Wish List

by Lisa Kleypas, Claudia Dain, Lynsay Sands

Dear St. Nicholas --

What we'd really like for Christmas this year is:

An Irish Estate
A Family
Mountains of Sugarplums
A Quiet Elopement
Someone to close down all the London clubs -- (like White's)

OR

Marriage to a Man who is Honest, Loving, Sexy, Handsome and Titled.

But we know there aren't enough of those to go around... are there?

Respectfully,
Four English Ladies

Includes:
"I will" by Lisa Kleypas
"Puddings, Pastries & Thou" by Lisa Cach
"All I Want" by Lynsay Sands
"Union" by Claudia Dain

Genres: Historical Romance, Romance, Anthologies, Historical, Christmas, Regency, Holiday

390 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 2001

About the author

LISA KLEYPAS is the RITA award-winning author of 21 novels. Her books are published in fourteen languages and are bestsellers all over the world. She lives in Washington State with her husband and two children.

Reviews

[Crista · Rating 5 out of 5]

This review is for I Will by Lisa Kleypas only.

Every Christmas, I begin the season with this Christmas novella. One might think that after numerous re-reads, this story has lost some its magic and appeal, but nothing could be farther from the truth!!! This book remains a favorite of mine, and I still find new things to appreciate about it after each re-read.

I think what makes this novella unique and special is the amount of depth and feeling that is conveyed in just a few chapters. Very few novellas manage to accomplish this, and this novella certainly does. Although short in length, this book never feels like shortcuts were taken or that things were left out.

His desolate lifestyle and irresponsible ways have left Andrew, Lord Drake disinherited by his ailing father. He concocts a plan to prove to his father that he has reformed from his old habits and is ready to take on the responsibilities of the title and the large estate. In order to do this, he enlists the help of a spinster with an impeccable reputation. It is Andrew's belief that if he can get his father to believe in his "love" for a woman of true character, that he will be reinstated into the will. In exchange, Andrew vows to Caroline to help save her brother from imminent ruin.

What begins as a true mutual dislike for one another quickly morphs into a romance. Caroline soon discovers that there is much more to Andrew than what meets the eye, and through Caroline, Andrew starts to believe in the possibility of his true reformation.

As an added bonus, one of the love scenes in this book remains one of the most memorable to me in all my years of reading romance. It is creative, sexy, and absolutely one-of-a-kind.

The ending of this book arrives on Christmas, and what a gift is in store for not only Caroline, but for the reader who has been along for the ride. This is a priceless read.

[Danielle The Book Huntress · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh my goodness. Words do not describe how much I loved I Will. I reread it around Christmas time practically every year. This is such a beautiful story about love being the force for a person to change their life. Andrew started out as a loser, if you'll excuse the phrase. His relationship with Caroline (which started out as a pretend engagement) truly motivated him to change his life for the better. This is such a beautiful story.

[Vashti · Rating 5 out of 5]

I only read "I Will" the Lisa Kleypas entry in this anthology. Loved this story and couple .

[Nicole · Rating 3 out of 5]

Small disclaimer: I just want to say that it's a very mean thing to make Lisa Kleypas the first author you read when you open this book. It just puts a spotlight on all the flaws the other stories might have.

***

“I Will” by Lisa Kleypas

How can something so amazing be so short? Damn you, Lisa Kleypas for making me an addict to your writing. I don’t know how she does it but in 106 pages she made me fall in love head over heels with both the hero and the heroine. I thought at first I’d be subjected to instalove but no. The relationship was so well developed, all I could do was just let the feels wash over me like so:



I’ve been reading such lackluster novels lately that I legit rejoiced when I finished this story. Hell, I even teared up at one point. Andrew and Caroline were just fantastic. It’s just so good. I would’ve loved seeing this as a full novel but again, I’m quite happy to say Ms. Kleypas does nothing short of magic in such little pages.

Rating: 4.5

***

"Puddings, Pastries & Thou” by Lisa Cach

I’ve actually read this story last Christmas and I vaguely remembered it. Kinda spells out how memorable it was. The relationship felt completely rushed to say the least. A serious case of instalove. I mean after just a couple of days you feel you’ve found your soulmate?

Come on now.

It just didn't feel like there was any a real development. Their personalities didn’t jump off the page for me. It also felt like the author couldn’t fully develop their quirks. Take Vivian for example. She is anxious eater, yet it didn’t flow properly off the page. Every time I saw it in the narration, it felt completely tacked on. Even slightly unnecessary.

Richard wasn’t anything to write home about. He was just… okay.

Rating: 2.5.

***

“Union” by Claudia Dain

Never read a story quite like this one. There’s a shitload of characters (10 brothers but only 5 in the story! 1 sister! 1 suitor! 1 spinster!) and not a lot of description. I am weak for descriptions so I’m slightly peeved.

Beau and Clarissa’s banter was cute at times and disconcerting in others. I did like how resolute Beau was. He wanted what he wanted.

That end though. It was the definition of tacked on hot mess. All throughout the story we are told Clarissa calls herself Irish. She refuses to marry an English man but she must. I understood it was because she was born in Ireland. However, one of her many brothers I can hardly tell apart (except for Dalton) says that she’s English by birth. I got seriously confused. The reasons for her to deny her englishness? She had witnessed an atrocity in Ireland so she just couldn’t think she was just like her English counterparts or something like that. I pretty much stopped caring at this point. Add to the fact that the sex scene was awkward at best.

Rating: 3.

***

“All I Want” by Lynsay Sands

Prudence is the exact opposite of her name. She’s crazy and will stop at nothing to make sure her father stops gambling his life and the family money away. Stephen is the owner of Ballard’s, a London club that Prudence’s father frequents. He is of the ton like herself but he isn’t welcomed because he actually works for a living.

The schemes to get her dad to stop were ridiculously over the top. Sad to say, because of the brevity of this story, the instalove phenomena was very present.

While the story in itself was sweet, it felt rushed and I couldn’t find myself connecting with the main characters as I would’ve liked. Stephen felt grossly underdeveloped for my taste.

Rating: 3.

[Cindy · Rating 3 out of 5]

4 Regency type Christmas stories.

Lisa Kleypas - 1 star. LK has a brilliant talent for turning a villanous scoundral into a hero. She does this with Andrew, who is a secondary character in another of her books. Andrew is the lowest of the low, but he needs to turn over a new leaf if he's to get back into the will his father cut him out of. He decides to fake court the bluestocking sister of one of his friends. She agrees, since he will pay off her brother's considerable debts if she does. They fall in love. I'm liking this story & all set to give it 4 stars. The father dies, but instead of offering for the female lead, Andrew offers for her evil cousin. Her brother, knowing how unhappy she is, arranges for her to talk to Andrew alone. This is where the 1 star comes in. Andrew is chained to a bed. He doesn't want to talk to the female lead. She decides to have sex with him (!!!). He says NO more than once. She does it anyway. Now, if the roles were reversed, what do you think you'd say about the hero? RAPE comes to mind The female lead is unable to complete the act, but still - he said NO. One of the most dissapointing Lk's I've ever read. :(

Lisa Cach - 4 stars. The best story in the book! I loved the hero & the heroine equally. I even liked Penelope by the end of the story. Great romantic Christmas story.

Claudia Dain - 1 star. This is a dull story about an Englishwoman who is intent on being an Irishwoman(????)There is nothing to do with Christmas in this story. The male lead deserves a medal for marrying this wacko!

Lynsay Sands - 3 stars. Young woman tries to stop her father from gambling away the family fortune at Christmastime. She falls in love with the hero who owns one of the gambling houses her father frequents. In order to prevent her father from gambling, she does all kinds of goofy things & provokes the hero. Pretty implausable, but fun.

[Anna D. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I only read Lisa Kleypas' story ”wish List.” - it's more 3.5 stars, really.

As always, I enjoy Kleypas' writing. I enjoyed this one, though it won't top as one of my favorites. I was glad to see that Andrew, Lord Drake/Rochester finally turned his life around and became a good hero in his own story. This story really showed that he just needed to get the love, encouragement, and faith (he never got from his father) to become the wonderful man that was inside him all along. He got that from Caroline Hargreaves.

To me, Caroline was just ok. She got the job done and made a nice enough pairing to Andrew. However, I felt some of her actions (namely the scene at Sambrooke's family cottage) was completely out of character to the point that I was unconvinced. It seems this was a plot used to hurry along the story because it's written as a short. There could have been so much more to explore about these characters, but sadly we won't get to see it.

I'm finally done reading the Capital Theater series, but I'm hoping Kleypas revisits 2 very enticing potential heroes - William Savage, Damon's brother from the first book; and now Cade, Viscount Hargreaves, Caroline's brother - who's supporting role in this story I just adored! LOL! I just get too attached to the characters!

[HankReadsRomance · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars for I Will by Lisa Kleypas. Smoking hot and surprisingly tender for such a short novella. I read this years and years ago but came back for a reread to see if the scene with Andrew cuffed to the bed was as good as I remembered—it was. Was it a bit problematic? Yes. Did that bother me or hinder my enjoyment of the scene? Not at all.

[Gilgamesha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lisa Kleypas' I Will was the only story read....omg I loved... it was cute.....Lord Drake somehow seemed to only inspire pity in the first book....but he was potrayed very endearingly here. GR :)

[*CJ* · Rating 4 out of 5]

While I picked it up to finish the Capitol theatre trilogy, was pleasantly surprised by additions of Claudia and Lisa's stories.
A good read overall.

[bailey · Rating 2 out of 5]

everyone involved should be ashamed

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Light hearted Christmas themed stories

[Seffra · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 stars!

I only read Lisa Kleypas' I Will.

I was quite looking forward to this story since I really felt for Andrew in the previous story with Logan and Madeline. They have such a cute story and I felt for them and rooted for them. However I felt like this story was WAYYY to short. It didn't allow for proper development between Andrew and Caroline. It jumped ahead way too often also we couldn't actually feel the characters and their problems. I wish it was a full length novel.

[Shawna · Rating 5 out of 5]

5++ stars – Historical Romance

*****Rating is for I Will by Lisa Kleypas, only.*****

[Jenni · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid 4 stars for this Christmas anthology!

I Will by Lisa Kleypas was the standout favorite. As the headliner, I would expect nothing less.

Puddings, Pastries, and Thou by Lisa Cach was very enjoyable although the heroine would need a serious diet from all the sweets that girl ate throughout the story. All the mention of tarts and treats got a bit tiresome but the story was cute.

Union by Claudia Dain was ok. A lot of repeating that the heroine has to marry an Irishman. We don't find out why this is such a big deal to her until almost the end and it felt rather contrived. The author also uses a LOT of names in this story and the hero is referred to interchangeably as three different ones. Nothing new here in the titled world..., but after intros are over, could we pick one and more or less stick to it, especially in the same paragraph? You may think I'm kidding, but the author doesn't make it easy on the reader to keep everyone straight when you add the heroine's 10 older brothers, 5 of which are secondary characters. About halfway through the story I was getting confused and mixing people up.

All I Want by Lynsay Sands was my other favorite. It's a bit screwball and I totally pictured the heroine and her best friend as Lucy and Ethel. I could even picture the hero's eyes getting all buggy like Ricky's when Lucy wreaks havoc. This was a fun read and the lightest of the bunch but all the antics made the heroine endearing to the hero which was sweet and romantic.

[Shae · Rating 4 out of 5]

This anthology was pretty good!
The standout of this collection is the story "I Will" by Lisa Kleypas. She made those 100ish pages feel more like a full length novel than I had expected. Both Caroline and Andrew were characters that I was rooting for. A sweet romance and intriguing family dynamics made this romance more flushed out.
The other three stories were fair. I would give them each 3 stars, but I Will was a really good 5 star, which bumped the rating up for me.

[belle ☆ﾐ (thisbellereadstoo) · Rating 4 out of 5]

enjoyed each short story! i’ve only read extensively from lisa kleypas so the writing of the rest of the authors were a joy to read for the first time. i think my favorite is still from lisa kleypas. although this surrounds christmas, you don’t need to atmosphere in reality to enjoy this collection.

[DemetraP · Rating 3 out of 5]

I only read I Will by Lisa Kleypas. I liked it, but it was too short.

[C Joy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I agree with the other reviews that Lisa Kleypas's "I Will" is the best story in this anthology, I enjoyed reading it and I loved the Christmas theme. It's a good book that you might snuggle up with hot cocoa in someplace warm. All four stories are about Christmas wishes coming true, thus, the title. As with other anthologies, I always review the individual stories, so here goes:

I Will - I loved the story, another unlikely pair comparable to her other books but way different characters. LK wrote the story and made the pairing work. There were a lot of unexpected twists, and this is a classic reformed rake story that went very well. Conflicts were resolved and I liked how Caroline's brother took her wish literally. The love story developed in a plausible time, it took months for them to finally be together due to some circumstances but all went well. Andrew's character really developed not just in the skirt-chasing part but as a whole. He became more responsible, and this is attributable to Caroline's love and faith in him. There were a lot of touching moments, and it's amazing how everything was wrapped up in this short story from the initial attraction, how the plan worked, character development, the love scene, and of course the happy ending. 5 stars

Puddings, Pastries, and Thou - It was an OK read, I'm not really thrilled with the time frame, which was less than two weeks but in fiction, anything can happen. It's ironic that the time frame was quite short and it took nine chapters for a simple story. 2 stars

Union - The first story I read from this author and I liked it. (I have her 3 of her courtesan books I haven't read yet) This is more of a conversation-based story and it's through these dialogues the characters introduced themselves to the reader, "bluntness" is the keyword and they wasted no time taunting each other. Clarissa and Beau really matched well and there was an unexpected history here. I liked how it was written, her brothers were amusing. 4 stars

All I Want - Another short time frame, the humor of it all was the saving grace. I like reading about hellions. I appreciated the family values, the social responsibility, the quick background description and the story. 3 stars

[Jessi · Rating 3 out of 5]

"I Will" by Lisa Kleypas - I really liked this story. Andrew, Lord Drake, needs the help of his disapproving friend's sister, Caroline Hargreaves. She is a slight spinster, someone who he has never been attracted to in the past but his recent sobriety helps him to acknowledge her charms. He needs her to help him convince his father that he's changed his rakehell ways. Andrew is afraid that his father will leave all the unentailed fortune elsewhere and he is roping Caroline into his scheme. Of course, the two fall in love. This story was the only reason I rated this as high as I did.
"Puddings, pastries and Thou" by Lisa Cach - In the second story, Vivian is an orphan who has been passed around to various family members and used as a maid-of-all-work. She has just come to the Twitchen house and their daughter, Penelope, is not pleased. She wants Vivian to get married as soon as possible and get out of the house. Vivian agrees. She agrees to consider a man who is coming to dinner that evening, Richard Brent. immediately, the two are entranced with each other, but Brent is not considered a suitable match because of his past (two illegitimate children who he is raising). She marries him anyway.
"Union" by Claudia Dain - I was really looking forward to this one but was badly disappointed. Claudia is the "heroine" of this story but she was mostly just a spoiled brat. We learn that she witnessed a killing when she was younger that made her want to be Irish rather than English but that isn't explained until the end by which time I thoroughly despised her. The male counterpart, Beau, isn't much better. He's a womanizer that falls in love with her at first sight and likes her because she is a bitch. Whatever.
"All I Want" by Lynsay Sands - Prudence's father is gambling away the family's fortune and she's afraid they're going to be in the poorhouse by Christmas. Her attempts to get her father to shape up have her running into Lord Stockton, the owner of one of the gambling establishments more than once. As their paths cross over and over again, the two fall in love.

[Michelle ✧✦serieslover✦✧ · Rating 3 out of 5]

I Will
Lord Andrew Drake and Caroline Hargreaves
3/5 Stars
Earl and Countess of Rochester

I Will is a novella and the third book of Capital Theatre series by Lisa Kleypas. It is also part of the anthology, Wish List.

Favorite Quotes
"It was never a charade for me, Caroline. I fell in love with you from the moment we struck our infernal bargain. I loved your spirit, your strength, your beauty..." -Andrew

"Damned inconvenient thing, to develop a conscience. It was a hell of a lot easier before I had one." -Andrew

"...You're a wicked scoundrel, and I fully expected that at some point in the future there will be more unpleasant surprises from your past. But you are my scoundrel, and I want to face all the unpleasant moments of my life, and the wonderful ones, with no one but you." -Caroline

[Daneesha · Rating 2 out of 5]

The thing about these anthologies is that they are short stories. So, the story reaches a climax and solution within 100 pages or fewer. Sometimes, this makes for a less than believable story. Often, there is an acceleration of time to make the story more realistic. Nevertheless, I enjoy anthologies as long as the stories are cute and steamy! I have to say that the first story by Lisa Kleypas (one of my fave authors) was the most exciting. The other ones kind of lost me. They weren't as interesting and I was bored with the main characters. I don't think I would recommend this. Check out the other anthology on my list which includes some of my other fae authors. That was a much better read!

[Diane Peterson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is another story of a fake engagement that results in an actual deep and abiding love. The book was well written as are all Kleypas books. The hero made great strides of self improvement over the course of the story, both in his behavior and his self esteem. I didn't find some of the heroine's actions quite so believable. When a heroine jumps too quickly into sexual situation it just feels a little uncomfortable to me. That being said, I truly enjoyed this long novella/short book. A RITA Award winner.

[Autumn · Rating 3 out of 5]

For the story "I will"

A satisfying story,dense enough plot and characters for its 100 pg length. I haven't read the Capital theater series,but now im very inclined to go in that direction. :) I want to know more about Andrew and his pre-reformed days.

ps: Did anyone find the characters a bit similar to Married By Morning??

[ᑭᑌᑎƳᗩ [Punya Reviews...] · Rating 5 out of 5]

My rating is for Lisa Kleypas's "I Will", oh Andrew the sexy honey! :p Now I'll have to add a review soon. hahahaha

[Keri · Rating 3 out of 5]

LK's was pretty good and LS's was hilarious...I laughed through the whole thing.

[Manuela · Rating 3 out of 5]

Letto solo il racconto I Will di Lisa Kleypas.

Carino, ma come sempre in questi racconti tutto avviene in maniera troppo frettolosa. Però la Kleypas si vede anche in poche pagine.

[Caro · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a good book. More for passing the time and some lighter to read. Good characters, interesting and fun. I enjoyed reading this but it probably won't be on my re-read list. Have fun. :)

[Suzanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lisa Kleypas novella (Capital Theater series 2.5) only.

[Miriam Stern · Rating 3 out of 5]

4 out of 5 stars to " All I want". Funny and sweet and charming.

Averaging all 4 stories, the book gets a 3.5 by my standards.

[Riz · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Stars

Only read "I will" by Lisa Kleypas