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A review by chloe_liese
It Happened One Midnight by Julie Anne Long
5.0
Okay. Wow. WOW. I thought I loved the older Redmond son, Miles, and his story with Cynthia (Pennyroyal Green #2, and I did, I really did) BUT I loved this one more. Jonathan is the best kind of rake—the inadvertent rake, the I-didn't-mean-to-break-hearts, I'm-not-trying-to-be-so-charming rake & easygoing youngest Redmond son. He's decidedly less sexual and seductive than a lot of rakes are written, and I loved that—he's just one of those guys who really can't help that he's genetically gifted with charm and persuasion. It doesn't hurt that he's genuinely a good person—he steps in between innocents and harm, he sees his father's autocratic rule of their family as decidedly unjust, and he's devoted to his siblings. And as soon as we see him meet Tommy, we realize he's not nearly as easygoing as we thought. Jonathan cares. Deeply.
Enter Thomasina—Tommy. I. Love. Tommy. She's one of my favorite kinds of heroine—strong and soft; determined and schooled by the world, yet compassionate and still guided by her heart. Life has dealt Tommy some bad shit, and rather than become a cold-hearted cynic, she grabs life with two hands and fights to make sure the wrongs done to her as an illegitimate child forced into child labor aren't done to more innocent children. The commentary and history of child labor practices is Dickensian level bleak and difficult but so well explored and so victoriously challenged in this story.
Jonathan and Tommy were my favorite kind of couple, and one of my favorite tropes—bantering, teasing, flirty friends (then lovers). While from wildly different backgrounds and initially decidedly uninterested in anything beyond their professional use for each other, they're quickly forced into being on each other's side, and they soon realize how much they have in common in their belief systems and convictions. These two were a perfect pairing of minds and bodies—their chemistry was *incredible*. Physically, psychologically, emotionally. It was the best kind of torture waiting for this slow-burn-fuse to fully ignite. When it did, it was so damn good.
On top of that, Julie Anne Long is an incredibly gifted writer. I soaked up her smooth metaphors, the just-right amount of descriptive language to set the scene and paint the characters before me. The opening line of this book made me gasp, and I had a sense right there I was in for something special. I tend to 5-star books I know I'll keep thinking about, that really stuck with me. This book? I wish I could give it 10.
The Pennyroyal Green series is only loosely related standalones, and you really aren't missing anything except names of couples (but this is romance, so we know they ended up together anyway, whether you read it or not) when you pick them up out of order. If you want an exemplary title from Julie Anne Long, this is a great one to start with. It's my new favorite. Now off to read the next available one from my library...
Enter Thomasina—Tommy. I. Love. Tommy. She's one of my favorite kinds of heroine—strong and soft; determined and schooled by the world, yet compassionate and still guided by her heart. Life has dealt Tommy some bad shit, and rather than become a cold-hearted cynic, she grabs life with two hands and fights to make sure the wrongs done to her as an illegitimate child forced into child labor aren't done to more innocent children. The commentary and history of child labor practices is Dickensian level bleak and difficult but so well explored and so victoriously challenged in this story.
Jonathan and Tommy were my favorite kind of couple, and one of my favorite tropes—bantering, teasing, flirty friends (then lovers). While from wildly different backgrounds and initially decidedly uninterested in anything beyond their professional use for each other, they're quickly forced into being on each other's side, and they soon realize how much they have in common in their belief systems and convictions. These two were a perfect pairing of minds and bodies—their chemistry was *incredible*. Physically, psychologically, emotionally. It was the best kind of torture waiting for this slow-burn-fuse to fully ignite. When it did, it was so damn good.
On top of that, Julie Anne Long is an incredibly gifted writer. I soaked up her smooth metaphors, the just-right amount of descriptive language to set the scene and paint the characters before me. The opening line of this book made me gasp, and I had a sense right there I was in for something special. I tend to 5-star books I know I'll keep thinking about, that really stuck with me. This book? I wish I could give it 10.
The Pennyroyal Green series is only loosely related standalones, and you really aren't missing anything except names of couples (but this is romance, so we know they ended up together anyway, whether you read it or not) when you pick them up out of order. If you want an exemplary title from Julie Anne Long, this is a great one to start with. It's my new favorite. Now off to read the next available one from my library...