Review : Brown-Eyed Girl by Lisa Kleypas
Summary (from Goodreads) 
Title : Brown-Eyed Girl (Travis Family #4)
Author : Lisa Kleypas
Publication Date : August 11th 2015
Publisher : St. Martin's Press
Goodreads - Amazon - Barnes & Noble
Wedding planner Avery Crosslin may be a rising star in Houston society, but she doesn't believe in love-at least not for herself. When she meets wealthy bachelor Joe Travis and mistakes him for a wedding photographer, she has no intention of letting him sweep her off her feet. But Joe is a man who goes after what he wants, and Avery can't resist the temptation of a sexy southern charmer and a hot summer evening.
After a one night stand, however, Avery is determined to keep it from happening again. A man like Joe can only mean trouble for a woman like her, and she can't afford distractions. She's been hired to plan the wedding of the year-a make-or-break event.
But complications start piling up fast, putting the wedding in jeopardy, especially when shocking secrets of the bride come to light. And as Joe makes it clear that he's not going to give up easily, Avery is forced to confront the insecurities and beliefs that stem from a past she would do anything to forget.
The situation reaches a breaking point, and Avery faces the toughest choice of her life. Only by putting her career on the line and risking everything-including her well-guarded heart-will she find out what matters most.
Personal Thoughts
Some people have been waiting for 7 years for the release of Brown-Eyed Girl. I've waited closer to 5 years. If ever there was an author who would be crowned "The Queen of Romance", Lisa Kleypas would achieve that honor. Her romances make you feel every single emotion that the characters go through and fill your heart with so much joy. To say that I was impatiently waiting for Brown-Eyed Girl would be an understatement. Having loved the previous books in the Travis Family series, I was certain that Brown-Eyed Girl would be yet another Lisa Kleypas favorite, so it absolutely breaks my heart that this wasn't a 5 stars read for me.
Lisa Kleypas always writes these loveable characters that you want to root for with every fiber of your being. For the most part, I loved the characters in Brown-Eyed Girl. When it comes to the protagonist, Avery, I can't say I warmed up to her very easily. I loved that she was a passionate and driven girl who put her career and her loved ones before herself first. It was admirable how much hard work she put into her event planning business that she ran together with her sister. That was about where my connection with her ended. You see, Avery was prickly as a porcupine, constantly pushing away the attention of Joe. I may be biased, but why on earth would anyone want to run away from wooing from the charming Joe Travis? I think what made it even harder to like Avery as much as I liked the previous heroines in this book was how judgmental she was about Joe, frequently making assumptions about his romantic lifestyle, which by the way, weren't true. She did eventually loosen a little bit, but I can't deny that she frustrated me more often than not. My main reason for wanting to pick up Brown-Eyed Girl besides the fact that it was written by Lisa Kleypas is Joe Travis. I adored this man in the previous books and was looking forward to getting to know him up close. I was a little disappointed that Joe wasn't in the book as much as I wanted him to be. Part of me feels like he got side-lined by the main story of Brown-Eyed Girl. But more on that later. When Joe was in a scene though, he smoothly managed to charm me, just like his brothers and brother-in-law. He was a complete sweet-talker who also had a heart made of gold. What stood out to me in Joe was his passion for photography and his utter devotion and love for his family. Not only that, Joe was kind, caring and supportive. Not to forget, the man was sexy from head to toe and sure knew how to woo a woman. So, you can probably guess why I needed more of Joe in the book.
The romance in Brown-Eyed Girl wasn't prominent as in Blue-Eyed Devil or Smooth Talking Stranger, but the few scenes that we did get were delicious. Joe was so patient with Avery and I loved how he did not give up on her, but still in a way allowed her to come to him. The chemistry between the two was undeniable and the few romantic scenes that we got of the two of them together had a nice blend of sweetness and humor to them, which is usually a Lisa Kleypas staple. Selfish as I am however, I wanted more. I just wished that Avery hadn't been so hard to woo and that the romance was a bigger part of the book and hadn't been overwhelmed by the plot. The plot basically involved Avery planning this huge wedding for a couple who weren't in love with each other and a rich mother wanting to make national news out of the wedding. I just didn't care for it because I knew early on what was going on. The only part of the wedding planning I cared for were the new characters that were introduced, Sophia, Avery's sister and Steven, Avery's employee and the blossoming romance between the two of them. I was also intrigued by Ryan, Joe's cousin and the groom of the wedding Avery was planning, and by the end I was wishing more than anything that Lisa Kleypas would explore his character in his own book. Despite my qualms about Brown-Eyed Girl, the writing continued to be exceptional. There is just something so warm and lovely about Lisa Kleypas' writing that I haven't found in other romance writers. Her dialogues, especially, are my favorite. They are smooth, full of banter and delightful to read.
Brown-Eyed Girl lacked a certain spark for me that Lisa Kleypas' books usually possess. While for me the book was a slight disappointment in the romance department, the luscious writing made the book easy to read. I certainly don't regret reading the book. Despite everything, if you haven't read The Travis Family series, I urge you to do so because they are beautiful and romantic and will make you believe in the power of love.
Rating
Cover : 4/5
Plot : 3/5
Characters : 3/5
Writing : 4/5
**Overall Rating : 3.5/5**
Title : Brown-Eyed Girl (Travis Family #4)
Author : Lisa Kleypas
Publication Date : August 11th 2015
Publisher : St. Martin's Press
Goodreads - Amazon - Barnes & Noble
Wedding planner Avery Crosslin may be a rising star in Houston society, but she doesn't believe in love-at least not for herself. When she meets wealthy bachelor Joe Travis and mistakes him for a wedding photographer, she has no intention of letting him sweep her off her feet. But Joe is a man who goes after what he wants, and Avery can't resist the temptation of a sexy southern charmer and a hot summer evening.
After a one night stand, however, Avery is determined to keep it from happening again. A man like Joe can only mean trouble for a woman like her, and she can't afford distractions. She's been hired to plan the wedding of the year-a make-or-break event.
But complications start piling up fast, putting the wedding in jeopardy, especially when shocking secrets of the bride come to light. And as Joe makes it clear that he's not going to give up easily, Avery is forced to confront the insecurities and beliefs that stem from a past she would do anything to forget.
The situation reaches a breaking point, and Avery faces the toughest choice of her life. Only by putting her career on the line and risking everything-including her well-guarded heart-will she find out what matters most.
Personal Thoughts
Some people have been waiting for 7 years for the release of Brown-Eyed Girl. I've waited closer to 5 years. If ever there was an author who would be crowned "The Queen of Romance", Lisa Kleypas would achieve that honor. Her romances make you feel every single emotion that the characters go through and fill your heart with so much joy. To say that I was impatiently waiting for Brown-Eyed Girl would be an understatement. Having loved the previous books in the Travis Family series, I was certain that Brown-Eyed Girl would be yet another Lisa Kleypas favorite, so it absolutely breaks my heart that this wasn't a 5 stars read for me.
Lisa Kleypas always writes these loveable characters that you want to root for with every fiber of your being. For the most part, I loved the characters in Brown-Eyed Girl. When it comes to the protagonist, Avery, I can't say I warmed up to her very easily. I loved that she was a passionate and driven girl who put her career and her loved ones before herself first. It was admirable how much hard work she put into her event planning business that she ran together with her sister. That was about where my connection with her ended. You see, Avery was prickly as a porcupine, constantly pushing away the attention of Joe. I may be biased, but why on earth would anyone want to run away from wooing from the charming Joe Travis? I think what made it even harder to like Avery as much as I liked the previous heroines in this book was how judgmental she was about Joe, frequently making assumptions about his romantic lifestyle, which by the way, weren't true. She did eventually loosen a little bit, but I can't deny that she frustrated me more often than not. My main reason for wanting to pick up Brown-Eyed Girl besides the fact that it was written by Lisa Kleypas is Joe Travis. I adored this man in the previous books and was looking forward to getting to know him up close. I was a little disappointed that Joe wasn't in the book as much as I wanted him to be. Part of me feels like he got side-lined by the main story of Brown-Eyed Girl. But more on that later. When Joe was in a scene though, he smoothly managed to charm me, just like his brothers and brother-in-law. He was a complete sweet-talker who also had a heart made of gold. What stood out to me in Joe was his passion for photography and his utter devotion and love for his family. Not only that, Joe was kind, caring and supportive. Not to forget, the man was sexy from head to toe and sure knew how to woo a woman. So, you can probably guess why I needed more of Joe in the book.
The romance in Brown-Eyed Girl wasn't prominent as in Blue-Eyed Devil or Smooth Talking Stranger, but the few scenes that we did get were delicious. Joe was so patient with Avery and I loved how he did not give up on her, but still in a way allowed her to come to him. The chemistry between the two was undeniable and the few romantic scenes that we got of the two of them together had a nice blend of sweetness and humor to them, which is usually a Lisa Kleypas staple. Selfish as I am however, I wanted more. I just wished that Avery hadn't been so hard to woo and that the romance was a bigger part of the book and hadn't been overwhelmed by the plot. The plot basically involved Avery planning this huge wedding for a couple who weren't in love with each other and a rich mother wanting to make national news out of the wedding. I just didn't care for it because I knew early on what was going on. The only part of the wedding planning I cared for were the new characters that were introduced, Sophia, Avery's sister and Steven, Avery's employee and the blossoming romance between the two of them. I was also intrigued by Ryan, Joe's cousin and the groom of the wedding Avery was planning, and by the end I was wishing more than anything that Lisa Kleypas would explore his character in his own book. Despite my qualms about Brown-Eyed Girl, the writing continued to be exceptional. There is just something so warm and lovely about Lisa Kleypas' writing that I haven't found in other romance writers. Her dialogues, especially, are my favorite. They are smooth, full of banter and delightful to read.
Brown-Eyed Girl lacked a certain spark for me that Lisa Kleypas' books usually possess. While for me the book was a slight disappointment in the romance department, the luscious writing made the book easy to read. I certainly don't regret reading the book. Despite everything, if you haven't read The Travis Family series, I urge you to do so because they are beautiful and romantic and will make you believe in the power of love.
Rating
Cover : 4/5
Plot : 3/5
Characters : 3/5
Writing : 4/5
**Overall Rating : 3.5/5**
Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the e-ARC of Brown-Eyed Girl.
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