Come the Night by Christina Skye

        

Pages: 496

Published: July 19, 2015
Amazon Link: buy
Genre: Historical Romance, Suspense
Series: The Dangerous Delameres, Book 1
Sexual Content: 3-5 (mild)
Format: Third-Person

Synopsis

Deadly secrets unfold on the lonely English heath where a mysterious highwayman pursues his dangerous vow of revenge. 

Silver St. Clair has vowed to reclaim her family birthright at any cost, but the precious formula for a rare fragrance coveted by all of fashionable London is lost, hidden somewhere in the misty lavender fields of her Norfolk estate. Now Silver must risk her reputation and her life, striking a wanton bargain with England's most notorious highwayman, whose price will be her unconditional surrender, her unbridled passion – and her stubborn heart.

Review

A superbly written Historical romance with suspense and intrigue at nearly every turn.

Yes, there were some type-o's here and there, and yes, the story seemed to go round in circles prior to the anticipated and exciting climax near the end, but overall, I liked this one and I like the author's writing style.

Silver has become destitute after the death of her father, a once-renowned perfumer of a highly coveted lavender oil worn not only by aristocrats but also royalty throughout Europe.

She and her twelve-year old brother, a sickly child with bookish charm, are desperate to keep the perfumery running, but with a wicked brother-in-law at their heels, the task isn't easy.

Someone is threatening Silver and the lavender fields, and with only her young brother and Tinker, a faithful servant in his early fifties, to help, Silver is having a really rough time.

She is returning late at night with a satchel of precious French lavender seeds in tow when she comes across the notorious Highwayman of the day -- a dashing rogue dressed in black head to toe, including a mask that hides his face but not his amber eyes or a scar above his full, luscious lips.

He's dark and mysterious, and very angry, but when he happens upon Silver, his cold heart begins to melt and the next thing he knows, he is unwittingly helping this auburn-hair slip of a 'gel' with her plight.

The Highwayman, of course, is regal underneath all of that dark cloak & dagger, and the scar tells a horrible story of captivity and escape that lead up to his needing to seek vengeance.

And, it all ties in nicely towards the end, with a warmhearted and loving outcome to a truly horrific start to this tale.

However . . .

It just took way, too long to reach that point.

One of my biggest fears as a writer is thinking that I never make much sense, or that I am too eager to get to the point to be able to properly lead my readers towards that goal meant to build reader excitement for the inevitable climax.

In Come The Night, it felt like I was reading the same thing again and again and yet not really gaining anything by it or being made to understand the frustratingly cryptic hints tossed my way now and again.

Silver struggling with her unknown nemesis, Silver desperate to figure out her father's secret formula, and Silver wanting to protect her little brother while also suppressing her budding feelings for the highwayman.

The Highwayman grumbling night after night about his fate, nursing old and new wounds, and cryptically allowing the reader to try and figure out just what the heck happened to make him this way.

Silver and the Highwayman meeting, getting all woo-hoo, immediately pushing each other and those emotions aside, and wanting to stick to their original courses because they're both stubborn and filled with pride.

Also, and this is really strange, but while I could picture Silver and worry for her plight, and I also worried for Lucien Delamere and his, I struggled to conjure up anything in the way of appearance, compassion or empathy, or 'like' for the male lead.

Rarely do I get into the female lead as much as I do the male, but this time it was different. Silver just seemed better developed and more attune to the story line, but I couldn't begin to explain why.

Other than his glowing amber eyes and a fit body laden with whip scars and a sick tattoo, I was never able to fully form Lucien in my head to help make me interested the way I typically do with most every romance novel I've ever read.

I somehow wanted these two to get together, but I couldn't understand why because I think he just wasn't as fully developed as she was -- or, he just remained too elusive for me to understand anything about him.

Still, this one received high marks and a review from me because of the practically flawless writing and an interesting plot with an exciting climax (once it finally arrived).

Also, and I think this is just funny, but the setting is Norfolk, England, and yet the only time you really 'heard' that was when young Bram (Brandon St. Clair) entered a scene. He spoke with an at-the-time accent and used all of the standard slang to make it believable.

So, why was he the only character to come off that way, I wonder?

In the end, I think I've learned quite a bit more about style, content, context, and flow after reading this novel.

If you are interested, she has a second story involving Lucien's little sister, India, in Come the Dawn.