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Midnight Series #1
Midnight Bride
PURSUIT OF PASSION
In grave danger of losing her estate to a manipulating aunt--and her freedom to a despised fiance Lady Rachel Wingate turns to Jerome Parnell, the sinfully handsome Duke of Westleigh, to save her. But his cold resistance to Rachel's sensuous charms spurs the desperate lady to abduct the aloof and arrogant lord in a misguided attempt to force his hand.
ACTS OF LOVE
Bitter experience has taught Westleigh to mistrust beautiful women--and his brazen capture by the ravishing Lady Rachel only confirms his low opinion. But the discovery that Rachel's life is in serious danger convinces the stubborn Duke to reexamine his warring feelings--and to finally open his guarded heart to desire--and a glorious, perilous love.
In grave danger of losing her estate to a manipulating aunt--and her freedom to a despised fiance Lady Rachel Wingate turns to Jerome Parnell, the sinfully handsome Duke of Westleigh, to save her. But his cold resistance to Rachel's sensuous charms spurs the desperate lady to abduct the aloof and arrogant lord in a misguided attempt to force his hand.
ACTS OF LOVE
Bitter experience has taught Westleigh to mistrust beautiful women--and his brazen capture by the ravishing Lady Rachel only confirms his low opinion. But the discovery that Rachel's life is in serious danger convinces the stubborn Duke to reexamine his warring feelings--and to finally open his guarded heart to desire--and a glorious, perilous love.
368 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 1995
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
June 5, 2010
Setting: Georgian England
Series: first of the "Midnight" trilogy
I sorta hate myself for even remotely liking this. This book was probably a big wonking cliche when it first came out. Reading it 15 years after publication, it has become this bloated, pus-filled cliche with terminal gout from having indulged too much. And yet to meet its deserving death to excuse it off with the "quaint" card.
It all starts with the Duke with the body of a Calvin Klein underwear model. He distrusts all wimmen because (1)his mother did not hug him enough when he was young (I am actually not exaggerating here) and (2) his fiancee - who was the previous Most Beautiful Woman He had Ever Seen before he met the heroine (natch!) - was the town bike. With those good reasons, he knows that all beautiful wimmen are sluts and not to be trusted, which leads us to . . .
The disgustingly perfect heroine. Gorgeous (yes, Helen of Troy is mentioned!) with violet eyes. Kind. Generous. Virtuous. Loves animals. She heals the sick. She is so effin' perfect that she farts rainbows. I must not be the only one who feels this way because someone in the book actually wants to KILL her. Imagine that. That mystery was handled pretty well and was some of the better parts of the novel.
This was my third Marlene Suson and will be my last. She was relatively popular at one time but the amount of obscurity surrounding her name these days is about what her talent deserves IMO. I found this in my TBR and decided to read it because the backblurb said that the heroine kidnaps the Duke to get him to marry her. She does indeed abduct him but she is pretty wishy-washy about it. Thus the kidnapping device feels very contrived & out-of-character. It still was one of the more original parts of the book tho.
Other cliches in the novel includes the nobleman-highwayman who robs from the rich and gives to the poor and those hackneyed "No!No! Yes! Yes!" sex scenes (there are actually two of em). If you like those hero-turns-on-the-heroine-like-a-rabid-dog-based-on-little-evidence-because-he-has-never-trusted-a-woman-in-his-life scenes, knock yourself out because there are many here to choose from. Notice whose fans I recommend this book for? ;-)
Wallpaper level: Target for-the-masses level. Not even Laura Ashley quality, much less the $200/roll Sanderson good stuff, but hey! at least I didnt say Walmart!
Grade: C
Series: first of the "Midnight" trilogy
I sorta hate myself for even remotely liking this. This book was probably a big wonking cliche when it first came out. Reading it 15 years after publication, it has become this bloated, pus-filled cliche with terminal gout from having indulged too much. And yet to meet its deserving death to excuse it off with the "quaint" card.
It all starts with the Duke with the body of a Calvin Klein underwear model. He distrusts all wimmen because (1)his mother did not hug him enough when he was young (I am actually not exaggerating here) and (2) his fiancee - who was the previous Most Beautiful Woman He had Ever Seen before he met the heroine (natch!) - was the town bike. With those good reasons, he knows that all beautiful wimmen are sluts and not to be trusted, which leads us to . . .
The disgustingly perfect heroine. Gorgeous (yes, Helen of Troy is mentioned!) with violet eyes. Kind. Generous. Virtuous. Loves animals. She heals the sick. She is so effin' perfect that she farts rainbows. I must not be the only one who feels this way because someone in the book actually wants to KILL her. Imagine that. That mystery was handled pretty well and was some of the better parts of the novel.
This was my third Marlene Suson and will be my last. She was relatively popular at one time but the amount of obscurity surrounding her name these days is about what her talent deserves IMO. I found this in my TBR and decided to read it because the backblurb said that the heroine kidnaps the Duke to get him to marry her. She does indeed abduct him but she is pretty wishy-washy about it. Thus the kidnapping device feels very contrived & out-of-character. It still was one of the more original parts of the book tho.
Other cliches in the novel includes the nobleman-highwayman who robs from the rich and gives to the poor and those hackneyed "No!No! Yes! Yes!" sex scenes (there are actually two of em). If you like those hero-turns-on-the-heroine-like-a-rabid-dog-based-on-little-evidence-because-he-has-never-trusted-a-woman-in-his-life scenes, knock yourself out because there are many here to choose from. Notice whose fans I recommend this book for? ;-)
Wallpaper level: Target for-the-masses level. Not even Laura Ashley quality, much less the $200/roll Sanderson good stuff, but hey! at least I didnt say Walmart!
Grade: C
January 11, 2025
Read: 1/8/25
1740s England (no Jacobite in sight)
This was on an okay story. The H attitude ruined some of the story.
The story starts off with the h's eldest brother missing, and the other one won't leave his post in America to help. Her eldest brother, before he disappeared, appointed (in a letter) his useless uncle as a guardian in his absence. The new aunt is really in charge of everything. Why would he give power over everything to his uncle? That is the million dollar (easy to figure out) question! ;). Now, this aunt is forcing Rachel to marry a rich poppinjay, and she will do anything to avoid this marriage and to help her tenants.
The Duke of Westleigh is in incognito to warn the highwayman, Gentleman Jack, that there is a bounty on his head. We don't know why it's important until later. So he arrives dressed as a lower class gentleman when he mets Rachel. His groom and friend fall into a river, and Rachel saves him. A very interesting meet. Jerome (hate that name) is different from every man Rachel has met. He actually cares about his tenants and farmers. She falls hard. She loves him, but he reverts back to his Duke demeanor every time he gets too close to her. She can't marry that man her Aunt Sophie wants. So when the Duke announces he's leaving to marry another woman, Rachel decides to kidnap him and force him to marry her. She gets Gentleman Jack, whom she nursed from death, to help her. Surprise! It doesn't go well.
Jerome has had a hard life with his father. He is expected to do everything perfectly. He once fell in love with a beautiful woman, and she cheated on him. It was a lesson his father drilled into him from childhood not to trust a beautiful woman because one man couldn't satisfy her and his past interactions have confirmed that theory. Now, he has met the most stunning woman he has ever met. Rachel seems to be caring inside and out. Her helping and healing tenants had to be a lie. Jerome only came to Rachel's home so he could find and warn Gentleman Jack. He needs to leave before he falls in love with another lying, beautiful woman.
The 2nd half of the book deals with the MC marriage. Jerome also has to find out why someone wants Rachel dead and who is responsible for her eldest brother's disappearance. It was not a hard mystery, but the how was fun to figure out. The biggest problem in the book is how Jerome annoyingly sabotages his marriage. He knows Rachel truly is a good person, but she has never been around tons of men. He hopes to keep her safe on his property and away from London society. He then pouts when he is forced to take her to London. He decided to test her, which was just wrong and ends badly.
This book would be so much better without that repetitiveness that beautiful women are cheaters. It got old! The mystery was fun, though. I'm ready to find out what happened to her brother. Still, this is not a book I'd reread again
Sidenote: I wish it had an epilogue
1740s England (no Jacobite in sight)
This was on an okay story. The H attitude ruined some of the story.
The story starts off with the h's eldest brother missing, and the other one won't leave his post in America to help. Her eldest brother, before he disappeared, appointed (in a letter) his useless uncle as a guardian in his absence. The new aunt is really in charge of everything. Why would he give power over everything to his uncle? That is the million dollar (easy to figure out) question! ;). Now, this aunt is forcing Rachel to marry a rich poppinjay, and she will do anything to avoid this marriage and to help her tenants.
The Duke of Westleigh is in incognito to warn the highwayman, Gentleman Jack, that there is a bounty on his head. We don't know why it's important until later. So he arrives dressed as a lower class gentleman when he mets Rachel. His groom and friend fall into a river, and Rachel saves him. A very interesting meet. Jerome (hate that name) is different from every man Rachel has met. He actually cares about his tenants and farmers. She falls hard. She loves him, but he reverts back to his Duke demeanor every time he gets too close to her. She can't marry that man her Aunt Sophie wants. So when the Duke announces he's leaving to marry another woman, Rachel decides to kidnap him and force him to marry her. She gets Gentleman Jack, whom she nursed from death, to help her. Surprise! It doesn't go well.
Jerome has had a hard life with his father. He is expected to do everything perfectly. He once fell in love with a beautiful woman, and she cheated on him. It was a lesson his father drilled into him from childhood not to trust a beautiful woman because one man couldn't satisfy her and his past interactions have confirmed that theory. Now, he has met the most stunning woman he has ever met. Rachel seems to be caring inside and out. Her helping and healing tenants had to be a lie. Jerome only came to Rachel's home so he could find and warn Gentleman Jack. He needs to leave before he falls in love with another lying, beautiful woman.
The 2nd half of the book deals with the MC marriage. Jerome also has to find out why someone wants Rachel dead and who is responsible for her eldest brother's disappearance. It was not a hard mystery, but the how was fun to figure out. The biggest problem in the book is how Jerome annoyingly sabotages his marriage. He knows Rachel truly is a good person, but she has never been around tons of men. He hopes to keep her safe on his property and away from London society. He then pouts when he is forced to take her to London. He decided to test her, which was just wrong and ends badly.
This book would be so much better without that repetitiveness that beautiful women are cheaters. It got old! The mystery was fun, though. I'm ready to find out what happened to her brother. Still, this is not a book I'd reread again
Sidenote: I wish it had an epilogue
no-way-jose
December 29, 2024No rating, DNF at 11%. For a perfect full story review, see Seton’s review!
Note to self: Bad soap opera in a book. Hero starts off as a good arrogant, cynical hero. Heroine is too innocent and perfect. I love my heroines to be a ray of sunshine, but this girl was …not very bright.
She was the sister of an Earl, yet in her early 20’s she had absolutely no clue that it was inappropriate to go knocking on the bedroom door of a visiting Duke. They had yet to even be introduced to each other formally. She entered his bedroom alone to have a private conversation with him. He of course bodice ripper’ly kisses her to shut her up, she’s shocked, yet also immediately weak-kneed. But she was even more shocked to learn of her faux pas:
“Then why did you come to my bedchamber?”
“Certainly not to be tumbled!” she cried in indignation. “How could you think that I came here for that?”
“Well, what the devil was I to think? That is the only reason a lady seeks to be alone with a man in the sanctuary of his bedchamber.”
Rachel was aghast. “Is that true?” She remembered the contempt on his valet’s face. “I did not know,” she gasped, mortified to the tips of her toes. “No one told me.”
Jerome could not doubt that Rachel was telling the truth. Not even the very best of actresses could feign such dismay and embarrassment. Her face was as scarlet as the brocade bed curtains. Hell, she was a damned innocent.”
“Oh hell” is right! This might end up being a cute old school story, but I’m in the mood for a more believable plot, less eye rolling.
Note to self: Bad soap opera in a book. Hero starts off as a good arrogant, cynical hero. Heroine is too innocent and perfect. I love my heroines to be a ray of sunshine, but this girl was …not very bright.
She was the sister of an Earl, yet in her early 20’s she had absolutely no clue that it was inappropriate to go knocking on the bedroom door of a visiting Duke. They had yet to even be introduced to each other formally. She entered his bedroom alone to have a private conversation with him. He of course bodice ripper’ly kisses her to shut her up, she’s shocked, yet also immediately weak-kneed. But she was even more shocked to learn of her faux pas:
“Then why did you come to my bedchamber?”
“Certainly not to be tumbled!” she cried in indignation. “How could you think that I came here for that?”
“Well, what the devil was I to think? That is the only reason a lady seeks to be alone with a man in the sanctuary of his bedchamber.”
Rachel was aghast. “Is that true?” She remembered the contempt on his valet’s face. “I did not know,” she gasped, mortified to the tips of her toes. “No one told me.”
Jerome could not doubt that Rachel was telling the truth. Not even the very best of actresses could feign such dismay and embarrassment. Her face was as scarlet as the brocade bed curtains. Hell, she was a damned innocent.”
“Oh hell” is right! This might end up being a cute old school story, but I’m in the mood for a more believable plot, less eye rolling.
July 8, 2024
Loved this romance, truly could not put it down!!
January 8, 2023
Bellissima storia d'amore che mi ha colpito molto.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews