Meet A Rogue At Midnight by Gina COnkle Series: Midnight Meetings #2.5
Published by Dragonblade Publishing on October 17, 2017
Genres: Georgian Romance, Historical Romance
Format: select
Source: author
Buy on Amazon
Goodreads
A Saved Scoundrel…
Jonas Bacon Braithwaite wants to make peace with his grandfather before departing England. Once Nottinghamshire’s favorite trouble-maker, he’s since become an upstanding man of honor. But, the lushly curved thief hiding in his bedchamber makes him think twice about one last conquest.
A Stubborn Siren…
Livvy Halsey bristles at life’s rules. Always has. Sneaking into the Braithwaite house to reclaim a treasured family heirloom is one way she upends the conventional life that awaits her. Duty demands she marry. But what harm is there in having a little fun with her childhood friend before the Twelfth Night ends?
And Twilight Temptation…
Stolen kisses fan hot flames. Surprising passion intertwines with friendship…but will it be enough to last forever?
3.5
This novella starts out with our hero Jonas stepping out of the bath and drawing his pistol. He’s realized he’s not alone in his bed chamber. But when his mystery guest, hiding behind the drapes, draws a pistol as well, Jonas tackles the person, drapes and all. And surprise surprise, his housebreaker is not a man, but a woman. A lush and lovely woman. And after she scolds him, he realizes she’s a woman he knows. And she’s one of his best friends from childhood.
This is a friends-to-lovers story and started strong. Livvy and Jonas were neighbors and even though she was 14 when they saw each other last, she’s always been in love with him. Jonas is a sailor, and he’s coming home to tell his grandfather that he’s staying at sea, and won’t be taking over the family furniture making business. He’ll be leaving after Twelfth Night.
Livvy meanwhile is trying to keep her father’s reputation in tact. He was an expert in relics and antiquities, and she learned everything at his knee. So when his memory began to fade, and his body began to fail, she took over his research. The last book published under his name was written completely by Livvie. And if word gets out, they’ll all be ruined.
As she and Jonas get closer, she tells him what’s been going on, figuring well he’s going to be leaving anyway so what’s the harm? But as they get closer, we find out that there are more obstacles than just Jonas leaving. Livvy is engaged.
This is where I began to lose patience with the story. The pacing and flow of this novella drove me nuts. I’m not sure whether the previous full-length books showed how Jonas felt about home and his grandfather or not, but this sort of sprinkles it in throughout in places where you think, is that what his angst is? Why is that being told so late in the story?
His grandfather wanted him to apprentice as a boy. His twin brother was sent to school and Jonas was told, Oh let your brother be the smart one, you can be the furniture maker. I mean, what? There’s no explanation leading me to wonder if it’s from a previous book.
And then he’s constantly called Big Ox as a slur almost, since he’s so large and strong. Again, what? Why is this only being brought up 30% in? And if he has a twin, was his twin not as big and braw? And why is it so bad? All of this could have been brought up in the beginning when he’s talking about letting his grandfather know that he’s not staying with him and taking over the business.
All in all, I enjoyed the book, the setting was great, the pacing was an issue for me, but the story itself was good enough to make me want to read another book by the author. I bet I’d enjoy her full-length novels.
(this is a quick note that we in Romancelandia should all read: the misplaced hymen. Holy crap, ladies, you need to know your own anatomy. Okay, so here’s a link to Smart Bitches Trashy Books and the amazing post about it, and another by the History Hoydens. But the short version? The hymen is not several inches inside your body. He’s not going to push in and feel a barrier. I haven’t read one of these in years, and it was usually old school romances that misplace the hymen, so I was fairly annoyed to see this in a new book. This did not affect my rating on the book)
***ARC provided by the author
