GAGE TRAVIS: CHIEF
Sugar Daddy by Lisa Kleypas (St. Martin’s Press, 2007)
Gage Travis is a chief if there ever was one. Here’s the lowdown:
STATS: Gage has an incurable fear of intimacy (according to a therapist he saw with a previous girlfriend). He’s the son of Churchill Travis, and the only one of Churchill’s children by his one true love. Gage is a caretaker, both of his family as a whole and of his father. But being a caretaker doesn’t soften his rough edges. He’s a chief in every way. He runs his company, is a take charge kind of man, knows what he wants, and knows how to get it.
THE LOOK:
“He was a full head taller than his father, black haired and big framed and lean. He was about thirty, but he had a seasoned look that could have allowed him to pass for someone older. He rationed out a perfunctory smile as if he didn’t have many to spare. There were two things people immediately comprehended about Gage Travis. First, he wasn’t the kind who laughed easily. And second, despite his privileged upbringing, he was a tough son of a bitch. A kennel-bred, pedigreed pit bull.”
Hypnotic light eyes with the charcoal ring around the irises. “He wasn’t touching me, but I was excruciatingly aware of his body, the heat and solidity of him. And suddenly I knew how it would be if we slept together…”
LEADING LADY:
Liberty Jones has a fear of intimacy equal to Gage’s. Hers is based on the traumas of her past, the choices of her mother, and the responsibilities she took on at an extraordinarily young age. She’s been hung up on Hardy Cates since she was a girl. At one point, she tells Gage: ” if it’s the right person, you wouldn’t have to work so hard at intimacy. I think-hope-it would just happen naturally. Otherwise, opening up to the wrong person…”. She’s afraid to open herself up to the wrong person for fear of replacing Hardy and the comfort his presence there has always afforded her. But she never anticipated Gage and what he would do to her heart.
BOTTOM LINE:
Gage’s protective nature is what draws me in. He watches over his dad, cares for Carrington, and even when he makes a mistake, he’s man enough to own up to it. When Hardy reenters Liberty’s life, Gage is broken. But his love for Liberty doesn’t suddenly end. Liberty begins to cry and Gage’s calmness vanishes.
“I’d do almost anything for you. I think I’d kill for you. But I’m not going to comfort you while you cry in my arms over another man.” He goes on to tell her that he “wants her more than [Hardy] ever did or ever will.”
And then he lets her go. He has to because he knows that Liberty has to purge Hardy from her being all on her own. He’s willing to let her go, and that makes him completely irresistible.
Question of the Day:
Is there any truth to the old adage: ‘If you love something, let it go”?
February 28th, 2008
Misa 
in
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February 28th, 2008 at 9:57 am
I’m such a sucker for that saying. I do believe there is some truth to it. Especially if the relationship is really distructive, and no matter how hard the couple try it just isn’t working. I can raise my hand and say, been there done that. I fell its also the worse kind of pain, because there is always hope it might work, when its failing miserably. Love is a rose with thorns.
February 28th, 2008 at 10:30 am
Wow. That is an amazing hero. I’m definitely going to read that book–even though I really don’t like novels written in 1st person (present company excluded! :)) From description to dialogue, Gage sounds amazing. Let something go? I’m not quite sure, because I equate letting go with giving up. I think letting someone have their space is one thing, but I think in this case Gage didn’t let her go–he let her have her space, but by declaring his love so powerfully, he told her he was there, that he wanted her, and that HE wasn’t letting go. He was giving her the option to let go. I see a big difference. Great post!
February 28th, 2008 at 3:44 pm
I love that book and those characters, they stay with you long after the story is done.
I don’t know about the letting go part, I’m pretty stubborn and hold on well past the shoulda let go part. LOL
February 28th, 2008 at 4:08 pm
I believe in that saying, Misa. If someone wants to be with you, they will come back. Doesn’t matter if they have some needs to take care of or if they need to retreat to their cave to think, or whatever. If you have to let them go for some reason or another, there’s always “Absence makes the heart grow fonder”, right?
February 28th, 2008 at 7:17 pm
I recommend this book, V. Very good characters. And Lisa’s second book following Hardy Cates is coming out in March. Can’t wait!
February 28th, 2008 at 7:20 pm
I almost used the rose garden analogy, Lee. But I was going to say that Hardy is the red, thorny rose in their yellow rose garden. =)
February 28th, 2008 at 7:25 pm
Great observation about Gage not letting Liberty go, but rather giving her space to make her own choices. His love was intense. The stuff of romance.
February 28th, 2008 at 7:25 pm
It’s a poignant saying, isn’t is Susan? Love it.
February 28th, 2008 at 7:27 pm
I agree, Jill. The characters DO stay with you. I’m really looking forward to the next book to see how Lisa deals with Hardy and Gage’s sister who’s the heroine.
February 28th, 2008 at 8:53 pm
I used to tell my girls that when they got too clingy with their bf’s. Then I told them, if the sucker doesn’t come back, good riddance!
February 29th, 2008 at 1:27 am
You tell ‘em, Karin! That’s what I want to convey to my daughter, too!