Stroke of Midnight

Stroke of Midnight by Olivia Drake

Laura Faulkner finds her life shattered when a piece of jewelry stolen from a prominent woman of society is found in her father's desk. Laura and her father escape after she stabs Alexander Ross, the Earl of Copley, in the face with a letter opener, and they live in hiding for years on the continent. Laura had fancied herself in love with Alex but when he refused to listen to her about her father's innocence she realized he had probably only been courting her because he suspected her father's involvement in the theft of his god mother's jewels. Years later Laura comes back to London after her father dies while on a visit in the city and through a bizarre string of incidents finds herself employed as a companion to a friendly, if absentminded, elderly woman named Lady Josephine who happens to be Alex's aunt. Alex recognizes Laura immediately and all the old feelings he had for her come rushing back to him. He has never questioned her father's guilt but he knows that if he wants to get in her good graces, and thus his aunt's, he must humor her in her attempts to discover who really stole the jewels.

Laura's attempts to find the true thief involve attending a lot of social functions as Lady Josephine's companion in order to listen in on people's conversations and snoop in private areas of houses. Since he truly believes her father is guilty, and knows that her father was in massive debt, Alex does not really throw himself into helping Laura. She believes that the culprit is the father of the woman who competed with her for Alex's affections and that he had been having an affair with the victim of the jewel theft. She manages to confront him and when he lays out the truth about her father, she is forced to realize that she didn't know her father as well as she had thought, but she still knows that he would never have stolen those jewels. As she gets closer to finding the true thief, and closer to Alex, it scares the culprit and he takes drastic measures to ensure his crime does not come to light and it is up to Alex to save the woman he loves and clear her father's name.

This book was part of a series that had a very loose basis on classic fairy tales and this one was Cinderella as Laura was given a pair of red slippers that she wore a couple times during the book and I suppose it could be said that exciting things happened at those times, but the shoes weren't really all that special and the fairy tale thing just seemed like a gimmick. Laura was smart, determined, and obviously a very loving and dedicated daughter, but I couldn't help but roll my eyes at her attempts to discover the truth. Snooping and eaves dropping? I guess since it did bring out the culprit in the end that it could be termed a success, but she really had not been all that close to discovering the truth or even suspecting the thief. Alex was a rather boring lord who apparently investigated crimes on the sly and his most redeeming quality was his obvious love for his aging aunt. He refused to accept any other explanation for the jewels being in Laura's father's desk even while claiming he loved her and did not really help her at all in her "investigation."

The jewel theft was definitely the main theme going through this book and provided the impetus for most of the meetings, discussions, arguments, etc... between Laura and Alex. I found it interesting enough, but would really have liked more of a romance between them, absent any investigation, especially since they didn't really connect over it as they were kind of working at cross purposes, with her trying to uncover the truth and him trying to protect his godmother and prove her father's guilt. He did not come across well in these circumstances. The eventual ending to this story was predictable as every romance with a mystery and a bad guy will end with someone being kidnapped and the other coming to the rescue at the nick of time. There was definitely an attraction between the two of them and quite a lot of sexual tension that didn't really lead to too much excitement in the end. The writing was fast and engaging, which was needed in a book that I found to be difficult to relate to.

Rating: Two people who disagreed and worked at cross purposes for two long and I just never got the feeling that they belonged together.

Never Trust a Rogue

Never Trust a Rogue by Olivia Drake 308

Lindsey Crompton is the season's richest heiress and her mother is determined to see her middle daughter married off to a wealthy member of the ton after her eldest daughter made a disappointing match. But Lindsey has no intention of marrying a duke, or anyone for that matter, as she wants to open up a detective agency and help people investigate crimes and other problems. Thane Parker, the Earl of Mansfield, was orphaned and raised by his coldly judgmental uncle, who was never pleased by anything Thane did. Eschewing his responsibilities to his title he joined the army and made a name for himself as a war hero and when he returns to London he is toasted by all... except Lindsey. Lindsey does not buy into the hype surrounding Lord Thane, especially when she sees him sneaking around with a serving maid. When a serial killer begins targeting servant girls and leaving their bodies in Hyde Park, and then she finds out that one of the maids in his house has gone missing, Lindsey can't help but wonder if Thane is the killer. However, her fears about his past times don't prevent her from being attracted to the handsome earl.

What she does not know is that Thane is helping Bow Street investigate the murders and that all of his suspicious behavior is easily explained away. His chief suspect in the case, Lord Wrayford, is courting Lindsey, with her mother's whole hearted approval, and this worries Thane. Lindsey is outspoken and makes no pretense towards liking Thane, but he is drawn to her and can't stand the idea of something happening to her if Wrayford is indeed the murderer. He blackmails her into agreeing to an engagement with him in one months time; she is not happy at all as she suspects he is the murderer, but he believes it's the only way to keep her safe from Wrayford. She quickly realizes that the rumors of Thane's dissolute behavior have been much exaggerated and the more time she spends with him, the more she thinks that there is no way he could possibly be the murderer. But time is running out as more servants go missing and as Lindsey's mother becomes more determined than ever to make her daughter a duchess. Thane and Lindsey must discover who the real murderer and circumvent her mother's machination in order to be together.

I liked Lindsey however I couldn't help but view her desire to open up a detective agency to be rather childish and way inappropriate. A woman running a business in those days was almost unheard of and a detective agency would have been nearly impossible. Anyone who didn't know this had some major growing up to do, and Lindsey was not even a very good detective to begin with and it struck me as a little girl who wants to be a ballerina when she grows up; very immature. However, I was still disappointed at the speed with which she gave up this grand dream and did not really fight at all once she realized she was in love with Thane. Her investigative attempts came across as amateurish at best and rather ridiculous at worst. Thane was a more interesting character because he had a really past and life experience that made him more realistic in his expectations. His involvement in the murder was also hard to believe as I can't imagine an earl would have ever volunteered for such a task. The two spent plenty of time together, enough to make their relationship believable and for me to really get a sense that they worked well as a couple and that they really were in love.

There was very little steam in the book and some brief sex near the end of the book that was just rather bland. The strangling murder was a little overdrawn and rather superficial even though it took up quite a lot of the space I did not feel like it was overwhelming the love story. Lindsey and Thane had some great time together that dealt with the crime, but it was not the only thing they had in common. I am not going to give anything away, but I will say that I enjoyed never being really sure who the murderer was and being surprised by the resolution. I loved the relationship these two had with their family members. Lindsey's mother was the hatable matchmaking mamma who would stop at nothing to ensure a member of the ton for her daughter. For some reason I always like these type of women as they really add some tension to a book, while at the same time being likable because they're just doing what they think is best for their daughter. Thane also had an interesting relationship with his family members and I liked to read about his feelings about them evolved and Olivia's influence over these changes. The writing was incredibly fast and easy and I got through the book really quickly.

Rating: A decent book that was fun and easy and had a nice little mystery, but really nothing special in any sense.

Seducing the Heiress

Seducing the Heiress by Olivia Drake

Portia Crompton is the belle of the ton in her debut season because, despite her "lowly" origins, her father's trading business has made tons of money and she is quite the heiress. Portia and her two sister's had grown up in Bombay, India, and she intends to return there to marry her childhood sweetheart/ friend Arun, who is the maharajah's son. This of course has to remain secret from her family as her mother is desperate for her to marry a peer so that the entire family can be secure in their place in society. Colin Byrd, Viscount Ratcliffe, is a penniless peer who has decided that he must marry Portia in order to dig his family out of some immense debt. Once Colin places Portia in his sights, the Duke of Albright suddenly decides to shower her with his affections and quickly informs her that Colin is a rake, a wastrel, and a murderer. Years ago, Colin's father had died in an accident while Colin was supposedly cleaning his gun, and while a court had exonerated him, the ton has never quite forgiven him. Portia is horrified that the man she had found desperately intriguing could be so wrong for her and vows to stay away from him.

Although her mother is thrilled that Albright is paying attention to her, Portia cannot get Colin out of her head, and Colin can't stop thinking about Portia- her money and her spirit. He is horrified that Albright is paying court to her as he wants her to himself and he knows that he is just going after her to get back at the Ratcliffe family. Ratcliffe's mother had been engaged to Allbright and had left him at the alter for Ratcliffe senior. However when Albright proposes Portia accepts, thinking that Ratcliffe is not worthwhile. He is furious and decides to kidnap her and hold her hostage at his estate. It is there that Portia realizes it is not Colin who is a wastrel, but his mother who is addicted to gambling. She learns that he is caring as he has taken in an urchin off the street, saved a pirate from the high seas, and that he has hired his ex-mistress as his housekeeper after she was knocked-up and thrown away by Albright. Portia knows that it is only Colin she wants, but he wonders if she can have a better life without him. When Albright comes to "rescue" Portia she does not want to give up Colin without a fight and after a deadly duel, Portia discovers there is still so much she has to learn with the man she has fallen in love with.

Portia is quite a young heroine and there are definitely times that it shows, but it also serves as the impetuous for the major changes she undergoes throughout the novel. Her childish infatuation/ love with Arun serves as a great counter point to the passion and romantic love she ends up feeling for Colin. Her feelings towards Colin progress in a completely thorough and understandable manner and she learns more about him and gets to know who he really is behind the wastrel he presents to the rest of society. Her relationship with her parents adds a really interesting element to the story as sometimes you so want to hate them, but Portia loves them despite their faults and their sometimes inability to understand what she needs. There are some brief scenes told from the parents point of view and they are some very intriguing parts of the story. Portia and Colin are very attracted to each other but they really don't get it on until almost all the way through the story. While hot enough, it wasn't exactly super steamy and there really wasn't enough sex overall in my opinion.

The extra plot really involved Colin and his relationship with Albright and his mother. While the reader is clearly informed that there is something very shady in their past, we really are left guessing for quite awhile. It turns out that Colin had been covering for his mother in more ways than one and while at first glance that seems admirable it also comes across as just ridiculously crazy of him. The way things turned out, it was clear that from the beginning if he had just bothered to tell the truth so much of the awfulness he endured would have been circumvented. However it was very nice that his feelings for Portia were so noble. While he made no bones about his attraction for her being based solely on her money at the beginning, the reader is taken on quite the journey as his feelings undergo the same changes hers did as the two of them get to know each other. This was certainly a romance novel where the relationship was developed very well and it was very well explained why these two fell for each other so hard.

Rating: Great romantic development to accompany some great characters and quite an interesting side plot. This book is highly recommended although I wish there had been more steam and that Colin had been a little more realistic about some things.