Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read.

Start by marking “Midnight Angel (Stokehurst, #1)” as Want to Read:

Other editions

Enlarge cover

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Open Preview

more photos (1)

Midnight Angel

(The Stokehursts #1)

Lisa Kleypas (Goodreads Author)

3.65 · Rating details · 5,681 ratings · 311 reviews

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.

Get A Copy

Paperback, 373 pages

Published January 1st 1995 by Avon

More Details... Edit Details

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Reader Q&A

To ask other readers questions about Midnight Angel, please sign up.

Be the first to ask a question about Midnight Angel

Lists with This Book

Secrets of a Summer Night by Lisa Kleypas

The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie by Jennifer Ashley

Victorian Romance (1837 - 1901)

459 books — 318 voters

The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

Best Fiction With Disfigured/Disabled Leads

1,021 books — 1,055 voters

More lists with this book...

Community Reviews

Showing 1-30

3.65 ·

Rating details

· 5,681 ratings · 311 reviews

More filters

Sort order

Aug 11, 2013 Khanh, first of her name, mother of bunnies rated it it was amazing

Shelves: to-review

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 ...more

flag 209 likes · Like · see review

Nov 21, 2008 Beth rated it it was ok

Shelves: historical-romance, 2009, russian, tnbbc-winter-2008

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 aft ...more

flag 18 likes · Like · see review

Jul 15, 2009 Rane rated it it was ok

Shelves: historical, victorian-era, regency-napoleonic-era

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Lady Anastasia is on the run for her life as she’s found with blood on her hands and her fiancée dead at her feet with no memory of her killing him or how it happened. With no way out then death, Tasia takes a potion to fake her death and travels to England to try and start her life over on the run. When his close friends tell Luke Stokehurst they found a perfect governess for his wild-child daughter, he dismisses it with a shrug only to be stopped in his tracks at the sight of this beautiful y Lady Anastasia is on the run for her life as she’s found with blood on her hands and her fiancée dead at her feet with no memory of her killing him or how it happened. With no way out then death, Tasia takes a potion to fake her death and travels to England to try and start her life over on the run. When his close friends tell Luke Stokehurst they found a perfect governess for his wild-child daughter, he dismisses it with a shrug only to be stopped in his tracks at the sight of this beautiful young woman with amazing eyes and a past hidden in the mist. Determined to find out more of this young woman’s past, he finds himself falling in love with her and would do anything to keep her. Tasia feels drawn to Luke, but knows her past deeds will no doubt catch up with her in the end. Only her heart keeps her from running away and has her running toward Luke.
Luke and Tasia fight their past pains as they struggle to find the happiness they know they can only find in each other.

As a couple I never felt a true connection between Tasia and Luke. I didn’t care forLuke at all with him acting more like a hard head and pushing his way to make Tasia do what he wants even after knowing the truth of her past. He never trys to comfort her into understanding why he asks these things of her from not contacting her mother etc, he only tells her what to do period. Never seeing it from her side, as of a young woman lost and alone from her homeland, scared out of her wits and trying to come to grips with the things around her. Even when he knows she loves him he still acts like a jealous fool toward the end of the story making it drag even more.
Tasia was an unusual female lead with strength and wisdom beyond her years; I could clearly understand her actions and thoughts and found myself wondering what she truly saw when she found her dead fiancée.

Midnight Angel started off on a great foot with a tortured hero finding love again, I didn’t noticed or pay much heed to his hook hand but never came to like Luke even in his good moments. (Good example: after saying I love you to Tasia, goes to say she wasn’t a likely candidate and had women throwing themselves at him for years-oooh so romantic *gags*)
The one moment that threw me for a loop was when the true age of Tasia was reveled. I don’t mind older man and younger woman story, but when is said Tasia is only a hand full years older then Luke’s own daughter, I couldn’t help but be jerked from the book with a confused look, looking around and asking “EHHHH?..um why?”
I felt it was fine when they made her in her early twenties, but to make her closer to Emma’s age? I felt was totally unnecessary and kinda on the yick factor of gross. I wouldn’t have been to surprised if Emma brought that up in a fight between her Dad asking why she couldn’t kiss a guy when he was bedding a young woman that was close to her own age and could have well been his daughter.

The pace afterward went down hill, and pretty much everything else in the book was predictable with nothing really holding my attention with parts that only annoyed me greatly.

Overall: a fair book from LK with nothing all that great but, I forgive her as she’s written more awesome books that overshadow the bad ones. ...more

flag 13 likes · Like · see review

Sep 24, 2010 Kelly rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 2010-read, favorites

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 wit ...more

flag 8 likes · Like · see review

Apr 24, 2015 Zoe rated it liked it · review of another edition

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 be ...more

flag 8 likes · Like · see review

Sep 28, 2012 kris rated it did not like it

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 te ...more

flag 8 likes · Like · see review

Feb 16, 2008 Julianna rated it liked it

Recommends it for: Lisa Kleypas Fans

Shelves: read-2007, historical-romance

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 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. ...more

flag 7 likes · Like · see review

Oct 04, 2009 Bekah rated it really liked it

Shelves: read-own, 2011-reads

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 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! :-) ...more

flag 4 likes · Like · see review

Jun 19, 2017 Rachel- Goodbye Borders rated it did not like it

Shelves: read-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 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. ...more

flag 4 likes · Like · see review

Jan 14, 2010 Aimee rated it really liked it

Shelves: historical-romance, own-it, made-me-cry, made-me-laugh-out-loud, lisa-kleypas

I had almost forgotten how much I loved Lisa Kleyas' writing! This book was so refreshing after all of the grittier books I tend to read.
One of the things that seems to draw me into Lisa Kleypas's books, whether historical or contemporary, is the completely believable romance. She has the ablility to build a relationship that makes you route for the characters like you know them personally. It could be a sea slug falling in love with a space alien. But Ms. Kleypas makes you believe it!

flag 3 likes · Like · see review

Jul 25, 2018 Olga Godim rated it really liked it

Shelves: historical, romance

This is one if this author’s earlier books, and I didn’t like it as much as the more recent ones. Lucas is an arrogant British nobleman. Tasya is a Russian girl from a rich aristocratic family, but she is living under an assumed identity. She had been convicted of murder in St. Petersburg. She escaped the gallows, but she is afraid her past will catch up with her.
The story takes place in 1870. It’s very melodramatic but actually not bad. The tension and pacing of the narrative keep the reader at ...more

flag 2 likes · Like · see review

Oct 24, 2014 Debbie rated it really liked it

Another Lisa Kleypas winner

With a few of her books under my belt it feels good and I can confidently say that when I need my Historical Romance fix, this is the author that I will run to. I enjoy a little Downton Abbey meets Pride and Prejudice aired on a cable channel to for the right to show a little steam. What I like about this authors books is that not only do you get those key elements but you get a bit of a meaty story as well. One could technically rip out all the special romance scene ...more

flag 2 likes · Like · see review

Aug 11, 2013 LaFleurBleue rated it liked it

Shelves: e-book, romance-histo

This was not Lisa Kleypas's best book by far, though not the worst.
I rather liked the heroine, I liked the way her relationship with Lucas evolved, their love for each other and how she managed to handle Emma. I also really liked how Lucas managed to learn to care and love someone other than his deceased wife.
However the partial amnesia was a bit too much and not cleverfully managed by either of those. I kept wondering when they would get the mind-reading woman back to be clear on what had happ ...more

flag 2 likes · Like · see review

Mar 10, 2011 Nonieღserenity2bliss rated it really liked it

The story starts strong but looses its charms midway. I don't know if it's because Luke and Tasia got together sooner than I expected or it's because I'm not entirely convince how fast Luke fell for Tasia.

And the age gap between them bothers me more than it should (he's 34, she's 18). Had she been 20 and he's 36, I'd probably be okay with it. He has a 12 year-old daughter, for heaven's sake! In today's society, he would be call a cradle robber.

flag 2 likes · Like · see review

Jul 14, 2012 Julz rated it liked it

Shelves: child-by-ow, audiobook, historical-romance, amnesia, deceased-wife-or-ow

This one was ok, I guess. Chick running from a crime she doesn't remember if she committed and lands her a tall rich dude with a hook for a hand. Lots of syrupy mush and a pseudoalpha male. No hard limits for miles around.

flag 2 likes · Like · see review

Sep 24, 2016 Al *the semi serial series skipper* rated it really liked it

The beginning blew me away, it was so gripping i had to keep on reading. I'm surprised i never read this before. There were instances where things were just too much but still i enjoyed it overall.

flag 2 likes · Like · see review

Mar 07, 2017 Lisa rated it it was ok

Shelves: asshole-hero, caveman-hero, hero-with-a-disability, relationship-makes-no-sense

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 an 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.

(view spoiler)

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. ...more

flag 1 like · Like · see review

Jun 15, 2019 Joano rated it really liked it

Shelves: married-life, family, alpha-male, tragedy, old-school-romance, historical-romance, hero-heroine-with-disability, religious-undertone, series, setting-europe

I’ve being a fan of Lisa Kleypas since I first came across her novel, Then Came You. Back then, reading a historical romance novel where the h is a single mother and not a virgin was refreshing. I started looking for a backlog of her novels, read some, knew this one existed but was never too keen due to the average reviews on Amazon.

Before I begin, I just want to say, this book is a page turner. It’s a cross between many tropes- governess/employer (at one stage, it was almost similar to Jane Eyr I’ve being a fan of Lisa Kleypas since I first came across her novel, Then Came You. Back then, reading a historical romance novel where the h is a single mother and not a virgin was refreshing. I started looking for a backlog of her novels, read some, knew this one existed but was never too keen due to the average reviews on Amazon.

Before I begin, I just want to say, this book is a page turner. It’s a cross between many tropes- governess/employer (at one stage, it was almost similar to Jane Eyre), older H, younger h, and the Russian aristocracy which was also popular in other historical romances around the time. At the beginning of the book, Lisa dedicated it to her friend who took her to Russia. There is plenty of details about Russians and Russia supported by research or her travels which made the Russian elements of the story believable.

Plot: Anastasia (Tasia) is about to be hanged for the murder of her fiancé, a distance cousin from a family of wealth and influence. She escapes prison by faking her own death and is taken to a cousin in England by her uncle. Her cousin’s know a friend, the H, who is looking for a new governess for his daughter. This was a great way to hide her in the country without drawing attention to her.

This is what I would call a “Transition historical romance” with the softer elements of the 70’s-80’s old romances. There is plenty of forced seduction and the amount of sex in this book is common based on when it was published. There is a “bodice ripping” at the very end which was consensual as she was trying to gain the upper hand in their argument. A truely alpha H, domineering, with a non-stop sex addiction moving from mistress then straight to the h.

I gave this 4 stars because the H’s personality was a bit off. It was like a flick of the switch turning him from hate to love. With insta love, you know what you’re getting into, but this was a bit unrealistic or can be viewed as dishonest- maybe it was insta but falling in love with them because they shouted at you just seen weird. The h turns to jelly the moment the H touches her and all she wants is sex. They’re like a pair of runting teenagers even though the H has a 12 year old daughter.

Having said all this, I quite enjoyed this book. Maybe the bunch of other romance novels I’ve been trying to finish recently made this one seen entertaining even with the plot holes. It’s definitely a page turner and I recommend to any Lisa Kleypas fans. ...more

flag 1 like · Like · see review

Jun 23, 2019 Becky rated it liked it

Shelves: historical-romance

I didn’t realize when I picked this book up, I had read it years ago. It was one of those readings where everything that happens, I was like, “Oh yeah, I remember that.” But I couldn’t recall what would happen next. I remember really loving this book when I first read it, but I guess it’s not my thing anymore.

Lord Lucas Stokehurst has a 12 year old feisty daughter on the cusp of womanhood. She’s his world and in desperate need of a governess and a motherly figure to guide her through the coming ...more

flag 1 like · Like · see review

Jan 01, 2018 Katherine Coble rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Not your typical romance, as there's quite a lot of focus on the Russian politics of the late nineteenth century. That adds a richness to the plot. If you're looking for a standard love story, this will give you that, plus it will also give you a melodramatic unsolved murder, fake death, revenge killer and samovars.

flag 2 likes · Like · see review

Feb 08, 2017 Feminista marked it as never-to-read

Gross age gap with hero's daughter being closer in age to the heroine.

flag 1 like · Like · see review

Mar 07, 2018 Blossom rated it really liked it

I absolutely loved the heroine in this book. The way she was consistent in her beliefs even if she had a few hang ups and the hero....he grew on me. I mean he went to Russia for her. He faced down anyone to get her back. It was a fairy tale story I really enjoyed reading.

flag 1 like · Like · see review

Sep 14, 2015 Amy rated it liked it

Cooped up in bed, this was the perfect thing for me to read. That being said, it was far from a perfect book.

I'm a fan of Lisa Kleypas, most of the time. I think she's easily one of the best contemporary HR authors; she has a gift of taking a very specific and limiting time period and somehow putting a fresh spin on each and every novel. Midnight Angel's spin? Russia. There had to have been a hefty amount of research involved in the creation of this story. It's impressive -- not only did she ne Cooped up in bed, this was the perfect thing for me to read. That being said, it was far from a perfect book.

I'm a fan of Lisa Kleypas, most of the time. I think she's easily one of the best contemporary HR authors; she has a gift of taking a very specific and limiting time period and somehow putting a fresh spin on each and every novel. Midnight Angel's spin? Russia. There had to have been a hefty amount of research involved in the creation of this story. It's impressive -- not only did she need to understand the nuances of English society, she had to balance it out with Russian politics, peasant/stewart/prince relationships, a breakdown on imperialism, and just general custom. Not many authors would be willing to tackle that in a romance novel and even fewer would manage to incorporate it all with decent writing. So, brava, Mrs. Kleypas.

That being said, this is not one of my favorite novels. Compared to most of the romance I've read recently, this probably deserves at least four stars, but having read her other novels, I know she can do a better job. As laudable as it was to include the chapters set in Russia, they weren't truly that interesting. I had no investment in the sudden influx of new characters and I didn't much care about Tasia's Mysterious Murder Escapades because honestly, how could you ever be fooled into thinking she actually killed someone? It was obvious from the start that she was utterly incapable of violence, so instead of feeling sympathetic every time Tasia jumped on the I'm a Terrible Person train and fretted, I had to roll my eyes. Luke also felt a bit flat to me, although his Man Angst was well fleshed out. Maybe it had something to do with his proclaimed loyalty to his dead wife -- promising his mistress that he'd never want to marry anyone yet hopping into bed with Tasia's 18 year old body ten pages later. I get that this is a romance novel and near-instantaneous love is pretty much a given, but the flip from his coldness to "I absolutely cannot live without you; you are the light of my newfound life!" was jarring. It felt hollow. Tasia really hadn't done much to incite such a reaction, in my opinion, but perhaps I'm just being nitpicky.

I'd recommend other Kleypas books over this one, for sure. Midnight Angel tried so, so hard, but it mildly let me down. ...more

flag 1 like · Like · see review

Sep 13, 2009 C Joy rated it really liked it

Shelves: lisa-kleypas, ebooks, historical-romance

Reading a Lisa Kleypas novel has always been a treat, and this book is no exception. The characters were very likeable, and the setting was a change of scene starting in Russia, to England, back and forth. I love how LK's writing is consistent, but there's always something new with every story, they're never boring and predictable. The only thing I always know is a happy ending, and in this case foreshadowing.

Tasia was one of the slender heroines in her books but she has that mystic charm, and a ...more

flag 1 like · Like · see review

Feb 16, 2017 Dina rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: 2017-reads

That was 5 star awesomeness!!!

description

I LOVED THIS SO MUCH!!!!!!

I can't wait to read the next one!!

flag 1 like · Like · see review

Jan 29, 2012 Susan (susayq ~) rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2012books, ebooks, historical-romance, russian

I just don't know what to say about this one. I've read Lisa Kleypas before and LOVED her! The romance, the humor...she does it perfectly. Then I picked this up and WOAH! Not at all what I expected. This was dark and almost angsty! And I loved it just the same!

My only problem with this was the hero, Luke. Luke was an alpha male. Yes, I like alpha male heroes. I like them a lot. But here's where the problem came in - one minute he was pushing Tasia up against the door kissing the heck out of her ...more

flag 1 like · Like · see review

Dec 08, 2016 Thenia rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2017, romance, r-ab, historical-romance, series, reviewed

Anastasia "Tasia" Kaptereva has barely escaped Russia with her life, after (view spoiler). She is now working as the governess of a spirited young lady whose father, Lucas Stokehurst, is more than slightly suspicious of Tasia.

Lucas initially doesn't want anything to do with Tasia and only accepts her as his beloved daughter's governess at his friends' insistence, but his desire to uncover her secrets, combined with her poise and s ...more

flag 1 like · Like · see review

Jan 31, 2015 Magda rated it did not like it

I am a big LK fan and was very surprised in how much I disliked this book.

The story is about a young Russian Aristocratic lady that gets sentenced to death for a crime she did not commit. She escapes to England where she ends up as a governess for a wealthy man's 14 year old child.
My main issue was with the male lead. The man, Lord Stokehurst, is widowed and has lost one arm, in a heroic attempt to save his late wife. That made his, of course, stronger and more detached, which I accepted. How ...more

flag 1 like · Like · see review

Feb 26, 2010 Samantha rated it really liked it

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

flag 1 like · Like · see review

Oct 20, 2013 Tarra rated it liked it

There was just too much going on in this book that it felt like a really bad soap opera. There was a paranormal element, which I didn't care for, I felt it wasn't used enough. If you're going to give your character a "gift" then they should be able to use it more and it should be more important to the story. A less than stellar Lisa Kleypas novel is still better than a lot of books I've read! But this definitely would not be the first novel I'd recommend for new Kleypas fans.

flag 1 like · Like · see review

« previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 next »

new topic
Discuss This Book

There are no discussion topics on this book yet. Be the first to start one »

Recommend It | Stats | Recent Status Updates

Readers also enjoyed

See similar books…

Genres

Romance > Historical Romance

294 users

Romance

216 users

Historical

129 users

Historical > Historical Fiction

32 users

See top shelves…

About Lisa Kleypas

Lisa Kleypas

18,853 followers

LISA 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.