Customer Reviews

His at Night

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I have enjoyed Sherry Thomas since I stumbled across her first novel, Private Arrangements. I love her sentences, I like nearly all the characters she creates. The best part of this book was probably the dialogue, and the ideas of deception and self-deception are intriguing, and it was nice to see some of the characters from her previous books mentioned. I laughed out loud more than once, in surprise and delight both. However. It was still a nearly good book, an almost great romance, a practically nice story. Her strengths lie in the tensions between characters, the things people do to themselves and to each other, mostly with words. So when she created a dramatic moment of action, it was oddly flat and not terribly tense, which consequently deflated some of the other revelations a bit. I still liked it far better than many of the romance novels I've come across, but it was a tich disappointing from this author.

The Marquess of Vere is a secret agent of sorts. In public, he plays a bumbling idiot. In private he is a investigator for the Crown. He's been doing this for years and years and not even his family and closest friends know that he is living a lie. When he meets Miss Elissande Douglas--the niece of a suspect in a case--he immediately recognizes that she is acting a role but underestimates her desire to escape her uncle's household and protect her invalid aunt; thus, he is vulnerable to her attempt to trap him into an undesired marriage. And it doesn't take her long to see the truth under her husband's mask. Thomas's strength lies in portraying these complex--and not always completely likeable-- characters in complex relationships and emotionally intense situations without making you lose faith in their eventual happiness.

I just finished this book and am bit torn about what to say about it. Lord Vere plays the idiot in society in order to cover
up his secret life as a british agent. While investigating Edward Douglas he encounters his niece, through nefarious means gaining access to her house and finding evidence for his case. That said I found this book rather tiresome to get through. I didn't get the connection between Lord Vere and Elissande. Yes they both put on facades, hers smiling and being pleasant to her uncle who is a bit of a psychopath in order to survive, his playing the idiot. Other then that they didn't seem connected. Why didn't he just drop his facade when she caught him out of character? Instead he continues the distance between them. Motivation for actions is important for me in any novel and in this I kept saying, "I don't get why he is doing this". In the end I didn't feel the connection between the main characters and I found myself bored and just wanting it to end. I have loved every one of Sherry Thomas's prior novels. If i had read this one first I would never have read another one. I loved the depth of emotion explored in those other novels. I felt what the characters felt due to her superior writing style. In this one I felt distant and not connected. More focus on motivation, and emotion rather than facades would have helped.

This premise has been used before but Sherry Thomas makes it her own in splendid fashion. The protagonists are Lord Vere and Elissande. Neither are what their superficial appearance would lead one to believe. We also meet again, Freddie, the character from Private Arrangements who Gigi leaves to pursue a truer, more appropriate love. Freddie is Lord Vere's younger brother, and his love story is a second plot running parallel to that of Lord Vere and Elissande. Both stories are wonderfully, and skillfully told, without any confusion that might be expected by blending two stories. Once again, Sherry Thomas exhibits her amazing and skillful use of language to bring us humor, angst, sorrow, joy, and love. Please take a look at [...] if you have never viewed her web site. It says a lot about the genius of this writer, and the myriad elements of her personality that make her one of the very best writers in this genre.

I read this book in one long, 12 hour stretch, finishing just before midnight. It goes without saying that the natives were restless, waiting for mom to pull her nose out of that stupid kissing book, and see to their needs. But, as is usually the case when the kissing book in question is a Sherry Thomas, it goes without saying that it's a pizza night, remember to brush your teeth, try to get into bed at a decent hour, and interrupt me at your own risk.
My DH crept to the bedroom doorway two or three times between 11pm and midnight, gazing longingly at his pillow, and then slunk back to the sofa to (grudgingly) wait out the final chapter.
Finished at last, exhausted, and finally settling in for a good night's sleep myself, I sat bolt upright in the bed. "My God," I shrieked, slapping my forehead. "I only just realized it - she's reinvented the old school romance!". My DH opened his eyes and peered blankly at me for a few seconds, and then promptly went back to sleep. Oh well, we can't be on the same wavelength all the time...
I don't know why I didn't see it before. The indicators were all there in Private Arrangements. Damaged hero (ok, Camden is significantly less damaged than Vere) meets a ruthless heroine, willing to use whatever means are necessary to achieve her own ends. Maybe the reason I didn't see it is because Gigi from PA is much harder to sympathize with. Manipulating Camden into marriage might have been an act of desperation on her part, but it couldn't exactly be called a matter of life or death. Her act of desperation left her with a certain amount of metaphorical blood on her hands, whereas Ellie traps Vere into marriage for different reasons altogether. She may have been more ruthless in her methods, but it was, for her and her aunt, a matter of survival. She had one chance to save them and she took it, damn the consequences, because whatever they were, they were certainly preferable to slow torture & eventual death at the hands of her uncle.
This leaves her in the somewhat unique (in the current romance trend) position of being an *innocent* schemer.
I can't think of the last time I've seen that, but I know I have seen it, so therefore, it must be an old school device:P I have a hard time recalling (senility, you know) specific instances, but when I think of old school romance, the head swims with images of innocent, desperate heroines, chained to angry & resentful heroes who are resolved to make them pay - and pay dearly - for trapping them into this travesty of a marriage; where regardless of how angry & resentful they are, they can still manage to gird their loins into poking the heroine at every available opportunity - and hating her for it later.
Where this bamboozled hero - Vere - differs from his old school peas in a pod, is that he has very compelling reasons to feel resentful, he recognizes that he's completely incompetent at getting even, and he doesn't dig too deeply, or with any real gusto, into the old school hero's bag of dirty tricks in order to make the heroine suffer.
Another difference is that relatively early on, he starts to realize just how desperate Ellie's situation was, and he resolves to do the right thing by her, even though he isn't willing to give up his crutch - the vision of living out his life, either wandering the earth lonely and alone, or in the company of an imaginary companion who never asks for or needs anything from him.
His conflict isn't just that of a man who resents being trapped into marriage. He's much more complex; honorable and innately good, even in the midst of his duplicity. Sleeping with Ellie is, in old school style, something that he gives into in moments of weakness, but his behavior on the proverbial morning after never left me as disgusted with him as I have been with other heroes, past & present. I was more disappointed, than anything else, that he didn't wake up a new man, transformed by a little magic nookie, and with the realization that he was madly in love with Ellie and couldn't live without her.
I have to say though, that if this HAD happened, it would have been a much shorter book, and I would have been deeply, gravely disappointed with the author.
At this point, I've gone on for too many paragraphs to backpedal & synopsize this book, so I'll just forge ahead. There are many to choose from, so pick one, read it, and take this "review" as extemporaneous commentary on my thoughts & impressions regarding this story. I highly recommend it with the caveat that you shouldn't read it if you're looking for the customary level of angst contained in your average wallpaper romance. If wallpaper is your pleasure, I'd say pick up the new Sarah Maclean book and count your blessings.
Thomas makes you work & sweat for your HEA - which is something that I, as a reader, am pretty hungry for most of the time. Unfortunately, it's fare I get my mouth all set for and rarely get these days, but that doesn't mean I ever stop hoping to find it.
If you have the chutzpah to long for every romance you read to be as emotionally grueling as a really angsty Laura Kinsale novel, this one has the stuff. Where it differs slightly, for me, is that where Kinsale sometimes makes me feel like my heart has been ripped out, ST leaves me more with the feeling that it was surgically removed by a mad scientist.
It takes audacity, in this day & age, for a writer to use the premise of a heroine trapping the hero into marriage, especially the way that ST did it here. I don't think most romance writers nowadays have the confidence & sheer nerve to pull off that kind of internal conflict, much less write their way out of it credibly.
But Thomas has never shied away from writing angry, resentful heroes either. And at least she explained this one well in the final third. I related to Vere a lot better than I could relate to Camden from PA.
I was truly upset & hurt (to the point of tears a couple of times) with him, the way that I used to get upset when reading old skool romances. The difference here being that he didn't quite cross the line into unforgivable - to the point that an HEA lost all credibility for me.
I think he was angry, but I didn't think the sex was. Vere did asinine little things to punish Ellie, but he always realized afterward that they were stupid & had basically backfired on him, and hurt her in ways that he didn't intend. I never once believed that he really hated her or meant to do her any harm, so he lacked that old school hero obtuseness.
What I take away from all that, is that ST doesn't shy away from handing you that kind of angst & making you wallow in it a bit, but she has the insight & intelligence to not pull anything cheap like rape, adultery, and unrepentant emotional abuse (what Vere did could be called abusive, but he did feel like an idiotic cad in the process) in order to provoke an emotional response.
And on the upside - His at Night has some unexpectedly hilarious moments, and the signature ST secondary romance is pretty darned sweet. *Hint*: Freddie, Gigi's erstwhile fiance from PA, finally gets his own (much deserved) HEA.
I give it an A+ (5 stars), and I will most definitely be reading it again - and soon.

Like many of us, I was really looking forward to this book. I loved the first two-thirds, then it descended into pure annoyance. Sherry Thomas did a great job in creating the menace of the uncle without making me experience PTSD in his punishments of Ellisande by destroying all books, written in English, depriving her aunt of her opium, and other psychological tortures. The real focus was on the hero and heroine (who are not separated for long periods), and it was fun seeing Vere manipulate people with his appearance of idiocy. Because Vere and Ellisande are so interesting, so likable, the first part of this book is a great read. Once Ellisande marries Vere, he is furious, but does not descend into endless ferocity and mistreatment. He mainly smolders, still being attracted to Ellisande, and then the problem of her uncle becomes the focus. However, he is NOT as protective of her as I would have liked, partially because he underestimates the uncle. If I had stopped reading at this point, I would have given the book an A.

SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS


However, I didn't stop. In the last third, Vere changes from a man posing as an idiot to one who is a true twit. Too often, he is TSTL. He decides, unconvincingly for me, that it's too intense for him to continue loving Ellisande and they must get an annulment, which he says are routinely obtained, if people lie and if there is enough money. Because that has not been my understanding of the courts in England, that blithe "solution" to the consummated marriage seemed unduly convenient and a cheap way to create suspense. Then, the VERY confusing back story about what REALLY happened to Ellisande as an infant, her uncle, and her aunt heaps more unnecessary angst on Ellisande. AFTER he has seen the uncle brutalize her already, Vere plots with Ellisande to go alone to see her dangerous uncle who beats her fairly badly. Yes, Vere is outside and yes, Ellisande eventually triumphs over her uncle with a metal weight, but I was not happy with this solution and thought it was poor plotting by Thomas. We find out that Vere discovered a terrible crime of his father (see, he has a parallel back story too). When Vere was 16 (after the father's death), he went to his aunt with this heavy knowledge. She recommends that he goes undercover, like her, to work for the police and suggests that he pose as a hedonist. Frankly, that an aunt would make such a suggestion and that any police or government agency would want a 16 year old haring off to solve crimes were too much to swallow. In the meantime, Thomas introduces Vere's brother's romance, something that is so superficial that, for me, it was just an annoyance. I could go on and cite other stupidities, but I will do something Thomas does not: I will spare you.

So, because the ending of the book is so inconsistent in character, so unbelievable in plot, and so annoying generally, I gave this book a C.

[End of the Victorian era - England]
HIS AT NIGHT is Sherry Thomas's fourth book, but the first of hers that I've read. Although I did not enjoy this book, I think Thomas is a talented author who has the ability to create interesting and complex characters. Not Quite a Husband has very good reader reviews, so I think I will be checking it out from the library and reading it before deciding that Thomas isn't for me.

SUMMARY (from back cover):
"Elissande Edgerton is a desperate woman, a virtual prisoner in the home of her tyrannical uncle. Only through marriage can she claim the freedom she craves. But how to catch the perfect man? Lord Vere is used to baiting irresistible traps. As a secret agent for the government, he's tracked down some of the most devious criminals in London, all the while maintaining his cover as one of Society's most harmless - and idiotic - bachelors. But nothing can prepare him for the scandal of being ensnared by Elissande. Forced into a marriage of convenience, Elissande and Vere are each about to discover that they're not the only one with a hidden agenda. With seduction their only weapon - and a dark secret form the past endangering both their lives - can they learn to trust each other even as they surrender to a passion that won't be denied?"

OPINION:
Elissande (24) and Penny/Vere (29) were interesting, multi-dimensional, and complex and if this book had been a regular non-historical-romance book of fiction, they would have made for excellent character studies and I think I would be giving it a much higher rating. This *is* a historical romance, however, and for me it just did not fulfill what I want from books in this category.

A positive aspect of the book, aside from the engaging main and supporting characters, was the mystery subplot. It was interesting with some very good twists and even though I guessed some, there were others I was not at all expecting, but that made sense when revealed.

My main complaint is that for me, the romance was just not there. First, this is my first Thomas book so I don't know how sensual her stories normally are, but other than one scene, HIS AT NIGHT was sadly lacking in sexual tension and chemistry (there were other instances, but they weren't very inspiring).

Second, I don't find a romance very believable or enjoyable when for over half the book the heroine thinks the hero is - literally - an idiot and the hero dislikes the heroine. Second, I don't find a romance very believable or enjoyable when for over half the book the heroine thinks the hero is - literally - an idiot and the hero dislikes the heroine. They didn't spend enough time with one another as their "true" selves, without the masks and fake personalities to hide behind.

Another point of contention for me was that the book takes place over just a few weeks, yet in that time two strangers meet, think the aforementioned negative things about one another for half that time, and then fall in love while still pretending to be/think those negative things - this didn't at all ring true to me. Though they're supposed to share a sense of kinship and have a miraculously deep understanding of one another, it felt forced and unbelievable.

Do I think the characters of Elissande and Penny could fall in love? Yes. Do I think they could have a very happy and fulfilling marriage? Yes. But all of that is something I can picture post-book and I don't know about other readers, but I don't read romances to enjoy a great set-up: I want instant gratification, everything settled and in HEA-mode by the end of the book.

Final note: the marriage between Elissande and Vere was *not* - as suggested by the book summary - one of convenience, but rather a direct result of Elissande's manipulation and scheming. Yes, she has a very good reason to go to such lengths, since she desperately wants to get her aunt and herself out of her uncle's house, but this duplicity still made me very uncomfortable.

RECOMMENDATIONS:
Marriages of Convenience
~ Slightly Married (Bedwyn Family, Book 1) by Mary Balogh, 5 stars
~ The Devil in Winter (Wallflower Quartet, Book 3) by Lisa Kleypas, 4 stars
~ At Last Comes Love (Huxtable Quintet, Book 3) by Mary Balogh, 4 stars
Heroines Escaping Bad Home Situations
~ The Perfect Rake (Merridew Sisters, Book 1) by Anne Gracie, 5 stars
~ Honor's Splendour by Julie Garwood, 5 stars
~ Always a Scoundrel (Notorious Gentlemen, Book 3) by Suzanne Enoch, 5 stars
~ His Wicked Ways by Samantha James, 5 stars
Heroes are Spies
~ Lord of Fire (Knight Miscellany, Book 1) by Gaelen Foley, 5 stars
~ Scandalous (Banning Sisters Trilogy, Book 1) by Karen Robards, 5 stars
~ IRRESISTIBLE (Banning Sisters Trilogy, Book 2) by Karen Robards, 5 stars
~ ANGEL ROGUE (Fallen Angel Series, Book 4) by Mary Jo Putney, 4 stars

Overall, this was a good book. I was originally going to give it 3 stars, but the writing is so magical that I had to round up. I think Ms. Thomas's stregnth is her lyrical prose, and that's one of the major reasons I read her books.

Characters: I loved Ellisande. I hated Vere. Elissande's strong without being feisty, and she knows what she wants. I felt like she was a real person because everything she did made sense. I completely understood why she decieved Vere into marrying her. And what was amazing was that she wanted to save herself through marriage rather than have a man save her (if that makes sense!). She's fabulous! Vere, on the other hand, not so much. His motivations for remaining an idiot for 13 years were muddled at best. He was mad at Ellisande for most of the book, and he whines and whines and whines! He thinks she's not good enough for him because she decieved him, and then he believes he's not good enough for him...yada yada yada! Make up your mind, man! I did not like him at all.

Plot: Interesting. I felt like the mystery overshadowed the romance a little, though. Ellisande and Vere didn't spend enough time together towards the end. The third part of the book completely fell apart.

Writing: Great, lyrical prose.

Overall, good book. I would have given in 3 stars were it not for the amazing heroine and great writing.

Her Uncle Edmund Douglas keeps Elissande Edgerton locked away at his home so she can care for his wife, her aunt who is a pale pathetic laudanum addict. Elissande's goal is to never be her aunt, but if she remains under Uncle Edmund's tyrannical care she will be her aunt. She knows her only safe escape is marriage though that can be a risky proposition. However, she cannot even take a chance on that option as her uncle entertains no one and never allows her to go to the galas.

When the neighbor's home is infested by a large rat population, her uncle is forced to host the guests of a house party. One of the attendees is inane big mouth Lord Vere who is apparently an expert on nothing except releasing rodents; even his brother cannot understand what happened to him that turned him into the fool. However, no one understands he performs as the fool as an undercover means to catch vicious criminals. He feels the real fool when Elissande, selecting an idiot, brazenly enters his bedroom causing a scandal that leads to marriage. However, she quickly realizes her husband is brilliant as love and his inquiry lead to danger for both of them.

His at Night is a superb historical romance starring a masquerading fool and the woman who sees past his façade. Fast-paced, readers will relish this entertaining tale as love rips away the masquerade of the hero, but also places his beloved in terrible danger. Sherry Thomas' tale is a winner for sub-genre fans,

Harriet Klausner

Plot Summary: Lord Vere suffered a fall from horseback when he was a teenager, and he's never been the same since. He's known amongst the Top Ten Thousand as a functional idiot, but what hardly any one knows - not even his brother - is that Vere's persona is a disguise to mask his undercover work for the government. On a mission to expose a fraudulent diamond dealer, Vere and his cohorts invade the home of Elissande Edgerton on false pretenses while her Uncle is away. Elissande is instantly taken with Vere... until he opens his mouth. She shifts her attention to Vere's brother, with the intention of seducing the unwitting man into marriage. She must escape from her Uncle's evil ways, and that includes her invalid Aunt as well. When Elissande's first plan fails, she tries to snare the brother by compromising him, but she ends up snaring Vere instead. He's furious at her entrapment, and although he comes to understand her reasons, he cannot forgive her for her transgression. Elissande is determined to make the best of the situation, and be a good wife to her idiot husband, but then she notices that he's not quite what he appears.

This is not the first time I've read a story that involved a forced marriage, and it's not even the first time I've encountered a hero who played the fool, but this IS the first time I've enjoyed it this much. I loved His at Night, and in my opinion, historical romance doesn't get much better than this. When I read Sherry Thomas's novel, Not Quite a Husband, I was happy with it, but I didn't quite get why everyone was hailing her as this huge new talent. After reading His at Night I can say that I get it now. She IS going to be one of the greats, and one could argue that she's already there.

One of my biggest beefs with historical romances in general is that most authors rush the hero and heroine into happy coupledom too quickly. Argh, it kills me, because once that tension is gone, the subplot has to carry my interest, and it often fails to do so. Ms. Thomas does not make that mistake here, and Elissande and Vere didn't make peace with each other until the end. She credited her characters with brains, and even though they succumbed to lust a few times, it didn't overrule their intellect. Nothing is worse than when an author treats her characters like big dumb animals for whom the sex trumps all rational thought.

With Not Quite a Husband, I was taken with the unique setting - late Victorian-period India - and the sex scenes, which were creative, to say the least. His at Night delved even deeper into the emotional side of things, and that's probably why I'm loving it even more. The thing about Ms. Thomas's style is that she doesn't present everything upfront on a silver platter. She reveals information slowly, and it wasn't until the end that I understood why Vere was capable of deceiving his own brother as to his mental status. It makes me feel like there are always new things to learn about the characters, which is how the best writers keep things interesting from the first page to the last.