A Midnight Clear

Lady Eudora Swann (85 years young!) needs a secretary to write and edit her scandalous memoirs. Will plain Jane Ryder get the position? Jane has just gotten evicted from her residence and came dragging all her worldly possessions with her. (Why she ended up in London remains forever a mystery!) The witty dialogue between Eudora and Jane during the interview is wonderful. It is worth many of the less sterling chapters to follow. Speed up almost a year later and the book (Scandalbroth) is almost completed. Besides other common gossip, it relates the exploits of the infamous Fallon men. The newly titled (and young) Lord Fallon (Charles) visits Eudora in an attempt to thwart the publishing since he wishes to improve the image of the Fallon's. He is turned away after being propositioned by Lady Swann. Now Christmas is nearing and Jane is happy. She adores her employer and plans to enjoy the holidays with evergreens and specially chosen gifts. But Eudora has her own Christmas "scheming" to do and sends Jane off with a letter to Lord Fallon with a different proposition while she whisks herself out of town. This is after gifting Jane with lovely and touching items which I found very nice - In the letter to Lord Fallon, Eudora promises to consider delaying publishing of the book if he will allow Jane to research other Fallon family history. So Charles takes Jane to his family seat. He knows no written history exists but craves companionship when he returns to the place where he spent a lonely childhood. I don't want to spoil the rest of the story, but predictably they are trapped for a time in a snowstorm and share stories of their lives. I never knew whether to believe the stories and much is left unsaid. Since it is Christmastime there is special occurrence involving a baby. The romance is sweet and I loved the Lady Swann character but I never felt emotionally involved with either the hero or heroine. If you crave a tame romance you will enjoy a few hours of reading and I will recommend it for those reasons.

Lynn Kerstan's book is witty, intelligent and keeps you hanging on til the last word. Its almost impossible to find books by current regency authors that provide not just the hum drum romance, but the humor and imagination that makes it stick in your head - I read this at least a year ago. It isn't just well written, it has that perfect balance of everything you need (strong characters, great plot, and of course the wonderful humor) in a good regency book.

When I read this book I instantly fell in love with Lynn Kerstan's writing. This book is poetic and wonderful. I felt that I was giving a chance to really get to know the charcters, who are without a doubt marvelous. This is a book you can pick up anytime to read and be instantly charmed over and over again by its style and story. This is a book that deserves attention for its story and its author. Lynn Kerstan is a author to keep your eyes on!!!