Mistress by Midnight by Nicola Cornick
Scandalous Women of the Ton, Book 3
Harlequin
Historical
ISBN: 978-0373774883
Reviewed by Vanessa




Garrick Northeske recently inherited the title of Duke of Farne from his villainous father.  He sees the title of Duke as another burden that he doesn’t want or need, as he has been taunting death for the past 10 years because of his guilt in his best friend, Stephen Fenner’s, death.  His best friend had been cheating with Garrick’s fiancée, Kitty, and continued to do so even after she and Garrick were married.  Killing his friend in a duel, he was forced into exile and worked for the war department for the time he was away.  Returning to take up the reins of the Dukedom Garrick is confronted by the scent of bluebells that lingers in his “unoccupied room” as though a specter has taken up residence in the virtually empty house.

Lady Merryn Fenner, Stephen’s sister, is seeking revenge for her brother’s untimely death as her family lost everything when he was murdered.  Three weeks before she had taken up residence in Garrick’s home, she had discovered that he had lied about events leading to her brother’s death.  She had always hated him for killing Stephen, but knowing he covered up the truth causes her to seek justice.  Aligning herself with an investigator, Merryn proceeds to search for the truth of her brother’s tragic end and see Garrick Northeske, Duke of Farne, brought to justice.

Mistress by Midnight was a captivating read that grabbed my emotions from the first page and took me on a twisted journey of mystery and intrigue eager to see how it would all turn out.  The chemistry between Garrick and Merryn sizzled off the pages from their first meeting in his room when he dragged her out from under his bed to the closing line.  Their interactions were funny at times and emotionally poignant at others.  Nicola Cornick grabbed a hold of you and made you feel what the characters were feeling as they struggled with their own culpability in their actions of the past and the results of these actions.  She brought the characters to life with all their human emotions and tragedies having me experiencing the emotions with them.  Mistress by Midnight reminded me of the good, old historical romance novels that just left you with a warm, fuzzy feeling when you turned to the last page knowing that love truly healed the characters.