Blue-Eyed Devil: A Novel (Travis Book 2)

I loved this story!!! It is not your typical love story, the main character in this story, Haven has been badly abused this is her story of getting back to herself, finding her strength and her heart again. Hardy Cates is just the man to help her do that. He is patient and strong, he knows just what to do to help her. He loves her!!!!! He isn't the most popular choice with her family but he grows on them as he helps Haven. I really didn't want this story to end. I loved the strength and softness of Hardy. He was so patient and steadfast in his love for Haven and in helping her find her heart again.

LISA kleypas used to write books whose main characters had greater inside, more depht etc like por EX: Suggar daddy, Suddenly you.. it seems that now her books are finished to fast, more comercial ! Nevertheless they are good for a week end at home.

I love Hardy Cates - big, gruff, also sexy and savvy. And delicious! And Haven is perfect for him. The romance starts out with a great teaser scene, then time passes, things happen...and the romance picks up again now seasoned with depth and character and intensity. Love scenes are well done. Some very funny moments and little scenes throughout.
If you like romances with complex, real people and storylines that have some grit and believable reality...you will love this book.

I've read this book numerous times and can relate very much to Haven's character and her life experiences. Love the whole series but Haven and Hardy are my favorite and love that they both get their happy-ever-after!

An excellent story about love and about overcoming a very real and sometimes too common situation of domestic abuse. The story is great at showing the strong connections between siblings and how you are never alone in a situation if you have someone who loves you and a strong family.

I had high hopes for this book because the depiction of the abuse was very real. It was so real that it was an uncomfortable read. I worked at a women's shelter part-time for a while and I got to know some of the staff there quite well. I thought Lisa Kleypas did a tremendous job of showing Haven's journey in an abusive relationship. But then I really felt the story lacked depth.
Haven was a very frustrating character to try to identify with because of that lack of depth. For example, she had sexual issues but all of a sudden with a few short sexual encounters with our hero, she was cured. It just didn't seem real given the realistic portrayal of the abuse. As well, the Nick situation frustrated me. Do something to protect yourself - don't just ignore the threat. But she did.
As well, the work situation was laughable. It just didn't work for me. Not the Vanessa character but the lack of reactions around the situation.
That all being said - I still read the whole book. I doubt I will bother with the next one in the series. Part of that is the pricing structure. This is a $10 book. For that I want a good story. If I can get that from a $3 book (and I can), I will.

The characters in this series are written so incredibly real that you feel like you know and love each one. I love Kleypas and her style. Hardy is one of my favorites and his story. I laughed, I cried, and cheered.

Haven Travis is surrounded by powerful men; her dad and her brothers. All her life she has struggled to find her niche in the Travis family and more often than not, what Haven wants and chooses, ends up singling her out, or causing a rift.

Such is the case when Haven marries who her family warns her is the wrong man. Two years later, tail between her legs, Haven comes back to the family after that marriage ends. Coming home with more emotional and physical scars than one woman should carry, she struggles, once again, to find her niche in the Travis family. All that looks to be shaky again when she finds herself falling for Hardy Cates, the Travis family enemy number one.

Haven is a heroine you can really admire and cheer for. She makes some mistakes, owns up to her share and does what she can to better herself. She doesn't make excuses and goes for what she wants. She is a smart and determined young woman that even after getting her spirit stomped on, lifts her chin and keeps on keeping on. I adored her.

Falling for Hardy Cates in Sugar Daddy, I was thrilled to see him matched up with Haven. We finally get some insight into what makes Hardy tick and Lisa Kleypas makes him even more delicious and desirable than he was in the previous book. Considering his appeal broke the loveability scales for this reader, I didn't think it would be possible to like him more, I was wrong.

The exciting sequel to Sugar Daddy did not disappoint at all. I flew through both books this past weekend and was treated two very well rounded and different tales about fabulous characters. There are some frightening and very emotionally challenging moments in this book; a few parts had me holding my breath in shock and shedding some tears. But there was also a lot of humor and the chemistry that smoldered between Hardy and Haven and the witty repartee they treated us to made it all worth while.

This book has easily shot up the ranks to one of my all time favorite reads and it is one I will revisit again and again. Enjoy!

Cherise Everhard, April 2008

Okay, so many good reviews about how spunky Haven is and how hunky Hardy is. All I am going to add about the plot and characters besides reiterating how yummy Hardy is, is my favorite scene.

Haven is terrified of sex because of her rat-bastard ex. She wants Travis, but is too scared to consummate the relationship. Her solution is to tell him that no matter how many times she's says no or seems terrified, to just keep on keeping on. His reaction is priceless. Needless to say his inner gentleman is not on board with date-raping his own girlfriend. He also beats the ever loving stuffing out of the bad guy if you are into retribution.

I would also love Todd's story as he was such a great minor character.

Now for the bad: the narration....

Damnation all to heck and hush mah mouth, why in the bloody blazes did they get a female with a Southern Georgia accent to narrate a book set in Houston, Texas especially when one of the major characters is a hunky, gruff 6 foot something piece of oilfield trash made good? I was so looking forward to listening to this book, and imagine my horror when I end up hearing Melanie with a touch of Mammy from Gone with the Wind. Nobody in Houston or Texas talks like that unless they got lost, lost as in missed the exit three states ago. Droppin' consonan's and elong-a-etin' words does not make for a real Southern accent, and for crying out loud this is Texas anyway. It is not the South. At all.

Here is the difference. Google Sam Elliott. He's a little older, as in a lot, but you get the idea. (He's actually from CA, but I am not going to quibble with details as his parents were from Texas.)

Then listen to Melanie aka the narrator. Too soft, too sweet, dahlin.

She's good if you are listening to Gone with the Wind, Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, etc, even Tennessee William, but not this.

For those in England it's the equivalent of hiring Ringo Starr to play Lord Grantham.

DON'T MESS WITH TEXAS

Blue Eyed Devil by Lisa Kleypas (Audio Edition)
Narrated by Renée Raudman
Travises series #2

4.5 Stars - I thought this book was very well written. It brought out a range of emotions in me. What Haven has to go through in the first part of this book is not pleasant,(abuse: verbal and physical) and no one should ever have to experience that, but the author wrote it perfectly making me feel what Haven was feeling.

Hardy is a good guy. I liked that the sparks fly right from the first time they met. I was a little disappointed in Haven when she basically falls back into the same demeaning relationship with her boss instead of just standing up to her right away, and she even knows her boss is treating her this way and why! But for the sake of the story I can let that slide. Lisa Kleypas is a wonderful storyteller and I am looking forward to the next books in the series.

The Narration was done by Renée Raudman and I felt she fit Haven’s character perfectly, however as I had just listened to the first book in the series I liked Jeannie Stith’s version of Hardy in the last book a bit more. Not to say Renée did a bad voice for him… I was just used to the previous one. I do wish Renée’s male character voices were a bit more varied as sometimes it was hard to tell them apart. Her voice was easy to listen to though and I would buy another book she narrated.

Kleypas has clearly demonstrated her prowess in contemporary writing as well as historical. This second book of the series followed the addictiveness of the second half of book one; I delved in and couldn't stop.

There's a strong connection to some of the characters from book one and it completely worked for me. There was some difficult material in this book that was discomforting to read but real and tangible. Kleypas respectfully explored this difficult subject matter and the character restoration was welcome, enjoyable reading.

This book is oozing with sexual chemistry between the lead characters and I pretty much melted at the understanding the lead male had for Haven (I'm not saying his name for those who haven't read book one, this could be a spoiler). Nevertheless, when they were together, it was explosive. The lead male is all alpha, but he's been around the block and he's not all about asserting this tendency; I loved that.

"He had a touch of the bruiser."

This series is proving to be fantastic and I am desperate to get my hands on book three and four.

Reviewed for Jo&IsaLoveBooks Blog.

I must thank Goodreads for introducing me to Lisa Kleypas. As with the other books about the Travis family this one was excellent. Blue-Eyed Devil is Haven's story. She is the only daughter in the Travis family and also the baby with three very protective brothers.

Her father ruled the family with a contempt for softness. He did not want his children to be spoiled so he made sure they were aware of how the other half lived.

Haven was young and in love with Nick. He was handsome and a smooth talker. Her father, having a strong dislike for Nick, told her if she married him he would cut her off. That did not dissuade Haven. Now she was married to Nick and cut off from her father and brothers.

Things were perfect in the beginning but as time went on Nick became controlling and narcissistic. This is where it really becomes a page turner. You will not be able to put it down so......BUY THE BOOK!

Next up is going to be Jake's story. I am sure it will be as good as the rest of the books in this series. Each book is a stand alone but the characters show up in the other books.

Sometimes you come full circle with a certain author. My very first Lisa Kleypas novel was actually Sugar Daddy, the first book in the Travis Family trilogy. And I enjoyed it for the most part. But I started to grow fatigued near the end with all of the Texas good ole boy charm, enough that I figured I'd part ways with Kleypas at that point and call it good. Then, awhile later, I won a copy of the introductory novella to her magical realism Friday Harbor series and decided why not give something more recent a try? I devoured it in a single evening and continued on with that series, with varying results. The saga continued when I caved to massive praise and gave one of her historicals a shot (the woman can apparently write pretty much any genre she likes). And, you know, I rather enjoyed my romp with Evie and Sebastian. So I guess you could say when Racquel over at The Book Barbies got her hooks into me, I was fairly well primed for my second stint with the Travis clan. As far as I can tell, Racquel is this book's NUMBER ONE FAN. I do know that without her, I never would have picked BLUE-EYED DEVIL up. And what a shame that would have been. So props to Racquel for preparing me for the swoon. What I wasn't prepared for was the kind of single-minded absorption Haven Travis' story would incite in me.

Haven Travis has had to live with enough overbearing men for two lifetimes, thank you very much. The men in her family do not mince words, they do not suffer fools gladly, and they do not allocate much leeway to the one girl in the Travis clan. Which is why when she finds good-natured, easy to get along with Nick Tanner, she decides she's going to keep him. And so begins a kind of hell Haven could never have imagined. Alone and uncertain, Haven lives in this hell far too long. Long enough that when she finally extricates herself (with the help of her big brother Gage), she's in no way ready to resume normal life. Being a Travis, though, she gives it the old college try. And along the way she runs into Hardy Cates. An old enemy of the Travises, Hardy has worked hard to get where he is today. He's not interested in mucking things up because he can't take his eyes off Haven Travis. But they did have that one encounter years ago. Before she married Nick. Before Hardy washed his hands of her family completely. And now they're living in the same town again and Hardy can see it's going to be difficult to ignore the youngest Travis the way he'd like to. And so a tentative friendship is struck, despite their respective lack of knowledge of the extreme baggage the other carries as well as the gargantuan disapproval of her family.

This book had no interest in letting me slip out of its clutches. I was surprised how quickly I fell into Haven's story. From her first uncomfortable encounter with Hardy at her brother's wedding to years down the road meeting him again when she had nothing left to give, I was drawn to Kleypas' painfully honest portrayal of one girl's life. It was so much more than I was expecting. In every way. Haven was more. Her life with Nick was way, way more. Hardy was more. And, together, Hardy and Haven were more in that way that squeezes your vocal cords, brings a certain tightness to your temples, and heralds those moments when a fictional character becomes devastatingly real. There are honestly so many thoughtful and charged passages I would have liked to quote, but in the end I'm going with a favorite lighter-but-packs-a-punch-at-the-end snippet to illustrate the what I'm talking about here:

***

Taking one look at my wretched face, Todd reached for the green chenille throw on my sofa and wrapped it around me. I snuggled in the corner of the sofa, drawing my feet back to make room for him.

"Must have been some dance," Todd said, untying his bow tie. He left it hanging loose on either side of his neck, and relaxed on the sofa beside me, as graceful as a cat. "What happened?"

"We didn't dance," I said numbly.

"Oh?"

"He took me to a dark corner somewhere. A stairwell."

"Purely for my vicarious enjoyment, tell me . . . is he good?"

I could feel my face go crimson.

"That good?" Todd asked.

A shaky laugh escaped me. I wasn't sure I could put it into words. "You know how when someone kisses you, you can tell they're only doing it as a step to something else? Like they're just trying to get it over with? Well, Hardy kisses like it's the only thing in the world he wants to do."

***

Mm-hm. That good. I'm beginning to think I may grow somewhat fatigued near the end of the best Kleypas novels because she makes you want so much. Because you are never, ever detached. And because her characters do not conform the way we readers might occasionally prefer. They're messy and hurt and hopeful and recalcitrant. While that combination does not always work for me in her books, it very much did here. BLUE-EYED DEVIL is definitely my favorite of her books yet. I didn't want to take it back to the library when I was done. In fact, I still haven't. Fines be damned. I'm waiting till I'm good and ready.

"Because letting someone in close meant they could hurt you. I knew all about that kind of fear. I lived with it."

***Mild spoilers***

THE GOOD:

The story:
This book starts out with some absolutely heartbreaking scenes of domestic abuse, and not just physical, but also verbal & phycological abuse. This story shows how even a smart & confident women can become trapped in an abusive relationship, and how difficult it is to get out.

We get to see the progression of the relationship, from the happy beginning, through to the eventual breakdown with Haven making her escape. We then follow her as she learns to overcome the phycological damage that her ex husband, Nick inflicted on & her new romance with Hardy.

The romance:
The relationship between Hardy & Haven was beautiful, and such a contrast to her one with Nick. It's intense & passionate, whenever they are in the a room together you can actually feel the sexual tension between them. And Kleypas definitely knows how to write a love scene...sensual & oh so wickedly sexy!

"What you should really be sorry for," he continued, "is that for the rest of my life, I'll have to avoid wine cellars to keep from thinking about you."
"Why? Was kissing me that bad?"
A devil-soft whisper. "No sweetheart. It was that good."

The characters:
All the characters, including the secondary characters are all very individual & memorable. Often characters from different books start to blend together for me, with much the same personalities, but not here.

Haven isn't a cliche rich heiress - she wants to prove her own worth without her family name, and I feel that was a strong reason to why she married Nick in the first place, because she believed he loved her for her, not her name. Even after she has left Nick, she still wants to stand on her own feet, not just to show her family & others that she can, but also to prove it to herself.

Hardy is one hell of a testosterone filled manly man! He knows what he wants & knows how to get it. But we do get to see a more sensitive side to him when he is with Haven. He's got more depth than a typical 'macho man' character.

The Writing:
Kleypas's writing is beautiful. The story follows a steady pace, never becoming dull or too slow - there is always something happening. The writing is very honest and at times confronting, but she includes some sweet & lighter scenes, which gives a wonderful balance to the story overall.

THE BAD:
I absolutely loved this book, but the domestic violence scenes at the beginning are quite full on, so just be warned. Although they were hard to read they are important to the story. They allow the reader into the darkest parts of Haven's life and give an understanding into how she got trapped and stayed with him so long.

FINAL WORD:
This was a powerful, heartbreaking & inspiring story that has stayed with me long after reading the last page. A must read for romance fans!

CONTENT:
Sexuality: strong / several descriptive sex scenes
Violence: strong / descriptive domestic violence and rape scene
Language: medium / occasional use of f word
Drugs & alcohol: mild

More reviews at The Reading Realm Blog

There's no getting around the fact that Lisa Keypas is a talented writer, and she truly knows how to paint interesting, distinctive characters. Blue-eyed Devil was a complex story told well with a high unputdownability factor and natural dialogue. Normally, all that would get 5 stars out of me, but I was disturbed by a few things. First, that Hardy (who was supposed to be so gentle) could get rough with her in the bedroom. And second, that Haven--after all she had been through with an abusive husband, even having to re-learn how to be touched--could actually get "turned on" by the night Hardy got a little rough with her. This seemed completely out of character for both of them and also sent a mixed message for the book as a whole. I also wanted some reason other than lust for Haven to have sex with him the first time. We are given so little about Hardy up to that point. It just seemed like another rash decision just like marrying Nick. Why wouldn't her brothers and dad be concerned about her? It's these character inconsistencies and the mixed message about being a doormat--whether it's for a narcissist or a "normal" guy--that took this book down to 3 stars for me.

I don't often wonder outside my favorite authors (Sandra Brown, Nora Roberts, Johanna Lindsay, Judith McNaught, Julie Garwood, and my super fav, Susan Elizabeth Phillips), but I was given this book and figured I could read the first chapter and decide from there if I wanted to keep going. I thoroughly enjoyed it. It is a bit different in style than my usual fiction preferences but it was pretty good. Definitely worth reading.

I did feel there could have been a bit better character development but I haven't read the previous book(s) in the series so that might explain what I felt was lacking.

It was hard to read about the abusive relationship but I didn't think it took away from the quality of the book. I have never been in a relationship with physical or mental abuse but it made it so easy for me to understand how easy it is to wind up in one and what a slippery slope it is once you are in one.

I liked the info given at the end of the book on abusive relationships including controlling parents.

The boss lady. Grrr Haven't we all dealt with someone at least similar to her?

If you enjoy any of the authors I listed above you might enjoy this too. It is different but in a good way. I know sometimes it is frustrating waiting on something new to come out from your normal authors and it is hard to find something outside the norm that you like.

I will preface this review by saying earlier in the day I attempted to read a Nora Roberts book. And I couldn't. I skimmed, skimmed, skimmed that book full of boring characters, little in the way of plot, and nothing really satisfying about it. Romance isn't even close to my favorite genre so I was in a bad mood when I picked up Blue-Eyed Devil.

At first, I was a little annoyed. I've never read anything by Kleypas before so I only had a vague idea that I was going to be reading about rich people in Texas. Understatement. It's like a modern day Dallas, except most of it's set in Houston.

All these people are spoiled rich and therefore not immediately likeable. Haven's brothers are constantly telling her to just do whatever she wants to do because she's a Travis and their money makes all things possible. Cue eye roll. Her father is characterized as always thinking he deserves more than he has. He has a very high opinion of himself, but a pretty low opinion of his only daughter.

His opinion of his daughter is so low that when she defies him to marry a man daddy doesn't like, her father cuts her off. Not only financially but personally as well. He never talks to Haven during her two year marriage to Nick.

Haven eventually captured my sympathy because she was trying to build a life for herself without relying on her family's money, which is commendable although the author went a little overboard with that. It was very obvious Kleypas was trying to get us to like Haven by making her more down-to-earth than I felt was realistic.

What Kleypas does well here is create a portrait of a marriage going slowly off the rails. Slowly is the key word which makes it totally believable for me. It's not like Haven married Nick, they get back from the honeymoon and he slaps her around before she can unpack. He systematically breaks her down mentally first. It's so subtle she doesn't even notice it. And because Haven has been belittled by her family for her entire life, she believes everything Nick tells her about the problems in their marriage being mostly her fault.

That's another aspect that Kleypas does well. The character of Nick. His is a slow, methodical abusiveness that often has him taking on at least partial blame for everything early on, making Haven feel like they are really in this together.
And they are. Because Haven's family won't speak to her.

It's a really well-done portrait of domestic violence. You totally get why Haven doesn't leave right away, because she doesn't even recognize what he's doing to her at first. He only hits her twice in their whole marriage. One open handed slap and the second time is a night so violent she runs to the nearest gas station barefoot. It's not like she was being beaten every single day. Nick's treatment of her was mostly subtle until the very end. Haven flees back to Houston but only tells one family member what happened. He arranges for a quick divorce.

Enter Hardy Cates. Hardy is a great character. But I had a hard time believing that a guy like him was so obsessed with Haven after one brief moment alone with her a a friend's wedding two years prior. Why? He doesn't seem like the kind of guy who would give it too much thought. He's written as a player, a guy who goes through women like underwear and not giving them a backward glance. He's not mean or abusive, just too busy trying to be a self-made billionaire to care about real relationships.

So that part didn't ring true for me. That after all this time he's still hung up on Haven after a five minute encounter that didn't even include sex. I just didn't buy that.

Haven's new boss, Vanessa, is a piece of work. She's the same personality type as Nick and her abuse of Haven is just as subtle. The only difference is, Haven is now in therapy and she recognizes what's going on immediately. This is a part where I thought Kleypas fumbled a bit. There really wasn't much explanation given on Haven's part for why she put up with it so long, especially since every little thing Vanessa did to her Haven saw through. I think I could buy it if Haven said she was determined to beat Vanessa at her own game if only to prove to herself that should could spot and handle narcissistic people both now and in the future.
But Kleypas never writes that, and so we're left scratching our heads as to why Haven would put up with it for so long.

But overall I was very, very impressed with the writing. It was ten times better than the Nora Roberts book I forced myself to skim. The writing was crisp, intelligent, the motivations almost always rang true. I will definitely read more from this author.

Reviewed at Another Look Book Reviews

When Blue-Eyed Devil was drawing to the end, I put it down. I didn't want it to end. That doesn't happen very often to me. What a fantastic book.

Blue-Eyed Devil invoked a lot of emotion out of me. I could feel my face heat up in anger and I even felt a heartbeat in my cheeks. Yeah, I got that angry with a couple of the characters. It is not what I would consider a nice feel good romance. It's way deeper.

You could read this book as a stand alone but I would not recommend it as I think the readers need to appreciate the background story.

The readers were introduced to Hardy Cates in Sugar Daddy. The readers get a lot of history about Hardy from that first book. Oh man I fell hard for him. He is the quintessential hero package. I was so disappointed with Hardy's behaviour at the ending of Sugar Daddy and felt so torn because I loved him so. Blue-Eyed Devil redeemed him 100% in my eyes. If you read Sugar Daddy and then missed out by not following up with this book, you really should consider reading it.

We also get a wee glimpse of Haven in Sugar Daddy. Not really enough of an impression to form an opinion on the reader so Blue-Eyed Devil was practically a blank slate for her. That blank slate changed quickly. Oh. My. Heart. After she married shortly after the beginning of the book to an unknowingly abusive man, I felt her growing desperation and isolation. As much as I don't normally understand how females can remain in an abusive marriage situation, I found Lisa Kleypas did an exceptional job taking her time explaining how Haven ended up to where she did. As the Travis' Series is written in first person, I was tormented right along with Haven.

Isolated from her family and in a different city, Haven eventually has a breaking point after she is eventually battered and beaten so badly that she is rescued by her brother Gage. None of that information is a spoiler because it is predicable she does get out from under her husband's narcissistic clutches, and she tries very slowly to regain her life. Slowly.

I say slowly because the romantic relationship that develops between Hardy and Haven is kept to a crawling pace. It needs to be in order to help her with her much needed healing. I think that is what sets Blue-Eyed Devil apart from other romance books that use the "abused female saved by male hero" plot line. It is never believable that a woman can get over the amount of abuse that Haven went through without consequences, hardships and panic attacks.

Blue-Eyed Devil doesn't have a lot of romantic dinners, sexy dates or scenes with a lot of heat. Like Sugar Daddy, Blue-Eyed Devil seemed to be more like a story of healing, reclaiming your life, strength and courage. It was a fabulous read that had me all tied up in knots, weeping and cheering for the heroine like I never had before. Blue-Eyed Devil is not all doom and gloom it was just really moving for me. Stellar writing by Lisa Kleypas.

Teasers: I must warn you that there is a rape scene, intense brotherly love, an elevator rescue, a boss from hell