One Wild Night [Mass Market Paperback]

Barbara Dawson Smith (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 15, 2003

New York Times Bestselling author Barbara Dawson Smith returns with another enchanting, unforgettable novel featuring the beloved Kenyon family...

One Wild Night

I have always taken pride in my bad reputation. Polite society viewed me as depraved and utterly dissolute, for I was a disciple of passion. Pleasure was my hallmark, women my pastime. That is, before the incomparable Lady Charlotte Quinton disrupted my life--again.

Due to a scandal of her own making, she had been banished from home for five years. Apparently she decided that a life of boring respectability was the key to her happiness. We might have continued down our divergent paths if not for a vicious attack on our families.

Tracking a dangerous criminal occupied my time, but the tart-tongued spinster Lady Charlotte occupied my mind--and my desires. Certainly no other woman in London was immune to my charms. Yet the more Charlotte spurned me, the more I vowed to have her. After all, I can resist anything but temptation...

--The Memoirs of A Rake by Brand Villiers, fifth Earl of Faversham

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Smith reintroduces readers to the Rosebuds, three elderly ladies known for their shenanigans, in her newest Regency (after Tempt Me Twice). When the Rosebuds are injured in a carriage accident, Lady Charlotte Quinton rushes to London to see her grandmother, Rosebud Enid Quinton. To her dismay, the three injured women are recuperating at the home of Brand Villiers, Earl of Faversham, the dissolute charmer who once broke her heart. When Charlotte and Brand discover that members of the disbanded Lucifer League, a "hellfire club" for gentlemen interested in orgiastic pursuits, may be responsible for the carriage accident as well as the deaths of former League members, the two set aside their mutual dislike and search for the truth. Smith's prose leads toward melodrama ("Charlotte would endure anything for the sake of her beloved grandmother-even enter the lair of her sworn enemy"), and her trite references to "the tall man" in Brand's breeches detracts from the romantic tension building between Charlotte and Brand. However, Smith spins an engaging mystery and throws in a few finely drawn red herrings to keep readers guessing.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

"A fabulous hero who has finally met his match-the tension sizzles!"-Christina Dodd

"An extraordinary author!" -Doubleday Book Club

"Smith's writing is smooth, and her characters lusty and likeable." -Publishers Weekly

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Paperbacks; 1st edition (September 15, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312982291
• ISBN-13: 978-0312982294
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.1 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,083,257 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars an engaging read inspite of certain plot "niggles", September 4, 2003

By 

tregatt (Portland, Oregon) - See all my reviews

This review is from: One Wild Night (Mass Market Paperback)

When Lady Charlotte Quinton receives news that her grandmother and her grandmother's two closest friends (affectionately known as the Rosebuds) were involved in a near fatal carriage accident, she immediately leaves her secluded Yorkshire home and makes for London -- or more exactly for Brand Villers, the fifth Earl of Faversham (and her bete noire)'s London house. (Readers familiar with the Kenyon brother/Rosebud series may remember Charlotte as the spoilt anti-heroine from "Romancing the Rogue"). But if being in the same room as Brand is enough to threaten Charlotte with a fit of the megrims, the knowledge that someone is out to harm the Rosebuds will definitely do it. Which according to Brand, is exactly what may have happened.

Someone has been killing off the notorious members of now disbanded Lucifer League over the past couple of months. And Brand, once a member of that club, has been trying to discover who may be behind the murders. His fear is that someone may have struck out at the Rosebuds because of his investigation and because the Rosebud themselves had a hand in causing the Lucifer League to disband. It is Brand's contention that one of the members of the League is trying to bury his past association with the league.

Charlotte of course wants to help Brand discover the identity of the murderer and help protect the Rosebuds. But Brand is still suspicious of Charlotte. He doesn't think that she's changed at all and still sees her as the bitter and troublesome young lady she used to be. Never mind that Charlotte seems to inspire a lot of lustful thoughts in him! (Obviously that just proves that she's trouble!) But Charlotte refuses to standby and wait for someone to try and get to the Rosebuds again, and she determined to help Brand with his investigation. (Hence her decision to agree to pose as Brand's mistress. Now why would a young woman who wants to marry and have children decide to do the one thing that would put an end to her dreams of a respectable marriage?) Will Charlotte be able to persuade Brand to accept her help and will she be able to cope with the reawakening of her desire (so long repressed) for him? Especially since he seems to feel nothing but contempt for her?

The plot premise of "One Wild Night" was a rather good one -- the interweaving of a romance subplot between two people who are reluctantly attracted to each other and who are constantly at daggers drawn, with a hunt for an elusive and dangerous murderer. I also found the heroine of the novel, Lady Charlotte Quinton really engaging, and thought that the authour had done a wonderful job of redeeming the previously unlikable Lady Charlotte, and showing us just how much this character had changed for the better. The hero, Brand Villers, unfortunately, left a lot to be desired. Unlike Charlotte, Brand had not matured with time, and he came across as being completely immature, spoilt and a little too obsessed with his desires and needs. Yes, he's had his share of hard knocks, but unlike Charlotte, he also seems to have chosen to sink rather than to turn his life around and do some good. He also spent for too much time thinking about how it would feel to bed Charlotte, in spite of her shrewish ways, and not a lot time following up investigative leads. Which leads me to my other "niggle" -- for someone determined to discover who the murderer actually was, Brand was a really poor detective. Getting Charlotte alone in some dark corner and keeping her away from other gentlemen seemed to be his main objective. And because the investigative subplot was not that well developed, the sense of suspense and urgency was not always there, thus making "One Wild Night" not that exciting a read.

On the other hand, if you're a fan of the Rosebud series and enjoy the interconnecting story arcs, then "One Wild Night" will prove to be an enjoyable read -- just perhaps not a 5 star one.

3.0 out of 5 stars Not creepy, just slowww, April 18, 2011

By 

Not Telling - See all my reviews

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This review is from: One Wild Night (Mass Market Paperback)

The romance was slower than dial-up internet. If only there had been more throughout the whole book, instead of just a kiss here, a teasing comment there, and then the intimate scene...

4.0 out of 5 stars exhilarating amateur sleuth historical romance, September 3, 2003

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: One Wild Night (Mass Market Paperback)

After five years of self-imposed exile following the failed attempt to steal a fiancé of a friend, Charlotte Quinton visits her injured grandma hurt in a coach accident. Two other members of the senior citizen Rosebuds were also injured. The visit is not easy for Charlotte because her grandma convalesces in the home of Brad Villiers, whose relative is one of those hurt. Sixteen years ago she threw herself at him and he rejected her and her friend is his stepsister.

Brad investigates the accident as he feels that it was deliberate tying back to someone killing the members of the disbanded Lucifer Club. The Rosebuds were witnesses to the end of the club so are possible murder victims. Charlotte reaches the same conclusion and begins her own inquiries until Brad brings her into his. As they work close together, they fall in love, but an unknown assailant wants Brad dead or at least accused of murder by Bow St. and only Charlotte can save him at risk to her own life.

Barbara Dawson Smith is becoming very well known for her exciting Regency romance novels such as ONCE UPON A SCANDAL and HER SECRET AFFAIR. Her latest tale, ONE WILD NIGHT, is an exhilarating amateur sleuth historical romance starring two delightful lead protagonists and the charming Rosebuds. Though the hero's holier than thou ethics towards the heroine come across hypocritical when his indiscretions come to light, readers will appreciate this solid historical suspense.

Harriet Klausner