Someone to Watch Over Me

Bow Street Runners, Book 1

By: Lisa Kleypas

Narrated by: Jessica Jeffries

Someone to Watch Over Me is a classic tale from New York Times bestselling author Lisa Kleypas. In this Regency romance, Kleypas, the author of Seduce Me at Sunrise, tells the story of a scandalous beauty with no memory of who she is and the man determined to unravel the secrets of her past.

©1999, 2024 Lisa Kleypas (P)2025 Tantor Media

Good start to series

Grant Morgan is a well-known Bow Street Runner in London. He has been called to a drowning in the Thames River; but is shocked to discover that the victim is alive. Grant recognizes Vivien Rose Duvall, one of London's notorious courtesans. Grant sees the marks on her neck and knows that someone tried to strangle Vivien and throw her in the river. He decides to take her to his home for her safety.

When Vivien awakens in a strange bed, she doesn't know what is going on. She has no memory of her past, no memory of the person who attacked her. Now she must trust Grant to protect her and discover who tried to murder her.

Vivien acted totally differently than Grant remembered from their previous meeting. As they got to know each other, they found themselves falling in love. This book was a nice combination of romance and mystery. I liked it, even though the killer was somewhat obvious. I'm looking forward to the next book in the series. My rating: 4 Stars.

Disjointed but still a decent read

First, let me say that Kleypas is a brilliant writer. I enjoy most of her books. This, however wasn’t one of her best. Why? The ending was weird. Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t bad, it just didn’t line up with the rest of the book. It’s like the first 7/8ths was one book and the last 1/8th was another. If I were editor, I would have recommended that she end the book after Victoria’s being rescued. Another good option would be to write Vivienne as the ultimate villain and have Grant perform a second rescue. Either way, what Kleypas wrote instead seemed like the ending to a book about self-discovery or trust when the book was more of a mystery-thriller combined with romance.

The narrator was good, but not as good as I would have liked. Her voices need to be more varied.

Love characters and premise- but story felt wrong

Really liked the characters and the beginning had me feeling sympathetic and curious what would happen.
If had just let the two go along a bit longer getting to know each other before having them “do stuff.”
Perfect set-up for delaying it too, which is exactly the hardest part for so many stories.
How to keep them apart when they’re perfect for each other so a story can unfold.
Seemed all wrong for both characters too, and kinda ick considering the premise of the story.
I was very aware it was fiction being made up with an erotic part just dumped in at what I think would have been totally “no way, not here!!” Kind of lost me after that. Too bad since I really liked them.
Story seemed to pick right back up with original set-up. So if could clip that part out, it makes more sense overall.

Problematic

Premise and behavior of male lead. Coercion and emotional abuse/manipulation are inappropriate behaviors in this book. Majority of these actions could have been omitted without much impact on story. Other options were available and could have been utilized. that probably would have made the story much better.

standard romance tale

i probably should give it more than a single star. the narration is ok, and there's nothing especially bad. it's just that it's like listening to about 50 other similar 'color by numbers" stories. about half the novel is about the falling in love and the reason for the attack that starts the story is flimsy at best. And of course the usual ending.. i prefer historical fiction and this was on sale in that section -- but there's almost no historical meat to the tale at all. it could have been placed 50 years earlier or 50 years later. i don't mind romance stories but i'd like them a lot more if there were some actual character development before the bedroom and "oh happy ending" .