One Wilde Night
Grade : F

This book has everything. Too bad this includes just about every tired plot twist and cliché available in romance today. This includes, unfortunately:

  • A reluctant bridegroom determined to not love his wife because of his tragic childhood, who nonetheless lusts madly for her on every other page. Is he tortured or just melodramatic? You be the judge.
  • A virginal heroine who not only loves sex on the first try, but decides to prove her maturity by telling her husband that she wants to have affairs if he does, because surely this will make him love her. Can you say TSTL?
  • A villain who mangles his English when speaking but manages to send very literate threatening notes to the heroine and is around enough just to make the hero think she's cheating on him. Can you say Big Misunderstanding?
  • Oh, then there's the description of raven locks every ten pages, which, to give the author her due, belong to the hero rather than the heroine.

I could go on, but the list is extensive and some of the others are spoilers, so I'll work with these.

The reluctant bridegroom in question is Brandon Wilde, Earl of Marlborough. He's returned, with haunting memories, from the Crimean War to news that his abusive father has died. Now not only was his father abusive, he was a wastrel too, so there is no money and Brandon's faced with devastating debts. Enter Gilbert Parker, a wealthy commoner, who just happens to be holding all of the debts and has a daughter of marriageable age. Parker will forgive the debts if Brandon marries his daughter, Olivia. With much gnashing of teeth and vile curses Brandon agrees.

Olivia is not told any of this and is surprised (to say the least) that Brandon suddenly wants to marry her. They had met only once prior to his proposing when he saved her from a thief. Since they exchanged less then five sentences she can't figure out why this marriage is happening. This is an intelligent response, but she doesn't follow it up. She never pursues it with either her father or Brandon and when he abandons her, in the country, after one night together, she is hurt and confused, but does nothing but spend her time fixing up the crumbling manor house. Where have I seen that before? Finally, a newspaper article outlining some of Brandon's excesses with women prompts her to head for London to prove that she's woman enough for him.

Olivia and Brandon both veer from emotion to emotion without much rhyme or reason. He tells her it doesn't matter that she's come to London, he's going to keep on with his wild ways and their one night of fabulous, passionate sex means nothing to him. A page later he's hurt and enraged because she won't sleep with him. He storms out and she's crushed because he's going to spend the night with another woman rather then with her! Could there be any two more infantile characters then these?

The villain of the piece is intent on blackmailing Olivia. He spots her, and though he's basically a homeless man, he somehow already knows that she's married to Lord Wilde. He also knows something about Olivia's past and threatens to reveal it to Brandon if she doesn't pay up. That's all well and good, but after fretting a bit about his threatening note and the fact that he seems to be following her around, she does nothing about him for weeks. Where's he supposed to be during this time period? How considerate of him to hold off on threatening her again until his note is needed - by the author - to make Brandon think Olivia is getting love letters.

Which brings me to the raven locks. The use of adjectives is overwhelming. Not just in the love scenes, where the prose is purple, but next to almost every noun in the book. It's fine to describe the raven locks a couple of times in the beginning of the book, but by page 173 the reader should be able to remember that Brandon's hair is black when he runs his hand through it. When Olivia examines herself in a mirror she runs her hands down her "narrow waist, over her slender hips and across the flat of her abdomen." Then a few pages later Brandon takes in her diminutive form in "a yellow silk gown that accentuated her narrow shoulders, full round breasts, and slender arms." Thank God I know what every body part on Olivia is like. There are small moments of hope for the reader, such as when Olivia realizes that although she has told Brandon she loves him, she's not sure that's true. I thought we'd finally taken a turn for the better, but it doesn't last. The clichés make a reappearance, Brandon is angry again, and Olivia is hurt. That about says it all.

Reviewed by Jane Jorgenson
Grade : F

Sensuality: Hot

Review Date : January 28, 2001

Publication Date: 2000

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Recent Comments …

  1. I always admired the US ability to fail and try again. At least, I was told that this is American:…

Jane Jorgenson

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