Customer Reviews

Where Dreams Begin

5 star:		(52)
4 star:		(28)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

All I can say is that I am glad that I tried "one more" book by Lisa Kleypas. I tried 2 and didn't really like them, but after Where Dreams Begin, I am glad I persevered.

Lady Holly Taylor is a proper lady of her time, and a widow who truly mourns the loss of her husband, George. This in itself was great, since usually we have the widow who has never loved before, but Holly has, and when her heart is once again, awakened, this time to Zachary Bronson, she is shocked and saddened that she could betray George like that.

Zachary, meanwhile, can't forget the lady he mistakenly kissed in a darkened room and works it out so that Holly and her daughter Rose come to live with him, so they can teach him and his nouveau rich family proper manners and protocol.

As Holly struggles to maintain her distance from Zachary, she realizes that she is losing social standing by her close and scandalous association with this upstart who was once a fighter. Nevertheless, as she begins to fall in love with him and with his mother and sister, society doesn't matter to her anymore.

This was such a richly drawn book that I am looking forward to reading what I am told are Kleypas's even better books - Then Came You and Dreaming of You - Holly and Zachary are two truly well drawn characters who make the reader care for them. Rose is neither a brat nor a "precious" child, and Zachary's humble mother, unused to her new luxurious life, is really heartwarming. a secondary romance is written well enough to interest, but not overshadow the main romance.

I loved this book and recommend it wholeheartedly.

Lady Holland Taylor couldn't have found a man more different from her late husband, George. Zachary Bronson is definitely not a gentleman. Especially, by the ton's standards. Oh, far from it. And when Lady Holly finds herself wanting change, after three years mourning for her late husband, she decided to take Mr. Bronson's offer to turn him into a gentleman. (Of course, this is after that delicious episode in the balcony at the Bellemont ball...) However, Zachary Bronson is a common man, who rose out of the squalor and poverty using his sheer brute strength (and intelligence). And now, he is one of London's most affluent businessmen... and a bit feared, as well. He has just about everything but the respect that comes with blue-blood aristocracy. As Lady Holly tries to teach him manners acceptable with the London elite, this hardened man tries to win the beautiful widow's heart. No doubt, sparks fly from both directions and the reader will surely looser their heart...like this reviewer has. Zachary Bronson does clean up rather well.

In the processes of getting a good lesson on peerage titles and other appropriate manners for the aristocracy, I ended up enjoying this book thoroughly. Little Rose was utterly charming and her button string is too cute!! Elizabeth and Jason's secondary love story was brief but delightful. And Vardon, Lord Blake of Ravenhill is the next hero in the making! I've never felt such strong sexual chemistry between two characters and it was so rewarding when they finally gave into each other. I loved reading this book and I highly recommend it to any romance reader looking for an absorbing story. Seriously, it has a great ending. And needless to say, Zachary Bronson is a hero worth reading about.

This is the type of book that gives one the "warm fuzzies". Zach and Holly were made for each other. What was so wonderful was the fact that they genuinely liked each other as well as loved each other. No "I hate you" stuff which leaves me cold. Zach and Holly are about as mismatched as a couple could be; yet, they fall in love and like each other.

Holly is a true lady and a widow and is hired by Zach to teach his sister, mother and himself "social graces". He makes her an offer she can't refuse and she moves herself and her daughter, Rose, in his home. Unbeknownst to Holly, Zach is the man who kissed her at a party, in error. The room was dark so they could not see each other; however, Zach follows her out of the room and discovers who she is.

There is a small minor problem keeping Holly from marrying Zach but that is soon resolved.

Lovely story by Ms. Kleypas, as usual.

Looks like Lisa Kleypas has done it again!! Her new book WHERE DREAMS BEGIN is an engaging love story of two people who find themselves on different sides of society and who each struggle to love each other despite their differences. Lady Holland Taylor is warm and strong and courageous. Yet, she struggles with living in shadow of her dead husband's image and finding love with someone who is far from the perfect man her deceased husband seemed to be. Zachary Bronson reminds me a bit of Derek from DREAMING OF YOU. He comes from extremely poverished conditions to make himself into the kind of man whom everyone fears because of his aura of power. Zachary also must come to grips with "fitting" into the new society he's stumbled upon. And in the process, he finds love in a woman who he never thought was obtainable. All in all, there is a very powerful love story in WHERE DREAMS BEGIN. But, there is also a very strong commentary of the hypocrisy of society during that time period. I would recommend this book to anyone who is a loyal Kleypas fan or who is looking for an exciting new author to read. I am hoping that Ms. Kleypas will grace us dear fans with a book for Lord Ravenhill. He is too mysterious to not have his own love story.

Lisa Kleypas is one of my favorite authors. She manages to create memorable characters, interesting storylines, and sensual love scenes. This book was no exception.

I liked this novel because there were a few elements not usually included in this genre. First of all, Holly was married before and actually loved her husband. Usually, widowed women in these stories were abused, mistreated, neglected, etc. And while I don't mind those scenarios, this one was a nice change of pace.

Secondly, Holly has a 4 year old daughter. It seems to be very seldom that the heroine already has a child when she meets the hero. It added a very sweet, very touching element when Zachary forms a relationship with Rose (Holly's daughter). I actually teared up at a few of the interactions between Zachary and Rose. So sweet!

Lastly, instead of totally reforming Zachary, he reforms her. Instead of making him a straight-laced, boring "gentleman," he loosens her up and makes her into a more relaxed, fun character. Holly's propriety and social awareness is a bit annoying (but most likely very historically correct). Zachary adds spice to her life and shows her that love and passion are more important than public opinion.

This book is a keeper. I highly recommend it!

I'm a big fan of Lisa Kleypas's non-noble heroes. Zachary Bronson, like Grant Morgan and Derek Craven before him, fought his way out of poverty. Using his intellect and ambition, he has made himself wealthy and powerful. All he lacks is respect and manners. To this end, he hires Lady Holland Taylor, a beautiful widow who literally stumbles into his arms at a ball. Neither Zach nor Holly can forget their magical embrace. Zach, used to getting what he wants, invites Holly to his home and convinces her to bring her adorable daughter and live with him and his family -- for 30,000 pounds she will teach them how to behave among the haute ton. Unlike so many widows in romance novels, Holly genuinely loved her husband, George, so much so that she is shocked and frightened by her growing feelings for Zach. For Zach, an unapologetic rake, finding himself falling in love with Holly is heartbreaking. Sure that he will never be worthy of her, he fights his attraction while wondering how he will survive without her. Many things stand in the way of a future for them, including a deathbed promise Holly made to George. It's a hard road for Zach and Holly. But hard won happy endings make for deeply satisfying romance reads. Bravo, Lisa Kleypas.

I loved this book. It was a great romance in a very traditional way - that is, no artificial mystery or villian, just a great love story. All the tension came from the two main characters and their relationship.

Whether it is "as good" as all of Kleypas' other books or not to me is irrelevent - it is better than almost every other romance I've read for the last year!

Zachary Bronson is a successful merchant and financier whose nouveau riche ways and lack of aristocratic blood keep him from full acceptance in polite English high society. He approaches the problem as he does any other challenge: he analyzes the need, ascertains the solution, and determines what he needs to acquire in order to attain it - then he goes out and buys it. This time, he buys the services of Lady Holland, a well bred Englishwoman still preoccupied with the untimely loss of her young husband three years older. Part Pygmalion, part Beauty and the Beast, part Lady and the Tramp, LK's novel tells the story of a relationship between two opposites, and the transformation each undergoes as they fall in love.

The story contains some fun and instructive information about London society of the time. I've always wished for a glossary of terms and and explanation of some of the customs written into this genre, and parts of this book gave me just that. This is a story with a fairy tale quality, and one that readers can empathize with - how many of us have yearned over something that was beyond our reach, and wished for a miracle! Most of the characters are drawn sympathetically, although I expected a little more malice in Lady Holland's family's opposition to her new post. Overall, a book I'm happy to recommend to others, with a good combination of characterization, love, sensuality, and emotional conflict. A different type of story from SOMEONE TO WATCH OVER ME, but I think this shows the breadth of the author's talent. I look forward to her next novel.

This was a good book and I enjoyed reading it, but there seemed to be something missing. It was that "special" touch Kleypas seemed to have in so many of her other books. For some reason, the main characters in this novel seemed kind of flat, as if they were missing something.

The premise of the book is that the widowed heroine, Holly, and her daughter end up living with the hero, Zachary, to teach him and his family how to behave in London society. Zach has come by his fortune by actually working for it and wants to ensure himself and his sister respectable marriages. Of course, he and Holly end up fighting their feeling for one another, not to mention Holly's guilt over her less-than-passionate husband's early demise and the promise she made to him to marry another man. Holly's character seems weak next to the heroines in her other books. She is too quick to agree to whatever anyone else wants, even Zachary, at the cost of her own self respect as a woman. Zach, on the other hand, was your typical brooding hero who wants Holly and will not be swayed from getting her, no matter what. He was also a shadow of a character. There was nothing really about him to cling to that made him so different from any other hero in a romance novel.

There has just been something in Ms. Kleypas's other works that somehow made you really feel as if you knew the character's she was writing about. I did not get that feeling while reading this novel. Everyone seemed too generalized and not "complex" enough by any means. I would recommend ALL of Ms. Kleypas's other works, these in particular:

1 - Then Came You

2 - Dreaming of You

1 - Somewhere I'll Find You

2 - Because You're Mine

Forever My Love

The ones grouped together should be read in that order, as the next novels are about character's from the previous book. These are all EXCELLENT EXCELLENT EXCELLENT reads that will show you what romance novels should all be about.

This is the first book by Lisa Kleypas that I have read and I was not disapointed. Zachary and Holly were very likable characters and you find yourself rooting for them from the beginning.

I thought it was very different and refreshing that Holly was still grieving for her first husband. Usually stories with a widowed heroine portray the first husband as a wife beater or someone who was cold and was unfaithful. Where Dreams Begin portrays Holly's first husband as a nice person who cared for and cherished his wife. It made it believable that she had reservations about finding someone else. I also liked how Holly is strong, stubborn and has a mind of her own without being childish, contrary and petulant.

Zachary is exactly the sort of hero that I love reading about. He is a well developed character. Very ambitious, driven, ruthless, strong and opinionated but kind, loving and gentle at the same time. A perfect match for the heroine.

The romance is well paced and does revolve around sex. They fall in love after getting to know each other and liking each other as human beings instead of the cliched romances that seem to jump into love after nothing but physical desire and sex.

All in all, a very engaging, touching story.