His Lady Midnight (Zebra Regency Romance)
by Ferguson Jo Ann

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Book Reviews of His Lady Midnight (Zebra Regency Romance)

Book Review: a goodish read
Summary: 3 Stars

Lady Phoebe Brackenton has a very dangerous secret life: she uses her wealth to buy the freedom of the unfortunates who have committed petty crimes out of necessity, and have been condemned to being transported to the penal colony in Australia. Very often this means being forever separated from their families forever because few have the money to buy their way back to England once their sentence is over. Phoebe buys their freedom off the transportation ship (illegally, of course), and then she smuggles them to more remote counties where she finds them work and sanctuary. Once their sentence is up, they are then in a better position to return to their families and start again. Phoebe has been successfully doing this for quite a few years now, however her good luck has just run out. In her latest venture, she all but walks into a trap, and barely escapes in tact. She makes for a carriage, thinking it her own, and is aghast to discover that it actually belongs to Lord Galen Townsend.

Galen Townsend is at the dockyards, looking for his drunken and wayward brother when Phoebe fairly hurtles into his carriage. He recognises Phoebe as the restained and beautiful heiress, who in spite of her beauty, wealth and connections, seems to flit through the ton only at it's fringes. He is curious as to why she is at the London dockyards at this hour of the night, and her fevered request for help, moves him to help her. Realising that the authorities suspect and are after Phoebe, Galen whisks her off the his friend's Brighton home, Thistledown Cottage, so that she can maintain a low profile until the authorities loose interest in her (though how a unchaperoned young lady of society living with an eligible bachelor she's not related to or engaged to could be considered as maintaining a low profile, was a bit of a mystery to me).

The more time the couple spend together, the more they come to admire, respect and fall for each other. Galen is fairly bowled over by Phoebe's courage, compassion as well as her beauty; while Phoebe finds herself falling under the spell of Galen's good looks, charms and kindness. However their blossoming relationship suffers a few setbacks, when first Galen's' spoilt and manipulative younger brother, Carr, turns up at Thistledown Cottage, and later when the authorities center in on Phoebe. Will Galen's and Phoebe's fragile relationship be able to withstand the twin assaults of Carr's petty malice and the dragnet the authorities have placed around Lady Midnight?

"His Lady Midnight" is not a bad read -- both Galen's and Phoebe's characters were well developed. I especially liked the heroine, Phoebe Brackenston, who was not only courageous and compassionate, but who was also sensible to boot. It's not often one comes across a heroine of Phoebe's caliber, and it was a treat to do so. I also liked that both Galen and Phoebe treated each other with respect and deep regard, without playing the kinds of games that usually passes for "flirtation." Much of the plot was interesting and believable as well, thought the ending was a little rushed. Also, more could have been done with the Galen-Carr plot line, I thought. And, without giving too much away, I found the projected 'all's well that ends well' ending of the novel to be highly improbable. I didn't think that there was much chance for Phoebe and Galen could resume their lives 'as usual' in England barring some kind of special dispensation. In spite of what I thought was an unlikely ending however, "Lady Midnight" was a rather enjoyable read, and should not disappoint.

General Books

• Romance > Contemporary
• Historical > Regency
• Regency
• Series > Zebra Regency Romance
• General