Wait Until Midnight: Amanda Quick

"Gentle Reader,

"It could have been a scene from one of my novels.  As a rule, respectable ladies do not accept calls from Mysterious Gentlemen on business of the most grave importance--but I confess that I was possessed of lively curiosity.  The past three years had been so determinedly dull, I hoped My. Adam Hardesty would offer a tiny respite from it.  Indeed, upon first glance, Mr. Hardesty had such a formidable, thrilling presence, he quickly became the model for the villain in the sensation novel I was currently writing.

"Imagine my shock and distress then, them Mr. Hardesty accused me of being party to a plot of murder, blackmail, and general villainy!  I knew nothing of such occurrences, and proclaimed my innocence.  Unfortunately, Mr. Hardesty left unconvinced, and I had an uneasy feeling over what his search would uncover.  You see, Gentle Reader, though I live a most uneventful life now, my past contained a Great Scandal that would be ruinous if resurrected.  To protect my secrets from Mr. Hardesty's investigation, I concluded that I would need to conduct an inquiry of my own, and if that meant sharing my findings with Mr. Hardesty, so be it.  And my course of action had nothing whatsoever to do with the illicit, passionate feelings that he aroused in me--feelings that propriety would definitely frown upon...

"Yours most sincerely,

"Caroline Fordyce"

Here's yet another one to add to my Amanda Quick kick as I pick my way through my sizable "to be read" pile (or, more aptly, my "to be read shelf" now that my husband has finally gotten around to hanging the shelves in my office!).  According to fantasticfiction.com, this is a standalone novel.  I can see, however, how this could have been a series when you incorporate some of the secondary characters from Adam Hardesty's family.  In fact, I wouldn't be surprised to find several connected stories amongst her voluminous resume.

I have noticed a trend for the supernatural in each of the books I've read by Quick.  While this can be a dime a dozen in this genre, I find her take a bit more refreshing in its realism.  The books seem to have characters fascinated with the supernatural, yet the underlying current is one of skepticism which manages to ground the readers rather than whisk them away on a fanciful cloud.  There's nothing wrong with this cloud, per se, but if that is what you're looking for with Quick, then I must say that I have yet to find it.  Her characters are worldly and far more grounded than others I've found in more supernatural stories.  This lands Quick's works solidly in the middle between realistic and paranormal -- an interesting place to be for those readers who aren't too fond of paranormal or supernatural, and yet they desire something with a bit more intrigue than a typical book of this genre.  Indeed, I feel that her books might even lean toward mystery in that aspect.  Her characters always seem to be on the hunt to uncover a secret, solve a crime or murder, or generally involve themselves in rather risky situations.  This lends an air of excitement to her works; Wait Until Midnight was no exception.  I found the pacing quite good and all of the secondary characters to be well-formed and beneficial to the plot and character development.  The murder, mystery, and nefarious plots moved the story along and kept me interested from the first page.

We are introduced to Adam Hardesty as he examines the scene of a horribly violent crime.  Someone has murdered a woman who proclaimed to be a medium.  In the all the obsession with the paranormal which marked the Victorian Era in England, was this woman murdered by a vengeful spirit from the Other Side, or was a more worldly rage her downfall -- perhaps there was an unhappy sitter at one of her recent seances?  This leads Adam to the home of Caroline Fordyce, noted author of serial sensationalist novels.  Being far more worldly and practical, Adam has not heard of Mrs. Fordyce prior to their meeting; however, he soon realizes that he'll not soon forget her.

Caroline Fordyce is taken in by curiosity as an obviously-wealthy stranger calls on her at an odd hour.  She knows he gives her a false name and his mysterious inquiries and accusations set off alarms in her head.  But there's something about this man which draws her to him.  In fact, she decides to use him as the inspiration for the villain her current novel.  By the time the man leaves, Caroline has realized that something horrible is afoot and, if she doesn't act quickly, the potential disaster could destroy everything she and her aunts had worked toward over the last several years.

Somewhat reluctantly, Caroline and Adam work together to uncover the truth behind the medium's gruesome murder -- and locate the diary which Adam knows contains secrets which could destroy his family and everything he'd achieved to secure them a safe place in the world.  Adam has secrets of his own which he must protect...but he finds himself willing to open up to the enticing, intelligent Mrs. Fordyce in a way that he never has before.

Overall, I enjoyed the plot.  There were many twists and turns which kept it fast-paced and captivating.  As far as the characters, themselves, I liked both Caroline and Adam well enough.  Caroline was interesting because she viewed so much of her world through an author's lens.  Adam felt slightly less-developed.  It wasn't until 3/4 of the way through the novel that it was mentioned how powerful and notoriously reserved he was...but if his name was so well-known then how had Caroline never heard of him?  I realize she didn't travel in the same social circles as Adam and his family, but there was a good amount of indication that he was someone to be recognized and he had a name which was more than a little bit well-known.  It was something I found a little bit odd.  I liked his history, as well as Caroline's past.  I think those lent them each their own unique flair.  As for the romance between them...I missed it a bit.  I don't believe there was enough build up of tension before they acted upon those impulses.  I love a bit of delicious torture, and I found it lacking a bit here in lieu of developing the very complex and mysterious grander plot thread.  There was little to no hesitation on Caroline's part when it came to sleeping with Adam.  There was no reason or explanation given for this either (not even a, "Well, he's hot and I'm not getting any younger!"), nor did she seem shy in the slightest.  I suppose I wanted her to be a bit more demure about it all.  I realize she was not who she claimed to be, but even her internal dialogue missed the mark.  Yet again, I also found the lack of physical descriptions of the characters throughout the book to be a bit sad.  I want to know more about their appearances than their clothing.  What were their features like?  The angle of their eyes, the length of their lashes, the shadow of a beard?  I want something to flesh them out a bit more.

I am still recommending this book, so please don't take my criticisms as a reason to stay away.  I'm merely making some observations and comparisons between Quick and some of the other authors I've read.  I enjoyed the book and cruised through it rather swiftly.  I believe this may be one of the last ones I own by Quick, so there may be an unintentional hiatus before I can obtain more.  Happy reading!

Mystique: Amanda Quick

 

"A tantalizing tale of a legendary knight and a headstrong lady whose daring quest for a mysterious crystal will draw them into a whirlwind of treachery--and desire.

"When the fearsome knight called Hugh the Relentless swept into Lingwood Manor like a storm, everyone cowered--except Lady Alice.  Sharp-tongued and unrepentant, the flame-haired beauty believed Sir Hug was not someone to dread but the answer to her dreams.  She knew he had come for the dazzling green crystal, knew he would be displeased to find that it was no longer in her possession.  Yet Alice had a proposition for the dark and forbidding knight:  In return for a dowry that would free Alice and her brother from their uncle's grasp, she would lend her powers of detection to his warrior's skills and together they would receive his treasured stone.  But even as High accepted her terms, he added a condition of his own: Lady Alice must agree to a temporary betrothal--one that would soon draw her deep into Hugh's great stone fortress, and into a battle that could threaten their lives...and their only chance at love."

This is yet another Amanda Quick novel which has sat upon my shelves unread for many years.  I really enjoyed another of her novels just prior to this one and enjoyed it so much that I thought I'd grab another of her stories from my shelf (or, rather, the floor of my office because my husband has yet to finish hanging shelves for me...).

I finished reading this book rather quickly.  The pacing was good and it kept me interested.  I wouldn't call it quite the page-turner "Dangerous" was, but it was enjoyable nonetheless.  I enjoyed the premise of a bastard knight seeking to bring honor to his family's history and finally have his own place in the world, yet he drags along with him an intelligent, whip-tongued young woman on a mission of her own.  Hugh brought a new facet to the knightly archetype.  He was neither entirely "black knight," but nor was he a straightforward "white knight."  He was known for his ruthless, relentless drive and skills on the battlefield; his dark coloring and penchant for wearing only black; and everyone knew of the venomous feud between Hugh and his father's family.  However, he was also intelligent (not just braun over brains), unfailingly true to his word, and honorable.  Alice was also a play on the typical headstrong, outspoken woman.  If anything, she was almost more outspoken than a great many of the other "headstrong" female leads I've encountered.  She seemed to suffer from a severe lack of manners or filter.  I can see how her struggles in life could have created this attitude, but it even made me cringe on several occasions.  I think this may be the reason why I didn't enjoy her as much as I could have.  By all accounts, Alice was extremely intelligent, capable, strong, and brave...but she also sometimes came across as crass or even petty -- especially once Hugh frees her from her uncle's care.

I did also notice a very definite trend in Quick's writing (maybe because I just so happened to read this one immediately after "Dangerous").  Both female leads were considered "odd," they were older sisters to younger brothers, orphans who felt they were in charge of finding their brothers better lots in life, and they fall in love with their male leads rather easily despite being so strong and seemingly content to be without a romantic relationship.  The male leads are both dark in coloring of their hair and clothing, as well as their attitudes and reputations, they're both bastards (or, at least, they're presumed to be) after their fathers become attracted to seemingly-unsuitable women who put them at odds with their families and their plans, their fathers have scorned fiancees, they each have a male first-cousin with whom they have a great amount of enmity, and they both have amber-colored eyes.  As you can see, there were a great many similarities in these plots and the development of these characters -- almost too many where it felt a bit "recycled."  To be fair, I think Quick found a formula which worked; I cannot really blame her for reusing it.  The different layers of history and current conflict create an interesting plot.  The strong personalities and opinions of her characters make for amusing and entertaining action.  What might have helped some differentiation between these stories (besides the very different eras in which they're set) would probably have been some better identifying characteristics of the male leads.  The female leads are fairly well-described; I felt like I could picture them.  The male leads...not so much.  Other than the color of his eyes, hair, and clothing, I got almost no sense of what Hugh looked like.  Did he have bold, stormy brows?  Was his nose slightly crooked from having been broken so many times in battle?  I longed to know more about Hugh's appearance and I think we missed out a lot on his characterization because of this.

I do feel like, overall, the plot was interesting.  Alice sometimes came off a bit unlikable, but I think she was a brave female lead.  I loved how she stuck up for her brother and for women in general (you'll have to read to find out what I mean -- I promise it's worth it).  I liked Hugh's multifaceted personality; however, I wanted a bit more of a description of him.  That left a bit of an unfortunate gap in a novel of this genre.  I liked the blend of realism and legend in this story.  I don't often read books set so far back in history (and I haven't often enjoyed all of them) mainly because I sometimes struggle with the living conditions and mentalities of these ages (even just a few centuries make a world of difference, believe it or not), but I did find this one enjoyable.  It was a quick read with pleasant pacing that kept the story moving along.  I liked the conflict and found the dialogue to be very in-character.  I do recommend this book, though not as much as I did my other recent Amanda Quick read.