One Night Is Never Enough

I need a new shelf.

A shelf called Why Did I Waste My Time?

A shelf for for books with the lowest ratio of complete to incomplete sentences.

Trant had waited for just the right hand to make the bet. Had waited for Chatsworth to get into his cups and to have some decent cards.
Had waited to place the bet when only two men would witness the wager. One, a man who was utterly devoted to his wife, and whose wife was a close friend of the lady of the bet. Who would hold the scandal secret. The other, a man who held the debts and markers of over half of London's citizens. Who would make sure the wager took place. Who wouldn't interfere--for it was his business not to interfere.

A shelf for books with the most instances of consecutive sentences show more beginning with the same phrase.(see above)

A shelf for books with supposedly smoldering sex scenes that are so obtuse, so fleeting, that it's over before the reader realizes what's happening.

A shelf for books that rely on italics rather than adept writing.

And she knew she was acting recklessly. But it didn't seem to matter. Even as she thought about it logically, she didn't care.

A shelf for books where the first 100 pages include a card game, a chess match, and a tea party. And nothing else.

A shelf for books by a writer whose efforts are adored by many other people.

But not by me. show less

Wow, this was hot in that darkly seductive heavily bantered way. I believe there's a book that was recommended to me in this series and it was the third, but I'm glad I'm a dedicated sequentalist. This hero was totally up my alley, and so was the "cold" heroine. I'm looking forward to the 3rd, I have definite thoughts about what's happening there and look forward to the story.

This is a 4, because I can definitely see reading it again. It's not a 5 because extended metaphors simply tried too hard for elegant writing (though plenty is!) and transitions can be weird. As a chaos muppet myself, I find this very surprising as a criticism to any book coming from me so if you tend to be some kind of Bert, this may bother you. Then again, maybe show more my problem was not following the line of transition well enough due to aforementioned chaos muppet tendencies. Anyway, this is a sticking point for me with Lucy Parker too and I seem to be one of the only ones. I rarely say #maybeitsme but I guess I'll say that here. But still. Extended metaphors are hard to dislike for this poet's heart and now I'm just rambling, but yes, extended metaphors drag down the elegance here unfortunately. show less

I'm waffling between 4 and 5 stars. At times I am like, "YES, this is 5 stars." and then I think, "wait. maybe not..." anyway, it's probably 5 stars but I'm going to go with 4 for now. Including my internal conflict seemed like a novel idea at the time and now I understand it is very silly lol

ANYWAY - This was published first, but it made me think of Joanna Shupe's The Prince of Broadway (I read the Shupe first and did not like it much) they both have similar characters - FMCs that are upperclass and MMCs that are from "the underground" and have non traditional endings but I find One Night is Never Enough to have been more satisfying and better executed.

so, who knows, 4.5 stars?

• Historical Romance
• Damaged hero
• First person, past tense, dual POV.

Setup:

Charlotte Chatsworth needs to make a good marriage, to pay her father's debts and ensure her younger sister can live worry free. Roman Merrik runs a gambling hell and is not the sort of man Charlotte should be consorting with. Roman takes an opportunity to win one night with her in a wager with her father...

My thoughts - contains spoilers:

I should really like this book, the plot is right up my street. But, in all honesty, it left me a bit cold. The main characters are well developed and interesting. The plot, for the most part, well thought out. I can't put my finger on what it is that doesn't do it for me.

It could be that many of the scenes felt show more half-finished. The first night together, she falls asleep and then its over. The ending, Roman has just figured out all this complicated stuff and announces it to her.

Or maybe it's that the POV isn't used effectively. A lot of the resolution is only hinted at on the page. Or maybe I find Charlotte a touch too passive. Oh I just don't know.

This was also a great opportunity for some great hero pining, but I just didn't get that from the text. Roman was cute but he was no Derek Craven. show less

Despite the dramatic "won in a card game" opening, I love that the arc of this story has the heroine growing in confidence and taking up the reins of her own life. This is my second Mallory book, and I'm consistently impressed with her ability to add depth and nuance to some of my favorite romance tropes. I will definitely be exploring her back catalogue.

ONE NIGHT IS NEVER ENOUGH by Anne Mallory is a delightful historical romance set in Regency England. This story of love,romance,sweet sensuality,finding the courage to follow your dreams and family betrayal. The characters are interesting,with witty banter,and intriguing. The hero is sexy,dangerous,to follow anywhere kind of guy,with deep ties to the back side of town,and is a really great guy. The heroine,is beautiful,sexy,
courageous in more ways than one. She is determined to give her younger sister a chance in society without scandal attached.Her father will not win any father of the year rewards.Her mother has go into herself and could care less about her daugthers futures.I would suggest if you are looking for a different take on show more historical romance with a little twist than this would be one to look into getting.It has lower class meeting upper class and follow their hearts instead of what society expects them to follow. This was a great,page turning story from beginning to end. This book was received for the purpose of review from Net Galley and details can be found at Avon,an imprint of Harper Collins and My Book Addiction and More. show less

I would destroy the city if something happened to you. I can't even bear the thought of it.And when Roman says that he means it.

2 new characters are introduced in this book and one of them is the main character, Andreas and Roman.Roman is the brother who seems less likeable to kill you but you don't want to meet him in a dark alley.
When Charlotte's father bets her in a game of cards Roman cheats and wins her because if the other person wins her she will be ruined and because he can't get her out of his mind.
They do nothing that will compromise her but they need to see each other again. They feel something. They see each other again and their relationship becomes more personal. Like Miranda to Max, Charlotte becomes Roman's mistress.
The show more book is similar in a way to Seven Secrets of Seduction
but it has it's own air. show less