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The Stokehursts #1
Midnight Angel
A noblewoman of frail beauty and exotic mystery fakes her own death to escape the gallows. And now she must flee. In disguise and under a false identity, she finds unexpected sanctuary in the arms of a handsome and arrogant yet gallant British lord—who must defy society to keep her safe . . . and overcome a tragic past to claim her as his own.
373 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1995
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About the author
Lisa Kleypas
121 books31.5k followersLISA KLEYPAS is the RITA award-winning author of 21 novels. Her books are published in fourteen languages and are bestsellers all over the world. She lives in Washington State with her husband and two children.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 595 reviews
September 15, 2015
This book is about a cross between Jane Eyre and the Anastasia legend, with a Mary Sue as a main character and so much Angst (yes, it needs to be capitalized) that you can cut it with a knife, and I won't deny I loved every fucking moment of it.
Lisa Kleypas writes feeeeeeeeeelings and angst and tortured heroes and heroines so well. No matter how much I dislike her characters, her writing is absolutely superb. She is among the best HR writers that I've ever read.
How is it like Jane Eyre?
1. Orphan girl (beautiful and not plain) becomes a governess to a dark, tortured man
2. Said tortured man is has a physical defect (a missing hand! But that doesn't hurt his prowess in bed! *wink wink nudge nudge*) but is otherwise stunning
3. Heroine is governess to an odd girl without a mother, and with a father who loves her but doesn't know what the fuck to do with a little girl
4. Paranormal elements! Possible murder! A scene with a fortune teller!
5. A beautiful society woman who is Out To Steal the Tortured Man from our very young, innocent (but irresistible) governess. Spoiler alert: she fails!
6. Angst! Angst! Angst!
How is it like Anastasia?
1. Russian shit everywhere!
2. Missing Russian princess who has to hide her identity!
3. People is out to kill her!
4. Angst! Angst! Angst! AAAAH MOTHERLAND
This book is seriously kitschy, and it is one of my first HR. Upon a reread, it was just as good as the first time, which is more than I can say for many books.
Lisa Kleypas writes feeeeeeeeeelings and angst and tortured heroes and heroines so well. No matter how much I dislike her characters, her writing is absolutely superb. She is among the best HR writers that I've ever read.
How is it like Jane Eyre?
1. Orphan girl (beautiful and not plain) becomes a governess to a dark, tortured man
2. Said tortured man is has a physical defect (a missing hand! But that doesn't hurt his prowess in bed! *wink wink nudge nudge*) but is otherwise stunning
3. Heroine is governess to an odd girl without a mother, and with a father who loves her but doesn't know what the fuck to do with a little girl
4. Paranormal elements! Possible murder! A scene with a fortune teller!
5. A beautiful society woman who is Out To Steal the Tortured Man from our very young, innocent (but irresistible) governess. Spoiler alert: she fails!
6. Angst! Angst! Angst!
How is it like Anastasia?
1. Russian shit everywhere!
2. Missing Russian princess who has to hide her identity!
3. People is out to kill her!
4. Angst! Angst! Angst! AAAAH MOTHERLAND
This book is seriously kitschy, and it is one of my first HR. Upon a reread, it was just as good as the first time, which is more than I can say for many books.
January 7, 2009
This book had several elements of a bad soap opera: selective amnesia, opium abuse, a homosexual love triangle, psychic abilities, child molestation, crazy Russian kin and a tiger. Yes, a tiger. ROAR! Pretty ridiculous all in all, but if I’ve learned one thing from this book it’s that even a klunker from Lisa Kleypas is a more enjoyable read than the average historical romance.
The first half of the book flew by and was quite enjoyable but the second half fell to pieces once ridiculous antic after ridiculous antic ensued.
Him: Lord Lucas Stokehurst. Widower. Loved his dead wife and has sworn to never love again. Missing a hand and wears a hook in its place. Doting father to a fiery-haired pre-teen daughter, Emma.
Her: Lady Anastasia Kaptereva. Russian exile. Wanted for the murder of a man she doesn’t remember murdering. Flees to England and lands a role as governess to Emma Stokehurst. Makes Stokehurst feel like he's alive again.
They fell in love. Made out a few times. Played some nekkid games. Bla-bla-bla. The chemistry was weak, hence the bla-bla-bla. And the book ended with the suggestion of a sequel and it seemed like Emma Stokehurst (the underage daughter) and Nicolas Angelovsky (Tasia’s wicked Russian cousin) were on deck to fall for each other next.
It was pretty lame.
The first half of the book flew by and was quite enjoyable but the second half fell to pieces once ridiculous antic after ridiculous antic ensued.
Him: Lord Lucas Stokehurst. Widower. Loved his dead wife and has sworn to never love again. Missing a hand and wears a hook in its place. Doting father to a fiery-haired pre-teen daughter, Emma.
Her: Lady Anastasia Kaptereva. Russian exile. Wanted for the murder of a man she doesn’t remember murdering. Flees to England and lands a role as governess to Emma Stokehurst. Makes Stokehurst feel like he's alive again.
They fell in love. Made out a few times. Played some nekkid games. Bla-bla-bla. The chemistry was weak, hence the bla-bla-bla. And the book ended with the suggestion of a sequel and it seemed like Emma Stokehurst (the underage daughter) and Nicolas Angelovsky (Tasia’s wicked Russian cousin) were on deck to fall for each other next.
It was pretty lame.
September 29, 2012
THIS BOOK.
1. The tone shifts, dramatically. Tasia starts out as this quiet, reserved girl who has a great deal of faith. And then, without any sort of segue-way, she's a lusty temptress who trembles every time Luke touches her. Her faith fades like mist. And then, again, she goes balls-out and demands Luke's support and respect.
2. The "alpha"-ness of Luke. There were so many instances of Luke using force against Tasia. He, at one point, kisses her until she tastes blood immediately after she tells him not to touch her. And then he follows it up by telling her that he'll touch her whenever and however he wants. Which is just...terrifying and not healthy. That's not romantic; that's assault.
3. The metaphors. One of the "issues" Luke has with his attraction to Tasia is the fact that he's 34 and she's 18. SO CONSTANTLY REFERRING TO HER AS A CHILD / LOOKING LIKE A CHILD / ETC IS CREEPY AND NOT ON.
1. The tone shifts, dramatically. Tasia starts out as this quiet, reserved girl who has a great deal of faith. And then, without any sort of segue-way, she's a lusty temptress who trembles every time Luke touches her. Her faith fades like mist. And then, again, she goes balls-out and demands Luke's support and respect.
2. The "alpha"-ness of Luke. There were so many instances of Luke using force against Tasia. He, at one point, kisses her until she tastes blood immediately after she tells him not to touch her. And then he follows it up by telling her that he'll touch her whenever and however he wants. Which is just...terrifying and not healthy. That's not romantic; that's assault.
3. The metaphors. One of the "issues" Luke has with his attraction to Tasia is the fact that he's 34 and she's 18. SO CONSTANTLY REFERRING TO HER AS A CHILD / LOOKING LIKE A CHILD / ETC IS CREEPY AND NOT ON.
April 12, 2017
One of the things that I admire about Lisa Kleypas is her willingness to tackle multiple sub-genres within romance. She's written contemporaries, paranormals and historicals. And unlike some romance authors I could name (cough-Jayne Ann Krentz-cough) who write the same story over and over with just the barest tweaks to justify calling it a new book, Kleypas strikes out in a variety of directions and I applaud her courage in doing so.
Unfortunately, when an author steps outside her comfort zone and tries unconventional things, it doesn't always work out. And I'm afraid that's the case with Midnight Angel. Although this book had an interesting base plot, with the heroine, Tasia, faking her own death to escape execution for murder, the romance just didn't work. They went from "barely know each other" to "we're in love" in the blink of an eye and with nothing to justify it in the story. And the ending was extended well beyond where a normal romance novel would have ended in order to set things up for the sequel. Normally that's not a big deal, but in this case, Kleypas chose to use the time to show our hero physically and sexually brutalizing his pregnant wife for no reason at all (not that any reason could justify the behavior), which just ruined the whole HEA. And, for the record, it was pretty squicky that the sequel Kleypas was setting up involved a man in his mid-twenties lusting after a twelve-year-old girl who'd only just gotten her first period. Yuck.
So the romance just didn't work for me. Both Luke and Tasia behaved in contradictory and unjustified ways throughout the story and that made it hard to believe the romance. And Luke was a violent psycho at some parts. Tasia, on the other hand, went from being a quiet martyr to a bluestocking within the space of about a week. The author made it a point to say that Tasia was raised in an outdated tradition of keeping her isolated from society so that she'd grow up calm and poised and ready to be the perfect, dutiful wife who obeyed her husband implicitly. And much was made of how she did indeed have a quiet inner grace that made her stand out from a crowd. She had this right until the day after she and Luke had sex for the first time. After that, the quiet Tasia vanished and she was 100% on the "I deserve to be treated like an equal" train. One night of sex transformed a lifetime of behavior for her. Riiiight.
The plot was kind of all over the place too. For one thing, Luke was missing a hand and had a hook instead. This was hardly ever mentioned after the initial introduction. There were multiple times where he'd be doing something and I'd wonder just how that would work with only having one hand, for example, when he was training his high-spirited horse at the villa, but it's never addressed. Also, at the beginning much is made of the fact that Luke expects Tasia to be afraid of or disgusted by the hook "like most people are," but for the rest of the book, not a single person has a negative reaction to it. He's still considered one of the best catches in all of London and can have his pick of women. So, basically the hook was much ado about nothing which begs the question of why it was included at all.
So, all in all, it just wasn't a very good book. I do recommend the audiobook version, however. The narrator was very good.
Unfortunately, when an author steps outside her comfort zone and tries unconventional things, it doesn't always work out. And I'm afraid that's the case with Midnight Angel. Although this book had an interesting base plot, with the heroine, Tasia, faking her own death to escape execution for murder, the romance just didn't work. They went from "barely know each other" to "we're in love" in the blink of an eye and with nothing to justify it in the story. And the ending was extended well beyond where a normal romance novel would have ended in order to set things up for the sequel. Normally that's not a big deal, but in this case, Kleypas chose to use the time to show our hero physically and sexually brutalizing his pregnant wife for no reason at all (not that any reason could justify the behavior), which just ruined the whole HEA. And, for the record, it was pretty squicky that the sequel Kleypas was setting up involved a man in his mid-twenties lusting after a twelve-year-old girl who'd only just gotten her first period. Yuck.
So the romance just didn't work for me. Both Luke and Tasia behaved in contradictory and unjustified ways throughout the story and that made it hard to believe the romance. And Luke was a violent psycho at some parts. Tasia, on the other hand, went from being a quiet martyr to a bluestocking within the space of about a week. The author made it a point to say that Tasia was raised in an outdated tradition of keeping her isolated from society so that she'd grow up calm and poised and ready to be the perfect, dutiful wife who obeyed her husband implicitly. And much was made of how she did indeed have a quiet inner grace that made her stand out from a crowd. She had this right until the day after she and Luke had sex for the first time. After that, the quiet Tasia vanished and she was 100% on the "I deserve to be treated like an equal" train. One night of sex transformed a lifetime of behavior for her. Riiiight.
The plot was kind of all over the place too. For one thing, Luke was missing a hand and had a hook instead. This was hardly ever mentioned after the initial introduction. There were multiple times where he'd be doing something and I'd wonder just how that would work with only having one hand, for example, when he was training his high-spirited horse at the villa, but it's never addressed. Also, at the beginning much is made of the fact that Luke expects Tasia to be afraid of or disgusted by the hook "like most people are," but for the rest of the book, not a single person has a negative reaction to it. He's still considered one of the best catches in all of London and can have his pick of women. So, basically the hook was much ado about nothing which begs the question of why it was included at all.
So, all in all, it just wasn't a very good book. I do recommend the audiobook version, however. The narrator was very good.
August 12, 2021
This one... Was a miss for me? It was more of a what???? The instalove was too much. It started off him hating her for no reason and going like ill never marry ever ever ever again because I'm not going to be a good husband. I loved my late wife and she lives on in my memories for ever. but then he literally flips a switch and falls in love with our heroine for some random reason and shes like omg me too. They kiss. They make out. They have fun. And this was 50% in the book. They're already desperately in love. They realize they should get married. And then random crazy things happen involving her past. I don't know. I loved them when they were married/acting like a married couple but other than that. Forgettable.
October 7, 2017
If you liked this book.....don't read this. Rant ahead. You have been warned.
Taisa was found guilty of a murder she has no memory of. Sentenced to death, she manages to fake her death and travels to England to take refuge with her cousin and her husband. She finds employment with a friend of theirs as a governess to his 12 year old daughter.
I love LK books. This sounded like my cup of tea. Well, this sucked ass instead and I found myself still reading. It was like that car accident that everyone slows down to look at, because you can't not look at it!
My complaints:
Their ages. I was fine when I thought she was 22 to his 34. Then I find out she's really 18 and her closeness in age to Emma (Luke's daughter) is brought up. A lot. I wasn't crazy about reading about the hero having sex with someone else. I didn't believe in their romance. At about 20% in and they don't like each other to about 40% in and they are in love. Give. Me. A. Break!
I HATED Luke. He is mean, inconsiderate, stupid (there's still a kidnapping!), and overall Alpha-asshole. This is a description of his for Taisa: "She was sly, mysterious, haughty....all the qualities of a cat. He hated cats." There's the confrontation with Tasia when he dismisses Nan for getting pregnant- but the baby daddy gets to keep his job. "Luke strode around his desk with a snarl, catching the front of her bodice in his large hand. She gave a whimper of fear. Luke shook her briefly, like a dog with a rat. You obey me without question." It goes on to say how turned on he gets holding Tasia off the ground. "There was a responsive ache in his groin....."
Then there is this before the fall in lust (oops, I mean love). "He had deliberately ignored her. Beneath his cool self-possession there had been something tightly reined and threatening."
Then (yes there's more) the threat of assault and rape: "I'm coming to your room tonight," he said after one particularly heated episode..." "I'll lock the door." I'll break it down." and this towards the end: "I'll tough you whenever and however I want," Luke said harshly. "Don't push me too far, Tasia...or you'll regret it." "He won't beat me," Tasia said, though privately she had her doubts." Luke's a catch don't you think?
The best thing about this book was Emma. I read some reviews for her book and I'm not going to read it since I think I will have similar issues with it. I won't be reading LK's earlier books. This sucked ass.
Taisa was found guilty of a murder she has no memory of. Sentenced to death, she manages to fake her death and travels to England to take refuge with her cousin and her husband. She finds employment with a friend of theirs as a governess to his 12 year old daughter.
I love LK books. This sounded like my cup of tea. Well, this sucked ass instead and I found myself still reading. It was like that car accident that everyone slows down to look at, because you can't not look at it!
My complaints:
Their ages. I was fine when I thought she was 22 to his 34. Then I find out she's really 18 and her closeness in age to Emma (Luke's daughter) is brought up. A lot. I wasn't crazy about reading about the hero having sex with someone else. I didn't believe in their romance. At about 20% in and they don't like each other to about 40% in and they are in love. Give. Me. A. Break!
I HATED Luke. He is mean, inconsiderate, stupid (there's still a kidnapping!), and overall Alpha-asshole. This is a description of his for Taisa: "She was sly, mysterious, haughty....all the qualities of a cat. He hated cats." There's the confrontation with Tasia when he dismisses Nan for getting pregnant- but the baby daddy gets to keep his job. "Luke strode around his desk with a snarl, catching the front of her bodice in his large hand. She gave a whimper of fear. Luke shook her briefly, like a dog with a rat. You obey me without question." It goes on to say how turned on he gets holding Tasia off the ground. "There was a responsive ache in his groin....."
Then there is this before the fall in lust (oops, I mean love). "He had deliberately ignored her. Beneath his cool self-possession there had been something tightly reined and threatening."
Then (yes there's more) the threat of assault and rape: "I'm coming to your room tonight," he said after one particularly heated episode..." "I'll lock the door." I'll break it down." and this towards the end: "I'll tough you whenever and however I want," Luke said harshly. "Don't push me too far, Tasia...or you'll regret it." "He won't beat me," Tasia said, though privately she had her doubts." Luke's a catch don't you think?
The best thing about this book was Emma. I read some reviews for her book and I'm not going to read it since I think I will have similar issues with it. I won't be reading LK's earlier books. This sucked ass.
June 11, 2018
Si bien no es de las historias que más me gustaron de esta autora, la disfruté mucho.
April 15, 2021
This book was released after Dreaming of You. Can you believe that? I can't. I thought it would be older than that.
The heroine, Anastasia ran away from Russia after being accused of killing the prince of Russia (can you see why I thought this was older than DoY?). She had to fake her death and disguised herself as the governess in London.
Our hero, Luke, Lord Stokehurst is the single father of a 12 year old daughter, who lost her wife to a fire. What made him so different from your normal LK heroes was that he has a hook for a hand. A HOOK. Imagine the logistics of that.
It was a bit hard for me to get into the story initially. In fact, I have been trying to read this book for months. But after the 20% mark, I'm on board. Well, I'd tried to because I had to admit, they fell in love so quickly and I don't get it. Besides that, love the storytelling.
The heroine, Anastasia ran away from Russia after being accused of killing the prince of Russia (can you see why I thought this was older than DoY?). She had to fake her death and disguised herself as the governess in London.
Our hero, Luke, Lord Stokehurst is the single father of a 12 year old daughter, who lost her wife to a fire. What made him so different from your normal LK heroes was that he has a hook for a hand. A HOOK. Imagine the logistics of that.
It was a bit hard for me to get into the story initially. In fact, I have been trying to read this book for months. But after the 20% mark, I'm on board. Well, I'd tried to because I had to admit, they fell in love so quickly and I don't get it. Besides that, love the storytelling.
May 12, 2017
It's a classic Lisa Kleypas type of love story. This means the romance is sweet, hero and heroine are both likeable characters and a sweet romance. I think if you have just started reading romance, it is a good book. But I must say, Lisa Kleypas has done much better than this book and I hope she will again soon.
There are things I didn't understand in this book:
1. Why does the girl have to be Russian?? Ok i get it, it's the theme and yes England has been done overmuch. But the girl could have been Chinese and that wouldn't change the story much.
2. Why the dead first wife and the teenage girl??? I know these things are all very real but I am reading a romance, I don't want to be real.
3. The hook??? Huh? Are we shooting a pirate movie?? Same as point 1, I don't see this piece of detail do much for the story.
The book itself is a sweet story, but if you have been spoiled by great stories, you probably won't find it so satisfying.
There are things I didn't understand in this book:
1. Why does the girl have to be Russian?? Ok i get it, it's the theme and yes England has been done overmuch. But the girl could have been Chinese and that wouldn't change the story much.
2. Why the dead first wife and the teenage girl??? I know these things are all very real but I am reading a romance, I don't want to be real.
3. The hook??? Huh? Are we shooting a pirate movie?? Same as point 1, I don't see this piece of detail do much for the story.
The book itself is a sweet story, but if you have been spoiled by great stories, you probably won't find it so satisfying.
September 28, 2021
The book failed to live up to my expectations. When you start a book off with a fake death you kind of expect an adventure. I think the author missed a great opportunity. I also wish she incorporated more of Russia.
That being said... this book is still a LK book, meaning it's well written with a nice romance. I was just hoping for more.
That being said... this book is still a LK book, meaning it's well written with a nice romance. I was just hoping for more.
September 22, 2008
Reviewed for www.thcreviews.com
Midnight Angel is not, in my opinion, Lisa Kleypas best novel by far, but it is a worthwhile read. As in most of Ms. Kleypas's other novels, the characters are rather dark, but they just didn't evoke the depth of emotions that the characters in some of her other books did for me. I found Luke to be a fairly likable hero, though perhaps a bit too arrogant and heavy-handed at times. I've heard that some readers are bothered by Luke having a hook in place of a missing hand. I was not disturbed by this in the least. In fact, I think Luke was portrayed as so handsome and confident that I frequently found myself forgetting that he even had this physical flaw. I thought his most endearing qualities were his devotion to and hands-on involvement with his daughter, Emma, and his loving adoration of his first wife. I've never quite understood authors who seem to feel a need to make the first wife unbearable. I really like the idea of a past love that was very strong, yet the hero still has room in his heart for another equally deep love. In this respect, Ms. Kleypas is masterful in creating a picture of two very different, but no less loving relationships, something she also did extremely well in Lady Sophia's Lover.
Tasia was a little harder for me to relate to though. Her personality seemed pretty contradictory at times. Sometimes I really liked and admired her, such as when she was befriending and teaching Emma, or when she decided to defend a pregnant housemaid. Other times, she seemed overly stiff and her passive/aggressive tendencies with regards to Luke's love seemed a bit extreme for the circumstances. I realized that she had been through a lot of hardships on her own and as such had learned to be rather solitary and independent, but since there were a few people who had helped and supported her, the whole self-isolation thing just didn't make much sense to me. If someone had been wooing me the way that Luke did her, I would have melted away. Admittedly, it was a bit of a role-reversal from the norm of romance novels to have the heroine be the one who is resisting love and affection, and perhaps this is why I had a hard time with it. I also found the hero and heroine together to be a bit too aggressive and angsty, arguing a little too much and having too many anger-turned-to-passion moments for my taste.
The secondary characters were very well rendered. I thoroughly enjoyed Luke's daughter, Emma. She added a lot of spice to the book and had a great personality. At 12 years old, she was the perfect blend of a little girl still wanting to be a child and yet being on the cusp of young womanhood. Prince Nikolas is a darkly brooding young man who obviously has a very sordid past, but showed a few glimmers of a gentler side. I didn't really want to like him, but found him rather intriguing in spite of myself. Midnight Angel, is the first book in the two-book Stokehurst series, with the second book being Prince of Dreams, Emma and Nikolas's story. After getting a very good look at both characters in this book, I'm really interested to see what kind of young woman Emma becomes and how the rest of their story plays out.
The storyline of Midnight Angel was generally appealing. I began the book hardly being able to put it down and thinking I had another surefire Kleypas winner on my hands, but about halfway through, the story, I thought it started to loose some steam. It did pick up a bit, later on and had a nice but not extraordinary ending with part of the final chapter and the epilogue easing the reader into the next book, giving it a kind of “to-be-continued” feel. Part of where the story bogged down for me was when Tasia started fighting Luke's love, and the other part was their first love scene which seemed to come almost out of nowhere. I also felt like there was a hole in the sub-plot of Tasia's kidnapping. I just couldn't figure out why Luke would leave her unprotected. This is unusual for Ms. Kleypas, as her plots are usually pretty tight. In addition, the love scenes did not really contain the beautiful sensuality that has become one of Ms. Kleypas's hallmarks. I don't generally care if the love scenes in romance novels are subtle or scorching as long as they (and the book in general) are well written, and they fit well within the context of the story. Unfortunately, in my opinion, neither of these was really the case. These scenes just seemed to keep popping up out of nowhere and sometimes just didn't flow well, either within the scene itself or within the context of the story as a whole. The biggest flaw though is that it really lacked the exquisite depth of love and emotion that I have found in most of Ms. Kleypas's other books that I have read to date. I would not recommend this book for first-time readers of Lisa Kleypas, because it really isn't the best example of her wonderful writing talents, in my opinion. However, if you are a fan like I am or are just looking for something different to read, then by all means check it out.
Midnight Angel is not, in my opinion, Lisa Kleypas best novel by far, but it is a worthwhile read. As in most of Ms. Kleypas's other novels, the characters are rather dark, but they just didn't evoke the depth of emotions that the characters in some of her other books did for me. I found Luke to be a fairly likable hero, though perhaps a bit too arrogant and heavy-handed at times. I've heard that some readers are bothered by Luke having a hook in place of a missing hand. I was not disturbed by this in the least. In fact, I think Luke was portrayed as so handsome and confident that I frequently found myself forgetting that he even had this physical flaw. I thought his most endearing qualities were his devotion to and hands-on involvement with his daughter, Emma, and his loving adoration of his first wife. I've never quite understood authors who seem to feel a need to make the first wife unbearable. I really like the idea of a past love that was very strong, yet the hero still has room in his heart for another equally deep love. In this respect, Ms. Kleypas is masterful in creating a picture of two very different, but no less loving relationships, something she also did extremely well in Lady Sophia's Lover.
Tasia was a little harder for me to relate to though. Her personality seemed pretty contradictory at times. Sometimes I really liked and admired her, such as when she was befriending and teaching Emma, or when she decided to defend a pregnant housemaid. Other times, she seemed overly stiff and her passive/aggressive tendencies with regards to Luke's love seemed a bit extreme for the circumstances. I realized that she had been through a lot of hardships on her own and as such had learned to be rather solitary and independent, but since there were a few people who had helped and supported her, the whole self-isolation thing just didn't make much sense to me. If someone had been wooing me the way that Luke did her, I would have melted away. Admittedly, it was a bit of a role-reversal from the norm of romance novels to have the heroine be the one who is resisting love and affection, and perhaps this is why I had a hard time with it. I also found the hero and heroine together to be a bit too aggressive and angsty, arguing a little too much and having too many anger-turned-to-passion moments for my taste.
The secondary characters were very well rendered. I thoroughly enjoyed Luke's daughter, Emma. She added a lot of spice to the book and had a great personality. At 12 years old, she was the perfect blend of a little girl still wanting to be a child and yet being on the cusp of young womanhood. Prince Nikolas is a darkly brooding young man who obviously has a very sordid past, but showed a few glimmers of a gentler side. I didn't really want to like him, but found him rather intriguing in spite of myself. Midnight Angel, is the first book in the two-book Stokehurst series, with the second book being Prince of Dreams, Emma and Nikolas's story. After getting a very good look at both characters in this book, I'm really interested to see what kind of young woman Emma becomes and how the rest of their story plays out.
The storyline of Midnight Angel was generally appealing. I began the book hardly being able to put it down and thinking I had another surefire Kleypas winner on my hands, but about halfway through, the story, I thought it started to loose some steam. It did pick up a bit, later on and had a nice but not extraordinary ending with part of the final chapter and the epilogue easing the reader into the next book, giving it a kind of “to-be-continued” feel. Part of where the story bogged down for me was when Tasia started fighting Luke's love, and the other part was their first love scene which seemed to come almost out of nowhere. I also felt like there was a hole in the sub-plot of Tasia's kidnapping. I just couldn't figure out why Luke would leave her unprotected. This is unusual for Ms. Kleypas, as her plots are usually pretty tight. In addition, the love scenes did not really contain the beautiful sensuality that has become one of Ms. Kleypas's hallmarks. I don't generally care if the love scenes in romance novels are subtle or scorching as long as they (and the book in general) are well written, and they fit well within the context of the story. Unfortunately, in my opinion, neither of these was really the case. These scenes just seemed to keep popping up out of nowhere and sometimes just didn't flow well, either within the scene itself or within the context of the story as a whole. The biggest flaw though is that it really lacked the exquisite depth of love and emotion that I have found in most of Ms. Kleypas's other books that I have read to date. I would not recommend this book for first-time readers of Lisa Kleypas, because it really isn't the best example of her wonderful writing talents, in my opinion. However, if you are a fan like I am or are just looking for something different to read, then by all means check it out.
January 24, 2021
4 stars ⭐️
I wish I had read this first instead of starting with book two. Oops! So much would have been clearer to me. This is by far my fave of the two! I love the whole is Tasia a witch element..she definitely has something magical about her that could look in and see the future. This was a delicious 15+ age gap, and I love the whole single dad (widower) trope. When Tasia, the mysterious governess shows up, Luke is on high alert saying he will not hire her, but feels compelled to do the opposite. Luke and Tasia were destined.
“Tasia, I will want you every night—and I don't much care for the idea of ‘visiting’ my wife. Don't you think it would be more convenient if we shared this room?”
“Go on,” Luke murmured, peeling the gown away from her breast. His breath fell hotly on her naked skin. “Tell me about propriety.” She only moaned and reached for him, pulling his head closer. Smiling, he kissed the velvety tip and opened his mouth, drawing her tender flesh gently between his teeth. The idea of separate rooms was abandoned, as Luke gave her a thorough demonstration of why they would require only one room and one bed.”
I love a good romantic suspense story, and this one definitely fit that description. Plus, the steam 💨
I wish I had read this first instead of starting with book two. Oops! So much would have been clearer to me. This is by far my fave of the two! I love the whole is Tasia a witch element..she definitely has something magical about her that could look in and see the future. This was a delicious 15+ age gap, and I love the whole single dad (widower) trope. When Tasia, the mysterious governess shows up, Luke is on high alert saying he will not hire her, but feels compelled to do the opposite. Luke and Tasia were destined.
“Tasia, I will want you every night—and I don't much care for the idea of ‘visiting’ my wife. Don't you think it would be more convenient if we shared this room?”
“Go on,” Luke murmured, peeling the gown away from her breast. His breath fell hotly on her naked skin. “Tell me about propriety.” She only moaned and reached for him, pulling his head closer. Smiling, he kissed the velvety tip and opened his mouth, drawing her tender flesh gently between his teeth. The idea of separate rooms was abandoned, as Luke gave her a thorough demonstration of why they would require only one room and one bed.”
I love a good romantic suspense story, and this one definitely fit that description. Plus, the steam 💨
August 17, 2019
Si algo tengo claro es que cuando termino un libro y no me decido por todos de los que dispongo siempre tiro por Lisa Kleypas, lo que viene a ser mi “autora de cabecera” porque sé que la novela me va a gustar y por eso me decidí por esta serie que ya tenía en mi lista.
“Ángel de medianoche” es el primero de la serie “Stokehursts” que se compone de dos libros, su protagonista Anastasia Kaptereva “Tasia” tiene que huir de Rusia porque se le acusa de la muerte del príncipe Mijaíl Angelovsky y trasladarse a Inglaterra donde comenzará una nueva vida como institutriz de Emma, la hija de Luke Stokehurst.
Continua la reseña: http://oceanodelibros.blogspot.com/20...
“Ángel de medianoche” es el primero de la serie “Stokehursts” que se compone de dos libros, su protagonista Anastasia Kaptereva “Tasia” tiene que huir de Rusia porque se le acusa de la muerte del príncipe Mijaíl Angelovsky y trasladarse a Inglaterra donde comenzará una nueva vida como institutriz de Emma, la hija de Luke Stokehurst.
Continua la reseña: http://oceanodelibros.blogspot.com/20...
January 20, 2022
2.5. This book is an early Kleypas book and it shows. It displayed the early promise, but also inexperienced writing, lack of focus in characterisation, a tendency towards authorial excesses and indulgences. There are clunky, stilted dialogues, fascination with faraway locales and exoticism, inconsistency in narration - a lot of experimentation going on. The pacing was slow and the descriptions were excessive. The scenes made little plot contribution at times. The plot is shaky and the emotionality is intense, opaque, unrelatable at times… and thoroughly lacking in subtlety in others. It was exactly like reading anybody’s early work - a pastiche of styles and inspirations from other authors and possibly travels, or art house films… all bundled and taped together into a story. I don’t know where I found the patience to finish this, but I did, if only to find out how Kleypas was going to make a romantic heroine out of a high-strung, innocent, martyr-like sheltered Russian Orthodox girl. Her efforts were not the best, but had some measure of restraint.* I read this primarily out of curiosity and to understand how far her romance writing had come.
The first third of the book, where we follow Tasia’s escape from imperial Russia, stretched out like an endless dream, full of solemn and lush imagery and very static. In all fairness to her gift of descriptive writing, this portion repeatedly plunged me into visions of cavernous Eastern churches with gilt ceilings and echoes of stories past. While I wasn’t expecting this and have no dislike for such experiences, Tasia for me became irreversibly associated with prayers and choral humming around flickering candlelight and religious iconography hammered with gold-leaf. The quietude and stark relief of the imagery only served to cast the weakness in the writing of dialogues of and obvious motivations of the other characters, such as Luke, the mistress, and everybody who wasn’t a wraith.
The middle-third courtship was entirely rushed and inexplicable, of high emotionality and had every indication of a senseless liaison. No, wait, they get married. Er, okay. This part had bad pivots and I struggled to shake off the religious imagery around Tasia who was by then so busy shedding her clothes with Luke.
Finally, for the necessary confrontation with Tasia’s past - being sentenced to death for murder and witchcraft - it launched from wanton sexual decadence back to being a lush travel documentary of St. Petersburg. At least there was some pacing and action going on. Very quickly and easily resolved. The inexperienced writing showed in the manoeuvres from sex back to a wilting plot.
I had the sense that this was an abandoned manuscript resurrected and led towards the finishing line. It read like a privately written fantasy indulgence that needed no grounding in the banalities of the romance mill. Regardless, I wasn’t convinced of any romantic feelings. There were lots of feelings going on - fear, religious fervour, insensate anger from Luke, unpredictable lust, protectiveness, selfishness, but barely any infatuation, and certainly no romance. A strange read but a different one.
*(For a better characterisation of a fervently religious girl who blossoms into romantic heroine - read Untamed by Pamela Clare.)
The first third of the book, where we follow Tasia’s escape from imperial Russia, stretched out like an endless dream, full of solemn and lush imagery and very static. In all fairness to her gift of descriptive writing, this portion repeatedly plunged me into visions of cavernous Eastern churches with gilt ceilings and echoes of stories past. While I wasn’t expecting this and have no dislike for such experiences, Tasia for me became irreversibly associated with prayers and choral humming around flickering candlelight and religious iconography hammered with gold-leaf. The quietude and stark relief of the imagery only served to cast the weakness in the writing of dialogues of and obvious motivations of the other characters, such as Luke, the mistress, and everybody who wasn’t a wraith.
The middle-third courtship was entirely rushed and inexplicable, of high emotionality and had every indication of a senseless liaison. No, wait, they get married. Er, okay. This part had bad pivots and I struggled to shake off the religious imagery around Tasia who was by then so busy shedding her clothes with Luke.
Finally, for the necessary confrontation with Tasia’s past - being sentenced to death for murder and witchcraft - it launched from wanton sexual decadence back to being a lush travel documentary of St. Petersburg. At least there was some pacing and action going on. Very quickly and easily resolved. The inexperienced writing showed in the manoeuvres from sex back to a wilting plot.
I had the sense that this was an abandoned manuscript resurrected and led towards the finishing line. It read like a privately written fantasy indulgence that needed no grounding in the banalities of the romance mill. Regardless, I wasn’t convinced of any romantic feelings. There were lots of feelings going on - fear, religious fervour, insensate anger from Luke, unpredictable lust, protectiveness, selfishness, but barely any infatuation, and certainly no romance. A strange read but a different one.
*(For a better characterisation of a fervently religious girl who blossoms into romantic heroine - read Untamed by Pamela Clare.)
October 31, 2010
Lisa Kleypas has done it again! A simple love story that has won a place among my favorite shelves!
This tale reminds me of some of my all time favorite love stories, Romeo and Juliet with the sleep potion, The Bronze Horseman for the Russian elements (that were very interesting and described perfectly) Though Tasia is not studying for the nunnery her faith is strong and she does become a nanny......The Sound of Music also comes to my mind!
Luke is so in love with Tasia that I was jealous! As with most Kleypas' books the ease to which I become attached to her characters is effortless. I just fall and fall hard. I couldn't put this one down. Loving every moment that Tasia and Luke spend together. A bad guy and mistress thrown into the mix and you have an LK winner.
I read Stokhurust 2 Niki's book 1st. I recall really liking it and thinking it was quite different. A bit dark. Now that I have background knowledge on Nicholas and Emma I wished I had read them in order. My advice is to do that.
This tale reminds me of some of my all time favorite love stories, Romeo and Juliet with the sleep potion, The Bronze Horseman for the Russian elements (that were very interesting and described perfectly) Though Tasia is not studying for the nunnery her faith is strong and she does become a nanny......The Sound of Music also comes to my mind!
Luke is so in love with Tasia that I was jealous! As with most Kleypas' books the ease to which I become attached to her characters is effortless. I just fall and fall hard. I couldn't put this one down. Loving every moment that Tasia and Luke spend together. A bad guy and mistress thrown into the mix and you have an LK winner.
I read Stokhurust 2 Niki's book 1st. I recall really liking it and thinking it was quite different. A bit dark. Now that I have background knowledge on Nicholas and Emma I wished I had read them in order. My advice is to do that.
October 19, 2023
DNF’ed around 55%
I don’t want to rant so I’ll keep it short.
This book made me really uncomfortable. The age gap and the allusion to her body and stuff read a little bit like ch*ld molestation.
The hero is despicable.
There’s no chemistry whatsoever, anyway, I couldn’t finish this book. To many uncomfortable scenes and dialogues.
I don’t want to rant so I’ll keep it short.
This book made me really uncomfortable. The age gap and the allusion to her body and stuff read a little bit like ch*ld molestation.
The hero is despicable.
There’s no chemistry whatsoever, anyway, I couldn’t finish this book. To many uncomfortable scenes and dialogues.
August 19, 2025
When I started this book, I had high expectations...I don't really know why, but the whole thing with a Russian main character, a fake identity and a mysterious crime sounded too good to be true. Unfortunately, the book couldn't hold up with my expectations.
The story revolves around Tsasia and Luke. Tsasia is a 18-years-old Russian Lady who faked her death in order to avoid execution for a crime she can't remember and ended up in England as the governess of Luke's 12-years-old daughter Emma. Luke is a bit grumpy and decided after the death of his wife Mary to never marry again. He didn't expect to fall for the mysterious and very young governess his friends talked him into...
Overall, the plot sounds good. A bit of mystery, a bit of crime and obviously a bit of romance, but somehow all of these wonderful elements turned wobbly in this book. For most of the book we don't know what really happened between Anastasia and her now dead fiancé which was supposed to draw you in, but somehow I think I would have liked the story better, if from the beginning it had been obvious that she was innocent. Tsasia is such a godly, religious and upright women...I didn't make much sense to me that she flew from Russia without knowing that she was innocent. For most of the story even Tsasia was convinced that she committed murder.
When Luke, Tsasia and Nikolas started to solve the murder, it all went by so quickly, like "Oh, here is the reason she is innocent, that's the actual bad guy and see you at the happy ending!" It just wasn't satisfying at all. The whole "plot twist" revealing the truth was run through within like 1-2 chapters. Considering that as the reader you spent the whole book wondering what happened, the ending was kind of disappointing.
Now to the romance: I am and will forever not be a fan of age-gap-relationships. They just weird me out so much. I mean, Luke is like in his thirties and Tsasia is 18-years-old. On top of that, she was locked away from society for most of her life, because apparently that would make her desirable to men. (Don't ask me...) I get it that when he met her, Luke thought she was 22-years-old, because she told him that lie, but still....it weirds me out. I also didn't like how he treated her for most of their relationship. Again, I understand, it's a historical romance and sexism, blah, blah, but come on, he is supposed to be the good guy, not the I will lock you up at home and treat you like shit kinda guy. I just did not like him that much. Tsasia isn't really the most interesting character to be honest, because apparently she has not other personality besides being Russian, super religious and mysterious. Plus, I still don't get why she didn't get the typical Russian nickname for Anastasia which is Anya.
The pacing was ok. As I have often written, Kleypas doesn't struggle with that. Even her less good books are decently written and plotted.
Besides the age-gap-romance, my other biggest dislike in this novel was the representation of Russia, Russian people and slavic culture in general. As a slavic person myself I did not see myself in this at all. It was so stereotypical, romanticised and almost orientalistic that I just can't stand behind it. Like since when do all Slavs have cat like eyes? Come on...Or are we all super mysterious, magical and see the world with completely different than anyone else. Nor were/are they barbaric and brutal people.
I did like that Kleypas showed how many Slavs are/were very orthodox when it comes to the Christian faith, but still follow all lot of pagan traditions which makes many appear very superstitious.
But still, all the descriptions of Russia and Russian people felt like they had been described through the eyes of a tourist, not the actual people themselves.
Also, can be please stop making the villainous characters in historical romance novel queer or queer-coded. I am so tired to read about queer characters being these bad and cruel people. Or that they are gay, because they were molested as children or something. I am so done with that. Thank you.
Again, I am not really intrigued to read book 2 (Emma and Nikolas' story), but I will probably fight myself through it...
All together, not a must-read book by Kleypas in my opinion.
The story revolves around Tsasia and Luke. Tsasia is a 18-years-old Russian Lady who faked her death in order to avoid execution for a crime she can't remember and ended up in England as the governess of Luke's 12-years-old daughter Emma. Luke is a bit grumpy and decided after the death of his wife Mary to never marry again. He didn't expect to fall for the mysterious and very young governess his friends talked him into...
Overall, the plot sounds good. A bit of mystery, a bit of crime and obviously a bit of romance, but somehow all of these wonderful elements turned wobbly in this book. For most of the book we don't know what really happened between Anastasia and her now dead fiancé which was supposed to draw you in, but somehow I think I would have liked the story better, if from the beginning it had been obvious that she was innocent. Tsasia is such a godly, religious and upright women...I didn't make much sense to me that she flew from Russia without knowing that she was innocent. For most of the story even Tsasia was convinced that she committed murder.
When Luke, Tsasia and Nikolas started to solve the murder, it all went by so quickly, like "Oh, here is the reason she is innocent, that's the actual bad guy and see you at the happy ending!" It just wasn't satisfying at all. The whole "plot twist" revealing the truth was run through within like 1-2 chapters. Considering that as the reader you spent the whole book wondering what happened, the ending was kind of disappointing.
Now to the romance: I am and will forever not be a fan of age-gap-relationships. They just weird me out so much. I mean, Luke is like in his thirties and Tsasia is 18-years-old. On top of that, she was locked away from society for most of her life, because apparently that would make her desirable to men. (Don't ask me...) I get it that when he met her, Luke thought she was 22-years-old, because she told him that lie, but still....it weirds me out. I also didn't like how he treated her for most of their relationship. Again, I understand, it's a historical romance and sexism, blah, blah, but come on, he is supposed to be the good guy, not the I will lock you up at home and treat you like shit kinda guy. I just did not like him that much. Tsasia isn't really the most interesting character to be honest, because apparently she has not other personality besides being Russian, super religious and mysterious. Plus, I still don't get why she didn't get the typical Russian nickname for Anastasia which is Anya.
The pacing was ok. As I have often written, Kleypas doesn't struggle with that. Even her less good books are decently written and plotted.
Besides the age-gap-romance, my other biggest dislike in this novel was the representation of Russia, Russian people and slavic culture in general. As a slavic person myself I did not see myself in this at all. It was so stereotypical, romanticised and almost orientalistic that I just can't stand behind it. Like since when do all Slavs have cat like eyes? Come on...Or are we all super mysterious, magical and see the world with completely different than anyone else. Nor were/are they barbaric and brutal people.
I did like that Kleypas showed how many Slavs are/were very orthodox when it comes to the Christian faith, but still follow all lot of pagan traditions which makes many appear very superstitious.
But still, all the descriptions of Russia and Russian people felt like they had been described through the eyes of a tourist, not the actual people themselves.
Also, can be please stop making the villainous characters in historical romance novel queer or queer-coded. I am so tired to read about queer characters being these bad and cruel people. Or that they are gay, because they were molested as children or something. I am so done with that. Thank you.
Again, I am not really intrigued to read book 2 (Emma and Nikolas' story), but I will probably fight myself through it...
All together, not a must-read book by Kleypas in my opinion.
February 27, 2024
3.2/5
“I want you. Enough to fight for you. And if you run from me, I'll find you.”
البداية كانت رائعة، كانت مؤثرة جدًا لدرجة أنني اضطررت لمواصلة
القراءة.💗
البطلة أناستازيا هربت من روسيا بعد اتهامها بقتل أمير روسيا
كان عليها أن تزيف وفاتها وتتنكر في هيئة مربية في لندن.
“Love is a golden vessel, it bends but never breaks.”
بطلنا، لوك، اللورد ستوكهيرست هو أب لابنة تبلغ من العمر 12 عامًا، فقد زوجته في حريق ، و اصبح هو المسؤول الوحيد عن ابنته ، كما أنه لا يزال يعاني من صدمة فقدان زوجته .
“Tasia. If you leave, you'll take my heart with you.”
ابنته كانت أقرب لل 17 أو ال18 لم أكن أشعر ابدا أنها ف ال 12 و هذا كان غريب من الكاتبة بعض الشيء .
ابنته ايما كانت من افضل الشخصيات في الرواية 💗.
الرواية كان بها بعض المشاهد الغير لائقة و المزعجه كعادة الأجانب 😒
أحببت القصة و الشخصيات و الاحداث . هذا هو أول كتاب اقرأه للكاتبة
Lisa kleypas ، وضعتها في القائمة ضمن الكُّتاب المفضلين 💕.
لم اقرأ في تصنيف الرومانسية التاريخية منذ مدة طوييييلة 😁
في المجمل الرواية كانت جيدة لكن ليست افضل شيء 😗💗
“I want you. Enough to fight for you. And if you run from me, I'll find you.”
البداية كانت رائعة، كانت مؤثرة جدًا لدرجة أنني اضطررت لمواصلة
القراءة.💗
البطلة أناستازيا هربت من روسيا بعد اتهامها بقتل أمير روسيا
كان عليها أن تزيف وفاتها وتتنكر في هيئة مربية في لندن.
“Love is a golden vessel, it bends but never breaks.”
بطلنا، لوك، اللورد ستوكهيرست هو أب لابنة تبلغ من العمر 12 عامًا، فقد زوجته في حريق ، و اصبح هو المسؤول الوحيد عن ابنته ، كما أنه لا يزال يعاني من صدمة فقدان زوجته .
“Tasia. If you leave, you'll take my heart with you.”
ابنته كانت أقرب لل 17 أو ال18 لم أكن أشعر ابدا أنها ف ال 12 و هذا كان غريب من الكاتبة بعض الشيء .
ابنته ايما كانت من افضل الشخصيات في الرواية 💗.
الرواية كان بها بعض المشاهد الغير لائقة و المزعجه كعادة الأجانب 😒
أحببت القصة و الشخصيات و الاحداث . هذا هو أول كتاب اقرأه للكاتبة
Lisa kleypas ، وضعتها في القائمة ضمن الكُّتاب المفضلين 💕.
لم اقرأ في تصنيف الرومانسية التاريخية منذ مدة طوييييلة 😁
في المجمل الرواية كانت جيدة لكن ليست افضل شيء 😗💗
April 10, 2019
Progresivo, lento, e intenso. El tipo de romance que me gusta.
Tasia llega a su casa como una institutriz, como una mera empleada después de haber vivido durante toda su vida llena de lujos. Pero aprende tantas cosas que no había visto y está viva, que es lo más importante, dado que en Rusia la buscan para colgarla por asesinato.
Me encanta cuando la madre de Tasia le dice que lo perdona por su falta de fortuna, él se quedó en shock jajajaja y cuando Nicolas le acaricia el cabello a Emma.
Tasia llega a su casa como una institutriz, como una mera empleada después de haber vivido durante toda su vida llena de lujos. Pero aprende tantas cosas que no había visto y está viva, que es lo más importante, dado que en Rusia la buscan para colgarla por asesinato.
Me encanta cuando la madre de Tasia le dice que lo perdona por su falta de fortuna, él se quedó en shock jajajaja y cuando Nicolas le acaricia el cabello a Emma.
May 16, 2017
da www.sognipensieriparole.com
Forse non è il classico Kleypas, forse l'ambientazione è diversa, e a tratti mi ha ricordato un po' quelli che una volta venivano chiamati i romanzi d'appendice (con colpi di scena e apparizioni improvvise). Tuttavia, a parte la solita mirabile scrittura di quest'autrice, io l'ho davvero letto in un fiato, a partire dall'inizio "russo", intriso di atmosfere cupe e ombrose. Mi è subito piaciuta Tasia, la sua forza, la sua determinatezza, il suo prendere in mano le redini di casa senza timori. Certo, c'è poi il ritorno "russo", il fare i conti con il passato, i classici temi del salvataggio e della vendetta, ma questo aggiunge pathos al romanzo, arricchendolo.
Mi sono annoiata? No. Mi sono appassionata? Sì. Unica pecca: manca un vero cattivo.
In ogni caso, un romanzone storico, polposo e appagante.
Sullo sfondo già si delinea la prossima coppia, Emma e il suo principe ex-cattivo (?) che mi rendono impaziente di proseguire la lettura.
Forse non è il classico Kleypas, forse l'ambientazione è diversa, e a tratti mi ha ricordato un po' quelli che una volta venivano chiamati i romanzi d'appendice (con colpi di scena e apparizioni improvvise). Tuttavia, a parte la solita mirabile scrittura di quest'autrice, io l'ho davvero letto in un fiato, a partire dall'inizio "russo", intriso di atmosfere cupe e ombrose. Mi è subito piaciuta Tasia, la sua forza, la sua determinatezza, il suo prendere in mano le redini di casa senza timori. Certo, c'è poi il ritorno "russo", il fare i conti con il passato, i classici temi del salvataggio e della vendetta, ma questo aggiunge pathos al romanzo, arricchendolo.
Mi sono annoiata? No. Mi sono appassionata? Sì. Unica pecca: manca un vero cattivo.
In ogni caso, un romanzone storico, polposo e appagante.
Sullo sfondo già si delinea la prossima coppia, Emma e il suo principe ex-cattivo (?) che mi rendono impaziente di proseguire la lettura.
April 24, 2024
4/5
The evil prince was my favourite
The evil prince was my favourite
June 1, 2025
NOT my favorite. YIKES. i still love lisa though
April 4, 2022
I’ve been making my way through Lisa Kleypas’ backlist for the past 2-ish years. I read a book or series here and there as I don’t want to run out of books to read from favs too fast. And this past week I decided to pick up Midnight Angel. I really hadn’t heard anything about this one so it was fun to see what it was all about. This book was published in the mid-1990s and is book 1 in the Stokehurst series. It definitely has an old school historical romance vibe and has a lot going on. The heroine, Anastasia Kaptereva, is Russian and the story kicks off in St. Petersburg. It’s 1870 and she’s convicted of murdering someone and due to be executed. But with some poison, a faked death, and a rescue mission by her Uncle…Anastasia “Tasia” is sent off to London for safety. Now with a fake identity and in hiding, Tasia’s cousin hooks her up with a governess job for friend, Lucas Stokehurst.
Lucas is widowed and needing help with his 12-year-old daughter Emma. He has a silver hook in place of his left hand, after his hand was injured years ago it was amputated to save him from a life-threatening infection. I liked how mature Tasia’s character is and how much good she brings to Lucas and Emma’s lives. She was a genuinely good character and even helps a servant in the home and goes to bat for her to Lucas, even though the same woman was never kind to Tasia. This story features an age gap as many historicals often do, so I don’t often point them out unless it’s a significant amount of years between the couple…in this one she’s 18 and he’s 34. The hero has a mistress in the beginning of the book, but that never really bothers me to see and I liked seeing the relationship/friendship he had set up with her prior to meeting the heroine. I will say the first half of the story I enjoyed a lot and the ending did start to drag on for me with all the suspense plot to the story. There is a setup for the next book, the hero’s daughter will be the heroine in that story, and I am intrigued.
Lucas is widowed and needing help with his 12-year-old daughter Emma. He has a silver hook in place of his left hand, after his hand was injured years ago it was amputated to save him from a life-threatening infection. I liked how mature Tasia’s character is and how much good she brings to Lucas and Emma’s lives. She was a genuinely good character and even helps a servant in the home and goes to bat for her to Lucas, even though the same woman was never kind to Tasia. This story features an age gap as many historicals often do, so I don’t often point them out unless it’s a significant amount of years between the couple…in this one she’s 18 and he’s 34. The hero has a mistress in the beginning of the book, but that never really bothers me to see and I liked seeing the relationship/friendship he had set up with her prior to meeting the heroine. I will say the first half of the story I enjoyed a lot and the ending did start to drag on for me with all the suspense plot to the story. There is a setup for the next book, the hero’s daughter will be the heroine in that story, and I am intrigued.
February 19, 2022
La breve reseña la podéis ver en los comentarios https://alacamaconunlibro.blogspot.co...
June 9, 2017
Lisa Kleypas sembra avere raschiato il fondo del barile delle storie a disposizione. Poco male, direte voi, un libro “minore” della signora del romance storico bagna pur sempre il naso a una moltitudine di altre autrici. Vero, per carità, ma ciò non toglie che sia rimasta delusa anche (e sottolineo anche) da questo terzo romanzo della nuova batteria di storici che ho acquistato. E che sto man mano leggendo.
Assassina, o innocente? Anastasia (Tasia) riesce a fuggire al capestro, grazie a una pozione (Il Conte di Montecristo non è stato scritto invano) che finge il rigor mortis. Fuggita in Inghilterra presso la cugina, viene assunta di malavoglia dal nobile marchese di Stokehurts. Sarà l’istitutrice della piccola (ma lunga come una pertica) Emma.
Tra un rapimento, molto sesso e un cane simpatico (lui e la bambina li salverei, se dovessi fare il gioco della torre con i personaggi), la storia si avvicina al lieto fine di prammatica, aprendo la strada al volume n° due, che avrà come protagonisti Nicholas, principe russo in esilio (vorrei anch’io essere esiliata con trenta milioni di sterline al seguito), e la piccola – non più piccola Emma.
Scritto benissimo, tradotto senza problemi, eppure… mi fa rimpiangere fino alle lacrime la serie delle WallFlowers (Zitelle).
Assassina, o innocente? Anastasia (Tasia) riesce a fuggire al capestro, grazie a una pozione (Il Conte di Montecristo non è stato scritto invano) che finge il rigor mortis. Fuggita in Inghilterra presso la cugina, viene assunta di malavoglia dal nobile marchese di Stokehurts. Sarà l’istitutrice della piccola (ma lunga come una pertica) Emma.
Tra un rapimento, molto sesso e un cane simpatico (lui e la bambina li salverei, se dovessi fare il gioco della torre con i personaggi), la storia si avvicina al lieto fine di prammatica, aprendo la strada al volume n° due, che avrà come protagonisti Nicholas, principe russo in esilio (vorrei anch’io essere esiliata con trenta milioni di sterline al seguito), e la piccola – non più piccola Emma.
Scritto benissimo, tradotto senza problemi, eppure… mi fa rimpiangere fino alle lacrime la serie delle WallFlowers (Zitelle).
June 11, 2020
Non siamo ai livelli della serie delle Audaci zitelle, ma la Kleypas è sempre piacevole da leggere
April 7, 2024
No he conectado con este libro y tampoco he reconocido entre sus páginas a la autora que tanto admiro.
Es una novela lenta, que de no ocurrir nada de repente los protagonistas no pueden vivir uno sin el otro. No hay un desarrollo equilibrado ni tampoco cuenta mucho sobre situaciones sobrenaturales que rodean a Tasia.
Me alegro que esta autora haya evolucionado tanto con los años y este libro quede como uno de sus comienzos.
Es una novela lenta, que de no ocurrir nada de repente los protagonistas no pueden vivir uno sin el otro. No hay un desarrollo equilibrado ni tampoco cuenta mucho sobre situaciones sobrenaturales que rodean a Tasia.
Me alegro que esta autora haya evolucionado tanto con los años y este libro quede como uno de sus comienzos.
May 17, 2023
One of the older LK, not my favorite even if as usual she’s very good.
The heroine is a Russian lady who’s accused of being a witch and of having killed her quite fiancé.
She is able to escape and she is helped by an elderly couple of relative, English relatives.
She will have to be hidden because the dead fiancé brother is looking for her.
So she ends to the hero’s house to be his daughter’s teacher.
The hero is of course a bit suspicious because he knows nothing about this woman and she’s very young indeed.
She and his daughter bond and she is accepted for one month’s trial.
The hero is a widow and loved his wife, she died in a fire and he feels guilty for not being able to save her.
He feels a strong attraction to the heroine but of course he tries to resist and he keeps on having sex with his mistress for some weeks. This was disturbing especially because he felt attracted to the heroine and was able to be with ow.
Not good for my bitchy self.
Eventually he leaves the mistress and declares his love to the heroine. There’s a bit of drama when dead fiancé’s brother manages to capture the heroine but eventually all is well and they get married
The heroine was too young imo she was only 18 and the hero was past 30, but she was quite mature.
Ow drama because ow tries to separate the couple but only for a while.
I don’t know why exactly but I wasn’t so much impressed by this book and I prefer my heroes to be celibate after meeting the heroine if she’s not a child of course!
The heroine is a Russian lady who’s accused of being a witch and of having killed her quite fiancé.
She is able to escape and she is helped by an elderly couple of relative, English relatives.
She will have to be hidden because the dead fiancé brother is looking for her.
So she ends to the hero’s house to be his daughter’s teacher.
The hero is of course a bit suspicious because he knows nothing about this woman and she’s very young indeed.
She and his daughter bond and she is accepted for one month’s trial.
The hero is a widow and loved his wife, she died in a fire and he feels guilty for not being able to save her.
He feels a strong attraction to the heroine but of course he tries to resist and he keeps on having sex with his mistress for some weeks. This was disturbing especially because he felt attracted to the heroine and was able to be with ow.
Not good for my bitchy self.
Eventually he leaves the mistress and declares his love to the heroine. There’s a bit of drama when dead fiancé’s brother manages to capture the heroine but eventually all is well and they get married
The heroine was too young imo she was only 18 and the hero was past 30, but she was quite mature.
Ow drama because ow tries to separate the couple but only for a while.
I don’t know why exactly but I wasn’t so much impressed by this book and I prefer my heroes to be celibate after meeting the heroine if she’s not a child of course!
April 14, 2011
Anastasia is a Russian beauty accused of murder and sentenced to death when she fakes her own death and escapes to England. There she meets Lord Luke Stokehurst and his daughter Emma and finds a new place to call home.
I really enjoyed this book. More than I thought I would. I really love the governess themed books. They always have that great element of forbidden lust and the tension is so awesome. This was done quite well in this book, so much so that I wish it had lasted longer. Where I think everything about this book was sort of average or slightly above average, the story line itself was quite engaging and it flowed along nicely and quickly and kept me interested.
Luke our hero was yummy though not as yummy as other great Kleypas heroes. This story was so centered around Tasia that he was prominant in the story but not as prominant as she was. He fell pretty hard pretty quickly and that was nice to see. His devotion to Tasia and his love for her was easy to believe and see. His determination to their love was powerful and he was just so driven to keep her that it was so sweet. If he were to have lost her, its very possible that he just would not have been able to survive it. I give him a 5/10 on the Kleypas hero scale!
The steam factor in this book was quite yummy. There were a lot of well placed love scenes with Luke and Tasia and they progressed nicely in the story. One thing I appreciated was that Tasia was no wilting little flower. She was lusty and proud of it and didn't hide from her attraction for Luke. That honesty was nice to read about in a heroine for once. No complaints on the steam here. 5/10 on the Kleypas steam scale.
The romance/sigh factor was probably the lowest in score here. It was romantic and they belonged together, but it sort of just happend so quickly that we didn't get to fall with them. Tasia was the one who struggled with the committment which made sense - she was quite young and had a lot on her plate. The romance didn't feel awkward or misplaced, it just happend quickly. All of a sudden he loved her and though it all felt right, it would have been nice to have a little bit more from him particularly. That being said, there were many romantic moments between them. Though their journey to be together was not necessarily easy by any means, their love was easy. It was comfortable, meant to be and beautiful in its own way. Just not fireworks beautiful. I give it a 4.5/10 on the romance/sigh factor.
In the end, this was a great fun read and a nice progression in the flow of Lisa's work. Her books are at this point only getting better and thankfully not going backwards in talent! I'm QUITE interested in Nicholas and Emma's story. He's been an interesting character so far and I've heard lots of controversy over him as a hero that I can't wait to see what I think of him! I'm so dying to start his book right now because I think I'm gonna love him, but it's 2:30 AM so tomorrow it will be Nicholas, Emma and I!
Of course, I'll let you know what I think of him! :-)
I really enjoyed this book. More than I thought I would. I really love the governess themed books. They always have that great element of forbidden lust and the tension is so awesome. This was done quite well in this book, so much so that I wish it had lasted longer. Where I think everything about this book was sort of average or slightly above average, the story line itself was quite engaging and it flowed along nicely and quickly and kept me interested.
Luke our hero was yummy though not as yummy as other great Kleypas heroes. This story was so centered around Tasia that he was prominant in the story but not as prominant as she was. He fell pretty hard pretty quickly and that was nice to see. His devotion to Tasia and his love for her was easy to believe and see. His determination to their love was powerful and he was just so driven to keep her that it was so sweet. If he were to have lost her, its very possible that he just would not have been able to survive it. I give him a 5/10 on the Kleypas hero scale!
The steam factor in this book was quite yummy. There were a lot of well placed love scenes with Luke and Tasia and they progressed nicely in the story. One thing I appreciated was that Tasia was no wilting little flower. She was lusty and proud of it and didn't hide from her attraction for Luke. That honesty was nice to read about in a heroine for once. No complaints on the steam here. 5/10 on the Kleypas steam scale.
The romance/sigh factor was probably the lowest in score here. It was romantic and they belonged together, but it sort of just happend so quickly that we didn't get to fall with them. Tasia was the one who struggled with the committment which made sense - she was quite young and had a lot on her plate. The romance didn't feel awkward or misplaced, it just happend quickly. All of a sudden he loved her and though it all felt right, it would have been nice to have a little bit more from him particularly. That being said, there were many romantic moments between them. Though their journey to be together was not necessarily easy by any means, their love was easy. It was comfortable, meant to be and beautiful in its own way. Just not fireworks beautiful. I give it a 4.5/10 on the romance/sigh factor.
In the end, this was a great fun read and a nice progression in the flow of Lisa's work. Her books are at this point only getting better and thankfully not going backwards in talent! I'm QUITE interested in Nicholas and Emma's story. He's been an interesting character so far and I've heard lots of controversy over him as a hero that I can't wait to see what I think of him! I'm so dying to start his book right now because I think I'm gonna love him, but it's 2:30 AM so tomorrow it will be Nicholas, Emma and I!
Of course, I'll let you know what I think of him! :-)
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