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After a rash of three star reads, I told a friend that I needed to pick up something I knew would be good: enter Dreaming of You by Lisa Kleypas. Book 2 in the Gamblers of Craven’s duology, Derek and Sara’s story is beloved among historical romance readers. After reading it, I definitely get the hype! Derek is a successful club owner with a past so traumatic he’s never allowed himself to be vulnerable. Sara is a successful author who wears her heart on her sleeve and is determined to worm her way into his world — purely for research, obviously. I loved the “makeover”, the conflict central to the story, and the way Derek and Sara made sense together. Sara is SO patient with Derek. I loved that even though Derek is clearly the star of the show, Sara is independent and that she finds her own success, which is unusual for a regency romance — ditto for Derek and Lily’s platonic friendship! I accidentally read the second book first, so I’m looking forward to getting to see more of them in book one. This book was published nearly 30 years ago, so there are definitely some aspects that wouldn’t have made it into a contemporary pub (some questionable consent, poor mental health rep, etc.) but it’s nothing I don’t already expect from a older read. While there are definitely some issues, I didn’t find it nearly as problematic as say, Someone to Watch Over Me, which Kleypas published a few years later. I would like to shoutout ThriftBooks for sending me this BEAUTIFUL 1994 edition of the book when I was expecting a recent reprint! I will never recover. 😍 CW: attempted sexual assault, kidnapping, sexual content via Instagram https://instagr.am/p/Cfy0O8-L0OO/