charming men into deadly snares, while being fed peeled grapes and lying in a warm milk bath. No one would ever guess, just by looking at Mi, that behind and underneath the gorgeousness, lies the world’s biggest fan of all things associated with blood, gore, bones, catacombs, all the “saw†and “texas chain saw massacre†movies, serial killers, and an appreciative understudy of the creative art of removing another’s skin (intact) for the purposes of wearing said skin for fun. Not. Me. But that’s Mimi and we love her all the same…unless she happens to be smelling like bat poo. But enough about that. The purpose of the aforementioned analogy is to discuss “It Happened One Autumn†– the story of Lillian Bowman and Marcus, the Earl of Westmoreland; a story upon first reading I hated so much I refused to do a review about it but now, upon a second reading (because no series mentioned on this blog of ours will go unfinished due to our anal retentive personalities), thoroughly enjoyed.
Upon initial reading, Lillian seems unnecessarily rude, crass, and above all, incredibly stubborn to the point my fingers itched to slap her. Oh don’t get me wrong, she’s still all that, but I found her surprisingly less irritating than I did before. I don’t know maybe it’s all the glue I’ve been smelling (we’re wallpapering the reception area in lieu of the coming festive season) but I thought she had, without a doubt, the best lines of all the wallflowers. She has wit, intelligence and a low tolerance for all things banal and idiotic. A mark of an intelligent human being I say. I loved how she stood up to the Countess of Westmoreland (who at the time was teaching her and her sister the ins and outs of society) by speaking over her and implying that she obviously had too much time on her hands due to her “excessive preoccupation†with whether one should eat certain foods with a knife and fork, or just a fork alone. In addition, Lillian gets extra brownie points for not stabbing the old hag with said fork because I would not have been able to restrain myself if I were in her position. Might try the old “skinning†routine even. Lord knows I’ve listened to one too many talks on the best possible ways to skin a human being alive than I have ever wanted to in one lifetime.
Lisa Kleypas couldn’t have been paired Lillian with a more different mate than Marcus. Whereas Lillian is wild and carefree, Marcus is straight laced and rigid. And all kinds of hot. He’s the Mr. Darcy prototype that every girl who has ever read “Pride & Prejudice†have ever fantasized about and I’d like to think that Marcus Westmoreland is Lisa Kleypas’s ode to the delicious Mr. Darcy. For beneath Marcus’s starchy façade, lies the heart of a rather steamy lover. Possessive, over-protective, and naughty is how I like them, and Marcus exudes all that and more. Maybe it’s because he seems to be in such control all of the time, that when he does lose it, he goes slightly berserk. Take for example, the incident with him and Lillian behind the hedge. Or in the butterfly garden. So hot. The man has a gift and he knows how to use it. And boy do I want to receive that gift. He makes me want to throw myself against him, tackle him to the ground, and lick his manly chest, while purring “maaarrrrrrkus….maaarrrrrrrrrkus.†MMmMmMm…manly chest.
To his credit, Marcus does fight the good fight against love. Oh he tries to avoid her, tries to put Lillian out of his mind until one night, he finds her sloshed out of her mind. All reason goes out the window and all the arguments of how he needs to marry another aristocrat and how she’s too wild for him goes out the window. He picks her up in his arms and carries her to his room where he proceeds to take advantage of her thoroughly. Thoroughly. Like the true rogue that he is. Of course this is after he whispers to her that he is sick of trying to fight her in the sweetest speech possibly given by a man incapable of articulating any form of emotion. This is also after he so charmingly rescues her from tossing up her crumpets at the dinner table, by spinning an outrageous lie about purple dingy something or another butterflies and wanting her to see them at once. Let us also not forget Marcus’s very sexy meltdown when he found out that Lillian was kidnapped by the delectable Sebastian, and bundled off to Gretna Green. When Marcus kicked that door down to question his mother on her treachery my GOD I wanted to take a cold cold shower. Truly there is nothing hotter than an angry Alpha Male whose woman is in danger/has been taken away from him.
Without a doubt, the best part about reading Lisa Kleypas’s wallflower series is the fact that old characters aren’t just mentioned in passing (save for the exception of my darling forever and ever we are one!, John McKenna). If it were at all possible, I think I’m even more in love with Simon Hunt after reading this book than when I read “Secrets of a Summer Nightâ€. I would like nothing more than to be in a manwich with McKenna, Simon Hunt and Marcus. Hot broody Mckenna to my right, hot sarcastic, irreverent and witty Simon to my left, and hot, intelligent and naughty Marcus (who had been keeping his naughty side under tight rein during the morning and has now let it come out to play)… anywhere he chooses. In fact, the positions of where they are at are mere semantics and for discussion purposes only. *fans self*. The best part is, Sebastian’s book is up for review next and judging by all the little snippets of the book he appears in, that manwich is gonna get a little bit taller.
Wendy said,
November 7, 2007 @ 2:11 pm
Oh honey, you’ve got some sad disappointment ahead of you. Or maybe not, ’cause a lot of people love Devil in Winter, but the Sebastian in IHoA is soooo much hotter than he is in his own book, IMO.
This is my absolute favorite Kleypas. Glad you tried it again. I actually wasn’t that enamoured with SoaSN on the first read and it really grew on me.
Stephie said,
November 8, 2007 @ 2:27 am
This is such a great site glad I found it, ok back to IHOA umm love me some stuffy Marcus hate me some childish, opiniated, full of herself Lilly seriously girl got on my nerves still does everytime she appears in an LK books, and she appears alot Lisa seems to love her. Could not understand what Marcus saw in her but agree he was HOT, worth the read if only to see him go ape-shit all over Sebastion ohh and for the Pears sigh…..
Sheridan Sakura Carlotta said,
November 8, 2007 @ 11:35 am
Hi Wendy, I completely agree with you on Sebastian’s book. I’m also having a bit of trouble accepting the compatibility issue between Sebastian and Evie…but more on that in my next review!
Hi Stephie, welcome to our website! *hands a welcome drink*. Lillian does have a tendency to grate on one’s nerves at times but the trick is to focus on Marcus. Mmm-Mmm..Marcus. Manly, masculine, mucho gifted Marcus. When Annabelle told Lillian that she had heard from one of her married friends that Marcus was the best lover she (her friend, not Annabelle) had ever had and he had ruined her for any other lover, I whimpered in delight.
LadyCurvyA.K.APHR said,
December 20, 2009 @ 3:27 am
Re-reading and couldn’t agree more!! … I actually didn’t give Marcus much thought (oh, I found him hot and all that … think I was kinda gulping down the story too fast) when I read it for the first time, rather like Simon. Now, I’m at a lost for words … UmmMmmmm Marcussss (I don’t even care about his height, he’s perfect)!! :p
Love the review!