Chasing Cassandra is book six in The Ravenels Series by Lisa Kleypas, and the first book I read in the series, although I've read quite a lot of Miss Kleypas' works.
In this story, we meet Tom Severin, a handsome railway magnate, and Lady Cassandra Ravenel, the beautiful but somewhat overlooked third sister. Tom wants Cassandra because of her beauty, but he’s emotionally detached and struggles to connect with his feelings. Cassandra, on the other hand, longs for real love and a family to nurture.
Overall, I like it! It’s suggested that Tom might be on the autism spectrum, and he’s an engineer—which I absolutely love. (Also, um, men who are good with numbers are exactly my type. Lisa, how did you know!?)
The side plots are heartwarming, and the chemistry between the leads is undeniable. Idiot boy grappling with a new emotion called LOVE was entertaining. Cassandra is a wonderful heroine: genuinely kind, a passionate reader who introduces Tom to novels, and someone who helps humanize him.
Now, let’s talk about the cover. Based on Cassandra’s own descriptions, I imagined her as a curvy heroine—but the woman on the cover, though lovely, is quite slim. It would’ve been nice to see a more accurate portrayal of Cassandra’s figure.
If you enjoy sexy, character-driven historical romances with a thoughtful edge, you’ll probably fall for this one, just like I did.
I really loved the blurb, so I read this one first. While Chasing Cassandra can definitely be read as a standalone, I suspect it’s more rewarding if you’ve read the previous books and have the full context.
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"...Household dogs serve no useful purpose.”
“They fetch things,” Cassandra pointed out.
“You’ll have an entire staff of servants to fetch anything you want.”
“I want a companion who’ll go on walks with me, and sit on my lap while I pet him.”
“You’ll have me for that.”
-Tom Severin and Cassandra Ravenel in Chasing Cassandra
When I say “historical romances”, I mean works of fiction set in Regency England (or time periods close to it) centered around the love story of two straight people - atleast one of whom is closely related to the aristocracy. Most opinions I’ve read on the lure of these books are in the line of “etiquette, gowns, balls, different setting, escape from current world”, and I realized I don’t think any of those things make me like these books. I don’t like immersing into new worlds - that’s why I’m not into genres like sci-fi. I don’t like to rewire my brain to understand a completely new world, and yet I like historical romances. I don’t find joy in the intricacies of etiquette and ball-planning and reputation-saving, yet I enjoy a lot of these books. One can cringe about a lot of elements in these books (and I do), and yet I find myself re-reading parts of them. This is my attempt to theorize why I like historical romances.
the setting
Today, women have - for the most part - equal rights. Where they don’t, it is understood by most modern societies that they should. Historical romances are written in settings where this is not the case, legally or socially. Women’s assets are controlled by men, they cannot legally say no to their husbands once they’re married, they are not educated with the goal of being able to work, they are expected to marry to save their reputations - the list goes on. While women are still subjected to a lot of social pressures, they have way more legal protections today than they did back then, and people who mistreat women weren’t looked down as much.
Today, when men don’t treat women like crap behind closed doors - they do so with the knowledge that women have legal protections. Not all men (that I’ve met anyway) acknowledge the basic human decency that should be afforded to women, and only limit their decency to what they have to lawfully do. I’m sure most women can think of men who would absolutely cross boundaries if it was legal and not looked down upon.
In the setting of historical romances, men are allowed, sometimes even expected and encouraged, to not show women basic human respect. What attracts me to historical romances, atleast the ones I like, is that despite being clearly allowed to be absolute monsters to women in their lives, the male protagonists treat women with respect. Yes, this is a very, very low bar - but it is a bar that doesn’t exist in that setting. These characters respect women when it is not expected of them, they give women rights and treat them with dignity when they are allowed to not do so - both legally and socially.
the examples
(because yes, I want to do this properly - by that I mean I want to give atleast one example, will keep adding as I keep remembering them)
In Devil In Spring by Lisa Kleypas, despite her reputation being ruined, Lady Pandora Ravenel’s cousin (and guardian) makes it absolutely clear to her that she will always have a home in his house, regardless of her scandelous reputation. In the same book, the male protagonist Gabriel, upon hearing that Pandora is against marriage because she wants financial independence, tries to find a way by which she could retain total control of her assets after marriage. He fails because such a method doesn’t exist - but he tries earnestly, because he believes that she should have full control of her business, even though neither the law nor the society thinks so. (Gabriel, you’re so hot for this)
In Chasing Cassandra by Lisa Kleypas, while negotiating the terms of marriage (you need to read the book to understand the context), Tom makes is absolutely clear to Cassandra that her body is her own and that she doesn’t owe him anything and can always say no. This was in response to Cassandra saying “it’s a husband’s right”, a sentiment that was echoed by law and society at the time - and not by Tom, at all.
“Your body isn’t an ornament designed for other people’s pleasure. It belongs to you alone. You’re magnificent just as you are. Whether you lose weight or gain more, you’ll still be magnificent. Have a cake if you want one.”
Cassandra looked patently disbelieving. “You’re saying if I gained another stone, or even two stones, on top of this, you’d still find me desirable?”
“God, yes,” he said without hesitation. “Whatever size you are, I’ll have a place for every curve.”
“you bought an entire newspaper business... for my sake?”
tom thought for a long moment before answering. now his voice was different than she’d ever heard it, quiet and even a little shaken. “there are no limits to what i would do for you.”
