Secrets Of The Night (Paperback)

Rosamund Overton and her cousin, Lady Diana, come up with a plan to find a likely candidate at a masquerade ball but Rosamunde chickens out and flees the event.

On her way home she comes across a man along the side of the road. Playing the good samaritan she picks him up and brings him to her cousins dower house and after cleaning him up a bit, recognizes a likely candidate who could possibly 'do the deed'.
It sounds a little cold blooded, but then this is a MALLOREN and things are just bound to HEAT up!
The story is wonderful, the characters are so well fleshed out, and what more could you expect? This is another of Jo Beverley at her best - but when is she not? Definitely a keeper.

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Rosamunde Overton is married to a man much older than she is, and who is not expected to live long; they have no children, and the heir is a member of a Puritanical sect whom no-one wants to inherit the land. So hints aplenty have been dropped: Rosa should get herself pregnant by whatever means possible, so that the baby can be passed off as her husband's. By pure chance, Lord Brand Malloren has been drugged and dumped in the middle of a bog; Rosa finds him, rescues him and, as payment, demands his sexual services. And what begins as pure sex turns into something more.

But Brand has no idea who his temporary mistress is, and Rosa is determined that they will never meet again. But she reckons without Malloren determination, and the resourcefulness of Brand's elder brother, Bey.

This is certainly an enjoyable book, though I wouldn't call it memorable; it has none of the haunting qualities of a Mary Jo Putney, or of Balogh at her best. I also felt that some descriptive passages were rushed: I had to read some of the action sequences several times to understand what had happened. Beverley also skips over elements of the story very quickly, losing the sense of suspense and failing to take advantage of opportunities for angst or romantic scenes. And I still don't know, for example, just how Brand managed to be at Wenscote in time to save Rosa from attack, since the last time we saw Brand he was headed somewhere else entirely. His presence was neither explained at the time nor in retrospect.

Having said that, I do intend to read the other Malloren books, and in particular - since I guessed from this book who Bey, Lord Rothgar's, own particular Nemesis would be - Bey's own story.

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Rosa is married to Digby, a sickly, older man, who has been unable to impregnate her. When Digby dies their home will pass into the hands of a nephew who belongs to a fanatical religious cult. In order to prevent this Digby encourages Rosa to find herself a handsome young man to get her with child.

Sheltered Rosa loves Digby but he's always been more of a protector than a lover. When she was seventeen she was gravely injured and her face was scarred. Digby saved her life by proposing marriage. Because of her scars she has been living life as a hermit and, although she is frightened by Digby's request, it reawakens her adventurous nature and she agrees to his plan.

So Rosa dons a mask and heads to a masquerade ball to find an "easy" man. But the men she meets repulse her and she decides to head back to the safety of her home. This is where she finds the hero who is laying unconscious in the middle of the street. She brings him to a friends' home and nurses him throughout the night. When he awakens he has no memory but is so grateful to the still masked Rosa that he offers her payment. She's very attracted to him and impulsively decides to ask him to make love to her and he agrees. During their time together something unexpected happens -- they fall in love.

What follows is a very sensuous love story written with wry humor about two wonderful characters caught in an impossible situation. I ached for them and was not turned off at all by the adultery plot because of the way it was presented and because all of the characters involved were warm, loving and kind people. I couldn't tear myself away from this love story until the last quarter when the couple faced a necessary separation and an intrigue subplot took over center stage. I'm very glad I read this story and I can honestly say that it stands alone very nicely if you haven't read the previous "Malloren" books.

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