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| Avon Books |
Tessa Dare
2012
The Summary
"A temporary engagement, a lifetime in the making...
"After years of fending for herself, Kate Taylor found friendship and acceptance in Spindle Cove--but she never stopped yearning for love. The very last place she'd look for it is in the arms of Corporal Thorne. The militia commander is as stone cold as he is brutally handsome. But when mysterious strangers come searching for Kate, Thorne steps forward as her fiance. He claims to have only Katie's safety in mind. So why is there smoldering passion in his kiss?
"Long ago, Samuel Thorne devoted his life to guarding Kate's happiness. He wants what's best for her, and he knows it's not marriage to a man like him. To outlast their temporary engagement, he must keep his hands off her tempting body and lock her warm smiles out of his withered heart. It's the toughest battle of this hardened warrior's life...and the first he seems destined to lose."
The Good
I was surprised by this novel. Not in a bad way, I assure you.
I went into A Lady by Midnight with the same expectation I had with much of Dare's work: explicit romance peppered with hints of absurdity and unlikely coincidences. (I've read enough of the romance genre to pick up on that.) And yet, despite these qualities that might ruin another novel, I found myself slowly being enchanted by Kate and the chilly Corporal Thorne.
Thorne is brooding, cool and chilly, like the ice to which Kate compares his eyes; however, as time goes on, he's strangely protective of Kate and he goes to great lengths to see that she's happy, even if it's a detriment to his reputation as a stone cold commander. She humanizes him in some way, and he is the solid foundation in her life, the constant she can rely upon.
And I found myself strangely drawn to them, hopeful for their calamitous relationship.
But I think the best thing about this novel was the epilogue. It made my heart melt, until it was just a pool of jelly. I know I probably sighed in contentment and wore that starry-eyed look that some people get when they've just finished a lovely book, when things work out as they should.
(Yes, I'm a sap. I can't seem to help myself.)
The Bad
Some coincidences are just a little too convenient, but I'm willing to suspend disbelief, because I couldn't help but fall in love with Kate Taylor and Corporal Thorne. I wanted so badly for them to be together. I was willing to overlook a few moments of silliness and melodramatic seriousness for their sakes.
The Ugly
PTSD. Abandonment. Neglect. Abuse. Abject cruelty.
It's rather sad all the terrible things both Kate and Thorne had to endure to reach this point. I especially feel for Thorne, who endured years of imprisonment and suffered unimaginable hardship on the streets, on the front lines of the Napoleonic Wars. He's marked by his experiences and, personally, it's wonderful to see the ways Kate is able to help heal some of those hurts.
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