Captives of the Night

I'm a sucker for anything of the redeem-the-villain category, so I practically devoured this book.

In comparison to Lion's Daughter, I found it much easier to read, and the characters were generally much more likable. I liked them more, at any rate. It's quite possible that the lack of any "exotic" scenery (i.e. Albany) made for a better setting.

I loved Compte d'Esmond and Lady Brentmoor characters' quite a lot. Though the countess' sentence structure did seem a bit odd to me. It appeared as if she was purposefully ignoring the accord of the subject with the predicate. Initially I thought that this was due to 19th century speech styles, however the rest of the characters didn't seem to have this problem.

On the other hand, I didn't really show more feel a "spark" between the two heroes. In Lion's Daughter, the tension between Esme and Varian was quite palpable. Yet Esmond and Leila's encounters were just... there. Perhaps I just don't get the appeal of oriental sultan-look-alikes.

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review of book 1: The Lion's Daughter
review of book 3: Lord of Scoundrels
review of book 4: The Last Hellion show less

I would have liked Captives of the Night more if it weren't for the murder mystery that directs most of the plot. It's pretty evenly balanced with the romance, so that the romance isn't overwhelmed or anything. Rather I found the murder mystery more of a distraction because I wasn't in the mood for a murder mystery. The hero, while something of a caricature at times, and seemingly less than or "almost human," as he's described, was original and interesting, and the heroine, despite her hang-ups about the sinfulness of sex and her own desires (which are actually dealt with very sympathetically,) was strong and intelligent. I liked how she demanded to become involved in the murder mystery, which the hero was investigating. She became his show more equal and his partner. Still, I never really connected with the characters and kept expecting more from the story than what I found. What really stands out about this book is the cover. What a creepy creepy man. His come hither look is more like a pervy ax murderer glare.

P.S. I read this series out of order - Captives of the Night first, then The Lion's Daughter second. Only after reading The Lion's Daughter do I understand some of Ismal's history, which was only refered to obliquely in Captives of the Night. Getting his backstory helps with fleshing out his character a bit more, so I would suggest reading The Lion's Daughter first. show less

I started reading this expecting just another historical romance novel, but I was surprised to discover that romance tale was secondary to a very intriguing murder plot. This book keeps you guessing right until the end.

I'm so glad I had the opportunity to read this book, I've often heard hints of the prior Scoundrels books without any clear sense of whether or not I'd read them. I can say that CAPTIVES OF THE NIGHT was new to me, and while it did have some old school pacing and melodrama issues, I enjoyed it.

There were things I liked about this book, but overall I thought the plot was convoluted and unneccessarily complicated. It took a long while for me to really like the characters, Ismal and Leila. The writing was good and some of the dialogue was very good, but I just didn't love the book.

A real pleasure! I loved all the twisty turns and decadent romance in this murder mystery.

http://ktleyed.blogspot.com/2009/08/captives-of-night-by-loretta-chase.html

I don't have much to say, mostly bc I struggled with the connection between the characters. The story was fine. ...more