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A Rose at Midnight
Once a daughter of the aristocracy, lovely Ghislaine "Gilly" de Lorgny lives for the destruction of Nicholas Blackthorne--the notorious rake she holds responsible for the cruel loss of her virtue, family and fortune. Now that the rogue has reentered her life, she seizes the opportunity to enact a poisonous revenge--but is abducted by the dashing villain before the deed can be done. Held prisoner in a secluded hunting lodge, she steels herself to resist the sensuous punishment her captor has promised--only to be betrayed by a heart that aches with desire for the handsome, tormented blackguard. For only in her enemy's arms will Gilly know the exquisite passion that can heal all wounds ... and the rapture of a love powerful enough to restore a fallen woman's honor and a scoundrel's nobility.
394 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1993
83 people are currently reading
1445 people want to read
About the author
Anne Stuart
203 books2,062 followersAnne Stuart is a grandmaster of the genre, winner of Romance Writers of America's prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award, survivor of more than thirty-five years in the romance business, and still just keeps getting better.
Her first novel was Barrett's Hill, a gothic romance published by Ballantine in 1974 when Anne had just turned 25. Since then she's written more gothics, regencies, romantic suspense, romantic adventure, series romance, suspense, historical romance, paranormal and mainstream contemporary romance for publishers such as Doubleday, Harlequin, Silhouette, Avon, Zebra, St. Martins Press, Berkley, Dell, Pocket Books and Fawcett.
She’s won numerous awards, appeared on most bestseller lists, and speaks all over the country. Her general outrageousness has gotten her on Entertainment Tonight, as well as in Vogue, People, USA Today, Women’s Day and countless other national newspapers and magazines.
When she’s not traveling, she’s at home in Northern Vermont with her luscious husband of thirty-six years, an empty nest, three cats, four sewing machines, and one Springer Spaniel, and when she’s not working she’s watching movies, listening to rock and roll (preferably Japanese) and spending far too much time quilting.
Anne Stuart also writes as Kristina Douglas.
Her first novel was Barrett's Hill, a gothic romance published by Ballantine in 1974 when Anne had just turned 25. Since then she's written more gothics, regencies, romantic suspense, romantic adventure, series romance, suspense, historical romance, paranormal and mainstream contemporary romance for publishers such as Doubleday, Harlequin, Silhouette, Avon, Zebra, St. Martins Press, Berkley, Dell, Pocket Books and Fawcett.
She’s won numerous awards, appeared on most bestseller lists, and speaks all over the country. Her general outrageousness has gotten her on Entertainment Tonight, as well as in Vogue, People, USA Today, Women’s Day and countless other national newspapers and magazines.
When she’s not traveling, she’s at home in Northern Vermont with her luscious husband of thirty-six years, an empty nest, three cats, four sewing machines, and one Springer Spaniel, and when she’s not working she’s watching movies, listening to rock and roll (preferably Japanese) and spending far too much time quilting.
Anne Stuart also writes as Kristina Douglas.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 143 reviews
December 24, 2021
3.5
I am so conflicted over this book. First off, this is a book that has two romances that we follow and it really didn't need both. I really wished we only followed Ghislaine and Nicholas because I really didn't care for Ellen and Tony. Ghislaine wants to kill Nicholas because she blames him for her family's death and ruining her life. Nicholas realizes his cousin's chef is trying to kill him, so he kidnaps her and takes her to his family's crumbling lodge in Scotland. The first half of this book was pretty slow going. Ellen is horrified to learn Nicholas kidnapped Ghislaine, so she goes after them with Tony, who has a plan of his own. Only once Ghislaine and Nicholas are in Scotland and then move on did I really start to become invested in their relationship. I especially enjoyed the scene where Nicholas forced Ghislaine to confront why she was so angry with him and told her she had to truly decide how she felt about him. They delved into her past and why she was so hurt and what she had truly lost. Then, the plot picked up with a villainous character that was introduced, and I actually enjoyed that! But we kept on flashing back to Ellen and Tony, which just annoyed me since I didn't care about them. So with a slow beginning and a secondary romance I didn't care for, I was left wanting more from this book.
I am so conflicted over this book. First off, this is a book that has two romances that we follow and it really didn't need both. I really wished we only followed Ghislaine and Nicholas because I really didn't care for Ellen and Tony. Ghislaine wants to kill Nicholas because she blames him for her family's death and ruining her life. Nicholas realizes his cousin's chef is trying to kill him, so he kidnaps her and takes her to his family's crumbling lodge in Scotland. The first half of this book was pretty slow going. Ellen is horrified to learn Nicholas kidnapped Ghislaine, so she goes after them with Tony, who has a plan of his own. Only once Ghislaine and Nicholas are in Scotland and then move on did I really start to become invested in their relationship. I especially enjoyed the scene where Nicholas forced Ghislaine to confront why she was so angry with him and told her she had to truly decide how she felt about him. They delved into her past and why she was so hurt and what she had truly lost. Then, the plot picked up with a villainous character that was introduced, and I actually enjoyed that! But we kept on flashing back to Ellen and Tony, which just annoyed me since I didn't care about them. So with a slow beginning and a secondary romance I didn't care for, I was left wanting more from this book.
September 6, 2017
I hated this book. The author writes well, so I gave it a star for that. But the content........
There was really nothing even vaguely admirable about the so-called hero of this book.
He was supposed to be tortured and traumatised. So let’s see what kind of a man our darling Nicholas was.
• He spent 15 or so years of his adult life ruining other people, destroying marriages, duelling with men over nothing and successfully murdering a couple of them.
• He was an alcoholic who could down X-number of bottles of brandy per day, gambled for his income, abandoned his run-down estates- and therefore, the tenants (the excuse that this had started with his grandfather was just a convenient reason to do nothing; he had never worked in his life) – and was still apparently gorgeous. (I defy any man to live that lifestyle and still look great at 36 years of age.)
• He had “never raped a woman” he told us. Over and over. And over. Lost count. Wow. We should be grateful for small mercies should we? A redeeming feature- to NOT do something vile and repulsive? Surely a NORMAL feature of a healthy adult male?
• He deliberately behaves so appallingly at university he is kicked out (sent down) even though many would kill to have the opportunty to study.
• He stays with a family in France- his Godfather’s – where he claims to be falling in love with the thirteen year old daughter, Ghislaine, (he is 22- major ick-factor, especially when he talks about “budding breasts”. Lolita, anyone?) then refuses to take her with him out of France when his Godfather asks him, (Godfather is rightly worried about the impending Revolution).
• Ghislaine’s parents are then duly guillotined, and when he hears about the WHOLE family suffering this fate, he says: whatever, I am going out to party now.
• He sleeps with a serving maid while kidnapped Ghislaine is in a nearby bedroom.
• He mentions that a girl he made pregnant then committed suicide.
He is just a bundle of charm, compassion and empathy.
Liking him so far?
This BEFORE he kidnaps the daughter some 15 years later, physically abuses her, effectively rapes her (she consistently says “no” but he is such a wonderful stud she “enjoys” it, of course) and drags her over to Europe. His treatment of her is sadistic. And we are supposed to believe he loves her.
Yeah -nuh! (I actually think he is a woman-hater, but his mother is never even mentioned so not sure why.)
The coup de grace for me was the reason for all this acting out. Poor lamb- he was SO tortured, SO traumatised. Why? What horrors happened to him in his youth? Rape? Watching parents killed? Losing a sibling? War?
Nuh-uh.
It was because he didn’t get his father’s approval as a child and teenager. Yes, truly. He couldn’t get daddy to praise him, so he became the biggest arse-hole he could, to pay him back. Poor, petulant brat becomes a Narcissistic, abusive f***-up.
Lovely Nicholas carried on about not caring whether he lived or died (we are supposed to believe he felt some guilt deep down over his actions) but instead of just topping himself and putting an end to his apparent misery (and ours), this paragon of self-indulgent vice had to destroy others on the way down. Only to suddenly discover a new lust for life in his desire to BREAK THE HEROINE. Yes: his stated intention. BREAK GHISLAINE.
Because as any spoilt, self-absorbed child knows, if you want a toy, you take it and play with it until it either breaks or you are bored with it. He even considered “passing her on” to someone else for their mistress, because that was doing her a favour – it was much “better than working as a servant”.
As the rappers say: you likin’ me now??
Ghislaine was the true hero of this book. She saw her parents guillotined, her brother starving, only to disappear, and she was sold into a brothel in Paris. She had to sleep with men to get food for her brother and herself. She broke my heart. All the purported hero can say is get over it, none of it is my fault, I want to screw you and I will, and when I am over you I will dump you.
These days we call this domestic abuse, both physical and psychological. We lock people up for it.
What bothered me is that she went from a tough, murderous woman to a pathetic, submissive girl. She gave him her “word”, so she did not try to escape. He broke every promise he ever made to her- what on earth has her “honour” got to do with it, when he had none? She became a massive disappointment to me.
For this kind of story to work a hero has, in the end, to be worthy of redemption. Many authors successfully manage to do this. This author did not.
Nicholas simply had nothing to redeem.
Perhaps the worst thing for me was that he never apologised for anything. Not once. No regret. No remorse. No abject, tearful, on-his-knees epiphany where he acknowledged his evils and swore to change. So I could never believe that he HAD changed or that he could make Ghislaine happy. Or that he deserved to be happy.
Finally, I suppose I should have checked when this was written. 1993. I think no more needs to be said, except WTF WERE WE GIRLS THINKING IN THE 90’S!
There was really nothing even vaguely admirable about the so-called hero of this book.
He was supposed to be tortured and traumatised. So let’s see what kind of a man our darling Nicholas was.
• He spent 15 or so years of his adult life ruining other people, destroying marriages, duelling with men over nothing and successfully murdering a couple of them.
• He was an alcoholic who could down X-number of bottles of brandy per day, gambled for his income, abandoned his run-down estates- and therefore, the tenants (the excuse that this had started with his grandfather was just a convenient reason to do nothing; he had never worked in his life) – and was still apparently gorgeous. (I defy any man to live that lifestyle and still look great at 36 years of age.)
• He had “never raped a woman” he told us. Over and over. And over. Lost count. Wow. We should be grateful for small mercies should we? A redeeming feature- to NOT do something vile and repulsive? Surely a NORMAL feature of a healthy adult male?
• He deliberately behaves so appallingly at university he is kicked out (sent down) even though many would kill to have the opportunty to study.
• He stays with a family in France- his Godfather’s – where he claims to be falling in love with the thirteen year old daughter, Ghislaine, (he is 22- major ick-factor, especially when he talks about “budding breasts”. Lolita, anyone?) then refuses to take her with him out of France when his Godfather asks him, (Godfather is rightly worried about the impending Revolution).
• Ghislaine’s parents are then duly guillotined, and when he hears about the WHOLE family suffering this fate, he says: whatever, I am going out to party now.
• He sleeps with a serving maid while kidnapped Ghislaine is in a nearby bedroom.
• He mentions that a girl he made pregnant then committed suicide.
He is just a bundle of charm, compassion and empathy.
Liking him so far?
This BEFORE he kidnaps the daughter some 15 years later, physically abuses her, effectively rapes her (she consistently says “no” but he is such a wonderful stud she “enjoys” it, of course) and drags her over to Europe. His treatment of her is sadistic. And we are supposed to believe he loves her.
Yeah -nuh! (I actually think he is a woman-hater, but his mother is never even mentioned so not sure why.)
The coup de grace for me was the reason for all this acting out. Poor lamb- he was SO tortured, SO traumatised. Why? What horrors happened to him in his youth? Rape? Watching parents killed? Losing a sibling? War?
Nuh-uh.
It was because he didn’t get his father’s approval as a child and teenager. Yes, truly. He couldn’t get daddy to praise him, so he became the biggest arse-hole he could, to pay him back. Poor, petulant brat becomes a Narcissistic, abusive f***-up.
Lovely Nicholas carried on about not caring whether he lived or died (we are supposed to believe he felt some guilt deep down over his actions) but instead of just topping himself and putting an end to his apparent misery (and ours), this paragon of self-indulgent vice had to destroy others on the way down. Only to suddenly discover a new lust for life in his desire to BREAK THE HEROINE. Yes: his stated intention. BREAK GHISLAINE.
Because as any spoilt, self-absorbed child knows, if you want a toy, you take it and play with it until it either breaks or you are bored with it. He even considered “passing her on” to someone else for their mistress, because that was doing her a favour – it was much “better than working as a servant”.
As the rappers say: you likin’ me now??
Ghislaine was the true hero of this book. She saw her parents guillotined, her brother starving, only to disappear, and she was sold into a brothel in Paris. She had to sleep with men to get food for her brother and herself. She broke my heart. All the purported hero can say is get over it, none of it is my fault, I want to screw you and I will, and when I am over you I will dump you.
These days we call this domestic abuse, both physical and psychological. We lock people up for it.
What bothered me is that she went from a tough, murderous woman to a pathetic, submissive girl. She gave him her “word”, so she did not try to escape. He broke every promise he ever made to her- what on earth has her “honour” got to do with it, when he had none? She became a massive disappointment to me.
For this kind of story to work a hero has, in the end, to be worthy of redemption. Many authors successfully manage to do this. This author did not.
Nicholas simply had nothing to redeem.
Perhaps the worst thing for me was that he never apologised for anything. Not once. No regret. No remorse. No abject, tearful, on-his-knees epiphany where he acknowledged his evils and swore to change. So I could never believe that he HAD changed or that he could make Ghislaine happy. Or that he deserved to be happy.
Finally, I suppose I should have checked when this was written. 1993. I think no more needs to be said, except WTF WERE WE GIRLS THINKING IN THE 90’S!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 8, 2015
No one writes gamma dudes like Anne Stuart. This one was even a bit too gamma for me (that's why it's 4 stars). But brilliant writing!
June 5, 2021
***First read: 14th Dec, 2017***
Rating: 4-stars
***Re-read: 3rd June, 2021***
Rating:4-stars
This statement must be repeated again and again that no one makes a better arsehole hero who are thoroughly damaged like Anne Stuart. Of course her stories contains violence with wicked heroes. I think she is a sadist. 😉
A Rose At Midnight has a revenge plot. Of two damaged characters who destroy and hurt each other.
Ghislaine (Gilly) de Lorgny, was fifteen when she was in love with Nicholas Blackthorne, her parents were his godparents. He came to visit them. His godfather requested Nicholas to take Gilly with him back to England. It was French revolution and there was war. Nicholas coldly turned back to them not accepting the request. As a result, Gilly's family perishes in the war, her brother was lost and she wandered. Thirteen years later Gilly and Nicholas meet again. Gilly poisons him and Nicholas holds her captive for trying to kill him.
I think Gilly is a cold heroine compared to Anne Staurt's other books I have read so far. Gilly is of rage, she goes through a lot just to be where she is. She never misses any opportunity to taunt and degrade Nicholas. Nicholas is the black sheep of his family. His father humiliated him, ignored him, turned from him in disgust when his elder son and beloved wife had died. Nothing Nicholas ever did was good enough for his father; no attempt at earning his love, or even his approval, succeeded. Eventually Nicholas had given up trying, deciding that if he was doomed to disapproval and dislike from his father, then he’d do his best to deserve it. He humiliates his father in return. He turns into a notorious flirt. He spents his time sleeping around, gambing and drinking. When trying to lay low from another of his recent rezedovous, it's no surprise that someone is trying to kill him. When the cook of his niece tries to kill him he ties her up and abducts her. Gilly and Nicholas, they never back down from each other.
Nicholas is an anti-hero. He openly admits to crimes, gets kicked out of university and spents useless amounts of money. Gilly is perfect for him. She is strong and not a puttering maiden. Highly recommend this book, the perfect pairing of an amoral murdering devil and his avenging angel.
Rating: 4-stars
***Re-read: 3rd June, 2021***
Rating:4-stars
This statement must be repeated again and again that no one makes a better arsehole hero who are thoroughly damaged like Anne Stuart. Of course her stories contains violence with wicked heroes. I think she is a sadist. 😉
A Rose At Midnight has a revenge plot. Of two damaged characters who destroy and hurt each other.
Ghislaine (Gilly) de Lorgny, was fifteen when she was in love with Nicholas Blackthorne, her parents were his godparents. He came to visit them. His godfather requested Nicholas to take Gilly with him back to England. It was French revolution and there was war. Nicholas coldly turned back to them not accepting the request. As a result, Gilly's family perishes in the war, her brother was lost and she wandered. Thirteen years later Gilly and Nicholas meet again. Gilly poisons him and Nicholas holds her captive for trying to kill him.
I think Gilly is a cold heroine compared to Anne Staurt's other books I have read so far. Gilly is of rage, she goes through a lot just to be where she is. She never misses any opportunity to taunt and degrade Nicholas. Nicholas is the black sheep of his family. His father humiliated him, ignored him, turned from him in disgust when his elder son and beloved wife had died. Nothing Nicholas ever did was good enough for his father; no attempt at earning his love, or even his approval, succeeded. Eventually Nicholas had given up trying, deciding that if he was doomed to disapproval and dislike from his father, then he’d do his best to deserve it. He humiliates his father in return. He turns into a notorious flirt. He spents his time sleeping around, gambing and drinking. When trying to lay low from another of his recent rezedovous, it's no surprise that someone is trying to kill him. When the cook of his niece tries to kill him he ties her up and abducts her. Gilly and Nicholas, they never back down from each other.
Nicholas is an anti-hero. He openly admits to crimes, gets kicked out of university and spents useless amounts of money. Gilly is perfect for him. She is strong and not a puttering maiden. Highly recommend this book, the perfect pairing of an amoral murdering devil and his avenging angel.
February 27, 2018
I'm sorry to say that Ms Stuart and I are never going to be "writer and fan". I know some of my friends love her, and so I keep trying. But honestly I loathed her historical-romances and barely liked her contemporary ones.
A Rose at Midnight was on offer. Still I tried a sample. And wow. It hooked me. We have this girl coldly waiting to murder the man responsible for her parents' death. So I went to buy it. Unfortunately, both plot and characters went downhill after a few chapters.
I loved the heroine. A woman strong enough to survive her past and start again. Strong enough to go looking for revenge in the form of murder. But not blind enough to avoid realizing what this implies. Honestly, there were no reasons to "unman" her the way the author did.
Once discovered and kidnapped, she basically turns in to a doormat. Oh yes she "resists" his charm. Groan. This is the man who really helped your family's death and he keeps behaving as the jerk he really is. Where this attraction comes from?
I want real people even in fantasy. Lust is nice, but most women (and men I suspect) are not subject to hormones. Yes we can be horny due to them, but lust involves also a bit of something else. Interest. Things in common. Something. (I do not doubt that we can and do have sex just for sport. But do we jump a jerk's bones? Someone ready to harm, hurt, kill us? Someone who is responsible in part for the harm done to our family. No, we usually do not. When we do, it's called weakness and the books usually are different too.)
She tries to run once. Just once. She cooks for him for goodness's sake.
"Hero". God, could we have anyone worse? We all love bad boys. But a whiny, self-centred, woe-is-me idiot has no appeal. We are told he is a rake, a cold bastard. What we get is an idiot. A stupid guy who never outgrew his teens. Whose idea of revenge has no logic. No sense. And it's again very self-centred. He doesn't want to teach her a lesson. He wants to feel better.
He did absolutely nothing to have her fall in love with him. So their love story is based on wishful thinking on the part of the author.
Side-characters. Not really any better.
Tony is pretty unpleasant to begin with. Oh he does change, but still not a lovely guy to follow his adventures.
Her brother. A purely WTF. He is thirteen. He is in shock. His family has been guillotined in front of him. His sister is whoring herself (no, not for him, Ms Stuart, for herself too. I did not appreciate this sugar-coating, martyring). What does he do? He runs so she can be free. WTF? Thanks brother. I'm prostituting myself for us and you run leaving me alone. And you let me believe you are dead. For more than 10 years. With the stupidest explanation ever. Meh.
The final scenes where she tries to save the hero from himself are the worst and the weakest for me.
I think it's clear I really disliked this book. What convinced me to keep reading are the glimpses of her life in Paris. They are the only interesting scenes in an otherwise pretty boring book.
See Katie(babs) for a five-star review:
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
A Rose at Midnight was on offer. Still I tried a sample. And wow. It hooked me. We have this girl coldly waiting to murder the man responsible for her parents' death. So I went to buy it. Unfortunately, both plot and characters went downhill after a few chapters.
I loved the heroine. A woman strong enough to survive her past and start again. Strong enough to go looking for revenge in the form of murder. But not blind enough to avoid realizing what this implies. Honestly, there were no reasons to "unman" her the way the author did.
Once discovered and kidnapped, she basically turns in to a doormat. Oh yes she "resists" his charm. Groan. This is the man who really helped your family's death and he keeps behaving as the jerk he really is. Where this attraction comes from?
I want real people even in fantasy. Lust is nice, but most women (and men I suspect) are not subject to hormones. Yes we can be horny due to them, but lust involves also a bit of something else. Interest. Things in common. Something. (I do not doubt that we can and do have sex just for sport. But do we jump a jerk's bones? Someone ready to harm, hurt, kill us? Someone who is responsible in part for the harm done to our family. No, we usually do not. When we do, it's called weakness and the books usually are different too.)
She tries to run once. Just once. She cooks for him for goodness's sake.
"Hero". God, could we have anyone worse? We all love bad boys. But a whiny, self-centred, woe-is-me idiot has no appeal. We are told he is a rake, a cold bastard. What we get is an idiot. A stupid guy who never outgrew his teens. Whose idea of revenge has no logic. No sense. And it's again very self-centred. He doesn't want to teach her a lesson. He wants to feel better.
He did absolutely nothing to have her fall in love with him. So their love story is based on wishful thinking on the part of the author.
Side-characters. Not really any better.
Tony is pretty unpleasant to begin with. Oh he does change, but still not a lovely guy to follow his adventures.
Her brother. A purely WTF. He is thirteen. He is in shock. His family has been guillotined in front of him. His sister is whoring herself (no, not for him, Ms Stuart, for herself too. I did not appreciate this sugar-coating, martyring). What does he do? He runs so she can be free. WTF? Thanks brother. I'm prostituting myself for us and you run leaving me alone. And you let me believe you are dead. For more than 10 years. With the stupidest explanation ever. Meh.
The final scenes where she tries to save the hero from himself are the worst and the weakest for me.
I think it's clear I really disliked this book. What convinced me to keep reading are the glimpses of her life in Paris. They are the only interesting scenes in an otherwise pretty boring book.
See Katie(babs) for a five-star review:
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
October 4, 2010
I LOVE LOVE LOVED this book. Honestly, I wish I could give it ten stars. It hit my sweet spot in everything. The plot:to:romance ratio was perfect. There was enough plot to keep me reading, but not so much that the romance took a backseat. Oh hell no. The romantic tension went on...and on...and on. I loved the characters and by the time they finally revealed their true feelings to each other I was completely caught up. This book was right on point from the opening pages all the way to the shocking final pages.
Another thing this author really did right is she gave me a bad boy I could really fall for, without softening him at all. Yes, the hero was nasty and spiteful to the heroine, but unlike the hero of Stormfire, the author gave us enough clues and little moments to realize how tender and lost he really was underneath. So even when he was doing his worst to her, I still cared about him and wanted him to connect with her. Same with the heroine, a real detached, bloodthirsty wench. I sympathized with her 100% and this was due to the skill of the author.
In addition to the wonderful, affecting love story of the main hero and heroine, we are also treated to the less complex but no less romantic arc of secondary characters Tony and Ellen. I loved both of them too. I loved all the tense carriage riding that went on. Tony was so charming and Ellen was so plucky.
I just can't recommend this book enough. It was just perfectly balanced, perfectly characterized, perfectly romantic. It will make you laugh, it will make you cry. This is the tortured, imperfect hero and heroine done RIGHT. A+++++++++++
Another thing this author really did right is she gave me a bad boy I could really fall for, without softening him at all. Yes, the hero was nasty and spiteful to the heroine, but unlike the hero of Stormfire, the author gave us enough clues and little moments to realize how tender and lost he really was underneath. So even when he was doing his worst to her, I still cared about him and wanted him to connect with her. Same with the heroine, a real detached, bloodthirsty wench. I sympathized with her 100% and this was due to the skill of the author.
In addition to the wonderful, affecting love story of the main hero and heroine, we are also treated to the less complex but no less romantic arc of secondary characters Tony and Ellen. I loved both of them too. I loved all the tense carriage riding that went on. Tony was so charming and Ellen was so plucky.
I just can't recommend this book enough. It was just perfectly balanced, perfectly characterized, perfectly romantic. It will make you laugh, it will make you cry. This is the tortured, imperfect hero and heroine done RIGHT. A+++++++++++
June 13, 2018
I started out really liking this book—it seemed careful and the atmosphere more dangerous than some of Stuart's other books. I was surprised, as much of her work is really repetitive and sometimes has a random ghost plot thrown in for good measure.
It's just that it took so long for anything to happen, as my buddy-reader Nenia pointed out in her review. A lot of it was backstory, which was actually good and surprisingly gritty, but in the meantime the leads were just lightly bantering while the hero casually talked about raping the heroine, as Stuart's gamma heroes often do. Not only that, but a staggering amount of pages was taken up by the secondary romance, almost overshadowing the main one.
All in all, I didn't feel like the resolutions were strong enough to end the book.
1)
2) Gilly fell for Nicholas a bit too easily, after all that protesting. And speaking of that protesting, the way it was handled when he ignored her and ended up raping her was really icky. I'm not a stranger to rape in bodice rippers, but this was grosser than most.
3) AND NICHOLAS WAS SHIT IN BED, BY THE WAY. At one point he says "He hadn't been able to make her come" and I was just like "You didn't even try, you dipshit." A little bit of fingering, a little bit of thrusting, and he "can't control himself." Then it's over. Nicholas is TOTALLY that guy who thinks his penis should be enough, and if he can't make a woman come with only his penis, he's apparently... not manly? Or something? At one point he even recognizes that he's selfish enough to want her to come while he's inside her, so he stops going down on her because it's all about the peeeeeen!!!
4) Last of all, it could have been an incredibly moving story to have Nicholas and Gilly come to terms with their pasts together. They knew each other when they were young and innocent, before the Reign of Terror, before Nicholas became utterly dissolute, before Gilly had to literally sell herself to survive. But no, they just had some bad sex, a few happy days together, and then came to the utterly unmoving realization that they loved each other. There was potential for so much more.
I'm disappointed, because I do think in many ways this was one of Stuart's better books, and I'm fairly sure it's one she enjoyed writing. I just didn't enjoy it as much as I'd hoped.
It's just that it took so long for anything to happen, as my buddy-reader Nenia pointed out in her review. A lot of it was backstory, which was actually good and surprisingly gritty, but in the meantime the leads were just lightly bantering while the hero casually talked about raping the heroine, as Stuart's gamma heroes often do. Not only that, but a staggering amount of pages was taken up by the secondary romance, almost overshadowing the main one.
All in all, I didn't feel like the resolutions were strong enough to end the book.
1)
2) Gilly fell for Nicholas a bit too easily, after all that protesting. And speaking of that protesting, the way it was handled when he ignored her and ended up raping her was really icky. I'm not a stranger to rape in bodice rippers, but this was grosser than most.
3) AND NICHOLAS WAS SHIT IN BED, BY THE WAY. At one point he says "He hadn't been able to make her come" and I was just like "You didn't even try, you dipshit." A little bit of fingering, a little bit of thrusting, and he "can't control himself." Then it's over. Nicholas is TOTALLY that guy who thinks his penis should be enough, and if he can't make a woman come with only his penis, he's apparently... not manly? Or something? At one point he even recognizes that he's selfish enough to want her to come while he's inside her, so he stops going down on her because it's all about the peeeeeen!!!
4) Last of all, it could have been an incredibly moving story to have Nicholas and Gilly come to terms with their pasts together. They knew each other when they were young and innocent, before the Reign of Terror, before Nicholas became utterly dissolute, before Gilly had to literally sell herself to survive. But no, they just had some bad sex, a few happy days together, and then came to the utterly unmoving realization that they loved each other. There was potential for so much more.
I'm disappointed, because I do think in many ways this was one of Stuart's better books, and I'm fairly sure it's one she enjoyed writing. I just didn't enjoy it as much as I'd hoped.
March 21, 2020
After absolutely hating Anne Stuart's To Love A Dark Lord, I picked up A Rose At Midnight with dread. I had purchased both of them at the same time without ever reading anything by Stuart.
As I am cleaning out my Kindle, I opened this up and to my surprise, it's not bad. In fact, it's enjoyable?
There is a pattern to Stuart's books (vampiric heroes, murderous heroines and a romance subplot with Couple B), and here in one of her more popular and recognized books, it works.
A Rose At Midnight is a fascinating story about Nicholas Blackthorne, an English lord that dooms his French godfather's family to death, after disagreeing to take his godfather's daughter, Ghislaine, with him back to England, during the French Revolution. Despite Nicholas' feelings for Gilly, he does not oblige his godfather's wish. Side note: did anyone else feel a bit icky about the perverse editorial choice to repeatedly dwell on the sexualization of Gilly's childlike and boyish body? Especially when Nicholas falls for Gilly when she is 13/14/15 (can't remember but she is underage, that's for sure). You know, it's okay to be matter-of-fact that she has no hips and a flat chest. It's fine. Nothing will be lost in the telling of the story.
There were lots of flashbacks but I quite liked knowing about Nicholas and Gilly's past lives, although it was a bit of a lost opportunity to show so much of them growing up without them addressing the past in a meaningful manner. Especially when like 80% of the story is people traveling in carriages. Yes, this is a book built on the trope of Couple A running away and Couple B running after them. Another anti-climatic moment is Gilly's reunion with
The dynamics between Nicholas and Gilly are fascinating - Gilly definitely has a lot of reason to hate him, and Nicholas is an asshole. I did roll my eyes when he declared himself "the despoiler of virtue" even if it is a sarcastic joke.
I really vibed with Ellen and Tony, couple B. Tony is the rake about town who realizes his best friend's kid sister is no longer infatuated with him, and that he actually has to work to get her interest to marry him. Unbeknownst to him, Ellen still has a tendre for him, but due to a disastrous engagement, has learned to keep her heart hidden.
While this will likely be my last read by Stuart, this is a fun story for fans of Stuart's work.
As I am cleaning out my Kindle, I opened this up and to my surprise, it's not bad. In fact, it's enjoyable?
There is a pattern to Stuart's books (vampiric heroes, murderous heroines and a romance subplot with Couple B), and here in one of her more popular and recognized books, it works.
A Rose At Midnight is a fascinating story about Nicholas Blackthorne, an English lord that dooms his French godfather's family to death, after disagreeing to take his godfather's daughter, Ghislaine, with him back to England, during the French Revolution. Despite Nicholas' feelings for Gilly, he does not oblige his godfather's wish. Side note: did anyone else feel a bit icky about the perverse editorial choice to repeatedly dwell on the sexualization of Gilly's childlike and boyish body? Especially when Nicholas falls for Gilly when she is 13/14/15 (can't remember but she is underage, that's for sure). You know, it's okay to be matter-of-fact that she has no hips and a flat chest. It's fine. Nothing will be lost in the telling of the story.
There were lots of flashbacks but I quite liked knowing about Nicholas and Gilly's past lives, although it was a bit of a lost opportunity to show so much of them growing up without them addressing the past in a meaningful manner. Especially when like 80% of the story is people traveling in carriages. Yes, this is a book built on the trope of Couple A running away and Couple B running after them. Another anti-climatic moment is Gilly's reunion with
The dynamics between Nicholas and Gilly are fascinating - Gilly definitely has a lot of reason to hate him, and Nicholas is an asshole. I did roll my eyes when he declared himself "the despoiler of virtue" even if it is a sarcastic joke.
I really vibed with Ellen and Tony, couple B. Tony is the rake about town who realizes his best friend's kid sister is no longer infatuated with him, and that he actually has to work to get her interest to marry him. Unbeknownst to him, Ellen still has a tendre for him, but due to a disastrous engagement, has learned to keep her heart hidden.
While this will likely be my last read by Stuart, this is a fun story for fans of Stuart's work.
December 11, 2008
This is a dark romance novel, but is excellent all the same. It starts with Ghislaine, the heroine, trying to kill Nicholas, the hero. From that point on, you cannot put the book down. This book has wounded, anguished characters who are brought together out of hatred, but find love and fulfillment together. I am a sucker for romances where a person is wounded and damaged, but manage to find a love that heals and fulfills them. Nicholas is definitely a rake, but he is a three-dimensional character who compels you to understand and appreciate him. Gilly is also flawed, but her struggles have made her a stronger person. The passion is sizzling, and yet the core of it is a true love. This book is a must read if you want a romance that will touch you on many levels and want a meaty read that will captivate you so much you can't put it down.
August 31, 2023
Read: 8/25/23
2.5 stars!
This was such a disappointing AS book! 😞
This has got to be the darkest h backstory I've read by AS. The h is a former aristocrat who survived the French Terror. Her survival story was disturbing.
The story starts off with the h working as a chef for her friend. When the H arrives unexpectedly. He was the cause of her family's downfall. She seeks revenge by poisoning him. It's unsuccessful, and he seeks his own retribution by kidnapping her.
The rest of the book is a boring road trip with the H threatening to rape her. The two don't have sex till the 70% mark. That's a long time to keep this bad boy bid up!
The story does improve after they finally sleep together. I really started to enjoy it, then with 10% left, the h pulled the "I'm leaving him bc my past will hurt him" cliche. Ugh!
Then there is the second road trip romance that I care little about. The h's friend and her crush are following behind the main couple on a rescue mission. Both couples bored me!
What I liked: the h's backstory. Though disturbing, it was interesting. A well fleshed out character, too bad the other characters weren't.
Conclusion:, I love all the AS books I've read so far. I was bound to finally find a dud eventually
2.5 stars!
This was such a disappointing AS book! 😞
This has got to be the darkest h backstory I've read by AS. The h is a former aristocrat who survived the French Terror. Her survival story was disturbing.
The story starts off with the h working as a chef for her friend. When the H arrives unexpectedly. He was the cause of her family's downfall. She seeks revenge by poisoning him. It's unsuccessful, and he seeks his own retribution by kidnapping her.
The rest of the book is a boring road trip with the H threatening to rape her. The two don't have sex till the 70% mark. That's a long time to keep this bad boy bid up!
The story does improve after they finally sleep together. I really started to enjoy it, then with 10% left, the h pulled the "I'm leaving him bc my past will hurt him" cliche. Ugh!
Then there is the second road trip romance that I care little about. The h's friend and her crush are following behind the main couple on a rescue mission. Both couples bored me!
What I liked: the h's backstory. Though disturbing, it was interesting. A well fleshed out character, too bad the other characters weren't.
Conclusion:, I love all the AS books I've read so far. I was bound to finally find a dud eventually
October 14, 2018
Anne Stuart is known for her alpha heroes who are also damaged beyond repair and her heroines that come along and help tame her mate's inner demons. A Rose At Midnight is a story of two characters who can't forgive each other. The heroine thinks the hero is to blame for everything that happens in her life. She tries to poison him and in turn he kidnaps her trying to force her to his will through seduction and what some may believe is forced and even rape.
Ghislane and Nicholas are two characters so original and very disturbing. The reader may think these two will never get past their demons and have their happy ending. Some may be disturbed by these forced sexual scenes, but Stuart is a true master at this. We feel the inner turmoil of Ghislane's lost of her family to the guillotine and how she had to sell her body for food and for her younger brother's survival. The coldness and her thirst for revenge becomes her undoing due to the man she targets.
Nicolas is delusion, a true anti-hero. He is slowly killing himself through drinking, gambling and whoring. Once upon a time he almost fell in love with a young girl before he became what he is. (I wonder who she girl is?)
There is so much more to this story that can't be told, unless you experience it. This book came out right during a time when old fashioned historical novels like this were on its way out. Stuart defies it all, writing a story that should go down in history as one of the best romance for the ages.
You will enter a world of obsession, lust, betrayal and such heartbreak that if you will probably shed a tear or at least become teary eyed.
Enter post revolutionary France and the other countries surrounded along with two characters and their counterparts, including a secondary romance that balances the main one.
A true lush romance in every sense of the word.
Ghislane and Nicholas are two characters so original and very disturbing. The reader may think these two will never get past their demons and have their happy ending. Some may be disturbed by these forced sexual scenes, but Stuart is a true master at this. We feel the inner turmoil of Ghislane's lost of her family to the guillotine and how she had to sell her body for food and for her younger brother's survival. The coldness and her thirst for revenge becomes her undoing due to the man she targets.
Nicolas is delusion, a true anti-hero. He is slowly killing himself through drinking, gambling and whoring. Once upon a time he almost fell in love with a young girl before he became what he is. (I wonder who she girl is?)
There is so much more to this story that can't be told, unless you experience it. This book came out right during a time when old fashioned historical novels like this were on its way out. Stuart defies it all, writing a story that should go down in history as one of the best romance for the ages.
You will enter a world of obsession, lust, betrayal and such heartbreak that if you will probably shed a tear or at least become teary eyed.
Enter post revolutionary France and the other countries surrounded along with two characters and their counterparts, including a secondary romance that balances the main one.
A true lush romance in every sense of the word.
May 19, 2010
This is my first taste of Anne Stuart, and I can say with confidence that it will not be the last. This one will haunt you. It will leave you unsettled long after it's over.
This is really about a tortured HEROINE, a very rare plot-line in romance novels. Ghislaine has lost everything that ever meant anything to her: her parents, brother, home, and even her innocence. She watched her parents be hung, her brother starve and loose his mind, and had to sell her body on the street to survive. How's that for a heroine?
Nicholas is SUPPOSED to also be a tortured soul, but after learning of Ghislaine's past, his seems really comfy. Anyway, Ghislaine's parents were Nicholas's godparents and Nicholas had the opportunity to help Ghislaine's family by rescuing her and helping the entire family escape their tragic fate. He didn't. He blames himself for this family's death and so does Ghislaine.....she wants to kill him.
This book takes us for quite a ride. The book switches locations, storylines, (there is a secondary romance between Ghislaine's friend/benefactor and her childhood crush), and goes from the past to the present from one paragraph to the next. For another author this might have proved challenging, but not for Stuart. She mixes it up just perfectly to bring about a near flawless book.
My only nagging question is this.....Could Ghislaine really come to terms with Nicholas and her past enough to really let go and forgive. She was just so tormented and abused that I found myself asking this question and doubting that Ghislaine's answer would've been the likely one. However, it's definitely worth your time.
This is really about a tortured HEROINE, a very rare plot-line in romance novels. Ghislaine has lost everything that ever meant anything to her: her parents, brother, home, and even her innocence. She watched her parents be hung, her brother starve and loose his mind, and had to sell her body on the street to survive. How's that for a heroine?
Nicholas is SUPPOSED to also be a tortured soul, but after learning of Ghislaine's past, his seems really comfy. Anyway, Ghislaine's parents were Nicholas's godparents and Nicholas had the opportunity to help Ghislaine's family by rescuing her and helping the entire family escape their tragic fate. He didn't. He blames himself for this family's death and so does Ghislaine.....she wants to kill him.
This book takes us for quite a ride. The book switches locations, storylines, (there is a secondary romance between Ghislaine's friend/benefactor and her childhood crush), and goes from the past to the present from one paragraph to the next. For another author this might have proved challenging, but not for Stuart. She mixes it up just perfectly to bring about a near flawless book.
My only nagging question is this.....Could Ghislaine really come to terms with Nicholas and her past enough to really let go and forgive. She was just so tormented and abused that I found myself asking this question and doubting that Ghislaine's answer would've been the likely one. However, it's definitely worth your time.
January 28, 2018
After escaping Paris during the French Revolution, Ghislaine de Lorgny wants nothing more than revenge against the man she holds responsible for the death of her family. When Nicholas Blackthorne turns up at the home where she works as a chef, Gilly knows that this is her opportunity for payback. But Nicholas turns the tables on her and forces Gilly to go travel with him to his property in Scotland.
This story was published in 1993. The hero is a classic Anne Stuart alpha hero. He has a dark reputation and considers himself irredeemable. Gilly has been through a lot in her life. She is a strong character who doesn't let her circumstances bring her down.
There is a secondary romance in this story between Gilly's employer, Lady Ellen, and Sir Anthony Wilton-Greene. They are hot on the trail of Nicholas and plan to rescue Gilly from his clutches. They have almost as much page time as the main couple and are very enjoyable. My rating: 4.5 Stars.
This story was published in 1993. The hero is a classic Anne Stuart alpha hero. He has a dark reputation and considers himself irredeemable. Gilly has been through a lot in her life. She is a strong character who doesn't let her circumstances bring her down.
There is a secondary romance in this story between Gilly's employer, Lady Ellen, and Sir Anthony Wilton-Greene. They are hot on the trail of Nicholas and plan to rescue Gilly from his clutches. They have almost as much page time as the main couple and are very enjoyable. My rating: 4.5 Stars.
May 4, 2020
Emanuela - per RFS
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Care Fenici, rinnovo con questa lettura la mia strenua ammirazione per quest’autrice straniera che racconta storie interessanti e piene di tensione: i suoi personaggi sono sempre sanguigni e dotati di una violenza di sentimenti e di desideri che lasciano spesso spiazzati.
Lui è Nicholas Blackthorne, un libertino senza scrupoli e con una dose di pazzia nelle vene – non si fa problemi a sfidare a duello il marito di una sua amante e quasi ammazzarlo -, giocatore incallito, sempre a caccia di conquiste e guadagni facili, il suo arrivo nella villa della cugina Ellen farà sì che quest’ultima preferisca fuggire a casa del fratello piuttosto che dover dividere la sua dimora con un simile lussurioso.
Peccato che la sua cuoca francese, Ghislaine, più una cara amica che una dipendente per Ellen, preferisca rimanere in cucina piuttosto che seguire la sua padrona.
In realtà, Ghislaine ha il suo buon motivo per restare sul posto e incontrare il terribile Blackthorne, con il quale ha un conto in sospeso da regolare, una vendetta di fronte alla quale non arretrerà finché non sarà compiuta; lui è una vecchia conoscenza per la ragazza, che lo ritiene responsabile di tutte le disgrazie che l’hanno colpita, molti anni prima, in Francia, durante la Rivoluzione Francese.
Nascerà tra i due contendenti un duello continuo fatto di parole, affronti e sfide, nel quale nessuno dei due arretrerà: la vivacità dei dialoghi e la tensione continua che scorre per tutto il libro rendono la lettura appassionante, coinvolgente, portando il lettore a correre sulle pagine per arrivare al lieto fine che, come in tutti i romanzi di Anne Stuart, non è scontato.
Una rosa a mezzanotte è un romance pervaso dall’incantevole perfidia dell’autrice, che sa creare uomini tenebrosi e apparentemente spietati e donne assolutamente non sottomesse, indipendenti e coraggiose; forgiati da una vita difficile di dolori e sofferenze che hanno lasciato in loro una scia di cicatrici, troveranno nel potere salvifico dell’amore l’unione dei loro destini e delle loro vite.
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Care Fenici, rinnovo con questa lettura la mia strenua ammirazione per quest’autrice straniera che racconta storie interessanti e piene di tensione: i suoi personaggi sono sempre sanguigni e dotati di una violenza di sentimenti e di desideri che lasciano spesso spiazzati.
Lui è Nicholas Blackthorne, un libertino senza scrupoli e con una dose di pazzia nelle vene – non si fa problemi a sfidare a duello il marito di una sua amante e quasi ammazzarlo -, giocatore incallito, sempre a caccia di conquiste e guadagni facili, il suo arrivo nella villa della cugina Ellen farà sì che quest’ultima preferisca fuggire a casa del fratello piuttosto che dover dividere la sua dimora con un simile lussurioso.
Peccato che la sua cuoca francese, Ghislaine, più una cara amica che una dipendente per Ellen, preferisca rimanere in cucina piuttosto che seguire la sua padrona.
In realtà, Ghislaine ha il suo buon motivo per restare sul posto e incontrare il terribile Blackthorne, con il quale ha un conto in sospeso da regolare, una vendetta di fronte alla quale non arretrerà finché non sarà compiuta; lui è una vecchia conoscenza per la ragazza, che lo ritiene responsabile di tutte le disgrazie che l’hanno colpita, molti anni prima, in Francia, durante la Rivoluzione Francese.
Nascerà tra i due contendenti un duello continuo fatto di parole, affronti e sfide, nel quale nessuno dei due arretrerà: la vivacità dei dialoghi e la tensione continua che scorre per tutto il libro rendono la lettura appassionante, coinvolgente, portando il lettore a correre sulle pagine per arrivare al lieto fine che, come in tutti i romanzi di Anne Stuart, non è scontato.
Una rosa a mezzanotte è un romance pervaso dall’incantevole perfidia dell’autrice, che sa creare uomini tenebrosi e apparentemente spietati e donne assolutamente non sottomesse, indipendenti e coraggiose; forgiati da una vita difficile di dolori e sofferenze che hanno lasciato in loro una scia di cicatrici, troveranno nel potere salvifico dell’amore l’unione dei loro destini e delle loro vite.
February 14, 2011
I absolutely love Anne Stuart - no-one writes an alpha male bad boy like she does. She's in a league of her own in that department. The hero of this book is the most alpha of the alphas and he has a nasty streak a mile wide. The skill of this writer is to create heros and sometimes heroines you shouldn't really like or want to care about, such as in this book, but even though they are bad, you still care enough and they have enough redeemable features to keep you glued to the pages and read on in the hope they reach their HEA. Always you never feel there could be a HEA, you constantly wonder how it could possibly turn around and end the way you want it to, but they do and maybe that's why Anne Stuart's books are so satisfying.
This is my favourite of all her books that I've read.
This is my favourite of all her books that I've read.
December 10, 2021
Anne Stuart always delivers for me! This also had a double couple story, with one being more prominent. I don't usually feel this way, but in this book I do feel like the hero actually didn't gravel enough. They had a super tricky history and the Hero is going to be hard for a lot of people to appreciate. You really need to like an antihero to enjoy this book.
October 21, 2021
CW for graphic violence and rape.
Waffled between 3 and 4 stars. 3.5?
I stand by my declaration that Anne Stuart villains are loquacious weirdos. They're very bad men who are absolutely going to tell you about how bad they are. In a book that deals with the aftereffects of the French Revolution, it's a bit funny that the most excess I found was in the villain, Nicholas's, elocution.
This is where you might think I would be yelling, "Show, don't tell!" but I cannot in good conscience critique an Anne Stuart book like that. I think the telling is fun and atmospheric. Her broody bad guys are so self-absorbed that they'll write their own diatribes on debauchery, and Anne Stuart does this so frequently that I associate this archetype with her. When I read The Duke's Wager earlier this year I divided the villains into two categories: The sneaky, lying marquis was John Malkovich in Dangerous Liaisons, and the duke, a boastful villain, was an Anne Stuart character.
The heroine, Ghislaine, escaped The Terror and is now working as a cook in her English friend's household. When her friend's cousin, Nicholas Blackthorne, comes to stay, Ghislaine recognizes him as the man she holds responsible for her traumatic French Revolution experience.
Nicholas had a chance to rescue her from France when Ghislaine was a teenager but he chose not to, and after years of suffering, Ghislaine tries to get her revenge in the form of poisoned food.
Obviously this doesn't work, and Nicholas kidnaps Ghislaine as punishment. His abuse of Ghislaine is very mild for a bodice ripper, but he does spend a lot of time opining. Nicholas and Ghislaine's emotions were all over the place and hard for me to track, so I wasn't extremely invested in their relationship.
Waffled between 3 and 4 stars. 3.5?
I stand by my declaration that Anne Stuart villains are loquacious weirdos. They're very bad men who are absolutely going to tell you about how bad they are. In a book that deals with the aftereffects of the French Revolution, it's a bit funny that the most excess I found was in the villain, Nicholas's, elocution.
This is where you might think I would be yelling, "Show, don't tell!" but I cannot in good conscience critique an Anne Stuart book like that. I think the telling is fun and atmospheric. Her broody bad guys are so self-absorbed that they'll write their own diatribes on debauchery, and Anne Stuart does this so frequently that I associate this archetype with her. When I read The Duke's Wager earlier this year I divided the villains into two categories: The sneaky, lying marquis was John Malkovich in Dangerous Liaisons, and the duke, a boastful villain, was an Anne Stuart character.
The heroine, Ghislaine, escaped The Terror and is now working as a cook in her English friend's household. When her friend's cousin, Nicholas Blackthorne, comes to stay, Ghislaine recognizes him as the man she holds responsible for her traumatic French Revolution experience.
Nicholas had a chance to rescue her from France when Ghislaine was a teenager but he chose not to, and after years of suffering, Ghislaine tries to get her revenge in the form of poisoned food.
Obviously this doesn't work, and Nicholas kidnaps Ghislaine as punishment. His abuse of Ghislaine is very mild for a bodice ripper, but he does spend a lot of time opining. Nicholas and Ghislaine's emotions were all over the place and hard for me to track, so I wasn't extremely invested in their relationship.
May 6, 2020
Dark but very good.
The heroine Ghislaine or 'Gilly ' is the daughter of a French comte who was godfather to the hero Nicholas Blackthorne. A year before the terror hits France properly, the hero is on his grand tour and visits with his godfather. He is about 26 at the time and has been on a downward path of debauchery. However whilst staying with the Comte, he is reluctantly captivated by Ghislaine, but feels bad about this because she is only 15 and he knows that she has become infatuated with him. The Comte approaches him at a particularly inopportune moment and asks him to take Ghislaine to England with him when he is going as this would make it easier to get the rest pf the family out of France. Nicholas rejects the suggestion in an offensive manner being horribly brutal about Ghislaine and of course she over hears. He leaves forthwith.
A year or so later he learns that the Comte and all his family went to the guillotine and this prays on his conscience and is a further spur to his descent into depravity and carelessness of his own life.
It emerges that Ghislaine and her brother survived the burning of their chateau and capture of their parents. They follow them to Paris only to find their uncle's corpse swinging outside the house. They have no money and end up on scavenging on the streets. Ghislaine is kidnaped by an evil swine and sold to a brothel, wherein she is raped by an Earl who gets off on pain. Tragically she sees Nicholas at the brothel but he is drunk and neither recognises her nor helps her and in fact asks the Madame if he can have her later. She escapes but ends up back on the streets and because her brother is starving, she agrees to have sex 2 x with the local butcher for money.the butcher is killed and the evil swine demands she present herself to him for his pleasure. When she gets there he tells her her brother is gone, and she attacks him thinking she killed him. She contemplates suicide but eventually makes her way to an inn where she gets a post in the kitchen and becomes a talented chef. About 9 years later she meets Lady Ellen, who has been jilted and prevents her from doing something stupid; they become good friends and she goes to live with Ellen in England as her chef.
Nicholas is ellen's cousin and is banished from London due to his involvement in a duel and puts up at ellen's house. Ghislaine is horrified and becomes obsessed with revenge. She tries to poison him but he and his valet realise what is going on. Following a confrontation, Nicholas recognises her and decides that he will have his revenge on her by dragging her to Scotland with him.
Thereafter there is a cat and mouse game between Ghislaine and Nicholas as she knows he wants her and that he is ruthless enough to take her regardless but for a variety of reasons the denouement is put off. The tension between the two is great and Nicholas comes across as almost brutal. He repeatedly indicates that he has no honour and that the promises he makes not to touch the h are worthless as he won't keep to them. She does manage to put him off on a number of occasions and he increasingly struggles with this as he does not want to be seen to be weak or to have let her put a chink in his armour although this is in fact what is happening.
Due to the death of his duelling partner he has to leave for the continent and drags Ghislaine with him. The stay in Holland is fairly angst filled and they then move on the Venice. Nicholas finds out what happened to Ghislaine when they come across the wretched Earl and he kills the man in a duel. He is guilt ridden about the consequences of his actions but desperate to hide this from the h and puts a pretty cold face on things. by this stage Ghislaine admits her love but in many respects neither feel good enough for each other given their past lives and so Nicholas does not speak of returning her affections.
There is a more humorous/ tender secondary romance between Lady Ellen and SIr Anthony who are in pursuit of the other pair and when they finally catch up with them in Venice.
Ellen and Ghislaine have a diversion to France to visit her long lost brother. Evil swine turns up and the h is endangered but is of course rescued and they all live hea
This was a really strong story with unusual protagonists. Nicholas was a real anti hero, who starts off the book as dishonourable dissolute cad who despises himself but has no wish to change and just expects that he will come to a bad end. The consequences of his actions to Ghislaine were dire and he then behaves in an even more ruthless fashion by kidnapping her, tying her up and keeping her imprisoned, emotionally abusing her and subjecting her to a cat and mouse game of will he/ won't her rape her. He really should not be remotely attractive. And yet...
Somehow the author manages to get just the right balance so that he does not finally cross over the line into the realm of the unforgivable. This was very much a tale of nicholas's ( slow ) road to redemption in respect of his dealings with Ghislaine and his realisation that he does not want to break her and destroy her further.
For Ghislaine this is also a difficult path to recovery. She lost her family and brother to the terror and her experiences with men meant that she also lost her sense of self respect. Ghislaine is portrayed as entirely honourable but this has meant that she finds what happened to her harder to cope with and in many respects has not forgiven herself for her actions and also her failure to commit suicide. She also has the difficult task of forgiving Nicholas and coming to terms with the reality of her love.
In the end both main characters have a difficult road which involves both forgiving themselves and each other and realising that they are not only capable of love but also worthy of it.
Reminded me of to Have and to Hold by Patricia Gaffney.
Great read.
The heroine Ghislaine or 'Gilly ' is the daughter of a French comte who was godfather to the hero Nicholas Blackthorne. A year before the terror hits France properly, the hero is on his grand tour and visits with his godfather. He is about 26 at the time and has been on a downward path of debauchery. However whilst staying with the Comte, he is reluctantly captivated by Ghislaine, but feels bad about this because she is only 15 and he knows that she has become infatuated with him. The Comte approaches him at a particularly inopportune moment and asks him to take Ghislaine to England with him when he is going as this would make it easier to get the rest pf the family out of France. Nicholas rejects the suggestion in an offensive manner being horribly brutal about Ghislaine and of course she over hears. He leaves forthwith.
A year or so later he learns that the Comte and all his family went to the guillotine and this prays on his conscience and is a further spur to his descent into depravity and carelessness of his own life.
It emerges that Ghislaine and her brother survived the burning of their chateau and capture of their parents. They follow them to Paris only to find their uncle's corpse swinging outside the house. They have no money and end up on scavenging on the streets. Ghislaine is kidnaped by an evil swine and sold to a brothel, wherein she is raped by an Earl who gets off on pain. Tragically she sees Nicholas at the brothel but he is drunk and neither recognises her nor helps her and in fact asks the Madame if he can have her later. She escapes but ends up back on the streets and because her brother is starving, she agrees to have sex 2 x with the local butcher for money.the butcher is killed and the evil swine demands she present herself to him for his pleasure. When she gets there he tells her her brother is gone, and she attacks him thinking she killed him. She contemplates suicide but eventually makes her way to an inn where she gets a post in the kitchen and becomes a talented chef. About 9 years later she meets Lady Ellen, who has been jilted and prevents her from doing something stupid; they become good friends and she goes to live with Ellen in England as her chef.
Nicholas is ellen's cousin and is banished from London due to his involvement in a duel and puts up at ellen's house. Ghislaine is horrified and becomes obsessed with revenge. She tries to poison him but he and his valet realise what is going on. Following a confrontation, Nicholas recognises her and decides that he will have his revenge on her by dragging her to Scotland with him.
Thereafter there is a cat and mouse game between Ghislaine and Nicholas as she knows he wants her and that he is ruthless enough to take her regardless but for a variety of reasons the denouement is put off. The tension between the two is great and Nicholas comes across as almost brutal. He repeatedly indicates that he has no honour and that the promises he makes not to touch the h are worthless as he won't keep to them. She does manage to put him off on a number of occasions and he increasingly struggles with this as he does not want to be seen to be weak or to have let her put a chink in his armour although this is in fact what is happening.
Due to the death of his duelling partner he has to leave for the continent and drags Ghislaine with him. The stay in Holland is fairly angst filled and they then move on the Venice. Nicholas finds out what happened to Ghislaine when they come across the wretched Earl and he kills the man in a duel. He is guilt ridden about the consequences of his actions but desperate to hide this from the h and puts a pretty cold face on things. by this stage Ghislaine admits her love but in many respects neither feel good enough for each other given their past lives and so Nicholas does not speak of returning her affections.
There is a more humorous/ tender secondary romance between Lady Ellen and SIr Anthony who are in pursuit of the other pair and when they finally catch up with them in Venice.
Ellen and Ghislaine have a diversion to France to visit her long lost brother. Evil swine turns up and the h is endangered but is of course rescued and they all live hea
This was a really strong story with unusual protagonists. Nicholas was a real anti hero, who starts off the book as dishonourable dissolute cad who despises himself but has no wish to change and just expects that he will come to a bad end. The consequences of his actions to Ghislaine were dire and he then behaves in an even more ruthless fashion by kidnapping her, tying her up and keeping her imprisoned, emotionally abusing her and subjecting her to a cat and mouse game of will he/ won't her rape her. He really should not be remotely attractive. And yet...
Somehow the author manages to get just the right balance so that he does not finally cross over the line into the realm of the unforgivable. This was very much a tale of nicholas's ( slow ) road to redemption in respect of his dealings with Ghislaine and his realisation that he does not want to break her and destroy her further.
For Ghislaine this is also a difficult path to recovery. She lost her family and brother to the terror and her experiences with men meant that she also lost her sense of self respect. Ghislaine is portrayed as entirely honourable but this has meant that she finds what happened to her harder to cope with and in many respects has not forgiven herself for her actions and also her failure to commit suicide. She also has the difficult task of forgiving Nicholas and coming to terms with the reality of her love.
In the end both main characters have a difficult road which involves both forgiving themselves and each other and realising that they are not only capable of love but also worthy of it.
Reminded me of to Have and to Hold by Patricia Gaffney.
Great read.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 21, 2022
3.5*
Although Nicholas is a typical Stuart hero, she gives him a somewhat sympathetic backstory to help readers identify with him, or at least understand him better. Stuart, as always is unforgiving to her characters, never softening their traits or explaining away their faults.
I enjoyed the secondary romance as much or more than the primary. Very interesting secondary characters all around.
If you don't like melodrama, you probably won't enjoy this book. But if you are in the mood for a little over-the-top storytelling with tortured hero and heroine, this book will fit the bill nicely. Well-written and well paced, you'll breeze through it in no time.
Although Nicholas is a typical Stuart hero, she gives him a somewhat sympathetic backstory to help readers identify with him, or at least understand him better. Stuart, as always is unforgiving to her characters, never softening their traits or explaining away their faults.
I enjoyed the secondary romance as much or more than the primary. Very interesting secondary characters all around.
If you don't like melodrama, you probably won't enjoy this book. But if you are in the mood for a little over-the-top storytelling with tortured hero and heroine, this book will fit the bill nicely. Well-written and well paced, you'll breeze through it in no time.
February 18, 2018
This was definitely not the kind of book I normally read. The heroine blames the hero for a lot of stuff that went wrong in her life. Then she stops blaming him. The journey from these points to love and marriage was filled with plot points that seemed illogical. I'd suggest people read it because it's a good read and the author keeps you engaged. The story of the side characters is adorable but I was disappointed with the side hero's reasons for marrying at first.
April 28, 2013
Typical Stuart. I liked the secondary romance best. Love Tony and Ellen. Thought the resolution with the long lost brother was odd. Will they really never see each other again?
April 18, 2022
This is an old school romance with two VERY morally grey MCs. Like our h is a poison-loving murderess and our H is constantly looking for his next duel🤺 . They both have issues and they are both perfect for each other. 🙌
Gilly, our heroine, is a badass Frenchwoman who’s been through some shit and is ready for revenge (namely against our “Hero”, Nicholas). Suffice to say, a little poisoning attempt goes awry and Nicholas takes Gilly captive as his form of revenge. Thus ensues the death threats, sexual tension, and emotional healing for these two broken characters. 🥺 They were honestly meant to heal and love each other, and bring each other peace.
I can’t say enough how much I loved Gilly!! She was so tough and resilient, and I don’t know how she made it through what she did. I loved her spirit and her heart. She’s also a no nonsense kind of girl and it was a refreshing break from a lot of the ditzy female characters usually in historical romance novels.
Unfortunately, this story is split between Gilly and Nicholas running off and Gully’s friend/boss Ellen and her suitor Tony trying to rescue Gilly. While I liked Ellen at first, I HATED Tony the whole book. He’s a disgusting pig. He’s likens Ellen to a dog multiple times, he says he doesn’t want to go through the long effort of courting her and he’d rather just entrap her in marriage, he admits to wanting to keep her on the shelf until he was ready to give up his mistresses and whores (his words), he tries to sound romantic by saying he’s been courting her a year and a half when he’s had a mistress the whole fucking time, and SO. MUCH. MORE. 🙄
Like Nicholas was a legit villain at times and I still had more respect for him than I did for fucking Tony. Tony was arrogant, possessive, and lazy, and rather than come off as attractive or hot he came off as pathetic.
Spice level: 🌶🌶🌶/5
Stars: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
Plot: 3.5/5
Hero: 4/5
Heroine: 5/5
Gilly, our heroine, is a badass Frenchwoman who’s been through some shit and is ready for revenge (namely against our “Hero”, Nicholas). Suffice to say, a little poisoning attempt goes awry and Nicholas takes Gilly captive as his form of revenge. Thus ensues the death threats, sexual tension, and emotional healing for these two broken characters. 🥺 They were honestly meant to heal and love each other, and bring each other peace.
I can’t say enough how much I loved Gilly!! She was so tough and resilient, and I don’t know how she made it through what she did. I loved her spirit and her heart. She’s also a no nonsense kind of girl and it was a refreshing break from a lot of the ditzy female characters usually in historical romance novels.
Unfortunately, this story is split between Gilly and Nicholas running off and Gully’s friend/boss Ellen and her suitor Tony trying to rescue Gilly. While I liked Ellen at first, I HATED Tony the whole book. He’s a disgusting pig. He’s likens Ellen to a dog multiple times, he says he doesn’t want to go through the long effort of courting her and he’d rather just entrap her in marriage, he admits to wanting to keep her on the shelf until he was ready to give up his mistresses and whores (his words), he tries to sound romantic by saying he’s been courting her a year and a half when he’s had a mistress the whole fucking time, and SO. MUCH. MORE. 🙄
Like Nicholas was a legit villain at times and I still had more respect for him than I did for fucking Tony. Tony was arrogant, possessive, and lazy, and rather than come off as attractive or hot he came off as pathetic.
Spice level: 🌶🌶🌶/5
Stars: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
Plot: 3.5/5
Hero: 4/5
Heroine: 5/5
February 8, 2021
UNA ROSA A MEZZANOTTE presenta un'ambientazione particolare. Ci troviamo dopo il Terrore, degenerazione assoluta dei principi che avevano alimentato la grande rivoluzione, e l'ambientazione non è quella della Francia, ma un Inghilterra brumosa alle soglie della primavera.
Ghislaine è la cuoca di Ellen, una nobildonna inglese, che cela i ricordi di un passato doloroso ed un desiderio di vendetta assoluta. Il suo è un passato di sangue e violenza, di cui reputa responsabile anche Nicholas Blackthorne, cugino lontano di Ellen. Questi, ragazzo turbolento ed in guerra con il padre, rifiutò di aiutare lei e la sua famiglia a lasciare la Francia rivoluzionaria abbandonandoli alla tempesta della storia.
In un primo momento Nicholas non riconosce in lei la ragazzina dal fascino acerbo, ma già sorprendente, che lo aveva conquistato e da cui era quasi fuggito. Ghislaine è oggi una donna assetata di vendetta che cerca in tutti i modi di aggrapparsi a questo bisogno per poter sopportare l'orrore del passato.
Nicholas è in realtà una canaglia a metà, in quanto conserva dal principio barlumi di speranza dentro di lui.
Resosi conto di essere stato avvelenato dalla donna, in un confronto violento la induce a rivelargli la sua identità e a quel punto, non potendo credere alla propria fortuna, decide di trascinarla con sé contro la sua volontà in un viaggio verso la Scozia. Sarà solo la prima tappa di un lungo viaggio che li porterà a scoprire soprattutto se stessi e a vincere i propri demoni.
Questo romanzo è sicuramente appassionante e intenso anche se a mio parere viene rallentato (come spesso accade nei romanzi della Stuart) dalla storia secondaria che ci racconta le vicende di Ellen e del pigro Tony. Se da una parte le dinamiche di questi due non mi hanno conquistato, il rapporto di amore - odio tra Ghislaine e Nicholas invece mi ha convinto per l'intensità dei sentimenti, la forza della protagonista, l'ambiguità di un Nicholas che non vuole lottare contro i demoni del suo passato, cosa necessaria per poter sopravvivere.
Nel loro peregrinare in giro per l'Europa, sfuggendo alla legge e ai propri fantasmi, i due finiscono per scoprirsi e aprirsi per capire il potere assoluto e curativo dell'amore.
Ghislaine è la cuoca di Ellen, una nobildonna inglese, che cela i ricordi di un passato doloroso ed un desiderio di vendetta assoluta. Il suo è un passato di sangue e violenza, di cui reputa responsabile anche Nicholas Blackthorne, cugino lontano di Ellen. Questi, ragazzo turbolento ed in guerra con il padre, rifiutò di aiutare lei e la sua famiglia a lasciare la Francia rivoluzionaria abbandonandoli alla tempesta della storia.
In un primo momento Nicholas non riconosce in lei la ragazzina dal fascino acerbo, ma già sorprendente, che lo aveva conquistato e da cui era quasi fuggito. Ghislaine è oggi una donna assetata di vendetta che cerca in tutti i modi di aggrapparsi a questo bisogno per poter sopportare l'orrore del passato.
Nicholas è in realtà una canaglia a metà, in quanto conserva dal principio barlumi di speranza dentro di lui.
Resosi conto di essere stato avvelenato dalla donna, in un confronto violento la induce a rivelargli la sua identità e a quel punto, non potendo credere alla propria fortuna, decide di trascinarla con sé contro la sua volontà in un viaggio verso la Scozia. Sarà solo la prima tappa di un lungo viaggio che li porterà a scoprire soprattutto se stessi e a vincere i propri demoni.
Questo romanzo è sicuramente appassionante e intenso anche se a mio parere viene rallentato (come spesso accade nei romanzi della Stuart) dalla storia secondaria che ci racconta le vicende di Ellen e del pigro Tony. Se da una parte le dinamiche di questi due non mi hanno conquistato, il rapporto di amore - odio tra Ghislaine e Nicholas invece mi ha convinto per l'intensità dei sentimenti, la forza della protagonista, l'ambiguità di un Nicholas che non vuole lottare contro i demoni del suo passato, cosa necessaria per poter sopravvivere.
Nel loro peregrinare in giro per l'Europa, sfuggendo alla legge e ai propri fantasmi, i due finiscono per scoprirsi e aprirsi per capire il potere assoluto e curativo dell'amore.
August 7, 2017
Non avevo ancora letto questo romanzo, nonostante la Stuart sia tra le mie autrici preferite. Anzi, uno dei motivi è proprio quello: tendo sempre a tenere da parte qualcosa di consolatorio per i tempi bui, come uno scoiattolino che nasconde le noci per l'inverno. Inoltre, avevo letto commenti non sempre entusiastici su "Una rosa a mezzanotte"...
Ma va là!!! Io l'ho trovato meraviglioso, all'altezza di "Innocenza e seduzione" (Nicholas mi ha anche ricordato un po' Francis, tra l'altro). Coinvolgente nel migliore stile Stuart, sia nella tormentata storia dei protagonisti che in quella più placida dei comprimari. E con tutta la spazzatura che gira, con le recenti prestazioni decisamente deludenti (almeno per me) di "colossi" del romance come la Kleypas, God save Queen Anne! 5 stelline con tutto il cuore!
Ma va là!!! Io l'ho trovato meraviglioso, all'altezza di "Innocenza e seduzione" (Nicholas mi ha anche ricordato un po' Francis, tra l'altro). Coinvolgente nel migliore stile Stuart, sia nella tormentata storia dei protagonisti che in quella più placida dei comprimari. E con tutta la spazzatura che gira, con le recenti prestazioni decisamente deludenti (almeno per me) di "colossi" del romance come la Kleypas, God save Queen Anne! 5 stelline con tutto il cuore!
June 11, 2018
Got this on a 99 cent special. It was a bit---rapey for my taste. I'm led to understand that Nicholas the "hero" is a gamma hero, which has some villainous elements to him, which in this case is very true. I was deeply uncomfortable with the idea that the heroine is pretty much getting raped but is battling against her feelings of pleasure and her feelings for her captor. It's dicey, dicey, and not something I love to read in a romance novel.
It was definitely darker than your usual romance, what with the murder and the selling of maidenhood and the kidnapping and whathaveyou. In some sense I enjoyed that more than the "gorgeous, smart, sexy but somehow still pure as the driven snow until she meets the man who changes everything..." trope often found in romance novels.
My first Anne Stewart--I'm sure I'll read some more. It was well written and engaging.
It was definitely darker than your usual romance, what with the murder and the selling of maidenhood and the kidnapping and whathaveyou. In some sense I enjoyed that more than the "gorgeous, smart, sexy but somehow still pure as the driven snow until she meets the man who changes everything..." trope often found in romance novels.
My first Anne Stewart--I'm sure I'll read some more. It was well written and engaging.
April 24, 2022
Sadly I am just unable to finish this book (FOR NOW) and that’s why it’s receiving 3 stars. It’s my first regency book and I got really busy with school work and it seems my brain just wants an easy spicy read and won’t let me focus on getting this one done. So sadly for now I’ll just be done with it. If I decide to come back i am on page 20 of 34 on
https://onlinereadfreenovel.com/anne-...
https://onlinereadfreenovel.com/anne-...
April 18, 2022
Ellen and Tony annoyed me idk why. But also seeing Ghislaine thinking about how much ‘rage’ she feels about Nicholas yet easily submitting to him disappointed me. Feeling as if he always had the upper hand frustrated me, but G also here gave me nothing. Writing was fine though, but I think I also usually don’t feel very connected to books with a secondary romances as well
October 27, 2025
DNF. May pick it up again at a later date, but it’s just not hitting.
December 26, 2020
It was more a 4.5 for the ending, but I'll give it to Anne. She can write a total assh*le hero, on the verge of reprehensible, and I loved him. I actually shouted out loud when Nicholas refused to help Gilly leave France. But it was believable! Gilly is amazing. She's not a silly heroine who is offended by some minor slight she poisons him! Yesss! Her backstory, surviving the Terror, was riveting, heart wrenching and dark. And believable. I teared-up at one point and I don't cry.
Admittedly, I like dark. It's my favorite aspect of historical romances. It's not just the social constraints -it's about the hardships and tragedies that shaped the past, the heroes and heroines. This is where you see their true characters. So many HR novels today are just sex romps in gowns with no anchoring to any events.
As I mentioned in a previous review, AS again ended too quickly (late for dinner? wth?) and I knew, halfway through it, loving it and all its sexiness and angst that it would. Why Anne??? They didn't even really reconcile. There was no grand gesture. In fact, Nicholas basically told her to get over herself when she confronted him on her life. But everything up to that was perfect.
Admittedly, I like dark. It's my favorite aspect of historical romances. It's not just the social constraints -it's about the hardships and tragedies that shaped the past, the heroes and heroines. This is where you see their true characters. So many HR novels today are just sex romps in gowns with no anchoring to any events.
As I mentioned in a previous review, AS again ended too quickly (late for dinner? wth?) and I knew, halfway through it, loving it and all its sexiness and angst that it would. Why Anne??? They didn't even really reconcile. There was no grand gesture. In fact, Nicholas basically told her to get over herself when she confronted him on her life. But everything up to that was perfect.
December 21, 2017
Non sapevo bene che aspettarmi da questo libro. Avevo tanto sentito parlare bene di quest’autrice, ma non è che avessi aspettative altissime.
L’inizio è lento, anzi lentissimo, ma dopo poco la storia ha iniziato a prendermi e allora non sono più riuscita a metterlo giù.
La trama inizialmente mi ha fatto un po’ storcere il naso, ma andando avanti con la lettura sono riuscita a trovare sempre più aspetti positivi.
Per quel che riguarda i personaggi, mi è piaciuto molto Nicholas, mentre Gilly proprio non l’ho sopportata, in quanto mi ha fatto cadere le braccia più o meno ogni volta in cui apriva bocca.
L’inizio è lento, anzi lentissimo, ma dopo poco la storia ha iniziato a prendermi e allora non sono più riuscita a metterlo giù.
La trama inizialmente mi ha fatto un po’ storcere il naso, ma andando avanti con la lettura sono riuscita a trovare sempre più aspetti positivi.
Per quel che riguarda i personaggi, mi è piaciuto molto Nicholas, mentre Gilly proprio non l’ho sopportata, in quanto mi ha fatto cadere le braccia più o meno ogni volta in cui apriva bocca.
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