5 stars 
 Well I was right that this would be a wonderful read. I was wrong though that this would tie me over until Lisa Kleypas' new book comes out since I read this whole novel in 1 day. 
 I cannot believe there is an LK book I haven't read. I don't know how I missed it. Thanks Avid Booker for the recommendation. 
 And I had missed one with such a delicious premise. If I wasn't convince of LK's brilliance before, this book would have convinced me. True, many authors try to write stories featuring the villian as our hero. But usually it's in a later book, maybe after some time has passed since the character was introduced. He usually redeems himself with a different lady in question than the one he was the villain towards. 
 Yet here we meet our dear lovable villain, Harry Rutledge, self made man who breaks up a couple and forces our heroine Poppy into marriage. And I can't help but like him. LK' masterful storytelling makes this happen. She didn't make Poppy's beau Michael into a horrible person. In fact he is sincere and handsome. But... we see how Harry and Poppy fit better , in some fun memorable scenes like where they first meet when Poppy stumbles into the secret tunnel, or when the Hathaway sisters fetch an escaped monkey - juxtaposed against Poppy reminding her family to be less than their usual crazy lovable selves around her beau. We see the family's concern over the secret courtship between Poppy and Michael and what this says about Michael's character. 
 And Harry as a villain is a lot of fun. His lines made me smile and of course we know he eats his words later. 
 If you understood anything about love," Catherine said acidly, "you would know that Poppy would never choose anyone over the man she has already given her heart to." 
 "He can have her heart," came Harry's casual reply. "As long as I have the rest of her." 
 Then when we get to see vulnerable Harry, he tugs at my heart strings. 
 "I never want to be apart from you," he said. "I'm going to buy an island and take you there. A ship will come once a month with supplies. The rest of the time it will be just the two of us, wearing leaves and eating exotic fruit and making love on the beach . . ." 
 "You'd start a produce export business and organize a local economy within a month," she said flatly. 
 Harry groaned as he recognized the truth of it. "God. Why do you tolerate me?" 
 Poppy grinned and slid her arms around his neck. "I like the side benefits," she told him. "And really, it's only fair since you tolerate me." 
 I fell in love with the Hathaway family all over again reading this book. Their presence in this story is done so organically that they add dimensions to Harry and Poppy's story. The meddling staff at Rutledge hotel were also great. I loved it all! 
 Yes this is going on my all time favourites shelf. 
 At A Glance 
 Cheating (view spoiler)[No (hide spoiler)] 
 Love Triangle (view spoiler)[Yes and no. This is regency period, so courtship of 2 suitors can be relatively tame. And once Poppy and Michael break off their relationship, the heroine never goes back to him. (hide spoiler)] 
 Descriptive sex w OM/OW (view spoiler)[No (hide spoiler)] 
 HEA (view spoiler)[Yes (hide spoiler)]