Customer Reviews

Shadows of the Night (Signet Eclipse)

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During the courtship Colin and Fern behaved as expected of aristocrats by Victorian society. Both expected a normal somewhat boring relationship as neither showed a tendency to break out of the mold. Then came their wedding night in which Fern displays sass, boldness, and desire, which makes Colin hot for her and dream perhaps they can have an ardent loving marriage that breaks sexual taboos with some safe S&M.

They go on their honeymoon to his most remote estate where she wants independence and he desires more of what they had on their wedding night. They fall in love and enjoy their isolation until Joseph Reston from Colin's past arrives with demands that shake apart the newlyweds as she realizes he has hidden things from her while he insists they no longer matter as love has changed him from what he was.

SHADOWS OF THE NIGHT is an engaging Victorian romantic suspense in which the peril comes later in the plot, but enhances the story line by causing a major rift between the lead couple who struggle to understand their sexual appetites. Fans will enjoy this heated historical because the conflict comes from within the relationship between Colin and Fern even before Reston arrives and amplifies the already existing issues.

Harriet Klausner

Set in Victorian England (no year is specified, but based on the descriptions, I am guessing this takes place somewhere around 1850s-1860s), Shadows of the Night tells the story of the Honorable Mr. Colin Radcliffe, heir to a vicounty, and his marriage to the perfect woman -- someone quiet and resilient to have children and live a quiet life with. He will continue to have mistresses and live his somewhat passionless, stoic life on the side. But Fern isn't the woman he had thought she was. She seems demure and proper enough, but underneath her primness lies an independent, passionate woman with secret desires and a wantonness even she hadn't been aware of possessing. Colin is appalled but strangely drawn to his wife. She makes him feel alive, especially when she gets rough on him. Erotic encounters beyond his wildest dreams ensue, and Fern turns out to be not just the perfect bed partner, but also -- could it be possible? -- a good friend. But things may be destroyed when he and Fern travel to an old estate in need of restoration. The Restons are responsible for the repairs, but instead of using the funds to fix up the place, they have been keeping the money for themselves. They have been doing this to the Radcliffes for centuries. They hold a secret that has kept the Radcliffe dynasty in their power for many generations. What could this big secret be?

Lydia Joyce has written quite a vivid gothic romance novel. Shadows of the Night is beautifully written. Having read and enjoyed Music of the Night, I see that Joyce's eye for historical detail is dead on. There are some modern words and expressions sprinkled here and there, but other than that the descriptions of Victorian England are quite accurate. The erotic scenes are wonderful as well. The switch from indifference to sexual tension to intense love are nicely shown. My one complaint is that the book is too short and the story is sort of rushed in certain areas. The whole thing with the mystery surrounding the estate and the Restons confused me at first, and things didn't make sense until the book's final pages. Other than that, I really enjoyed this book. Well-written and fascinating historical romance novels are few and far in between. Most of them are nothing more than 21st century characters in period costume. I am glad to see that Joyce is not the author of one of those books.

I have no idea why anyone would want to read this book. There is nothing about it that induces me to recommend it. The basic plot is as follows: I am a boring, pampered, Viscount-to-be. I decide to find a wife & start my family. I pick the most bland, boring, wimpy woman I can find. We get married. We have sex. After sex, she gets uppity (dares to disagree with me about whether or not to go to a dance!). I get even by deciding to end our honeymoon and haul her off to some ancient, rundown manor that I own. We have sex in the carriage. I discover I like pain during sex. She becomes a sexual tigress, throwing off twenty-odd years of training & culture, and bites me whenever I ask her to. We talk endlessly about nothing. We arrive at scary manor. Sexual interlude (more biting). Talk about how scary manor is. Sexual interlude (bite, bite). Scary caretaker shows up with scary wife & does scary things that scare us. Sexual interlude with biting and endless boring talk. More scary things happen. We are scared and talk about it a lot. Finally scary caretaker does final scary thing, pointless mystery is cleared up, we decide we're totally in love (after 5 whole days!). Sexual interlude with no biting, but biting is promised if ever desired. End of book. Do NOT, NOT, NOT read this boring book!

In this Victorian Romance, the Author had a concept that she wanted to explore; Pain and Pleasure. Unfortunately, the cost of that exploration was a coherent Gothic romance.
"Hurt me." That is Colin Radcliffe's command to his new bride, Fern, on the second night of their honeymoon. "Stop it," she said through clenched teeth. "Stop these stupid games."
I'm with Fern. The requested scratching and biting foreplay was less than erotic.
Colin wants to feel pain. He states: "Enough to remind me that I am alive." This reader never felt that the characters came to life, so I understand his frustration.
The requisite intimacy scenes are clinical, not sensuous. In many romances, marital intimacy is an awakening for the woman. Here it is Colin who comes alive, who is able to care as a result of painful sexual intimacy.
The novel begins with the wedding. Colin is the usual cold, uninvolved aristocrat. Self-centered, shallow and demanding. Fern is conventional and prosaic. Colin offered for her, she accepted. Now two of the dullest protagonists to ever grace a romance novel are bound in matrimony.
As a result of a temper tantrum, our newlyweds find themselves, sans servants, at Colin's deserted, decrepit estate. Every time a door is opened something unpleasant is discovered.
Where are the servants, Steward and maintenance that Colin has been paying for? The author tells us that the Manor is frightening, crumbling and infected with hatred.
The romance abruptly leaves the S&M games behind and returns to a gothic mystery with the Horrific Radcliffe Family Secret from the Past. What is the Secret that the could bring the Radcliffes to ruin and infamy? Will it be more interesting than the slap and tickle foreplay?
I would have enjoyed this if the author had stayed with the gothic mystery theme. The - I feel pain! - I'm not empty! - I'm alive! - solelocutions of the hero were not entertaining.
I didn't really care if Colin could change from a blank-eyed oaf to a loving husband in less than a week. I wasn't convinced that Fern, a mild virginal miss, could transform into a Dominatrix.
The protagonists were not engaging, the sex therapy plot was lumbering and the mystery resolution was expected.
Not recommended.

I had a hard time enjoying the protagonists in this novel. The two leads had jarring character shifts within just a few pages. I never really cared about their story nor the mystery they stumbled upon later.

Colin Radcliffe marries the oh so right Fern and expects a docile wife. Fern is docile, in fact, she is almost boring. She has inane conversations on her honeymoon and her head seems to be full of girlish ideas but her wedding night proves to be an awakening. She is not sure if she likes the physical side of marrage or not but she is sure that her feelings are her husband's fault. This seemed childish. Within one day she gets a backbone by defying him in front of friends (by the way she was petty and he was harsh).

Their honeymoon is cut short, lasting only one day, and they travel to Colin's estate. En route, Fern decides to engage in a bit of rough sex play with her husband. This was problematic because I never really understood why Colin suddenly decided he liked it rough and how in the world a naive miss would even begin to understand this pain/pleasure principal was never fully explored. Does one night of sex open this girl's imagination up to a little S and M?

When the two arrive at the estate it is in shambles and it is apparent the caretakers have not been doing their jobs. The story takes a gothic turn. A mystery must be solved at the old manor but in the meantime, the reader is supposed to believe that Colin has fallen in love with his wife in days. I think I might have been able to believe this if more background had been included in Colin's past but he just seemed like a bored rake throughout the whole plot and innocent Fern was the fastest learning and inventive sex partner in the kingdom.

Shadows of the Night starts out as light bdsm femdom erotica, then about a third of the way through turns into a gothic novel about real estate fraud. While this is initially jarring, Joyce's writing is good, & after a short while I started enjoying the gothic/mystery (with occasional lovemaking) just as much. I'd love to see more of the characters (or see one or two more details wrapped up at the end - ex. the cell with writing & the fate of the natural child)!

The romance/sex part was quite nice. Neither the bride or groom know what they're doing, but the way they figure it out seems decently realistic. Fern is made realistically independent without being portrayed as some kind of radical suffragette (I like radical sufragettes, but it would have been out of place). I like the way Joyce phrases things, especially when Fern speaks.

I was pleasantly surprised by this romance which dares to deviate from the norm. Our hero and heroine start off the book NORMAL - she's not a gorgeous, above-average brilliant woman, nor is he a misunderstood man, brooding with tragic secrets. The first chapters show the standard for the times in which these two people live, and Fern and Colin fit the bill. But their transformation into an out-of-the-ordinary couple is the real story in this book.

Fern really does have a mind under all the societal conditioning. If one were to realize that one is an insignificant woman in a male-oriented society, and marriage doesn't actually make one's circumstances better but simply continues them in a different setting, then one might start to act out from a rising sense of panic and desperation. And one might do this in a physical way. Thus, when Fern bites Colin as he is trying to kiss her (and she is NOT in the mood, hence the biting) it creates the spark necessary to flip the switch in his head. As a member of the peerage, he was never physically reprimanded as a child, nor even shown a great deal of affection. The goal was to be emotionless, and therby, a perfect noble. The pain of Fern's bite snaps him out of the emotional haze he's imposed on himself like nothing else could. Because it was received in a sexual context, the two become related. Thus, a man who enjoys a little abuse during his sexual encounters (albeit very mild by BDSM standards) is born.

Fern is not very knowledgeable about bedroom etiquette, but she's reasonably certain biting and hitting are not normal. But she also likes having her little bit of power over Colin, how it makes her feel more her own person and less insignificant. Also, she likes the spark she sees in Colin's eyes when he "wakes up" much more than the emotionless man he once was. Luckily, Colin likes the new him, too, and so he endeavors to experiment with Fern and try to keep the new him around for good. To do this without the pressures and distractions of his normal life, he and Fern spend their honeymoon in an out-of-the-way manor, which happens to be in thorough disrepair. This is the secondary plot that provides a lot of the gothic feel of the book.

I appreciated the authenticity of the characters' initial personas, and I liked the stylized gothic feel of the prose concerning the decrepit manor. I applaud Lydia Joyce for taking a risk and showcasing an alternative sexual preference in her book. This is by no means an erotic romance, but nonetheless I really liked it, and easily forgave a few thin plot points. Challenge yourself with this atypical romance novel!

Lydia Joyce's books generally have an "edge" to them and this one is no exception. She takes the standard innocent marrying a cold nobleman premise and adds some spice. In the first half of the book the innocent bride finds herself confused by her sexual awakening. Her cold spouse finds himself aware of his bride in a manner he never intended. Consequently, the pair journey to a remote estate owned by the groom, but never visited by the family. The estate is abandoned and literally tumbling down before their eyes. An interesting, but rushed horror flavored back story is reveled. For those who are particularly squeamish, be aware that the storyline features a bit of erotic S&M. A well written read which stands above most of the genre.