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Title: Midnight Angel by Julie Beard ISBN: 0-425-19439-6 Publisher: Berkley Pub Group Pub. Date: 02 December, 2003 Format: Mass Market Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.2 (5 reviews)
Rating: 3
Summary: A Bit Disappointing
Comment: I love Julie Beard, and I just wrote a glowing review for her book, the Duchess' Lover, of which this is a sequel of. I started Midnight Angel with high hopes, and while it's not a complete waste of time, it doesn't measure up to the first book. There is some good stuff here, but there were a lot of weak points as well.
Hugh and Lydia share a past, and it's always nice to see the hero pining away for his true love. :-) It was different that we watched him battle his drug addiction and we found out about Lydia's painful past. And for once we see, in Lord Beaumont, what the price is for being a rake and bedding all those prostitues. It was nice to see Clara and Todd again, from the Duchess' Lover. I hope she makes it through this pregnancy okay.
But there were problems here too. The pace was a bit odd. They started out only having a few days to solve the crime, but you never really feel the urgency. And then a week or two later we have the show down. And I was left feeling that Hugh really didn't do a whole lot. He didn't find the girl...he was led around by the nose by the villian. There wasn't a whole lot of characterization in this story with more focus being on the murder plot. The whole channeling of Sherlock Holmes was very obvious though not a terrible thing. I never really believed anyone could mistake Lydia for a man and I waited with baited breath for some smallest mention of the beloved Duchess from the last book...but in vain.
So I guess, it's a matter of, not the worst book I ever read, but not nearly as good as I was expecting. Better luck next time.
Rating: 1
Summary: Actually a 1 rating is too high.
Comment: This was such a waste of money and such a waste of time. There's a lengthy review which refers to the books focus on opium addiction and prostitution in 1880's england. The story line is rather stupid and not believable that the "midnight angel" is a female in disguise venturing to the slums in the middle of the night. I don't know why I bought this book but...I tossed it by the end of the 2nd chapter. Even the writing is stilted and formal and the main characters aren't warm and likeable. Can't find a good thing to say about it except that I dumped it.
Rating: 2
Summary: a bit of a let down
Comment: Lydia Parker and Lord Hugh Montgomery share a past of pain and shattered dreams. Now Lydia is the wife of the Earl of Beaumont, and she must put all the anger and distrust she feels for Hugh behind her in order to find her husband's kidnapped illegitimate daughter, for Hugh has become one of England's topnotch criminal investigators, and if anyone can help them find the missing girl, it's Hugh. But while putting aside her feelings of anger and injury may not be as difficult as she had foreseen, can Lydia also sweep aside the treacherous feeling of passion and tenderness she seems to still harbour for Hugh?
It's not an easy thing to do -- writing a novel, that is. And it is even more difficult to write an evenly paced and balanced novel that has two subplots that have to share equal prominence. And unfortunately, in spite of the many promising plot premises, ultimately, Julie Beard's "Midnight Angel" proved to be a bit of a bland read for me. Part of the problem, I felt, was that things were stretched out too thin. Where the kidnapping subplot was concerned there was no sense of urgency. Lydia and Hugh had only a few days to find the missing girl, and yet because of the poor pacing there was no sense of urgency or tension(or if there was, I definitely did not sense this). Clues fell conveniently into their laps with very little investigating on their parts, and given that the authour had gone through the trouble of setting up a rather interesting alter-ego for Lydia, the very fact that this entire plot gambit was very poorly featured throughout the novel was rather frustrating. Also, as the book reached it's finale, the entire kidnapping/mysterious deaths subplot took on elements of the farcical that almost beggared belief mainly because that entire subplot had not (in my opinion) been properly developed.
The other problem with this novel was the supposed romance subplot. For me, this subplot lacked energy. We know about the painful history that lies between Hugh and Lydia, and that Lydia feels a lot of anger towards Hugh. No matter if this anger was justified or not, if Lydia had held onto this anger for at least half the book, it might have made for a more exciting read. As it was, one had to settle for Hugh languishing looks of longing and tenderness for Lydia, and her alternately melting and pushing him away.
Unfortunately, in spite of the rather promising subplot premises, "Midnight Angel" didn't exactly take off. The entire novel lacked focus, proper character development and energy. And this was a shame because the book could have been a rather engrossing read.
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Title: The Charmer by Madeline Hunter ISBN: 0553585916 Publisher: Bantam Pub. Date: 02 December, 2003 List Price(USD): $5.99 |
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Title: The Impostor : The Liar's Club by Celeste Bradley ISBN: 0312984863 Publisher: St. Martin's Press Pub. Date: 19 October, 2003 List Price(USD): $6.50 |
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Title: Enter the Hero by Judith O'Brien ISBN: 074342798X Publisher: Pocket Books Pub. Date: 01 December, 2003 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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Title: The Perfect Seduction by Leslie LaFoy ISBN: 0312987633 Publisher: St. Martin's Paperbacks Pub. Date: 07 December, 2003 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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Title: Winter Fire by Jo Beverley ISBN: 0451210654 Publisher: Signet Pub. Date: 28 October, 2003 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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