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Someone to Watch Over Me by Lisa Kleypas is the first book in the Bow Street Runners series, and as I was reading it, I couldn’t help but think to myself: finally, a Kleypas hero I don’t like! Readers of historical romance know that the further back you go, the more you’re likely to pick up on problematic things that wouldn’t make it into a contemporary release. This book was originally published in 1998. Because a great deal of this book revolves around amnesia/an unfolding mystery, I’m going to try not to say too much while still explaining what didn’t work for me. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Grant, a Bow Street Runner (l love that Kleypas delves into the history of this!) discovers a victim of attempted murder with whom he shares a past, but after recovering from her ordeal, she remembers nothing about who she is or who wanted to kill her. There are a couple of things that didn’t work for me: first, the slut shaming was awful - sex work is a component of this novel and isn’t handled well; second, the fact that Grant lies to Vivien about the extent of their relationship when she can’t remember him is unacceptable. Rather than resolving the conflict keeping the two apart by forcing Grant to reconsider his feelings about Vivien, Kleypas sidesteps the issue by negating the need for him to change his feelings at all (again, I’m trying not to say too much, but feel free to DM me if you’d like more info). ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ If this is the first time you’re coming across a review of a Lisa Kleypas novel, please know that I’ve read and loved many of her more recently authored novels; I think I’ve just gone too far into her backlist this time to have enjoyed it. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ What to know: -romantic suspense -amnesia plot ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ CW: suicide, sexual content, attempted assault ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ID: I’m holding a kindle displaying the ebook cover of Someone to Watch Over Me via Instagram https://instagr.am/p/CfbyQsRLzJA/