First in the Capital Theatre historical romance series revolving around Scott Logan's theatre. The couple focus is on Damon, Lord Savage, and his never-met wife, Julia Hargate. My Take What a load of crap! Kleypas uses the flimsiest pretext for her conflict between the never-met husband and wife. Please. There is no legal precedent outside of royalty for marrying a four-year-old off to a seven-year-old and having it be valid. Then there's the overly dramatic writing...talk about a drama queen.Oh please, Julia thinks she can give in to him, make love to him with no consequences. Even if the "marriage" had validity, as soon as it's consummated, they can't get an annulment. How stupid is she? As for the passion Julia suddenly exhibits? No, Kleypas hasn't given me any reason to believe that Julia/Jessica is so carried away with passion that she'll give in to Damon. It's the latter half of the 1820s and I'm supposed to believe that a Duchess can be an actress on the stage. Ah well, it's as believable as the rest of this story. Not.Then there's the scene where Julia is hiding in another room when her husband confronts her mother. Oh, please. Put some effort into it, Kleypas. Get out that thinking cap. This scene was just embarrassing in its utter idiocy. Any respect I may have had for Julia's character went right down the tubes.Talking about going to his estate...in London. I don't think so. House, townhouse, yes. Then Damon asks Julia to "have supper with me tonight at my terrace" in Bath. Again, I don't think so. It would be either house or townhouse, again.Someone needs to proofread this. There are so many misspellings; the final blow was "Know what?"I appreciate the efforts Kleypas expended to promote Jessica's need for independence, not wanting to be under the autocratic authority of a husband. And it was nice how she finally got Damon to understand that he would lose her if he continued to be the man her father had been. But the presentation of the story is clumsy and overly dramatic. I will try another Kleypas in an attempt to be fair, but I ain't holdin' mah breath. The Story Struggling to make a living, Mrs. Jessica Wentworth finagles an audition with Logan Scott, the preeminent actor/producer in London. Her friend, a somewhat retired and famous actress, Mrs. Florence, has encouraged her to pursue it and Mrs. Wentworth overwhelms Scott and his acting troupe with her ability to portray the characters realistically and with passion.Julia/Jessica soon rises to the top of her chosen profession. She's happy with her independence but she misses the companionship marriage could bring. This question soon becomes very real when she encounters her husband for the first time at a weekend country house party. It's fate that Damon, Lord Savage, had met her some years ago when he thought she was a minor actress. When he remembers her from that May Day fest, he becomes even more intent on spending time with this woman and forces a meeting on her by investing in Scott's Capital Theatre. There is something about this woman and Damon pursues her. And Jessica retreats. She retreats to yet another secret visit to her mother gifting her with a piece of jewelry Damon had given her. Only Damon has also come to Hargate Hall to see her father, to demand her father tell him of Julia's whereabouts. The encounter has results. Disastrous for Julia. Enlightening for Damon.Providing Damon with the ammunition he needs to pursue his reluctant lady wife. The Characters Julia Hargate, a.k.a., Mrs. Jessica Wentworth, a.k.a., Lady Julia, Marchioness of Savage, refuses to kowtow to her father's arrangements for her marriage and runs away at her first opportunity. She finds a way to live and work pursuing the activities she escaped to throughout her childhood. Her father, Edward, Lord Hargate, is an unbending, iron-fisted tyrant with an ancient regret while Julia's mother Eva is a timid woman who resorts to illness to avoid the overbearing manner of her husband. Damon, Marquess of Savage, heir to a dukedom, has been sacrificed on the all-too common altar of financial expediency. His father, the duke, has squandered the family fortune to the extent that they are in danger of losing everything. A disaster averted only by the duke's arranging the marriage of his seven-year-old son to Lord Hargate's four-year-old daughter. Young Julia's dowry provides the seed money to rebuild the Savage fortune---how this worked when the father played ducks and drakes with it and Damon is only seven, I have no idea.Lord William is Damon's younger brother and fills out the character list while Lady Pauline Ashton is the requisite slut who provides the comic relief...oops, I mean the dramatic contrast with the virginal Mrs. Wentworth.Logan Scott owns the Capital Theatre and has a reputation for bringing the act of acting back to a more realistic portrayal. All of his passion is caught up in the theatre and his marriage proposal to Julia is strictly business...supposedly. I have my doubts with that last impassioned scene.I was expecting to find that Mrs. Florence was Lord Hargate's long-dead sister, but instead she is simply the voice of reason for Julia. The Cover The cover is pretty enough with its lilac background and the watercolor effect of the Italian feeling landscape with its arched bridge crossing the river. The title is too, too accurate as Damon is adamant about finding his lost wife.
Being wed as a child and having the right of any type of marriage taken away from her Juila Hargate forged her own way through life, giving up everything she known and loved to become the well known actress Jessica Wentworth, but the shadow of the man she married still looms over her. Damon Savage for three years has searched for his wife knowing she was a victim as much as he, he tries to put things right as he saves his family from the brink of debt from his father’s mismanagement and gambling, when he first sees Juila he can’t get the memory of their first kiss out of his head and knows they’re meant to meet again. Little does he know the woman who stands before him is his wife. When Juila finds out who the man who stares at her with eyes the color of smoke and steel is her husband, she feels drawn to him while another part of her wants to run away and never look back. The pull between Juila and Damon leave them with both fighting an attraction along with the past pains and mistrust, but the fire burns bight between them and leaves them burning up the pages as they both find out the truth while falling in love. Somewhere I’ll Find You never lets up it’s pace, your drawn into the story at the first page and it doesn’t let you go until the very end. I enjoyed both Juila and Damon as both tried to fight and accept the past while trying to live their lives. They were so alike in many ways as both try and make their own paths. The story never drags and the mystery of whose Damon wife doesn’t get carried on through the whole book but is reveled early on giving you a chance to see how the couple would react to each other when knowing the truth. What made me love Damon, instead of acting like a total a-hole at being lied to, Damon sees in Juila the hardships she went through much as he has. While both don’t make it easy for one another, you can see how they connect on a deeper level as the sensual level between them ignites. Both were pretty mule-headed which made me want to tear my hair out at times at having it their way or the highway, Damon who wants someone to love and take care of with no leeway. Juila on the other hand still has trouble dealing with trusting someone after the betrayal by her family in the child marriage that bind her the Damon. Hiding behind the prison she made for herself as she wears the mask of a actress. The heart of the book being able to meet the one you love half-way and compromise as both Juila and Damon have to learn to do if they want to be with the one they love, which I feel reflects on any relationship one has, if your willing to love someone meet them half way. The limelight did shine somewhat away from Juila and Damon to Logon Scott who’s a true actor only giving you tidbits of his past and leaving you wanting more, making me glad he appears in his own book as I find myself wondering what made him the man he is. Even with the added villain you’re still rooting for Juila and Damon to the very end and LK does somewhat drag it to the very end, but it only shows you how much as a couple they have grown to trust and compromise as their love for one another grows deeper. Overall: A wonderful read with a deep message of meeting the person you love half way in anything and everything. As the curtain falls on this couple and their happy ever after.
Do You like book Somewhere I'll Find You (1996)?
I enjoyed the novel. I'm a sucker for hidden identity plots. This novel involved Damon and Julia/Jessica though it is really more Julia's story. Damon's character isn't really fleshed out and tends to come off very high handed and more of a jerk. Since we have more of Julia's side of the story, you can't help but to be in her camp. Kleypas also does a wonderful job with the professional tension between Julia and Logan. While on-stage they may play love-interests, off-stage it couldn't be more professional. (view spoiler)[ Okay, here's the part where I really have a problem accepting. She and Damon finally accept their relationship. How do they manage her stage career and her station in life? It's glossed over as if it were all okay except for two professionals but honestly, the Ton is not forgiving if not vicious. Especially with Pauline in the story who is aggressive and a very nasty character, do you think she wouldn't spread vicious gossip about Julia/Jessica or let them live happily ever after? Not that I want their ending to have hardship, its just the way it was wrapped up in the end that just made it so unbelievable to me. Plus, they only thwarted Pauline's scheme, but they really didn't effectively put an end to Pauline imho. She is such a nasty self-centered character, I just don't see her going quietly into the night after the foiled pregnancy plot. (hide spoiler)]
—Jean
Well, this was a super cute story. Not the best I have read from this author, but good nonetheless.I loved all the plot regarding the theatre. It was super interesting to see a heroine from a working class, and not one of the usual high class society ladies. I believe this plot was quite imaginative and creative. I was super captivated with the theatre, and everything related; every little detail,I absorbed it.And all the romance going on between the 2 main characters was great. The fact that they were already married was hilarious. I quite enjoyed this book, and definitely a recommendation.
—valee
1.5 starsWARNING! This review WILL contain fairly specific plot spoilers, but it's an awful book, so you don't want to read it anyway, and should thank me for explaining in detail why you should avoid it.Jessica Wentworth is probably the most successful actress in London, but she's hiding a deep dark secret. Her real name is Julia Hargate and she's been married to the Marquess of Savage since they were both children. Julia ran away from home and has been disowned, she only wants her independence and to become famous on the stage. Her husband, Damon, Lord Savage (yeah, I can't even begin about that name) has been searching for her for years, eager to obtain an annulment. With the dowry his family got from the arrangement, the sensible and super-serious Lord Savage has restored the family fortunes that his wastrel father gambled away, fixed up the family estate and in general, he's the responsible brother, whilst his younger brother takes after dear ol' dad.By happy coincidence, because this is clearly that sort of book, Damon and Julia have actually met once, in passing at a country fair, but didn't know each other's true identities. After invading Julia's personal space, Damon kisses her, then they part ways again, until they meet again at a party, three years later. Damon, ever the arrogant alpha douchebag, recognizes the girl he kissed and promises Julia's employer, the theatre owner, 5000 pounds if she'll come to dinner with him - all platonic like. He already has a very demanding mistress, but wants to woo the famous Mrs. Wentworth. It doesn't take many days before he discovers that the most celebrated actress on the London stage is his long lost wife, and suddenly, Damon's no longer all that keen on an annulment. Julia, on the other hand, seems to have a terrible time figuring out what she really wants, pushing him away one second and falling into his arms the next, asking him to ravish her.She doesn't want to give up her career, and he acts like a possessive bastard and tries to control her every move. He wants her to take her rightful place as his soon to be duchess. They both seem to fall in love after three short encounters, but still act absolutely appallingly to one another. There's a whole bunch of not really complications thrown in their way.This book was so dumb, you guys. It's without a shadow of a doubt the worst romance I've read since Edenbrooke, which is the worst book I read in 2012 and among the worst romances I've ever had the misfortunes of reading. Still, this book fit into my Monthly Keyword Challenge and allowed me to cross another Lisa Kleypas book off my TBR list. I kept hoping that it was going to get better, because author:Lisa Kleypas|27847] is after all, one of the grand masters of romance, and it baffled me that something this boring and dumb was written by the same woman who wrote Tempt Me at Twilight, Devil in Winter and Dreaming of You. The info-dumping in the first few chapters is extremely heavy-handed, the characterisation of EVERY single person in the book is so lazy - most of the principal cast have only one or two significant character traits, if that.I'm not sure on what basis Julia and Damon fall in love, except that they are both described as very physically attractive, and they were forced into a probably extremely illegal marriage alliance by their unscrupulous fathers while they were still children. This is apparently enough that they love each other after a few meetings, and Julia goes from telling Damon to leave her alone forever to throwing herself into his arms and asking him to deflower her because she "doesn't want to be alone anymore" the next. Like in the same scene, I swear. She changes her mind completely from one second to the next.When Damon discovers that Julia has reconciled with her father and got the means to have their marriage annulled, and decided that she's going to marry her boss in a platonic marriage of convenience to further both their careers (don't ask, it's just one of the myriad oh so dumb things in this book), his way of winning her back is to get thugs to kidnap her from back stage, bind and gag her and bring her to his carriage. Because nothing says "I love you, don't marry that other guy" like forced abduction and coercion. They're both such wretched characters that I couldn't even care.The only reason this book is getting half a star more than Edenbrooke is that at least the writing was vaguely competent in certain parts, and at no point did characters start to fight a duel inside a crowded inn! Not even rabid Kleypas-completeists should read this book. It'll only make you sad. It's a bad, dumb book and it is a waste of your time. Trust me here.
—Malin
