Customer Reviews

One Wicked Night (Zebra Splendor Historical Romances)

5 star:		(26)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

One Wicked Night is the type of book I normally shie away from. I read the backblurb and see the word adultery and stop right there. I am glad in this case that I delved deeper into the book. Shelley Bradley has laid out a tangled web here, where the single act of adultery has far reaching consequences.

The heroine, Serena Boyce is married to an older man who is impotent. Her husband, Lord Warrington, has a nephew who is truly evil and his only heir. He begs Serena to take a lover in order to defeat the nephew by having a child they will pass off as the heir. Serena has no intention of agreeing to her husband's request, but allows him to believe that she will.

Lucien Clayborne, Marquess of Daneridge, has divorced his faithless wife and is grieving over the death of his daughter. He blames himself for her death and is deeply mired in guilt and grief when he and Serena meet in a very dramatic way. Lucien rescues her from an attack and in the aftermath these two very lonely and unhappy people come together in a single act of passion.

When Serena realizes what she has done she flees and hopes never to see Lucien again. She is terrified that she is like her mother, who was a publicly loose woman. Lucien is horrified to realize she was a virgin and thinking he has seduced someone's innocent daughter, strives to find the lovely Lady. He is shocked and furious to discover she is very much married and that he had been used to cuckold another husband.

With the murder of Serena's husband the skeins of this story become very tangled. Each of them is mired in their own fears and guilts, afraid to trust and definitely afraid to love. This book deals with adultery and it's consequences in a deep and serious way. It is not a night of unpunished pleasure to be forgotten. The hero is afraid to trust a woman who has already cheated on one husband. The heroine is terrified that her one slip, was evidence of a base part of her nature. Yet, this couple keeps you truly involved in their story. There is definite emotional growth on both of their parts. They painfully work through the anger and hurt as Lucien tries to keep Serena safe from the evil nephew and his new co-hort, who happens to be Lucien's ex-wife.

One Wicked Night, kept me turning the pages and I genuinely liked this couple. Their emotional growth from the pain of their first passionate meeting, makes the ending satsifying and believable. This book is a delight from the beautiful front cover to end. Bradley has written a book that deals with adultery in the serious manner it deserves and I hope other readers will look past the backblurb to an emotionally satisfying read.

Linda Hurst
Reviewer
Under the Covers
Pandora's Box/AAR

I read A LOT of romance. I've been reading it for years. Every so often you find a book that's special. THIS IS ONE OF THOSE BOOKS! Lucien and Serena are so complex and their love relationship so beautifully crafted. Little by little, you see them come to understand and accept one another. I cried when I discovered how much Lucien had loved his daughter. And did I mention the sex is steamy too? Throw in a bit of danger and a flair for the Regency period and you have a great book. This one is worth reading again. So glad I listened to a friend and bought One Wicked Night. I'm hoping to see more books from Shelley Bradley soon!

I am not a big reader of historical romances. But knowing this was written by Shayla Black in her Shelley Bradley days and being re-released after being out of print for a long time, made me decide to give it a try.
It was great! It was lusty and sensual and there was great intrigue! I loved the period of the story and Shayla Black is so good at making me feel like i am right there seeing entire environment.

Lucien was a lot more Alpha male than I remember historical romance hero's being and while that surprised me, I think it is what made me really enjoy the story even more. Having read Ms. Black's other series, I was almost expecting him to spank Serena at one point!

It was a lovely love story with some really ridiculously hot love scenes, also unexpected for me, considering my past experience with historicals.

I guess it just proves that when an author can write good love stories (and hot men & hot sex)- they can really write any time period!

I will certainly look forward to any other re-releases from this author regardless of the era presented!

This is my first book from this author. I love her writing style. She made the characters come to life for me, especially Serena and Lucien. I love an alpha male and Lucien is definitely ALPHA! He will be featured in many of my fantasies.

Lady Serena is shocked when her much older husband of three years asks her to take a lover to produce an heir for the dukedom. She steadfastly refuses.

While pretending to her husband that she is interested in taking a lover Serena meets dark, handsome and grieving Lucien Clayborne, the Marquess of Daneridge. They are instantly attracted her eachother. After a night of passion, Lady Serena tries to put the incident behind her, but Lucien refuses to forget.

When Lucien finds out that Serena is married he is angry and feels used. But when Serena's husband is murdered Lucien and Serena must work together to find the killer.

This was a good and enjoyable story. Lady Serena made me smile and Lucien was, well, dark and brooding. A perfect hero. If you love a good regency, this is the book for you

Been there, read that. This book is so full of cliches it sinks under the weight of them. Serena Boyce is married to an aging, impotent duke who insists she take a lover to give him the heir he needs in order to prevent the dukedom from going to his slimy nephew. Pious, self-righteous Serena means to refuse, but after being rescued from Lucien, Marquess of Clayborne, she finds she can't resist him. They make love, she conceives, the duke is murdered. At this point you might expect Serena to be grateful for Lucien's insistence that they marry. He wishes to protect her, but fearful ad nauseum ad infinitum of being perceived as wanton as her mother, Serena balks. I didn't like Serena. In addition to acting "too stupid to live" on more than one occasion, her over-the-top moral stand becomes old in a hurry. I liked Lucien a little more, though his insistence on seeing Serena in the same light as his first wife, continues far too long. I never understood what Lucien saw in Serena to make him want her so much. When she isn't melting in his arms, she's cold, haughty and so self-righteous you want to throw something at her. Like this book.

It began pretty good, but once I was about 25% through the book, I started getting bored. There was too much angst which went on and on and on, repeating the same thing over and over again, I was skipping so many pages until finally I didn't care if they got their HEA. I just couldn't force myself to finish the book.

First of all OH MY GOD, how is it I did not know about Shelley Bradley when these books first came out in 2000. From the moment I picked up One Wicked Night to read (which is a re release in e format ) I could not put it down. I love the dynamics of a dominate male and a no so submissive woman. This Book will make you cry scream laugh and possibly want to strangle some one, but will still get you to the warm fuzzy feeling at the end. One Wicked Night is tame compared to Shelley Bradley's other persona Shayla Black.

For the past thirty years, I have been an avid reader of Regency romances/historicals and have lately found most authors seem unable to put their finger on the nuances of tone, conversation and behavior that make a Regnecy so special. The reviewer who called this book longwinded obviously has no appreciation for any of these things! I'll bet also she hates all my favorite authors; Mary Balogh, Catherine Coutler and Stephanie Laurens. If you like any of these people GET THIS BOOK. I was so pleased to discover this exciting new author, I've become a devoted fan. Serena and Lucien held me spellbound as they overcame mistrust, betrayal and murder to ultimately find love.

Serena's elderly husband asked her to take a lover to conceive and carry on his dukedom. Serena refused--until she met a wonderful, lonely Lucien. After an amazing night together, Sernea is stunned by her ill-bred behavior and flees. Lucien searches for his mystery maiden until he discovers she is married to a much older man. He feels betrayed by her duplicity but cannot forget the way she moved him and eased his grief over the death of his young daughter. When Serena's husband is murdered and she realizes she carries Lucien's child, Lucien forces her to wed. He wants to protect her from her first husband's killer. He also wants her for himself. What follows is a wonderful example of love in bloom!

I finished this book in one evening. I'm hoping to see more of this author's brilliant work soon!

More romances should be like this! Interesting, real people, lots of passion, a very bad villain, a great setting with a true historical feel, but not a lot of long, boring pages of endless description. I understood the heroine's fears and got misty-eyed over the hero's grief. I felt with these people on their journey to love. In case you couldn't tell, I enjoyed this book a bunch. I'll be eagerly looking for Shelley Bradley's next book!