Midnight Scandals [Kindle Edition]

Carolyn Jewel (Author), Courtney Milan (Author), Sherry Thomas (Author)

Book Description

Welcome to Doyle's Grange, a charming house near the hills of Exmoor, where the garden is beautiful in every season, and the residents are respectable year-round.

Except when the clock strikes midnight...

One Starlit Night

Ten years away from Doyle's Grange isn't quite long enough for Viscount Northword to forget Portia Temple, or their passionate adolescent affair. Portia, however, is about to marry another man. Northword tells himself it is wrong to interfere in her life at this late hour, but interfere he cannot help, with his words, his body, and the truths of his heart.

What Happened at Midnight

Fleeing the consequences of her father's embezzlement, Mary Chartley takes a position as a lady's companion, only to find herself a virtual prisoner at Doyle's Grange, her employer's house. And then the nightmare truly begins: the man she loves, who also happens to be the man from whom her father stole, shows up at her door seeking recompense. And not merely in pound sterling...

A Dance in Moonlight

After losing her childhood sweetheart to another woman, Isabelle Englewood is heartsick. But then something remarkable happens: Upon arriving at Doyle's Grange, her new home, she meets Ralston Fitzwilliam, who looks almost exactly like the man she cannot have. Come late at night, she tells him, so I can make love to you pretending that you are the one I love.
Little does she realize what she is about to unleash.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Courtney Milan

Courtney Milan's debut novel was published in 2010. Since then, she's been a New York Times and a USA Today bestseller, and her books have received starred reviews in Publishers Weekly and Booklist. She's been a RITA finalist and an RT Reviewer's Choice nominee for Best First Historical Romance. Her second book was chosen as a Publishers Weekly Best Book of 2010.

Courtney lives in the Rocky Mountains with her husband, a medium-sized dog, and an attack cat.

Carolyn Jewel

Carolyn Jewel was born on a moonless night. That darkness was seared into her soul and she became an award winning author of historical and paranormal romance. She has a very dusty car and a Master's degree in English that proves useful at the oddest times. An avid fan of fine chocolate, finer heroines, Bollywood films, and heroism in all forms, she has three cats and a dog. Also a son. One of the cats is his.

Sherry Thomas
Sherry Thomas burst onto the scene with PRIVATE ARRANGEMENTS, a Publishers Weekly Best Book of 2008. Her sophomore book, DELICIOUS, is a Library Journal Best Romance of 2008. Her next two books, NOT QUITE A HUSBAND and HIS AT NIGHT, are back-to-back winners of Romance Writers of America's prestigious RITA Award for Best Historical Romance in 2010 and 2011. Lisa Kleypas calls her "the most powerfully original historical romance author working today."

Her story is all the more interesting given that English is Sherry's second language--she has come a long way from the days when she made her laborious way through Rosemary Roger's SWEET SAVAGE LOVE with an English-Chinese dictionary. She enjoys digging down to the emotional core of stories. And when she is not writing, she thinks about the zen and zaniness of her profession.

Product Details

• File Size: 648 KB
• Print Length: 269 pages
• Page Numbers Source ISBN: 1479214663
• Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
• Publisher: NLA Digital Liaison Platform LLC (August 28, 2012)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B00908BRRI
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• X-Ray: Not Enabled
• Lending: Enabled
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #56,237 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars (3.5 stars) Interesting concept makes for enjoyable reading. September 1, 2012

By Old Latin teacher TOP 500 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

I bought this because the Sherry Thomas story here is intended to complement Ravishing the Heiress (Berkley Sensation), her latest HR that I thought was excellent. Not only that but the other 2 contributors here are also favorite HR writers. How could I miss with that line-up?

The 3 stories by the 3 authors are unified by taking place at the same house, Doyle's Grange, in the hills of Exmoor, each at a different period of time, but the 3 stories are only tenuously connected to each other. I wish the connection had been slightly stronger but they are tied together better than some other collections I've read.

Jewel's "One Starlit Night" begins the trilogy and takes place in 1813. The H and h here meet again at Doyle's Grange 10 years after they were teenaged lovers. He had married in the meantime and is now widowed and she has remained single. They learn some truths about themselves and about what caused their separation and must accept that it's OK to reignite that young love. Well, I'm a fan of Jewel's work but this story was truly tedious. For every 2 steps forward that the plot advances, it seems to take one step back. Actually it seemed like 1 forward for 2 back, but that's impossible because it did finally reach its HEA. (2 stars)

Courtney Milan's story "What Happened at Midnight" takes place in 1856 and there's an actual story here. There may even be a bit too much plot for the number of pages but it was an interesting read. Here we have an engaged couple separated by the heroine's father's embezzlement and the hero's belief that she is involved. She flees, they meet up again at Doyle's Grange where she is lady's companion to an unhappily married woman and he is checking out drainage systems nearby. Well, I don't think I've made that sound very interesting but I don't want to say much about the plot. It's more fun to read it not knowing where the story's going. (3.5-4 stars)

Now we come to the reason I downloaded this: Sherry Thomas's "A Dance in Moonlight". This one, of course, also takes place at Doyle's Grange, this time in 1896. The widowed heroine here is nursing her wounds after being rejected by her first love, Fitz of Ravishing the Heiress. He tells her he's in love with his wife and will not leave her. Then she meets a gentleman who looks so much like Fitz that she kisses him passionately, thinking Fitz has changed his mind and come to Doyle's Grange for her. After the first embarrassing moments, they begin a friendship, first through conversations and then through letters to each other. The development of their romance is nicely done. My problem with the story is that the heroine here does not seem much like the same character in the previous novel. This one is too nice and not as spoiled as she was previously, IMO, and so for me this story didn't much complement the novel. (3.5 stars)

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars I'm Sorry- I Just Didn't Like It September 1, 2012

By Lola Jane

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

I bought this for the Sherry Thomas story but I read the entire thing. Each story was surprisingly grim or had grim elements. I started disliking the anthology on the first story. I found the second story mildly interesting. And, I hated Sherry Thomas' story (because I hated the heroine in her earlier appearance in Ms. Thomas' "Ravishing the Heiress"- you just can't like all the heroines all the time.) All in all, I would not recommend this anthology.

The anthology's device tying all the stories together is a country cottage called Doyle's Grange. There are also some crossover appearances of characters from one story into another but they are fairly superficial appearances.

The stories are well written but I didn't like the actual stories themselves.

1. One Starlit Night by Carolyn Jewel. I didn't like it. I think if an author is going to include a seriously traumatic backstory, then that backstory had better be addressed well and sensitively. A short novella simply doesn't have enough room when you also include a scheming/annoying(?) sister-in-law, a rotten engagement, and star-crossed lovers. Especially, when the traumatic backstory is the crux of the whole matter. And, as to my personal preference, I don't take such matters so lightly that they can be throwaway backstories to be simply resolved with a single line of dialogue. Either it was a really big deal or it wasn't. If it wasn't, then please keep it out of my entertainment reading. I get very suspicious that these traumatic backstories are included only to add gravitas to a story that doesn't necessarily need any gravitas. Sometimes, a romance is simply lovely as a romance. And, an interfering parent CAN be enough of an obstacle to young love. You don't have to add soul-screaming trauma to double-down on the fact that the hero and heroine were cruelly parted in the backstory.

2. What Happened at Midnight by Courtney Milan. The best story in the anthology, though, I found it kind of mild. Maybe, I was simply deadened by the previous story. This one, too, had its share of grimness. It kicks off with a suicide and detours through an emotionally abusive marriage that is scary. Courtney Milan did an excellent job of creating a marriage between secondary characters that was totally creepy. He didn't abuse her physically but it seemed not too far of a stretch to assume he would be eventually shooting her as soon as he lost his last marble. The hero and the heroine just weren't as interesting as the totally loony, creepy secondary character. I will say, I thought the heroine's reaction to her "incredibly brief brush with poor judgment" was unnecessary and made her seem a bit... idiotic? She didn't do anything wrong. The other guy was attempting to abuse her. She used her wits and trounced a potential abuser- Yay her! Except, she thinks she ought to punished over that? And, this was still the best of the bunch.

A Dance in the Moonlight by Sherry Thomas. I take full responsibility for disliking this one. I didn't do my research. I saw Sherry Thomas' name and I ordered it without looking at a single fact about this story. It was the dreaded Mrs. Englewood's story. I already hate Mrs. Englewood. I thought she was a whiny cow in her appearance in "Ravishing the Heiress". A story that starts off with Mrs. Englewood grieving over her lost Fitz is bound to just irritate the life out of me. And, in true Sherry Thomas plot-device style, the story has a case of mistaken identity and doppelgangers. Although, to be honest, Mrs. Englewood redeemed herself a little. She cared for her deceased husband, she loves her children, and she mostly conducted herself with candidness even though she acted like a lunatic in the beginning of the story. Thomas did a pretty good job of taking the lunatic Mrs. Englewood- she really was not a sympathetic character in her last appearance- and rehabilitating her character, a bit. All the same, I could have done without another visit with this character.

Edited to Add: Why can't Sherry Thomas' Mrs. Englewood be like "Mansfield Park"'s Maria Bertram and Mrs. Norris? Weren't they forced to repair to a cottage in France where all they did was irritate each other? Sometimes, villains just need to be villains. I hate how everyone feels so sorry for Mrs. Englewood and treats her with such care but, as a character, she is not really worthy of it? Everyone is writing her letters because they worry about her? Milly is all worried about her? Bah! In her story, she is all lovely and sympathetic to Mr. Fitzwilliam's former wife but, in her last appearance, she was a total harpie to Millie.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Not Up to Usual September 1, 2012

By lovesbooks

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

I was very disappointed in MIDNIGHT SCANDALS, the e-book anthology by Courtney Milan, Sherry Thomas, and Carolyn Jewel. Courtney Milan's THE GOVERNESS AFFAIR is just about a perfect novella, so I know that she can do it; unfortunately, like her last novella (THREE WEDDINGS AND A MURDER), she didn't do it in this one either. Oddly enough, the minor characters are the real strengths in two of these novellas.

SOME mild SPOILERS. . . SOME mild SPOILERS

Courtney Milan's selection explores a wife being totally controlled and isolated by her husband in a time when there is no legal solution. He refuses to allow her to do anything, read anything, go anywhere, see anyone (including her brother), all in the guise of "protecting her." Frankly, if she had been the heroine, it would have been a more interesting book. Instead, our heroine is this woman's companion who is running from her father's investors who were defrauded. As you would expect, the writing is fine, but it lacks Milan's past depth and detail. This book is just forgettable, that's all. Grade: C

A lot of Carolyn Jewel's selection are sex scenes which were so usual that I pretty much skimmed them. The h&h were lovers years before, but he married someone else for reasons that come out in the book. His regret for marrying his wife because he was never able to love her (being still in love with the heroine) did not endear him to me, but instead, just made him seem weak. You know how you want to scream at a couple in the midst of the Big Misunderstanding, "Just spit it out, already!"? Well, I wanted to scream, "Just ask her to marry you, you dolt!" The real strength in the novella was the heroine's sister-in-law, who uses her weakness and voiced concern to control people around her "for their own good." Grade: C-

This novella contains the sequel to Sherry Thomas's RAVISHING THE HEIRESS, giving a HEA to the woman in the previous book who was the original true love of that book's hero. It begins with her reeling at Fitz's (the previous hero) decision to stay with his wife. To me, the choice of a heroine who was totally willing to break up her former lover's marriage, regardless of its impact on innocent people--including her own children--was insurmountable. The hero of this novella is a man who looks almost exactly like her former lover. To give Sherry Thomas credit, she pulls this "ugh" coincidence off pretty well. However, I just didn't like the heroine and I hated the premise, so this novella did not work for me. Grade: C-