In the Shadow of Midnight Book

In the Shadow of Midnight takes place in the year 1203, which isn't one of my favorite time frames to read in. However, you get Robin Hood like mens involved and then I am good. This also takes place about 14 years after Through a Dark Mist. Our hero is Eduard, which is the Black Wolf's bastard son and was in TaDM. King John, Richard the Lionhearted's brother, has taken over the throne. Only there is a horrible rumor that he has killed his own nephew and kidnapped his niece to ensure that there is no one left to challenge him for the throne.

To say that John is a good and kind king is like saying that Jack the Ripper was just performing day surgeries on the indigent out of the goodness of his heart. He was horrible to his people and was steadily draining his people dry. So in order to make his supporters happy, he was making unions between their sons and daughters. Or in this case his Lord Marshall's niece to the son of one of his gaolers. Only Ariel wasn't willing to go gently into that good night. She made her own deal with another stranger for marriage to the North.

On the way they stop at the castle of the Black Wolf, where Henry, Ariel's uncle, decides that as well as deliver Ariel to her fate, a rescue of the Pearl, Eleanor of Brittany and the true descendant of the throne, needs to be executed as well. But Henry can only trust one man to get the job done and that is Eduard, the Wolf's son. Eduard is scarred, huge and scary. He was also tortured as a boy by his mother and her lover. So he isn't looking for love, he just wants to save someone that was a friend of his childhood. He doesn't want to take spoiled Ariel to her new husband. It has nothing to do how he feels about her or what parts of him are moved by her. ;-) For Ariel's part, she wants nothing to do with Eduard, he is a scarred bastard for Christ's sake. That is how I felt about Ariel, she was spoiled for most of the book. Finally in the end, she matures to the point that I can handle reading her parts. Once the romance kicked in it was sweet and hot. The epilogue was also well done.

For the most part the book reads like a historical fiction with a thread of romance. It worked though and MC kept me interested enough to keep reading. I am looking forward to the next installment.