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Night #2
The Music of the Night
Sarah Connolly leaves a bleak past in London to help an old friend in Venice. There, she discovers dark secrets and a mysterious, rather shadowy figure--he is Sebastian Grimsthorpe, Earl of Wortham. Grimsthorpe once lead a carefree life, but is now bent on exacting revenge on the man (Bertrand de Lint) who had nearly destroyed him. His plot is obscured when he discovers Sarah, whose tragic eyes mystify him and seduce him (and her) into a world of secrecy and deception.
320 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published November 1, 2005
167 people want to read
About the author
Lydia Joyce
10 books32 followersLydia Joyce holds degrees in English and Spanish language from Purdue University, where she started in engineering before realizing there was a difference between being good at something and liking it. She lives in the mountains of New Mexico with her husband and son.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
October 15, 2010
I want to apologize up front for the offense that anybody might take from my review, but I was offended in several ways myself with this book. Let me sum it up for you. We have child-rape, pedophiles for friends, stupid revenge plots with bad information. Convoluted plot twists that makes no sense, a complete ability to suspend all belief. Now here is our story:
Sebastian our "hero" and I use that term extremely loosely, because I know that I can totally respect a man that, through his own stupidity got his 12 year old daughter raped. Then in the most convoluted revenge plot I have ever read, thinks that setting up the man(De Lint), whom he thinks raped his daughter, to be set up to rape De Lint own young niece. Then when Sebastian is confronted with it, he says with, no shame mind you, that he wouldn't have let it get that far. Never mind how the young girl was going to be mentally afterward,with thinking that her own uncle attempted to rape her. Never mind how society would have treated her. Yes that is a man I can admire and respect.
Then there's De Lint, whom has spent his whole entire stay in Italy trying to get a 12 year old virgin delivered to him. Oh yes, then when Sebastian finds out that it wasn't De Lint that raped his daughter, he decides that De Lint wasn't quite the monster he thought he was. DUDE!! Reallly??? He has spent this whole time trying to find someone just like your daughter and he isn't a monster????? Whattt????
Thanks to my OCD about wanting to know what happened to Lord Byron and Lady Victoria in the first book is why I went and got this book. I had to read through almost 200 pages of this dreck to get their history in one throw off sentence in about 10 words. They finally have a baby. Great, wish she would have put that in the first book's epilogue. The technical writing was good, but the content could have been better if she would have wrote something else instead.
Sebastian our "hero" and I use that term extremely loosely, because I know that I can totally respect a man that, through his own stupidity got his 12 year old daughter raped. Then in the most convoluted revenge plot I have ever read, thinks that setting up the man(De Lint), whom he thinks raped his daughter, to be set up to rape De Lint own young niece. Then when Sebastian is confronted with it, he says with, no shame mind you, that he wouldn't have let it get that far. Never mind how the young girl was going to be mentally afterward,with thinking that her own uncle attempted to rape her. Never mind how society would have treated her. Yes that is a man I can admire and respect.
Then there's De Lint, whom has spent his whole entire stay in Italy trying to get a 12 year old virgin delivered to him. Oh yes, then when Sebastian finds out that it wasn't De Lint that raped his daughter, he decides that De Lint wasn't quite the monster he thought he was. DUDE!! Reallly??? He has spent this whole time trying to find someone just like your daughter and he isn't a monster????? Whattt????
Thanks to my OCD about wanting to know what happened to Lord Byron and Lady Victoria in the first book is why I went and got this book. I had to read through almost 200 pages of this dreck to get their history in one throw off sentence in about 10 words. They finally have a baby. Great, wish she would have put that in the first book's epilogue. The technical writing was good, but the content could have been better if she would have wrote something else instead.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 13, 2020
Forgot that I had read this a while back when I was in a bit of a Lydia Joyce phase. This is one of my least favourite reads by Lydia Joyce. It's tied with Shadows of the Night where the beginning is so very promising but then the characters become boring and you're not sure where the plot is going anymore.
Sarah is a unique heroine with pox scars on her face who is pulled into a revenge scheme in Italy when Sebastian believes she is the mistress of the man he hates so he sets about to seduce her. Sarah grew up as a street orphan in London and has secured employment as a lady's companion. The lady's son is the man Sebastian wants revenge on.
I felt like not much action happened in The Music of the Night. Sarah isn't really used as a pawn and Sebastian went back and forth with whether or not he was good for using Sarah, whether he shouldn't use her- it became a little tiring and repetitive, even when skimming the story, by the time we got to the climactic moment of the story.
Sarah is a unique heroine with pox scars on her face who is pulled into a revenge scheme in Italy when Sebastian believes she is the mistress of the man he hates so he sets about to seduce her. Sarah grew up as a street orphan in London and has secured employment as a lady's companion. The lady's son is the man Sebastian wants revenge on.
I felt like not much action happened in The Music of the Night. Sarah isn't really used as a pawn and Sebastian went back and forth with whether or not he was good for using Sarah, whether he shouldn't use her- it became a little tiring and repetitive, even when skimming the story, by the time we got to the climactic moment of the story.
August 6, 2016
Music of the night is the type of book where most of the characters are very ambiguous and have hidden motives that are topsy turvy and a bit confusing. There are many villians of this piece and the people involved in the mystery are not innocents in the least. The story is very dark and graphic in an almost fake atmosphere of seduction and passion.
The heroine Sarah has a past unlike most heroines that have been written. She has scars physically and emotionally. She has also risen from the slums of London from a help of a friend who has married well (Her friend gets her own book which was written after this book. It seems Music of the Night was sold first and then the one about Sarah's friend Maggie called Voices of the Night)
She comes to Italy as a companion to an older woman and her extended family for the holiday. On the surface it looks like Sarah has a comfty position, but due to her employer's son, she will never be at peace.
Sebastian wants revenge against De Lint (Sarah's employer's son). He did something so horrible to Sebastian's daughter that he must pay. Sebastian follows De Lint to Italy where he spies Sarah. She will help with the downfall of his enemy and then he will be avenged.
Of course the whole revenge scenario is not easy. Sebastian is almost as bad as De Lint and what he does to Sarah at times is repulsive. But Sarah sees the good in Sebastian and even helps him with his revenge till the final act where the lies and manipulations are too much and someone really innocent will pay.
Lydia Joyce writes a very atmospheric piece with very seductive and erotic scenes between Sebastian and Sarah. Sarah does not make any excuses for the life she had to live up to this point and only wants the small things in life. You do feel for the girl. Sebastian on the other hand is not a three-dimensional. Yes his revenge makes sense but the whole plot seems in vain. We are given reasons why, but it basically comes down to how far will you go till it is too much? And when someone comes into your life that you can love and can help with forgiving yourself, well why would you want to hate so much? It seems so mute in the end.
All in all, for a gothic, sensual love story where love and forgiveness is the key, this is a recommended read.
The heroine Sarah has a past unlike most heroines that have been written. She has scars physically and emotionally. She has also risen from the slums of London from a help of a friend who has married well (Her friend gets her own book which was written after this book. It seems Music of the Night was sold first and then the one about Sarah's friend Maggie called Voices of the Night)
She comes to Italy as a companion to an older woman and her extended family for the holiday. On the surface it looks like Sarah has a comfty position, but due to her employer's son, she will never be at peace.
Sebastian wants revenge against De Lint (Sarah's employer's son). He did something so horrible to Sebastian's daughter that he must pay. Sebastian follows De Lint to Italy where he spies Sarah. She will help with the downfall of his enemy and then he will be avenged.
Of course the whole revenge scenario is not easy. Sebastian is almost as bad as De Lint and what he does to Sarah at times is repulsive. But Sarah sees the good in Sebastian and even helps him with his revenge till the final act where the lies and manipulations are too much and someone really innocent will pay.
Lydia Joyce writes a very atmospheric piece with very seductive and erotic scenes between Sebastian and Sarah. Sarah does not make any excuses for the life she had to live up to this point and only wants the small things in life. You do feel for the girl. Sebastian on the other hand is not a three-dimensional. Yes his revenge makes sense but the whole plot seems in vain. We are given reasons why, but it basically comes down to how far will you go till it is too much? And when someone comes into your life that you can love and can help with forgiving yourself, well why would you want to hate so much? It seems so mute in the end.
All in all, for a gothic, sensual love story where love and forgiveness is the key, this is a recommended read.
January 12, 2015
I really don't understand the low ratings on this series. These are great historical romances. Slightly dark and risqué, but not especially erotic, with extremely flawed heroes. I think I enjoyed this one even more than book 1. I really look forward to book 3.
October 2, 2014
There's been a lot of buzz about Lydia Joyce. With a blurb from widely adored romance giant Lisa Kleypas, and some great reviews at classy fan sites like All About Romance, expectations are high for this young prospect to go all the way. "Think Jimmy Foxx can hit? Wait'll Foxx sees me hit!" Think Ted Williams in 1939!
Well, I read MUSIC OF THE NIGHT for myself, keeping score inning by inning, asking myself on every page, "could this fresh kid off an Ohio farm really be the next Lisa Kleypas?" And the answer is yes and no.
For dark texture, layered atmosphere, and brooding historical realism, Lydia Joyce already writes on a Lisa Kleypas level. Yes, she makes Venice come to life in these pages, as a dark, dangerous, decaying splendor. You'll learn more than you ever dreamed possible about the canal system. You can practically smell it!
Yes, the kid already has the Kleypas talent for taking people from the lowest, and I do mean the lowest, level of London society, and somehow putting them into a BELIEVABLE bedplay with the most stunningly gorgeous aristocratic characters. Sarah from the sewer is one of the most likeable underdogs you'll ever meet in any historical romance novel. You feel like you want to stand up and cheer as she begins to learn how to dress,use cosmetics, and present herself as a really attractive young mistress.
What made this book sink for me was the hero, Sebastian. And here is where the kid has not yet learned to write like Kleypas. Sebastian is a nice guy, but in romance, as in baseball, nice guys often finish last. You get inside this hero's head too early, and all he ever does is talk and talk and talk about his guilt, his regret, his angst. A whole lot of talk about his revenge against the villain, and guess what? It never quite comes to pass. (Not a spoiler, you'll guess very soon that nice Sebastian is just not the killing type.) The guy lacks the bad boy sizzle, the street level cool, the swaggering sexuality, that makes a Lisa Kleypas hero jump off the page like a flaming meteor of pure chocolate sin.
Sarah is just the right mix of shyness and tainted innocence, yearning for passion and yet ashamed of her own responses. But Sebastien is too angsty, too talky, too much of a nice guy to really cut through all the gloom and moldy plot contrivances. Lydia Joyce knows how to create a textured setting, but a setting is only the backdrop for the hero, and that's where this story falls short.
The kid has major potential, but she's not in Lisa Kleypas' league yet.
Wait till next year!
Well, I read MUSIC OF THE NIGHT for myself, keeping score inning by inning, asking myself on every page, "could this fresh kid off an Ohio farm really be the next Lisa Kleypas?" And the answer is yes and no.
For dark texture, layered atmosphere, and brooding historical realism, Lydia Joyce already writes on a Lisa Kleypas level. Yes, she makes Venice come to life in these pages, as a dark, dangerous, decaying splendor. You'll learn more than you ever dreamed possible about the canal system. You can practically smell it!
Yes, the kid already has the Kleypas talent for taking people from the lowest, and I do mean the lowest, level of London society, and somehow putting them into a BELIEVABLE bedplay with the most stunningly gorgeous aristocratic characters. Sarah from the sewer is one of the most likeable underdogs you'll ever meet in any historical romance novel. You feel like you want to stand up and cheer as she begins to learn how to dress,use cosmetics, and present herself as a really attractive young mistress.
What made this book sink for me was the hero, Sebastian. And here is where the kid has not yet learned to write like Kleypas. Sebastian is a nice guy, but in romance, as in baseball, nice guys often finish last. You get inside this hero's head too early, and all he ever does is talk and talk and talk about his guilt, his regret, his angst. A whole lot of talk about his revenge against the villain, and guess what? It never quite comes to pass. (Not a spoiler, you'll guess very soon that nice Sebastian is just not the killing type.) The guy lacks the bad boy sizzle, the street level cool, the swaggering sexuality, that makes a Lisa Kleypas hero jump off the page like a flaming meteor of pure chocolate sin.
Sarah is just the right mix of shyness and tainted innocence, yearning for passion and yet ashamed of her own responses. But Sebastien is too angsty, too talky, too much of a nice guy to really cut through all the gloom and moldy plot contrivances. Lydia Joyce knows how to create a textured setting, but a setting is only the backdrop for the hero, and that's where this story falls short.
The kid has major potential, but she's not in Lisa Kleypas' league yet.
Wait till next year!
May 12, 2012
A complex, confused, dark, disturbing, and unsatisfying romance-noir.
Sebastian Grimsthorpe, Earl of Wortham, has to be one of the most unsympathetic male leads of any romance I've read. For most of the book he's plotting revenge on the rapist of his illegitimate daughter, and chooses Venice as the place to do it. Part of his scheme consists of seducing the rapist's courtesan, a woman he believes was involved in the rape, but he discovers far too late that his victim is no courtesan but the hired companion of the rapist's mother.
Feelings of remorse and attraction induce him to adopt his victim and install her as the housekeeper of the shabby Venetian mansion he is renting.
Meanwhile, he continues on his path of vengeance, culminating in a staged ball at which the real villain behind the rape and several attempts on Sebastian's life is unmasked.
Not only the characters but the geographical setting are revealed in what must be the least flattering light possible. Selfish, dissolute, amoral aristocrats and the gloomy, muddy and smelly city of Venice.
Most of this negativity seems gratuitous, as in this description of a well-known tourist spot:
Or a striking but unpleasant description of a cemetery, with its
So many plot holes litter the narrative as to make one doubt the author's commitment to the book. Some of the most glaring holes are covered but not filled during the true villain's improbable confession at the end of the book, but by then the damage has been done.
Perhaps the only saving grace in this gloomy book is the indomitable character of Sarah, who has risen from slum prostitute to lady's companion and has vague hopes of maintaining control of her future by serving the sexual needs of rich patrons as a high-class mistress.
Sebastian Grimsthorpe, Earl of Wortham, has to be one of the most unsympathetic male leads of any romance I've read. For most of the book he's plotting revenge on the rapist of his illegitimate daughter, and chooses Venice as the place to do it. Part of his scheme consists of seducing the rapist's courtesan, a woman he believes was involved in the rape, but he discovers far too late that his victim is no courtesan but the hired companion of the rapist's mother.
Feelings of remorse and attraction induce him to adopt his victim and install her as the housekeeper of the shabby Venetian mansion he is renting.
Meanwhile, he continues on his path of vengeance, culminating in a staged ball at which the real villain behind the rape and several attempts on Sebastian's life is unmasked.
Not only the characters but the geographical setting are revealed in what must be the least flattering light possible. Selfish, dissolute, amoral aristocrats and the gloomy, muddy and smelly city of Venice.
Most of this negativity seems gratuitous, as in this description of a well-known tourist spot:
Murano, where Sarah had gaped in horrified fascination at the intricate and hideous works of glass for which the island was famous.
Or a striking but unpleasant description of a cemetery, with its
...verdant lawn dotted with white markers of the dead that lay across the grass like a thousand spilled teeth.
So many plot holes litter the narrative as to make one doubt the author's commitment to the book. Some of the most glaring holes are covered but not filled during the true villain's improbable confession at the end of the book, but by then the damage has been done.
Perhaps the only saving grace in this gloomy book is the indomitable character of Sarah, who has risen from slum prostitute to lady's companion and has vague hopes of maintaining control of her future by serving the sexual needs of rich patrons as a high-class mistress.
November 15, 2018
Venice is what saves this book. The hero is a cliche. The heroine is not a cliche, but her character, motivations, and history are incoherent, and she doesn't really have any particularly likable or distinguishable qualities. The writing is purple, although it evens out a bit as the book progresses. There are occasional references to the specific decade of the 19th century, but not enough for it to feel truly grounded in that time period. The plot is contrived, and is set up at the beginning, referred to throughout, and then brought together in an awkward jumble at the end. Other moments of awkwardness are the hero and heroine having sex twice on a "horsehair sofa", which one assumes is a sofa of unidentified upholstery stuffed with horsehair; and the proposal scene occurring just moments after, and very close to the body of a gruesome suicide.
December 17, 2018
I skipped over quite a few of the descriptive pages just because they didn't seem to add much to the story, but I did like the overall story. Well, until the very end when Sebastian almost became a very bad man. I think he still has lot of work to do!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 22, 2024
This is the second book I've read by this author, and reading my review of the first I read, a common thread is an intelligent heroine. I do indeed appreciate that. This is rather dense and dark at times - the over-riding need for revenge on the part of the hero is sometimes overwhelming. Interestingly, he is not without doubts, and these moments of sharp vulnerability make him that much more credible. Even though I didn't read this in the correct order in the series, I think it doesn't matter at all. An interesting tale.
That was what I wrote in 2014 - bizarrely exactly 10 years ago today. I was about to send this along with the first in the series as an RABCK, but read the back cover as I picked it up off my shelf. I realized I had no memory of it and decided to re-read it. It seems ten years is plenty of time to completely forget a book! I did enjoy this again, and I pretty much agree with what I wrote way back when.
That was what I wrote in 2014 - bizarrely exactly 10 years ago today. I was about to send this along with the first in the series as an RABCK, but read the back cover as I picked it up off my shelf. I realized I had no memory of it and decided to re-read it. It seems ten years is plenty of time to completely forget a book! I did enjoy this again, and I pretty much agree with what I wrote way back when.
January 18, 2008
It took me a long ass time to review this book, mostly because I'm kinda conflicted about it. My writer's brain adores parts of it: the lush description of Venice, the sense of place, the gothic sensibility, the flawed and prickly heroine who bucks the "beautiful and oh-so-sweet" cliche of romance heroines. My inner critic? Hates the dynamic between the hero and heroine. It's fucked. 95% of the time, he's using her for revenge, he sacrifices her job and self-worth and dignity to hurt (ineffectively!) the object of his rage. He offers her a position as a kept woman to assauge his guilt but mostly to flog himself and because the sex is good. He arranges things so an underaged girl is caught publically having sex WITH HER UNCLE. Three pages from the happily ever after! And the heroine forgives him! I mean, this book is a glittering jewel of description and atmosphere with a rotten core.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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December 3, 2008It was a dark romance but it had depth to it. I loved the fact the heroine wasn't a great beauty.
February 27, 2010
It was alright, I picked it up because of the cover art, and I wasn't really wowed by it, but I'll probably read it again.
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February 6, 2014fluff
May 16, 2014
Choppy story line at first but it got better as the story went along. Quick easy read.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews