Maiden Lane #10.5
Elizabeth Hoyt
Historical Romance
Published in 2016
H/h - Matthew Mortimer, the Earl of Paxton/Hippolyta Royle
Setting: London, 1741.
Read in July, 2016.
My rating:
[spoiler alert]
Once Upon a Moonlit Night by Elizabeth Hoyt is a novella (#10.5) in her long running, much beloved Maiden Lane series.
Over the years since it started in 2010, Maiden Lane has veered away from its original storyline set in the dark alleyways of St. Giles and its forays with a character named the Ghost. Even the original Makepeace siblings are seen sporadically on and off, gracing the pages with their presence, which I love BTW. To have a glimpse of their life after the HEA. Since book 5, the storyline has gone on to pair the secondary characters, giving them their own HEAs, except maybe for Asa, one of the more elusive Makepeace brothers who had his own HEA much later (in book 9) than his other siblings.
If you still haven’t read this series, I won’t recommend you read this novella at all. Not only the series itself is interconnected in most part with incidents and characters, this novella is directly linked to book 10, Duke of Sin, with some ongoing developments. So not a standalone by any means.
Over the years since it started in 2010, Maiden Lane has veered away from its original storyline set in the dark alleyways of St. Giles and its forays with a character named the Ghost. Even the original Makepeace siblings are seen sporadically on and off, gracing the pages with their presence, which I love BTW. To have a glimpse of their life after the HEA. Since book 5, the storyline has gone on to pair the secondary characters, giving them their own HEAs, except maybe for Asa, one of the more elusive Makepeace brothers who had his own HEA much later (in book 9) than his other siblings.
If you still haven’t read this series, I won’t recommend you read this novella at all. Not only the series itself is interconnected in most part with incidents and characters, this novella is directly linked to book 10, Duke of Sin, with some ongoing developments. So not a standalone by any means.
In
book 10, the infamous Duke of Montgomery AKA Duke of Sin AKA
I’m-so-hot-the-sun-shines-just-for-me AKA Dear Val does some blunders
which leads to the development of this novella. He was... um, quite the
mercurial character who loved to dance and make others dance on his
whimsies. Even though Val or Valentine Napier, finally is conquered by
this strict and prudish, yet brilliant housekeeper Bridget Crumb (who is
now his housekeeper in every sense of the way ;) ), his kidnapping of
the richest heiress of England, Hippolyta Royle, and the consequences
thereafter, wasn’t quite over.
Hippolyta has been a very minor
character, who made a few cameos here and there in the past couple of
installments, is the richest English heiress with a secret that might
ruin her chances of a suitable marriage. And the Duke of Montgomery, the
most hated man in her eyes, used to hold that secret in his hands. Oh
he even tried to blackmail her, which failed thanks to his canny
housekeeper. But then he goes and kidnaps her, whisking her away to a
faraway old and semi-abandoned castle that belongs to the Dukes of
Montgomery. It’s not as if they were in love or whatever, and Val is
filthy rich himself so it’s not about money either. Then why? The
question has left Hippolyta baffled. Thankfully, Mrs. Crumb was once
again her rescuer, who helps her get away, in the middle of the night,
with an old and fat nag as her ride and very little on her back. But
then she needed to make that escape ASAP to elude the crazy baboon AKA
Dear Val (I’m sure that’s what Hippolyta thought of him by then :P).
Unfortunately,
even though she was given a vague description of her destination,
Hippolyta loses her way into a dark and cold rainy night. After an
accident, the nag also abandons her, while a filthy Hippolyta is left to
fend for herself. Things could’ve gotten much, much worse, had she not
spied on a carriage going to its own destination at a breakneck speed.
She was lucky enough to stop it, however would the passenger(s) within
be kind enough to give her a ride to a safer destination, seeing she how
doesn’t look like richest heiress of England anymore?
The
passenger in question does... and thus beginning the odd contemplations
of Mr. Matthew Mortimer, the newly minted Earl of Paxton, who has just
returned from India to take over an Earldom he neither wanted nor
needed. It was a burden, full of debts, but there’s no way Matthew could
ignore his new responsibilities. He only wished he could! And now, he
finds this beggar-maid, all alone this insane night, in the middle of a
deserted highway, asking for help. And even though she looks like a
drowned rat, a filthy one at that, she calls herself Hippolyta Royle,
the daughter of Sir George Royle, the richest man of England! She even
acts the part of the haughty heiress with her cocked head, looking down
upon her nose (would’ve worked if he wasn’t taller than her, but
still..........). Matthew could only laugh at her, HA HA HA! She makes
stink eyes at him for making fun of her but whatever. What a joke! And
he needed the laugh, mind you, after all that’s been weighed down on his
mind.
Despite all that, Matthew couldn’t help but be drawn to
the girl and help her in her ordeal. Maybe he can drop her off the next
inn, from where she can catch her next ride. Or next idiot who’d believe
in her tall tales. England’s Richest Heiress, my foot. Probably some
actress down on hard times, looking for her the ticked to her next meal.
And
so it started, Matthew and Hippolyta’s sometimes snippy, ofttimes
funny, banters where they poke and jibe each-other, but can’t help
feeling that odd attraction that should have no place there. Matthew
thought it must be the result of a forced celibacy in India, while
Hippolyta just thought him annoying (annoyingly handsome more likely but
whatever. :D).
It would’ve gone on but Mr. Royle finally tracks
his daughter down while still with Matthew. It would’ve been a bigger
disaster had not Matthew confessed that he has a newly acquired title
and an express wish to marry Hippolyta. And she thought at first thought
it was about the money. But then, maybe it wasn’t. And the moment they
got engaged, things rather started rushing........ A bit too rushed for
my liking. :(
I’ll be honest, this novella started out super
fun. I was absolutely LOVING H & M’s banters. I was already baffled
as to why she was given a novella, when it always felt like Hippolyta
will have a full-length novel! I still wish this was a full-length
novel. I needed to see the building of their chemistry to a point where
they couldn’t keep their hands off each-other. They were married off too
easily, too soon and the problems they had about that secret of
Hippolyta’s, were also resolved way too soon IMO. Their trust in
each-other, while I loved it that they did it so easily, seemed rather
unbelievable seeing how short their acquaintance was before their
seemingly forced marriage. I really wish there were more chapters, more
buildups and for crissakes, a more convincing villain. -_-
3.5 stars for Once Upon a Moonlit Night.
Am I looking forward to the next installment? I honestly don’t know.
Alf (if you’ve read the series you should know her) was never a
character I thought should have a full-length book. She’s getting that
so I guess I just have to find out when it’s out early 2017. Till then,
chao.
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