His Until Midnight

by Nikki Logan

Dulu dia hanya bisa memandanginya ... dan kali ini dia dapat menyentuhnya!

Setiap tahun, pebisnis Hong Kong paling menggiurkan, Oliver Harmer menghadiahi dirinya satu hadiah Natal: makan malam mewah bersama Audrey Devaney yang tidak bisa ia miliki. Menjaga jarak dengan wanita itu—secara harfiah!—adalah sebuah perjuangan yang luar biasa besar bagi Oliver, tapi juga godaan yang sulit ia tolak.

Sampai suatu kali wanita itu tidak datang untuk pertemuan tahunan mereka. Sekarang peraturan sudah berubah! Karena, Natal ini, Audrey adalah seorang wanita lajang, dan Oliver harus memutuskan apakah dia akan membiarkan wanita itu melarikan diri di tengah malam untuk selamanya, atau berjuang agar Audrey tetap bersamanya hingga pagi datang!

Genres: Romance, Contemporary, Contemporary Romance, Friends To Lovers, Category Romance, Christmas, Fiction

296 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2013

About the author

Australian, Nikki Logan, lives on the edge of a string of wetlands south of Perth, Western Australia with her partner and a menagerie of animals. She writes captivating, nature-based stories full of romance in descriptive natural environments for Harlequin Enterprises and Entangled Publishing. She believes the danger and richness of wild places perfectly mirror the passion and risk of falling in love.

Nikki wrote her first full-length book in 2007 ('Wild Encounter' a romantic suspense set in the wilds of Zambia amidst the wildlife smuggling industry) when she needed a project to fill six months of accrued annual leave. Well and truly bitten by the writing-bug, she wrote a number of category-length novels after her return to work and hasn’t stopped since. She’s written fifteen books for Harlequin and now Entangled as well.

Nikki’s determined to reveal through her writing what she finds so enriching, courageous and tenacious about wildlife. Writing nature-based romance is the perfect opportunity to blend what she loves reading with what she loves doing and maybe sneak beautiful creatures and their environments into fertile reader imaginations all over the world through beautiful love stories.

Reviews

[Daisy Daisy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm a little torn with this one. Its different in many ways to the usual fayre our there but falls back on a couple of very cliched tropes which makes me give it a lower rating than it perhaps deserves.

The H is a powerful rich attractive Australian business man who lives in Shanghai and the h is a successful lady who tracks down stolen rare instruments I assume for an insurance company I think shes like the Thomas Crown Affair h jobwise. She is super brainy yet "plain" and her previous experience compound this so she wants an average life.

She meets the H in a bar several years before the story starts and he is charismatic and attractive. 10 mins later his best mate walks in and she gives him her number and a few years down the line marries him. She meets the H once a year in Hong Kong on 20th December to celebrate Christmas with him - allegedly on behalf of her husband, although he never accompanies her. They always have a super time talking all day and eating a 12 course meal. This has been going on for around five years now and the first few chapters of the story are short and told in flashbacks recapping these annual meetings. (They don't see each other at any other time).

We then get to "present" day and the H is waiting and hoping the h shows up as she didn't show they year previously, turns out his best mate /her husband died and the H doesn't go to the funeral. h eventually shows to tell him she won't be coming anymore as he was her husbands best mate not her friend and the H is not down with that at all.

We then get several chapters of chatting over culinary delights while they hash out whether they are friends or not. The h is secretly and illicitly attracted to the H and H is basically madly in love with the h bout shes married. Secrets are spilled and this is where the book hits the trope train and several old tropy casualties then appear in the story.
1. The dead hubby was having affairs which is why the H was pissed off with the OM and they fell out.
2. The h actually really fell for the H but felt he was out of her league so settled for his best mate.
3. H fell for h but was shocked she preferred his normal best mate.
4. OM was a serial adulterer and not very inspiring in the sack.
5. OM was actually gay and using the h as a beard.
6. OM only wanted that woman because he suspected the H wanted her and he could get one over on him for a change (and really he was probably in love with his best mate.
7. H was kinda in love with h because she was unattainable what with being married to his bezzie and he had messed up parent problems really.
I think the only tropes left not used in here were revenge and seekrit babies.

This was just waaay too many tropes for me I started to feel confused and felt they detracted from what was a pretty original plot.

Once all the secrets were out all that was left was 12 hours of orgasms, her in love, him not believing in love and letting her go then realising he cocked up a year later and making a grand gesture to get her to come back to HK where he then nearly doesn't turn up himself.

To be fair his grand gestures are pretty darn awesome he secretly buys "their" restaurant at some point in intervening years of their annual Chrimbo dinners because he will have his memories of her there (and this is before they have hooked up and while she was still married). He spends $1,000,000 to track down her missing instrument and return it to her to lure her back to HK.

The h was celibate during their year apart but its never actually said with the H. He defo dates but realises no one matches up to the h but I want him to have suffered 12 months of cold showers for his stupidity to be fair. (if he had defo been celibate I might have given it an extra star)

This romance could have been epic but it just troped itself into a 3 star review which makes me sad but I did still enjoy it immensely I especially wanted an epilogue to find out what these 2 were up to in future years, they had already wasted enough time.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this story! The concept was fabulous and the characters delicious. You could only root for them to find their HEA.

[Ashley F · Rating 3 out of 5]

This review was posted at Tsuki’s Book Blog on October 5, 2013.

I was sort of on the fence about the whole new Harlequin line (by new I mean this year). Harlequin Kiss is billed as "You think of flirting as an art form! Harlequin KISS stories are all about the delirium of a potential new romance—where fun-loving heroines and irresistible heroes just can't get enough of each other." I kind of agree but then this one seemed more on line with the Desire or Blaze line. I'm not sure it was an accurate intro to the imprint. We'll see.



Every year at Christmas Oliver and Audrey spent one night together. They meet at a Hong Kong restaurant and eat course after course of dinner while putting one year of friendship into one day. Audrey has been married to Oliver's best friend for years but the Christmas after Blake died, Audrey comes to break off the date. Oliver is floored when his perfect woman no longer wants to see him once her husband died. Will one more night be enough for either of them or will they need to overcome their issues and look forward to Christmases together?

I love reading the little letters at the beginning of Harlequin books where the author sort of explains their inspiration for the book. In this one Nikki Logan explained this was based on a true story and she just added romance. I love that. The story did sound romantic of a man and woman meeting one day a year in order to squeeze a year of friendship into one day. That story just has romance written all over it.

I'm usually not a fan of instant time jumps either backwards or forwards which was a complaint I had about Kristen Ashley's "Own the Wind". Sometimes time jumps make the book feel choppy or I feel rushed through character introductions. That's not what happened this time. I loved seeing the evolution of a deep friendship that was clearly meant to be more. As each time frame opened I was so curious about the present year, I just marathoned those chapters.

Audrey and Oliver just radiated heat. There was so much romance wrapped up in every second as two people who were destined to be fought with what was. Audrey had married Oliver's best friend and then Oliver and Blake had a falling out. I won't reveal the falling out because it is sort of a big spoiler but I will say, Oliver should have told Audrey about it. If I was Audrey I would have felt betrayed by one of my closest friends.

I loved the setting of the restaurant so much. It was such a neat setting to have the conversations they did. I was actually disappointed when they took their 'conversation' upstairs because it broke up the flow. I wanted the whole story to take place at that table during that dinner. I was disappointed but I still enjoyed the story.

I loved how the bulk of the book took place in the 'one year ago' setting so the present was so important. The 'one year ago' ended sort of badly so getting to see how they moved forward was interesting. I actually wished a little more time had been spent in the present and in the future since I loved the romance so much.

This was an excellent introduction to the Kiss line. My only issue with it as an introduction was it's level of heat. I actually had to double-check it was a 'Kiss' when I got to the sex. I kept thinking it was a 'Desire' or a 'Blaze' which usually contain sex. I was fine with it but 'Kiss' sounded a bit more flirty and less heavy/sex-ridden. Well regardless, it was hot.

I think this was an amazing way to test a new line and read a story I've never read before. I've never done a 'one day of friendship' story and this one was superb. Also I've never read a book based in Hong Kong so that was interesting and new. I think it is definitely a worthwhile read and I'm eager to see more from Ms. Logan in the future. Plus 1.99? Who can beat that for an awesome book?!

3.5 Stars
Published by Harlequin--Kiss
October 22, 2013
224 Pages
Provided by--NetGalley

[CL · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hurray! A wonderful contemporary romance set in my favourite city in the world, Hong Kong.

Usually I am on the fence about time jumps but it really worked well in this novel, due to the nature of the story. I loved the way Oliver and Audrey tried to fight their feelings. Their back-and-forth dialogue was especially well written.

Full points for a book which avoids all the trappings of a run-of-the-mill contemporary romance.

[Suzanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

A friends to lover story, with an unusual concept. A man and a woman meet one day each year in a glamorous Hong Kong restaurant where the eat scrumptious food, enjoy their kindredness, and suppress their forbidden longing for each other. Heartfelt and romantic. A DABWAHA 2014 nominee.

[Maria Bagalini · Rating 4 out of 5]

Prima di questo non avevo mai letto un Harmony, i classici romanzi rosa. Mia nonna mi ha sempre invitata a spulciare la sua infinita collezione di Harmony, sistemata in equilibrio precario sul comodino e nell’armadio, ma io mi sono sempre e solo soffermata sui fusti in copertina e sui titoli bollenti. Questo Natale mentre cercavo, appunto, qualche libro da regalare a quell’appassionata di mia nonna, mi sono imbattuta in “Tua fino a mezzanotte”, il titolo tranquillo proprio come la copertina mi hanno portato a leggere anche la trama. Mi sono lasciata tentare, l’ho comprato e ho fatto promettere a mia nonna che lo avrei letto prima io. Così è stato e non mi è dispiaciuto.

Oliver Harmer, soprannominato da tutte le donne che hanno navigato il suo letto e non solo: The Hammer, aprite Google Traslate e scoprite cosa vuol dire, è un rubacuori dall’enorme conto in banca, completamente disinteressato alle relazioni serie.
Audrey Devaney è la moglie del suo migliore amico Blake il quale le nasconde un grandissimo segreto di cui però Oliver è a conoscenza. Donna all’apparenza forte, nasconde la fragilità tipica di chi teme il giudizio degli altri, ma che per amore se ne infischierebbe.
Oliver e Audrey sono amici e il 20 dicembre di ogni anno, si incontrano in un bellissimo ristorante di Hong Kong per passare la giornata insieme, mangiare, giocare a carte e parlare. Entrambi però nutrono un forte interesse reciproco. Entrambi però decidono di lasciare che ognuno resti all’oscuro dei sentimenti dell’altro. Ogni anno lei prende un aereo da Sydney per Hong Kong e lui parte da Shanghai per raggiungere Hong Kong. Sempre la stessa storia. Ormai è un appuntamento fisso su cui entrambi sanno di poter contare. Vedersi in questo modo è meglio che non vedersi affatto e finché Blake sarà il loro punto in comune tutto andrà bene.
Peccato che Blake abbia un incidente e perda la vita.
A questo punto l’equilibrio dei nostri protagonisti subisce un duro colpo. Dopo la morte di Blake, Audrey che ragione avrebbe di continuare la tradizione? Ora che lei è single cosa potrà accadere?
È a questo punto che sia Oliver che Audrey fanno i conti con ciò che hanno sempre saputo e hanno fatto finta di non vedere. Audrey è tra i due quella che fatica di più ad ammettere di essere sempre stata innamorata di Oliver e di aver scelto Blake solo perché non credeva di essere all’altezza dell’uomo che amava davvero. Oliver invece ammette senza tante cerimonie di passare da una donna all’altra sperando di trovarne una simile a Audrey, bella e intelligente, con la quale si possa condurre una conversazione soddisfacente.

«Sono furioso per te, non con te. Perché tutto nella vita ti ha portato ad avere poca fede in te stessa nonostante le magnifiche doti che hai. E sono furioso con me stesso perché – nonostante tutto ciò che mi dice la testa, nonostante la totale mancanza di segnali da parte tua – il mio corpo non vuole saperne di recepire il messaggio.»
Audrey sentì una morsa al petto.
No, non era arrabbiato. Soffriva.
Moltissimo.
«L’assenza di segnali è un riflesso del mio enorme bisogno della tua stima.» Fece un respiro profondo. «Non rappresenta i miei veri sentimenti.»

Così Audrey e Oliver finiscono quindi per dare vita a quello che le loro fantasie hanno represso per anni. Il problema nasce quando si fa giorno e per la nostra protagonista arriva il momento di partire. Ciò che hanno vissuto può portare solo a due cose: può essere il punto di chiusura ad una bella amicizia o il punto di inizio a qualcosa da creare insieme. Il problema è che Audrey non è il tipo di donna da sesso telefonico e Oliver non ha nessuna intenzione di costruire una relazione vera con qualcuno, perché pensa di non essere in grado di amare. Ecco quindi che tutto si tramuta in caos, delusioni e lacrime.
Si rivedranno mai a Hong Kong?

Il libro non è molto grande, si tratta solo di 157 pagine. Però non mi sarei mai aspettata di trovare dialoghi così realistici in un genere rosa che ha la nomea di promettere solo scene hot o amori sdolcinati. Ciò che accade a Oliver e a Audrey è più comune di quanto si pensi. Le paure che li frenano dal dire o fare qualcosa che possa in qualche modo ferirli o aprire scenari nuovi e mai vissuti prima, sono le paure che molte persone hanno nella vita reale. Ecco il bello della lettura: c’è sempre qualcosa che ti lascia addosso, qualcosa che ti insegna e ti segna. Io se fossi in voi, darei una possibilità a questo libricino.

[Eleni Konstantine · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Nikki Logan's romances. There's always something different about them and they go to a deep level of emotion. A couple of friends meeting once a year near Christmas for a whole day of food and conversation in Hong Kong, a mid point between Sydney and Shanghai. But really there's always been more between them buried deep as the thing connecting them is the one's best friend and the other's husband.

It's a story of the road not taken and what could have been if both had been brave enough years before. Over Christmas meetings we see the connection between the characters and over the course of one, they delve deeper than ever before. Breaking down walls for a night but could it be for
longer?

You'd think that a story set mostly during one night may become boring but the opposite is true. Logan peels back the layers of these characters and by the end you are dying for the HEA they deserve.

Lovely, sensual and yet sweet story that takes you away from the first page until the last.

Disclaimer: while I know the author personally, this doesn't affect the star rating.

[Si Suka Baca Buku · Rating 5 out of 5]

AAAA, suka banget sama buku ini, fufufu.

Awalnya dulu baca buku ini versi terjemahannya. Few years later, I decide to buy the kindle version and reread it. No wonder sejak dulu gue suka, sampe sekarang pun gue masih suka buku ini, fufufufu.

Ceritanya kompleks, pace-nya cepet, tapi tetep 'penuh' dan nggak ada plot hole-nya.

Will try another Nikki Logan's book.

[LEEFE LEEFE · Rating 2 out of 5]

How it can be weird after I fell in love with Audrey? First, Audrey is a lovely characters. She is strong enough and quite clever. But... darn! What the hell with her inconsistent? I hate the description about her feelings.

[Julia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Una storia d’amore carina. La cosa che non mi ha colpita è stato che effettivamente ci fossero solo 2 personaggi per tutta la storia. La storia inoltre si sofferma per lo più in 24 ore. Per il resto la trama è bella.

[Zee Monodee · Rating 2 out of 5]

Didn't realize when reading the blurb that the heroine is actually married when she starts developing feelings for the hero. Not my cup of tea, so didn't enjoy this one

[Megan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mmm. A bit of a weird read.

It always feels wrong reading about a woman sleeping with her husbands best friend.

[Andrea Lujano · Rating 3 out of 5]

Protagonistas: Audrey & Oliver

Profesiones: Tasadora de Instrumentos Musicales & Empresario

Pais: Hong Kong

[Aulia Rofiani · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pace nya lambat, buat yg gampang bosenan this book is not for you
Sorry to say, terjemahannya entah kenapa kurang bikin nyaman gtu :(

[Melissa Burling · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great story, made me want to visit Hong Kong though, and who knows when we will get to travel again

[Hsiau Wei · Rating 3 out of 5]

They meet once a year during Christmas. Audrey have a fixed annual meeting with Oliver on the 20th December every year. Both Audrey and her husband, Blake are friends of Oliver. As they stayed in Sydney and Oliver in Shanghai, Hong Kong is the best place for their annual meeting. On that day, they will meet in their favourite restaurant, spending the time chitchatting about their life, eating their favourite foods as well as playing cards. It goes on without fail until two years ago, the year Blake passed away. Audrey did not turn up as usual and Oliver was left disappointed. And now, Oliver is waiting for her again and he make sure and is confident that she will turn up this year.

Audrey stayed away from their annual meet up because she afraid that she will lose her control mow that Blake no longer there for her to use as a shield from confessing her feeling. She is attracted to him but her loyalty is to Blake.

This book have many time jumps be it forward or backwards which make the story choppy. But I like the main characters in this story very much. Their attraction for each other radiated so much and there was so much emotion wrapped within the story for these two persons who are destine to be together. Overall, it is a sweet read for me with a descriptive and engaging story.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this book, except perhaps the secret reveal at the end which felt a bit out of place. This story is told on the same day over the course of several years. Once a year around Christmas Audrey, our heroine, flew to Shanghai for a christmas dinner with Oliver, her former husband’s best friend. Audrey had met Oliver at the same time as her husband and found him attractive and out of her league, so she went after Oliver.
As the book unfolds, we learn more about their relationship and the navigation of the “are we friends or lovers” question. Audrey confronts how her lack of confidence has held her back and Oliver recognizes some of his past mistakes.
Worth the read.

4/5 on romance scale

[M.A. Grant · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the first KISS books I've read and if the rest of the line is like this, I will happily devour them all. The unique timeline of the story held my attention throughout. I've always been a little iffy about stories that involve infidelity and I was worried once I found out that Oliver knew about Blake's cheating and didn't tell Audrey. Fortunately, Logan handled the situation with tact and it made complete sense for the character arcs. More importantly, that choice made the emotional payoff so much greater. A fantastic read!

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review Posted on HarlequinJunkie.com

Every year they met in their favorite restaurant, spending the day chatting, sampling the unique tasting menu, and even playing cards with M&Ms as their version of high stakes gambling. As the day draws to a close, both Audrey and Oliver hate to say goodbye. They have a connection, and while neither of them want to acknowledge it, it’s there just the same.Read More

[June · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very interesting story line. They've loved each other for eight years but she married his best friend and then they saw each other once a year for a full day, just before Christmas.

Very interesting twists and turns. I liked how the story was written, year to year. Gave a whole different feel to the story.

[Robyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Wow!

This book was not what I really thought it was about. I didn't love it, I was on the fence about it. Audrey was why too forgiving to Oliver. I mean 1 year seriously. No call, no text, no email for 1 year all the while she was miserable, losing weight, and depressed. Oliver should have crawled to Audrey.

[Quinn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hmmm, I thought I was going to like this book more than I did. It started of interesting enough, and I was curious on how they were going to get around the whole her being married thing. But In the end I didn't really like the characters enough to root for them.

[Kate ✨ is a dreamer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this one! I loved the premise and the characters and the dialogue was wonderful! However, if I had a quibble, the smut scenes were a bit unnecessarily lengthy. We get they went all night... but that doesn't mean I do!

Still really liked it :D

[Patricia Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was lucky enough to receive a copy of this book at the recent ARRA signing in Sydney and I loved it. Strong characters and important message that didn't follow the usual romance novel script. I great read for a rainy day.

[Erika B. (SOS BOOKS) · Rating 2 out of 5]

It wasn't bad it was just a bit cliché!

[Jacquie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm a huge fan of Nikki Logan. Her characters are always believable and usually put the reader through the wringer, the perfect romance!

[CJ - It's only a Paper Moon · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.6

Rtbp

[T. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this book- the characters were not super developed, this book was all about the plot. The story line was great. I loved the concept, and the writing was well done. Worth a read.

[Sherri Morris · Rating 4 out of 5]

read for review on FreshFiction.com

[Daniela · Rating 5 out of 5]

Delicious story of friends to lovers with a twist. Rich and deep writing with a sensual flow. Powerful in a compact venue.