Wait Until Midnight

This historical romance, written in 2004, introduces sensation novelist Caroline Fordyce and Adam Hardesty, a man with a talent for secrets. Adam is searching for a diary which would expose secrets of his past and potentially destroy the reputations of his three siblings. Caroline is researching her next novel by learning about psychical research and spiritualists.

When the medium who conducted a seance attended by Caroline and her aunts is brutally murdered, Adam comes to her to find out what she knows since the murdered medium was blackmailing him about the missing diary.

With Caroline's guidance, she and Adam begin to explore the world of psychical research and find themselves targets for a villain or two from that world. And along show more the way, they fall in love.

This was an engaging story with strong, independent characters. The dialog was witty. The romance built slowly. I enjoyed it and enjoyed Louisa Jane Underwood's narration. show less

Wait Until Midnight is a Victorian romance-mystery with a mystery that keeps you guessing and a romance that has you rooting for the h/h to end up together and a style that won't let you put it down, even if it's 2 a.m. and your eyes are crossing.

We first meet Adam Hardesty as he's discovering and investigating a murdered medium. Adam currently moves in polite society, as one of the heirs of a wealthy man, but he didn't always, and it's the secret of his past that has his searching the medium's abode for the diary she was attempting to use to blackmail him. With the diary missing, he assumes the killer has taken it, and so sets about finding the killer before the blackmail attempts begin again. The investigation leads him first to show more Caroline Fordyce, who attended the medium's last seance.

Caroline Fordyce is a sensation novelist--that is, she writes sensational novels that are serialized in a newspaper. Her next novel will feature a medium--hence her research into the world of psychics. When she meets Adam, it immediately strikes her that he's the perfect model for the villain in her current novel. Their first meeting is at cross-purposes, and entirely entertaining, setting the stage for their whole courtship.

The two both have secrets in their pasts, and those secrets are revealed as the mystery is unraveled and as their trust grows.

It's always difficult with a mystery to say enough about the book to explain it without saying too much and giving away the surprises. Suffice it to say that the mystery developments were both surprising and logical.

The same night I read Wait Until Midnight, I watched the classic movie You Can't Take it with You. It struck me how similar the Vanderhof home in the movie was to Adam's home in Wait Until Midnight--both took in "strays", with no regard to reward or propriety.

It's been some time since I've read an Amanda Quick historical, but the engaging characters and smooth, page-turning style, the kind that makes me forget I'm reading a book, is what I've come to expect from all the various incarnations of Jayne Ann Krentz. show less

Gentle Reader,

It could have been a scene from one of my novels. As a rule, respectable ladies do not accept calls from Mysterious Gentlemen on business of the most grave importance--but I confess that I was possessed of a lively curiosity. The past three years had been so determinedly dull, I hoped Mr. Adam Hardesty would offer a tiny respite from it. Indeed, upon first glance, Mr. Hardesty had such a formidable, thrilling presence, he quickly became the model for the villain in the sensation novel I was currently writing.

Imagine my shock and distress then, when Mr. Hardesty accused me of being party to a plot of murder, blackmail, and general villainy! I knew nothing of such occurrences, and pro-claimed my innocence. Unfortunately, Mr. show more Hardesty left unconvinced, and I had an uneasy feeling over what his search would uncover. You see, Gentle Reader, though I live a most uneventful life now, my past contained a Great Scandal that would be ruinous if resurrected. To protect my secrets from Mr. Hardesty's investigation, I concluded that I would need to conduct an inquiry of my own, and if that meant sharing my findings with Mr. Hardesty, so be it. And my course of action had nothing whatsoever to do with the illicit, passionate feelings that he aroused in me--feelings that propriety would definitely frown upon...

Yours most sincerely,
Caroline Fordyce show less

This is one of those books that isn't terribly stretching on an intellectual plane and you have a pretty fair idea of what's going to happen almost as soon as the main protagonists are introduced. But, you know what, it's still just a good fun read.
It's a murder mystery mixed with romance, which is rather fun. The main protagonosts are Adam, who was born on the poor side of town, but is now an accepted member of the social elite and Caroline, who writes serialised sensational novels for a newspaper as Mrs Fordyce, but has, in fact, invented the late Mr Fordyce in order to cover a scandal in her past.
The murder is of a spirit medium and is muddled up with an attempt to blackmail Adam and his family with their past. So there's lots of show more tosh & poppycock about psychic abilities and the spirit world. It's all a bit shady and underhand and there are some pretty dodgy characters populating the mystery side of the story.
the romantic side of the story is not terribly intrusive (certainly some of her other, purer romances run at a higher temperature than this one does) and they sort of move the story on.
It's a fun trip, fairly quick read in which you know the ending will be a happy one, you're just not entirely sure of the route that they're going to take to arrive at the happy ending. That's part of the feeling of security, you know any tension will be resolved eventually. So it's a slightly guilty, candyfloss four stars. show less

Wait Until Midnight
3 Stars

Very similar in plot and atmosphere to the March and Lake books, but Adam and Caroline's romance lacks the intensity and chemistry that characterize Tobias and Lavinia's relationship.

The mystery is more convoluted than some of Quick's other works with several different plot threads merging together. Nevertheless, the resulting narrative is quite seamless, and the climax and resolution are satisfying overall.

One interesting point is Quick's shift in her portrayal of psychic abilities from realistic and believable in The Arcane Society books to charlatans and frauds who prey on the gullible and susceptible. It is a sign of her skill as a writer that she is able to accomplish both so well.

In sum, this is an show more engaging read overall despite its formulaic elements. show less

This is the last of the romance books that I agreed to read for a friend's blog activity, and, in my opinion the best of the five. I quite enjoyed this one!

Right from the start, we're thrown into the middle of a scene of a crime, with a murdered woman and a mysterious man searching her house. An exciting beginning which only continued throughout the story...

I loved the characters in this story, and found them all to be believable and real. Adam Hardesty is the kind of man that women swoon over. Tall, dark and handsome, rich, but secretive and determined, we don't really know anything about him -- except that which he allows us to find out. But the more we learn about him, the more we likie.

Caroline Fordyce is a sensational serial show more novelist living with her aunt and her aunt's companion, independently supporting herself through her writing. When she is drawn into the investigation of the murder by having been with the victim, a noted psychic medium, the previous evening as part of a seance, things really begin to get serious. Caroline is a wonderful character. She's spirited and independent and resourceful and honest, and what's best about this character is that she embodies these traits, we're not just told of them, as with other romance novels I've read this month. She shows her initiative and her intelligence, so it is believable when others see these features.

I was pleasantly surprised by the mystery as well. I was a bit concerned that this would be a paranormal romance when I discovered that it was about mediums and psychic abilities, but it is a straightforward historical romance set in Victorian England. At times, it did feel a little bit modern in the speech, and on the other hand the term "psychical" was used quite a lot, but it's easy to overlook those small details and just enjoy the story and let the twists and turns and unpredictable shifts go where they will. I didn't guess the killer, and that is always a plus!

The romance here was much more understated than the other novels I've read this month. The sex scenes were believable and fun, but they were not the main focus of the story. And miracle of miracles, this book contains a realistic deflowering! Hallelujah! No "Broken Hymen, Hear Me Roar!" here, Caroline reacts with honest pain and confusion and tries to undo the decision to proceed, at least until the pain goes away... but then she makes him go slowly... Piston-like ramming forbidden.

I think Dangerous Tides almost ruined romance for me forever... but this book redeemed the genre. Hopefully the other Amanda Quick novel I have is as good. ;) show less

This was a fun read. Both characters Adam Hardesty and Caroline Fordyce I cared for. The twists and turns were good and I liked some of the resolution for what happened to the characters. Secrets and lies confuse and complicate matters. The dialogue and attitudes come across as fairly accurate.

Caroline writes popular serialised fiction and while researching seances stumbles into Adams' mysteries while the bodies of mediums gather.