Book Review: A Lady by Midnight by Tessa Dare

At First Sight: After a rather lonely childhood, Kate Taylor found friends and a home in Spindle Cove as the town's music teacher. Her life was pretty tranquil and uneventful until the day the militia came about and with them Corporal Samuel Thorne. 

Thorne has been hardened by a difficult childhood and a life-time in the military. And for the last year he has kept his distance from Kate, for reasons he doesn't really want anyone to know, especially Kate. 

But when the Gramercys - an aristocratic family - come calling, claiming that Kate is their long lost cousin, Thorne's every instinct is to protect Kate because, really, that's what he has been doing most of his life. 

Not that he particularly wants her to remember that. 

But the Gramercys are in Spindle Cove to stay, at least until they can take Kate away with them. 

Second Glance: A Lady by Midnight was a fun read over all. I thought one of the things that worked really well was the relationship between Thorne and Kate. Whenever they went together, the story turned fun and engaging and I wanted to keep reading. 

Sadly, there wasn't nearly enough of them together. 

And then, there were the Gramercys. 

God, I hated them. 

They were kooky and unconventional to the point of being silly and annoying. I know Spindle Cove is a place all about acceptance and being yourself and whatever, but this bunch was a little too much, and the took up too much time of the story. Time where I found myself thinking "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn about you crazy lot", over and over again.

And, in the end, I found them to be a very selfish group, they are not bad people per se, but I did think they were selfish. 

Bottom Line: I'm not entirely sure Tessa Dare's is ever going to be a favorite author of mine, but her writing is solid and, oddly enough, I do want to read the other books in this series. I just thought that the story would have worked better without the Gramercy Twist. I was over it the moment it happened.

This book comes out August 28th. 

2/3*

*Would be less but Thone and Kate are really good together for the most part and there is an adorable  dog, so that gives it extra  points.