Book 3 of the Ravenel’s was a delight. Loved Pandora from previous books. Great seeing her get her own story. and I had no idea it was crossover with The Wallflower series! So nice to read about Sebastian & Evie again. Can’t help but fall in love with their son Gabriel.

I can't believe I didn't write a review of this book yet, especially since I remember writing it... Well, never mind. After reading the last very disappointing Lisa Kleypas book ([b:Devil in Disguise|51178326|Devil in Disguise (The Ravenels, #7)|Lisa Kleypas|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1622146781l/51178326._SY75_.jpg|75949785]), I had to come back to my favorite LK book....
To make this quick:
1. I absolutely adore Pandora, she is the bestest historical romance heroine I ever met. (Fight me!)
2. Gabriel is absolutely swoon-worthy, I just.... hold my tea, I'm going to take Ida's advice.

Good God, she really did walk in circles. A pang of tenderness centered in Gabriel’s chest like an ache. He wanted all her circles to lead back to him.

Like... I'm dead.
3. Their courtship is a top notch. We got the cutest of meet-cutes, a kind of marriage of convenience plot (my favorite), no rape-y scenes, a man who actually listens when a woman discusses a feminist issues with him but at the same time is still clearly a product of his own time.

“My dress is caught in the settee. And I would be much obliged if you would help me out of it!”
“The dress or the settee?” the stranger asked, sounding interested.
“The settee,” Pandora said irritably. “I’m all tangled up in these dratted—” she hesitated, wondering what to call the elaborate wooden curls and twists carved into the back of the settee. “—swirladingles,” she finished.
“Acanthus scrolls,” the man said at the same time. A second passed before he asked blankly, “What did you call them?”
“Never mind,” Pandora said with chagrin. “I have a bad habit of making up words, and I’m not supposed to say them in public.”
“Why not?”
“People might think I’m eccentric.”
His quiet laugh awakened a ticklish feeling in her stomach. “At the moment, darling, made-up words are the least of your problems.”

4. I absolutely adore the first half of the book, but have to agree that the other one is much weaker, but... the characters are carrying it for me.
5. I am a bit uncomfortable with the tying up scene. (spoilers for their sex lives?) I feel like he should have explain/ask before actually doing it, especially since she was in extremely vulnerable position. And than he give into it so much of his own inner value - like if she says no than she is saying no to me and she could never truly love me for who I am... and bullshit! Communication, dude! We know that he has fears about sharing this with her and it could made an excellent plot point, but this was just... eh...

“My sweet, there are altogether too many respectable ladies in the world. The supply has far exceeded the demand. But there’s an appalling shortage of attractive pirates, and you do seem to have a gift for plundering and ravishing. I think we’ve found your true calling.”

Overall, this book makes me feel good and I like to get back to it when I'm stressed. Works every time...
P.S. Is it bad that I am turned on by Lisa's accurate descriptions of Victorian clothes?

I love Pandora!!!

HEA with a dose of women's issues. Originally gave 3 stars but the wya she dealt with issues about women owning property etc and the value of a female doctor deserve more.

cute!!! st vincent men are babes.

Not happy with the addition of a mild bondage scene. Totally lost me there. Not interested.

One of my favorite Kleypas books ever. Gabriel is so close to being too perfect, but he keeps just enough wickedness. Pandora is a charming heroine. There is some compelling real history here about feminism at its roots and the terrible state of women's legal rights in the 19th century, and some silly trivia that made me laugh. (Who knew "katzenjammer" meant "hangover" in old German slang?!) Also, for those who loved Devil in Winter we get to check in about 30 years later on one of my favorite couples! Delightful.

I liked the characters a lot! But introducing a huge new plot point with only 20% of the novel to go, , is just absurd pacing. It annoyed me so much I still think about it a year after reading this book!