Reviews with content warning for Sexual content - A Lady by Midnight

Kate and Thorne’s history together.
I love that they knew each other as children and had such a strong connection.
The family and belonging aspect of this story was really sweet too. I liked seeing Kate get to know her true family and build relationships with them.

Things I didn’t like:

What drove me nuts and kept me from rating this higher was Thorne’s thick-skulled notion about not being good enough for her. It irritated me the first time, but it went on to happen multiple times throughout the book and created a lot of push and pull between him and Kate.

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mollyjeannette's review against another edition

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lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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valleyhill's review against another edition

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3.5

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martamae77's review against another edition

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lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.5

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friends2lovers's review against another edition

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lighthearted slow-paced

2.0

“I am completely alone”
His grip firmed on her arms. “I’m here. You’re not alone now.”

I thought I was in the mood for a Dare-style lighthearted romance when I started this. Maybe that mood passed while I was in the middle of it. It was quite boring and I never connected much with the characters or the story. I’m glad Kate got her family in the end, but the Gramercys were not that great and I feel like she deserved better. I had to force myself to pick up the book to finish it. I did like the romantic tension between Thorne and Kate in the beginning.

Dare seems to be so hit or miss for me, and unfortunately, this was a miss. And I seem to be terrible at predicting when I’m in the right mood for her books. At this rate, it’s going to take me FOREVER to get through Spindle Cove. I put Beauty and the Blacksmith on hold at the library, but it’s very likely I won’t feel like reading it when it finally becomes available.

Series: Spindle Cove #3

Genre: Historical Romance

Setting: Summer 1814

Hero: Corporal

Samuel

Thorne, blue eyes (Eye color is the only physical descriptor I noted for him. Did I miss it? I imagined him with dark hair, but don’t know if that’s accurate.), he also has tattoos, age 28-29

Heroine: Kate Taylor,

Lady Katherine Adele Gramercy, legitimate daughter of a marquess

, distinctive port wine birthmark on her temple (kind of shaped like a heart), orphaned, brown hair, age 23

Point-of-View: 3rd person, alternating between Thorne and Kate

Tropes/Themes: pining hero, fake engagement, starchy hero, secret/unknown past, nursed back to health

Format: ebook borrowed from Hoopla

Length: 97k words (novel)

Read Date: April 9, 2022

Heat Index: 2.6 🌡️🌡️

3 full, moderately explicit sex scenes. This is a slow burn, albeit with some good kisses leading up to the ‘main event’. It felt closer to a 2 than 3-heat for me, personally, though that’s probably because I wasn’t really invested or enjoying the book much. It's also very vanilla sex, which I don't mind and actually really love if there is a strong emotional aspect to the sex, but that was missing here.

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