Wait Until Midnight (Jove Historical Romance)

Wait Until Midnight is another Historical Romance from Amanda Quick, penname of Jayne Ann Krentz. Her Quick books have been somewhat of a let down for this diehard JAK fan. She is formula whether in Contemporary JAK or the Historical Quick. A formula I adore, so I often forgive her things (such as a feel of word padding) I might not of another author. I have been reading her and have everything she's ever written and until the last five years I would call her books "Keepers". I'm not sure where the formula went "off", but it has in several of her books, especially her Historicals. After reading Wait Until Midnight, I am glad I waited until paperback release instead of hardback. It's not bad, and for any Quick/JAK fan it's a nice enjoyable visit to an "old friend". But the formula lacks it's usual JAK dazzle. She seems to hit and miss in the 2000's. One powerhouse novel such as JAK's Falling Awake, then a so-so. This is the so-so. Enjoyable but soon forgotten.

It has all the right Quick elements, just the mix doesn't gel with the perfection of other JAK novels. Adam Hardesty comes into Caroline Fordyce's life, dark, dangerous and meaning business. He's on the trail of blackmailer, who has turned murderer - or possibly a murderer who kills a blackmailer and intends to pick up blackmailing. Adam is determined to find out which and put a stop to the threat to his family. Caroline is the only link to the murdered Elizabeth Delmont, a medium in Victoria's England. The diary with holds the threat to Adam's siblings is missing from the dead woman's home, and the only clues left behind - the corpse was wearing a wedding veil and a brooch pocket watch. Nearly crushed in the killing blows from a poke, the watch is stopped at 12 o'clock. The trail leads Adam to Caroline, since she was at the seance the night of Delmont's murder. Caroline, too, is hiding secrets so Adam's forceful presence alarms her, despite the man himself intriguing her.

Soon a second medium is murdered, with a broken watch left as a clue on the scene. Only, this watch has Adam's name on it. Fortunately for Adam, Caroline provides him with an alibi. The mismatched duo of opposites attract (typical of all JAK heroes and heroines!) join forces to solve the murders, remove the threat to their families and fall in love along the way.

Quick fans will enjoy this, though will hardly call it a `keeper'. It's a nice enjoyable read, that could have been improved by tighter editing to speed the pace. In the first 100 pages, Adam and Caroline are rarely in each other's company. Also, JAK needs to rediscover the passion in writing romance, not just turning out her next book. When she hits the target no one can touch her. This one is just a little right of bull's-eye. Not-devoted-fans, might want to give this a pass as they will be less pleased with this effort. If you have never read Quick before, I recommend reading any of her earlier Quick novels for perfection to see JAK at her prime.

This book was so bad I read it for sheer entertainment value. Whatever you do, get it from the library if you really want to read it. Her books used to be funny and sexy, with real heroines and plots. Not anymore. I read this hoping to get away from the continuing series, but it was just as bad. So many Startling Instances and really bad prose. Whoever this Harriet Klausner is, she writes reviews for every book and praises them. I think she works for the publishing companies, because it's really hard to find an awesome romance novel lately. If you're looking for real romantic suspense with curl your toes sex and an interesting plot, go get a Karen Marie Moning or Josie Litton book......Or even an old Quick book, like Rendezvous or Mystique.

Caroline Fordyce writes sensational romance serials for one of the newspapers in London. Three years earlier she had to change her name and find a way to support herself and her two aunts. The Great Scandel, as she calls it, has killed all hopes for her marriage and happiness. Although she changed her name and moved to London she stays clear of the ton so no one will recognize her. Living on the outskirts of society with her aunts is a very quiet life. She is involved with the Society of Psychical Investigations. She plans to put a medium in her next serial. While she lives a quiet life, she has a hunger for a grand adventure.

Adam Hardesty is a member of society who has a secret. He is trying to protect his adoptive siblings from exposure in a stolen journal. The journal is being used to blackmail him and his family. It has somehow fallen into the hands of a medium named Elizabeth Delmont. When he finds her dead in her house, he searches for the journal. Unable to find it he starts to investigate the people who had attended her last seance. One of these is Caroline. And before you know it they are deeply involved in the murder and mysteries going on in the Society.

With humor and wit we enjoy their adventure and the inevitable romance that developes.

I love Amanda Quick and this is a wonderful story.

Reading one of Amanda Quick's books is like cuddling under a really soft blanket in front of a magnificent fire. I can never put her books down and I couldn't wait to order more of her books. I had six AQ books on my Christmas List!

I may actually try one of Jayne Ann Krentz's books once i finish the Amanda Quick catalog. I happened upon one of her books and she's been on my favorite romantic authors list ever since.

Great book!

Amanda Quick (the pen name of Jayne Ann Krentz) writes historical mysteries that are light on facts and heavy on story. She is of the minimalist school, and "Wait Until Midnight" is as grounded in the late Victorian period as Quick's previous books were in the Regency, which is to say not much. In fact, if you didn't know, they could have taken place in the same year, so similar they are in its preoccupations with the Quality, its balls, its carriages, maids, and romances.

In "Wait Until Midnight," Caroline Fordyce supports herself and the two aunts who raised her by penning "sensational" novels for a newspaper. While researching the spiritualism craze for her next work, she encounters Adam Hardesty, who's hunting for a diary that reveals his family's secrets. His trail crosses Caroline's as well as two mediums, one of who is found murdered, wearing a wedding veil and found beside a crushed watch, its hands stopped at midnight.

Where Quick excells is in her plotting, throwing in curves that freshen the standard story. Caroline is a popular writer with a secret past, and who masquerades as a widow but in reality a virgin. She is pursued, first as a suspect, then as a lover, by Adam, the brooding, virile hero who lives by his own rules, but is startled, then discomforted to discover that she's been strip-mining his personality to create the villain of her latest penny dreadful.

Given these limitations, Quick keeps the plots spinning, the romance heated, and manages to come up with an appropriately creepy climax.

Amanda Quick serves up more of her tried-and-true formula. An intelligent, spunky heroine, a stoic, strong and silent hero, a mystery with a little twist, and the requisite tender love scene. I admit I love the formula. Mainly because the heroine is intelligent and spunky and usually has an interesting occupation. In this case, Caroline is a serialised novel writer who has to invent a history for herself to escape a Great Scandal. There are some tender scenes between her and Adam as they share their respective checkered pasts. They are both likeable. The mystery trots effortlessly along to its conclusion, with a nice little twist. Of course, after a while, all the Amanda Quick romances tend to blend into one another, but they're very enjoyable in the process.

I love all of Amanda Quick's books so I'm not an unbiased reviewer. I really enjoyed the story line and can't wait for the next one.

Another enjoyable read with fun and charming characters and all manner of twists and turns. Highly recommend.

Wife loved it

Weak, boring, annoying, false notes galore, a complete absence of character development, no chemistry, no tension, simplistic, stale, formulamatic.

I did NOT enjoy this book and had to force myself to finish it. Perfectly wretched.