Tuesday, December 17, 2013

Twas The Night Before Mischief by Nina Rowan


Title: Twas The Night Before Mischief
Author: Nina Rowan
Series: Daring Hearts 2.5
Genre: Historical Romance
Publisher: Forever Yours
Number of Pages: 100
Source: Netgalley













'Twas the night before mischief and all through the house, a lady was plotting—it was time to break out! When Penelope Darlington is persuaded to elope with a most unsuitable suitor, she wastes no time. With visions of passion and adventure dancing in her head, she steals away in the middle of the night, just before her father’s Christmas feast. Fearing for his daughter’s reputation, Henry Darlington begs Darius Hall, the Earl of Rushton’s daring yet discreet son, to bring Penelope home. When Darius finally catches up to Penelope, he is shocked. She’s not the silly little girl he expected, but a beautiful woman with a sharp mind and an allure that cannot be ignored. Now forced to kidnap Penelope in order to bring her home, Darius and his new charge spend the next several days—and nights—in very close quarters. Penelope wanted passion and adventure, but she never could have imagined the pleasures Darius can provide…


When I saw this book on netgalley, it looked super cute and I couldn't wait to read it. Unfortunately, I didn't realize this was a part of a series and I think that may be why I had a hard time with this novella.

I really wanted to fall in love with the characters, but I just had a difficult time with the romance. With historical romance, sometimes it takes awhile before the main characters pull you into their story, and that was the case here. I was almost to the end of the novella before I started liking Darius. Unfortunately, I had started skimming the book by that point because while I like Penelope a lot in the beginning, she grated on my last nerve towards the end. I thought she was just way too hard on poor Darius, and by the time she started liking him I just didn't care.

I can't help but think if I had read the first two books in this series, maybe I would've like these characters more. This was a really fast read, and had a great holiday theme, so if you are looking something that fits that, then I recommend this book-it just didn't work for me.