The Veil of Night (Signet Eclipse) [Mass Market Paperback]

Lydia Joyce (Author)

Book Description

Series: Signet Eclipse | Publication Date: April 5, 2005

Byron Stratford, Duke of Raeburn, walks in shadow. Spoken of only in whispers, he lives alone in his crumbling manor, a cold, enigmatic recluse who does not abide visitors, lest they discover his secret shame.This is the man Lady Victoria Wakefield must confront to save her family. Little does she suspect that she will emerge from her journey as his shining sun-or that their passion will be the only defense against the true darkness threatening to destroy them both.

Editorial Reviews

From the Author

I truly enjoyed taking my love for the old Gothic tradition and using it to create something fresh and new that still had that dangerous, brooding atmosphere that made me adore the genre in the first place.

The sweet ingénue alone with the rich, older, experienced man with secret to hide has been done before--and brilliantly. So rather than try to repeat that, I took the conventions of the genre and stood them on their heads without disrespecting them in any way.

The childlike naivety of the old Gothic heroine has been replaced by the complexities of an older woman whose past has left her believing that she is hard and bitter and too afraid to live. The dark, dangerous hero is still dark and dangerous, but his own unhealed wounds and rooted fears brought about by an affliction not of his making become the 'monster in the attic' that they must face. And through their relationship runs a deep, intense sensuality that neither can even attempt to ignore.

I had a blast writing this book, and I hope you take as much enjoyment in reading it!

From the Back Cover

In darkness, he awaits her...

Byron Stratford, Duke of Raeburn, walks in shadow. Spoken of only in whispers, he lives alone in his crumbling manor, a cold, enigmatic recluse. Rarely appearing by the light of day, he moves as a wraith in the night, answering to no man. He cares little for those who dwell outside-and does not abide the intrusion of others, lest they discover his secret shame...This is the sinister man Lady Victoria Wakefield must confront if she is to save herself from her family's ruin. Little does she suspect that she will emerge from her journey into that night as his shining sun-or that the passion that radiates between them will be their only defense against the true darkness threatening to destroy them both...

"The next great romance author has arrived, and her name is Lydia Joyce. THE VEIL OF NIGHT is a stunning debut from a young writer who possesses remarkable maturity and style. Every page is charged with sensual energy and confident grace. It is a gorgeous, complex, absolutely riveting novel. If there is only one new author you will try this year, it must be Lydia Joyce."
--Lisa Kleypas

"Intelligent. Passionate. Filled with dark secrets and illuminating love. This is what romance is about!"
--Robin Schone

"A powerful love story, compelling and beautifully written."
--Alison Kent, author of THE BANE AFFAIR

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Signet (April 5, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0451214838
• ISBN-13: 978-0451214836
• Product Dimensions: 6.5 x 4.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,203,149 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

When I was very young, I didn't want to be a writer. I wanted to be a grandma. After all, grandmas don't have to work, they enjoy the company of children whenever they desire, and whenever they don't, they send them home to their parents. I would wear a large-old fashioned hat, have salt-and-pepper Gibson girl hair, and grow roses.

When I discovered that grandma-ing was not a career, I settled on writing as second best.

I began dictating my first stories to my mother before I could write. I filled notebooks in elementary school, and in middle school and high school, I wrote over 800 manuscript pages in my spare time as well as four plays that saw production.

Yet I never seriously considered writing as a career after elementary school. Writers starve, I was always told; a writer makes a decent wage about as often as pigs fly. And I wanted to make money, so I moved from Texas to Indiana to enroll in Purdue's engineering program.

I hated it.

Finally, I decided there was a good deal of difference between being good at a thing and liking it and that liking it was more important, so I left engineering. After changing my major a second time, I still managed to graduate in four years with majors in English and Spanish and a minor in religious studies--and almost another major in creative writing if illness hadn't prevented me from completing it. Meanwhile, I wrote three manuscripts and began submitting them and collecting rejection letters.

After graduation, I married a wonderful man I met my sophomore year, and so far we have one son. We're now living on a half acre in the mountains of New Mexico, where I write full time and update my website as frequently as possible.

I got my first contract in the late spring of 2004, two years after I graduated from college, and I'm hoping to sell many more books!

In addition to writing, I am a competitive ballroom dancer as well as a sometime gardener.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Nothing Special, May 5, 2005

By 

Charlotte Anderson (New York, New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Veil of Night (Signet Eclipse) (Mass Market Paperback)

Worn out premise. Unbelieveable characters. The writing is so uneven that I could never get into the flow of the story - even if it had been better. The hint of the secret with the hero just wound up being annoying. Boring, boring, boring. Such a dissapointment.

13 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Slightly better than average, but still disappointing, April 21, 2005

By 

Anonymous (United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Veil of Night (Signet Eclipse) (Mass Market Paperback)

What a letdown this book was. I've been anticipating it for a long time with much excitement because the author has said that her writing is influenced by Laura Kinsale and Judith Ivory, two of my favorite romance authors of all time. No one would love to come across another Kinsale or Ivory more, but I'm sad to say that I can't see any hint of similarity between their writing and Lydia Joyce's.

Joyce's prose style IS above average and pleasant enough to read, though here and there she overuses a word, like "challenge" or "whorl." But the main problem for me was in the characterization. I expected some complexity and layers to the main characters, but they were both lacking in depth. Victoria was your usual spinster heroine, prim on the outside but not on the inside, and Byron the typical "tortured" rakish aristocrat. I put "tortured" in quotes because while he had a good reason to be so, I never really felt his torment emotionally. At no point was I surprised by anything the characters said or did.

On the whole, Victoria and Byron were both pretty predictable, and as a result, their relationship was kind of lackluster. Perhaps part of the problem was that they psychoanalyzed each other so much in their conversations that I wasn't left any room to do any digging into their psyches myself. I also didn't get emotionally invested in either of them. They did not capture my imagination.

The love scenes were a bit more creative than usual, but they lacked the heat I am used to from Ivory and Kinsale. For the most part, the sex was just there. Joyce did a good job with the gothic atmosphere, but I felt that all the darkness in this book was on the outside, not matched any internal darkness in the characters. The book just did not have that sparkle or emotional connection of a favorite read.

To be fair, I should add here that the kind of darker, meaty historical romances I love are very hard to find these days, and I miss them terribly. For that reason, I'm sure I am guilty of having expectations that were too high for Joyce to fulfill. If I compare this book to your average first time author's romance, it is probably slightly better than that. It's only when I compare it to Kinsale and Ivory that I feel so let down. It seems that some readers below loved this book much more than I did, and I envy them and wish I could see the same qualities in it that they do.

I guess my reason for writing this review is to let other readers know not to raise their expectations too much. If you're looking for a formula story that's a pleasant way to pass the time but not too out-of-this-world or special, this book is a decent read. If however, you expect it to knock your socks off, well, you're setting yourself up for disappointment. I think it is a slightly above average debut, but it's very far from matching Kinsale or Ivory.

15 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Gorgeous debut novel! Adult lovers, by an author in love with language., October 31, 2005

By 

shereads - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Veil of Night (Signet Eclipse) (Mass Market Paperback)

An enviable beginning. I see some less than favorable reviews here, and while loving or loathing a writer's style is no more an exact science than any other relationship, I disagree adamantly with the notion that touching a nose instead of a breast isn't erotic. In the right hands, tying shoelaces can be erotic. The fact that the love scenes veer away from a well-worn path is one of my favorite things about this book. Not to worry; her breasts aren't neglected. He just takes his time getting there, by the scenic route.

The set-up seems typical at first: a woman is blackmailed into having a sexual affair by a man seeking revenge against her brother. Of course they'll fall in love, after fighting to quell their growing vulnerability to each other. The suspense is in how they find their way from sex to love. Secrets are revealed, emotional barriers are breached, and layers of character are peeled away in a long, slow, emotional strip-tease.

Victoria is a beautifully complicated version of a staple romance character: a wanton in old maid's clothing, hiding her true nature to protect her heart. She plays along with the role of indignant blackmail victim, but it's not as if she'd be left destitute if she refused Byron's shocking proposal. She enters into the bargain willingly, sacrificing pride for for the chance to explore her sexuality after years of self-imposed repression.

Byron is more true to type: the wounded male whose casual cruelty is thin armor against the pain of rejection. His secret doesn't take an Einstein to figure out, either. But if he's not the most original hero on the bookshelf, he makes up for it in bed. He's also a worthwhile verbal sparring partner for Victoria, who is a mistress of the sly rejoinder.

"Veil of Night" is like bittersweet chocolate. Delicious, dark, and rich enough to savor a chapter at a time. In a Hershey Bar world, this author is a welcome change. Not for everyone, perhaps. But how much fun would that be?

SPOILER Territory Ahead. Proceed With Caution...


Wow. I can't say for certain, but I suspect that the final paragraphs make romance-novel history. I'm being careful not to give anything away here, so forgive me if I make it sound like there's a huge shock at the end. That isn't the case. It's simply true-to-life. A serving of reality on the banquet table of happily-ever-after.

I'm always grateful when an author trusts her readers that way.

P.S. Speaking of banquets, watch for the "peach crumble" scene. Byron can serve dessert at my house anytime.