A Dark and Stormy Knight
4 Stars

Series note: This is book #7 in the Victorian Rebels series and book #1 in the Goode Girls spin off. Much of Carlton Morely's backstory is referenced in earlier books; thus, the books should be read in order.

While the characters are very appealing and the romance is delightful, this installment is simply too short. The shorter length results in underdeveloped plot elements, poorly fleshed out secondary characters, and a rushed ending.

Carlton and Prudence's romance is the lion's share of the book. From the moment they first meet, their chemistry is off the charts and it only intensifies as the story progresses. The conflict that develops is believable and resolved satisfactorily.

Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for the mystery, which is more of an afterthought than an actual storyline.

The introduction of Prudence's sisters who will be the heroines of the spin off series has potential, but none of them are sufficiently developed. Hopefully their books will have more character growth.

All in all, not as good as the previous books in the series but the inclusion of the some of the couples from previous books is an added bonus. ( )

4.75 Stars! ( )

I didn't feel the emotions quite as much as I wished, but that could have been because of pressure I placed on it having counted down the days until it was released or something. I will read it again at some point and may like it even more the second time. This is a great series, and this is probably my 4th favorite (After 1,6, & 2). Unfortunately the hero's introductory story had already come to light prior to this book, so it didn't grab me as some of the others have, but both of the characters grew on me. The mystery was a bit paltry, especially since this is the inspector's story, but I wasn't in it for the mystery. (Which is good because it was pretty obvious, and the investigation was lax.) An enjoyable story though. 4 stars.

2nd read- I reread this right before starting the 2nd in the Goode Girls series which shares this book. And I did like it more the second time (I think book 6 is a particularly tough act to follow directly behind). This clips along at a good pace though, and it's sort of heart warming to see the hero crack open his hard shell. The characters are good for each other, and I really enjoy seeing the previous couples in supporting roles as well. Bumping up to 5 stars. ( )

Beginning with the ridiculousness of a brothel where men screw female prostitutes inside, presumably in beds, while women screw male prostitutes outside, in a garden . . . I just couldn't get past this nonsense. In what world do women choose to have their sex outside when beds could be made available? I'm not even a prude. I've had sex outside more than once. Nobody with any sense at all would choose to have her first sexual experience outdoors in a garden. I can't imagine women frequenting a place that provides no beds or comfortable furnishings. Sex dangling from a tree limb might be fun once, it's certainly not going to be entertaining time and time again.

This story already had a blackmark against it before I even began. I put off starting it because I knew the hero was going to have to do a great deal to redeem himself. In the very first book in this series, we're introduced to Carlton Morley as a self-righteous detective who is violently beating a bound prisoner. I can overlook a lot of violent and immoral acts from a romance novel hero, but that introduction rubbed me the wrong way and I have yet to reach any understanding of why so many readers were clamoring for Morley to get his own romance. He never did anything in the pages of the six previous books to actually redeem himself. Dorian Blackwell may have forgiven him the beating, but I can't forgive a man whose morals include beating a bound man.

Then we have the completely unnecessary rehashing of all the previous books in the series. Will romance writers ever learn we don't need to hear all of that information again and again? That each book should introduce characters as though they are independent stories? Skip the refresher course.

After suffering the pleasure garden, the anti-hero, and the rehashing, we get a story that is half-baked. The mystery is obvious, as we're only introduced to very few characters who could be the culprit. Neither our hero nor our heroine make it fully onto the page in a way that we could understand their motives or really get into their heads. Then the final action scene--the only time in the book that we would have been able to see the legendary Shadow Knight in action--is glossed over from Prudence's perspective. She saw nothing. Only understood what happened after it was done. If there is a recipe for making an action scene anti-climactic, Ms. Byrne followed it to the letter.

There are excellent books in this series. I'll continue to recommend Ms. Byrne's other titles, but not this one. This one is a flop.

( )

Was really looking forward to Carlton Morley story but felt most of this book was phoned in and thought he needed more finishing than this. ( )