Scarlet Nights: An Edilean Novel [Hardcover]

I always buy Jude Deveraux's books the day they hit the store and even though I had some misgivings (her last two books of this series were a bust) I had high hopes of this being the one that would win me once again. Wrong, this book left me thinking that I should probably stop paying expensive hardcover prices and wait to get it used. It wasn't terrible but it wasn't good either and I miss the old Books that made me want to cry at the end because they were so beautiful.

This book revisits the modern Edilean featured in her first book of the series, Lavender Morning. Mike Newland, brother of Tess featured in the first book is a cop specializing in undercover work. An old friend of his is working on a case that has found leads in Edilean and knowing Mike's connection to the town he is asked to go there and guard Sara Shaw-the town's local girl next door. Sara is engaged to what the police believe to be a con man and if Sara marries him her life could be forfeit. Upon arriving Mike realizes that sweet Sara Shaw is just what has been missing from his life and getting her to leave her dangerous fiance becomes less of a chore than it has originally been. In a town as small as Edilean everyone gets involved in Mike's undercover mission and by the end of the book it really isn't very undercover anymore.

This book read the same as the last bunch I have disliked; some plot involves a man and a woman that forces them together, they try to resist their attractions but it is too much for them to resist. They must be together! Then one of their lives are threatened and the other one realizes that they mean much more to them than they had thought. Sigh. I can't believe I keep buying these books with the same exact plot. All of this happens over a period of a week, maybe ten days, then they move blissfully into each others' lives, happily ever after. One of the things that bothered me the most in this book however was that the description of the hero included a forehead that started several inches higher than most men's and Sara describes him to his sister as being "bald." He also is described as being short. I think it is pointed out a few more times in the book about his receding hairline and in my little mind I was unable to get past it. I want the hero of the books I read to be virile and manly and bald and short doesn't fall into my idea of either of these things. I know bald men can be sexy but a short man with a large shiny forehead doesn't enter into my description of dashing hero, it just reminded me of George Costanza.

Don't do it, don't buy this book. It's just going to encourage her to write more crappy novels and overcharge for them. This must be stopped! If you've (somehow) become attached to the Edilean series then this will help to further advance the story but really you can pretty much figure out the plot of most of the novel from the book jacket itself. I'm hoping that she writes something about the more attractive sounding Frazier cousins in the future but now that I've been burned by so many bad books I'm going to hold off on purchasing them.

Scarlet Nights is a wonderful read. If you are a Jude Deveraux fan this is a book worth reading. I admire how she is always growing as an author by bringing out books like this. This book has classic Jude Deveraux style yet she gives us a fresh new book that has a detective twist in it. I also love how she makes this a more down to earth book with characters like Mike Newland, who is a detective from a big city and is a bald slick guy that draws you to him. I actually like how Deveraux in this book strayed away from the usual cookie cutter type heroes that sometimes can make it almost non realistic. I actually pictured two men while reading this book that I imagined as "Mike Newland", a Bruce Willis and a Jason Statham type men who although short and bald, still very manly and attractive. I like the contrast of Mike's character to Sara Shaw's character. Mike being from a big city contradicts well with Sara's small town sheltered personality. I love the detective twist to it that also brings about a fight scene in the book that involves the Vandlo con artist family.
Although a more modern setting/theme, like classic Deveraux, she always connects her settings and characters to historical places and dates in her books, which is clearly well researched by the author. All in all I thought this was a great book and hope Jude Deveraux continues to show different sides of the proficient author she is.

I have to agree with the other negative reviews on most things. I don't find the balding hard to take; because Mike's perfect physique was described in such detail I pictured a buzz cut with a receding hairline like a lot of action heroes seem to have. My problem was with the same-o plot, different names. The worst to me was the ending, which I agree sounded rushed and I thought stretched things a lot. I don't want to do a spoiler, so I'll just say as I read the last chapter with disgust. I won't be advance ordering her hard-covers anymore.