Midnight Waltz

by Barbara Hazard

Hazard, Barbara

Genres: Regency, Romance, Regency Romance, Historical Romance

343 pages, Hardcover

First published July 1, 1999

About the author

Barbara (Booth) Hazard, a resident of Exeter, NH, died on October 25, 2019 in Boston, MA surrounded by family. Born in 1931 in Fall River, MA, the daughter of Albert L. and Lillian (Holland) Booth, she was raised and educated in New England. She graduated from Rhode Island School of Design in 1953 and was briefly employed by Ginn & Company in Boston as a Technical Editor. She married Donald T. Hazard in 1954 and next worked as a Graphic Designer/Artist for a Concord, NH advertising firm.

Originally trained as a musician, Mrs. Hazard also studied oil painting with Amy Jones and for a time had several shows in New York and Vermont. She began to write historical fiction in 1978. First published in 1981, she went on to write and publish 48 books, several of which are also in circulation abroad. She won several awards for her writing.

Mrs. Hazard wrote that there were several things in her life that she was most proud of; being Concertmaster of the MA All State Orchestra in Symphony Hall in Boston, having a successful career as an artist and as a writer, which was her greatest love besides her husband, three sons and their wives.

She loved New England and in particular, Cape Cod, which she visited every year for most of her life. Her other loves included her family, reading and music. She also wrote under the pen name of Lillian Lincoln.

Reviews

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Three stars of meh-inducing feeling, because while not a bad book, I didn't find this one particularly engaging. While the plot was good and had much potential, the characters were for the most part unbearable. There is the shrewish, violent Louisa, who has the devil's own temper and the most vicious tongue imaginable, her brother Cameron, a selfish, elusive and greedy man, their impotent mother who is going mad, Louisa's weird friend who dislikes the heroine for no apparent reason, and the heroine herself, who is pretty flat and boring. The hero seemed a charming enough rogue, but we saw so little of him that it was hard to really form an opinion. His relationship with Constance wasn't well developed, but I loved all the scenes they had together. The mystery subplot held my attention throughout, but I was really disappointed by the way it was resolved. Much too far-fetched, and the motives of the villain did not seem very plausible to me. All in all, I wouldn't recommend going out of your way to read this one; it was good, but you're not missing anything great if you skip it.

[QNPoohBear · Rating 2 out of 5]

This story is rather long in places but the mystery kept me guessing. I thought I had it all figured out but there were some twists that I didn't see that complicated matters. Someone could probably easily figure out who but the rest is a bit difficult. The story is a little dark for a Regency romance. It seems to be modeled on Georgette Heyer's Cousin Kate in places. The characters are a bit difficult to like. Constance is practical and kind but she's somewhat naive which makes the story a bit frustrating. The rest of the characters are unlikeable, even the hero. I liked Carlyle well enough until the big misunderstanding. That went way above and beyond what I would be willing to tolerate and I lost any sort of positive feelings for him and then proceeded to loathe his high-handed, egotistical personality. I wouldn't recommend this novel to those who like the comedy of manners stories or even traditional Regencies. This one is for those who enjoy more Gothic stories and don't mind heroes who change personalities in the middle of the book.

[Evelyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty Good