Chasing Cassandra is the latest (and last?) book in Lisa Kleypas’s Ravenels series. It features Lady Cassandra Ravenel and railway magnate Tom Severin.

Chasing Cassandra reminded me a lot of Kleypas’s Tempt Me at Twighlight from her Hathaways series; woman from an unconventional family meets extremely wealthy business magnate who wants to marry her immediately, but gets pushback from her family. However, one of the things that I didn’t love about Twilight—the hero doesn’t respect the heroine’s autonomy or ask consent in the beginning of the book and has to learn how to do that throughout the story—is 1000% better done in CC. Severin is emotionally guarded and often blunt to the point of rudeness, but he respects Cassandra’s right to make her own choices (more so than her own family on a couple of occasions) and never manipulates or lies to her.

Another thing I was happily surprised by was the body positivity in the book. Several times throughout the book, Cassandra laments that she has gained weight. One other character in particular also points this out repeatedly and also tells her she need to start “reducing.” When Severin hears Cassandra talking about her own weight, he’s genuinely surprised that she wants to lose weight and emphatically tells her that she’s the most beautiful woman he’s ever seen and would be no matter her weight. It was a lovely scene.

Anyway, I loved it. I completely loved it. I stayed up way to late and finished it all in one night. Will definitely recommend.

I've been frustrated with the other book I'm reading, so when this popped up on Netgalley I pounced immediately, and proceeded to read the whole thing in a single day. I have a really hard time pinning down what it is about Lisa Kleypas that makes her books so engrossing, because honestly I don't love the tropes. This one in particular is very "innocent young women enchants hardened man of the world" which is Not My Fave... but I devoured Marrying Winterbourne and Devil in Winter too, so it just goes to show Kleypas can sell me on it. There are some new elements here, specifically Cassandra being pressured halfway into an eating disorder by her chaperone (it is not at all clear what's going on there, since she's also consistently described as one of the most beautiful women in London and I'm pretty sure our current fad for thinness is more recent) and the portrayal of Severin as possibly implied autistic -- unable to read social situations, has a hard time processing his own emotions, some kind of sensory processing -- but only when convenient for the plot. I don't feel equipped to evaluate either of those elements, but I definitely flagged them. There's a very charming subplot about a kid Severin takes in, and all the familiar faces from the other Ravenels books make appearances. The overall plot is kind of thin but if you want escapism about a guy with tons of money throwing that money at a lady's problems to make them go away (and in this day and age, I *frequently* want that escapism), Kleypas is your girl!