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Amelia Hathaway’s brother, Leo, may have avoided death by scarlet fever and come into an unexpected title, but instead of celebrating he’s spiraling down into an alcoholic self-destruction. Determined to save Leo (and the family’s tenuous grasp on the annuity that comes with his title), Amelia and Merripen scour London’s hells and brothels in attempt to find the wayward lord. The plan is to drag him out to the newly inherited country estate to dry him out and keep him from spending the family inheritance, but the plan is useless if they can’t find Leo.

Enter Cam Rohan. Cam, the half-Gypsy/half-Irish manager of Jenner’s, a gambling establishment, offers to help find Leo when they approach him at the club. Amelia’s understated beauty and forthright manner are a welcome change from the beautiful, vapid women he normally associates with, and the spark of interest he feels for her while in London only grows once they meet again in the country.

While both Amelia and Cam are filled with the trademark depth and emotion of a Kleypas hero and heroine their lives, responsibilities, and beliefs are a departure from the norm. Amelia has her hands full trying to hold together a family where the eldest brother is determined to self-destruct, her next oldest sister is practically an invalid due to her bout of scarlet fever, the middle sister may or may not have a sixth sense when it comes to trouble for the family, and the youngest sister has kleptomania brought on by stress. Not to mention that the house they’ve moved to is practically falling down around their ears, and she’s not ready to deal with the idea that their Gypsy servant (and practically almost brother) might have feelings for the invalid Win.

Oh, and there’s a past love returned in the form of one Mr. Frost, an architect who worked with Leo in his pre-lordship days and left Amelia for the daughter of the architectural master he was working for. He’s no longer with the architect’s daughter and is angling for a second chance for Amelia’s heart.

Cam’s got his own problems. He’s become increasingly dissatisfied with work at Jenner’s and his life in London as both are in direct opposition to everything he was ever taught by his Romany heritage. Instead of being one with nature and unfettered by ties to the material world, he finds himself interacting day in and out with those obsessed by the monetary. This would be all well and good if it weren’t for the fact that he was suffering under a good luck curse—incapable of losing money no matter how hard he tries—and unlike the many romance heroes that have come before him, he doesn’t want it.

Cam’s Gypsy heritage is not treated as window dressing. It infuses every part of his life and the actions he makes. He is subjected to racism because of his heritage throughout the story, the wealth he’s accumulated his distasteful to him due to his Rom beliefs, and his actions late in the book with Leo extend from his people’s spiritual beliefs.

Mine Till Midnight verges into gothic territory with its treatment of Leo’s condition and (to a much smaller extent) Poppy’s possible visions. Is Leo haunted by his lost love? This certainly something going on beyond his spiral of self-destruction. Combine these possible sightings with the decrepit condition of the house, the infestation of bees, and other odd goings on, and all that’s lacking from this gothic tale is a crazy wife in the attic and the heavy prose to go along with it.

Instead Kleypas keeps us distracted with the will-they-or-won’t-they nature of Cam and Amelia’s relationship (as Cam struggles with his need to be free versus his need to break down Amelia’s walls), and the reintroduction of characters from her Wallflowers series. The Hathaway’s newly inherited home abuts Lord Westcliff’s estate (the setting for It Happened One Autumn) and Rohan works for Lord St. Vincent (The Devil in Winter). These previous characters interact with the plot in ways to justify their reappearance and forward the story while still allowing the reader a glimpse into how their lives have continued on.

This reintroduction of past characters, the subplots involving the multiple members of the Hathaway family, and the return of Amelia’s ex-suitor make for a crowded book. As the first book of her new series, Kleypas uses the love story of Amelia and Cam to lay the groundwork for the stories to come (specifically Merripen and Win’s), and continue those who’ve come before (the Wallflower couples). At times this detracts from the building love story and doesn’t allow for certain actions and reactions to be explained. While many of Amelia’s decisions and actions are based on her defacto role as the head of the family in the wake of her parents’ deaths; her rather impoverished, lower middle class upbringing; and her own belief that she would retire to the country and never marry some readers might have problems with her emotional and moral back in forth in her love affair with Cam.

In Mine Till Midnight, Kleypas proves that she has not lost the ability to write an engrossing historical romance, and has created a family that her many historical readers will be sure to follow with interest. That these two seemingly different people are able to come together and fall in love in a believable fashion is a testament to Kleypas’s skill as a writer. In Amelia, Cam finds his nature, someone to direct his good luck curse at, an acceptance of his gadjo half, and the tribe he has lacked for years in her family. From Cam, Amelia receives the unconditional support she needs as the unofficial head of the family, someone to help her relax and accept life, and the love that she’s told herself that she doesn’t need or have time for.

If you’re interested in learning more about Lisa Kleypas and her body of work, you can find her here. If you are interested in purchasing Mine Till Midnight, you can find it here and here.