MIDNIGHT SECRETS

Author: Jennifer St. Giles ISBN: 0425209628 5/2006 HISTORICAL Publisher: BERKELY SENSATION
Time Period: Victorian 1879

A woman discovers that in the quest for her lost cousin, she'll find the truth in the Dragon's Curse: When two are born together, one will die by the other's hand... After her cousin Mary is mysteriously swept away by the sea, Cassiopeia journeys to the Killdaren estate in Dartmouth, England, disguised as a chambermaid, to uncover clues. What she discovers is the estate's enigmatic owner, Sean Killdaren, and the eerie family curse that he bears. He must be separated from his twin brother—for they are destined to be the cause of their own demise. As details of Mary's fate elude her, the shroud of darkness that Sean has created is luring Cassie in. As tempting as it would be to lose herself to such a dangerous seduction, she is determined to resist his wiles and learn more of Mary's disappearance. But the answer, Cassie fears, may lie in Sean's scandalous past or somewhere far deeper, in a twisted maze of passions where there's no turning back.

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

MIDNIGHT SECRETS is one of those books that you pick up and don't set down until you are finished. The storyline is great, the plot fast moving, and the characters are out of this world.

Cassie Andrews has dreams. Most of them predict doom and gloom, with the most recent involving her cousin, Mary. Upon waking up to the most horrible feeling that something has happened to Mary, a telegraph arrives informing Cassie and her sisters of Mary's death—by drowning. This is entirely unbelievable to Cassie, as Mary has been deathly afraid of the water since she was a child. Cassie decides to go and live at the castle where Mary worked under the guise of being a maid, to see if she can ferret out information from the rest of the household. Once there, the strange happenings of the house tell Cassie that all just isn't what it seems.

Cassie is a beautiful character. She is full of spirit, extremely loving and generous, and thinks of others in every situation. She is a wonderfully selfless heroine, and I truly enjoyed getting to know her character.

Sean is the man of every woman's dreams. He is sexy, strong and totally Alpha, with just a pinch of vulnerability to make him completely realistic. Sean is not one to be ignored, and when he wants something, he gets it. He has a sordid past, and at first, it is this past that causes Cassie to shy away from him. She doesn't know what she is going to get, and quite frankly, the man scares her spitless, while at the same time draws her like a moth to a flame. Not to mention Sean's eerie dealings in the middle of the night and the curse that everyone is so hush-hush about, make her a little antsy around him. Watching Cassie bring Sean out of his shell and seeing the transformation in his character throughout the book, is what made the storyline for me. He is reclusive and quiet when Cassie comes to the castle, and we get to learn more and more about him in little pieces until we have a whole story.

I truly loved Cassie and Sean's story. I felt as though I was swept away to a castle in England with this beautiful, stubborn woman and her equally beautiful, yet scarred hero. I was very sad for this book to end and will anxiously await the sequel, DARKEST DREAMS, which is Sean's brother's story.

Kristal Gorman