Historical romance is my favorite type of romance, and I am always happy to see new authors being published. While debut author Kimberly Logan has a rather pleasing style, her choice of material just does not rise above the ordinary. A Kiss in the Dark tells yet another all too familiar Regency historical tale with little to set it apart from the plethora of paint-by-numbers Regency-set novels that have swamped the historical romance genre in recent years.
Tristan Knight meets the reclusive and reputedly shady widow Deirdre, Viscountess Rotherby, when his teenaged sister Emily runs away from home. He believes she has found her way to a notorious slum in London, and Tristan is determined to find her before his straitlaced aunt learns of the escapade and tries to wrest Emily from his care. Though he does not know the source of her knowledge, Tristan is aware of Deirdre's familiarity with the rookeries and he depends upon her to help him. As the two search for Emily, they find themselves attracted to one another, but each, however, is determined not to act upon the attraction. Deirdre does not want to risk having Tristan learn of what she sees as her unsavory past and Tristan does not want to be involved with a woman who is not above reproach.
If you think this all sounds familiar, wait until you really get into the book. Though Logan has a pleasant, flowing style, she relies heavily on stock characters and plot elements to such an extent that the book feels like one giant cliché. Though Logan has no spies or ex-spies in her story, readers up for a game of Regency Historical Bingo can start looking for all of the following:
- Very sweet angelic heroine who lives to help the poor and is so good that Pollyanna would just love to be this woman.
- Rough but lovable street children of London who adore the heroine.
- Rough but lovable street adults of London who adore the heroine.
- Rough but lovable servants culled from the slums of London who adore the heroine.
- Gorgeous, dark-haired and tortured aristocrat hero.
- Thieves who are truly good at heart and only steal when utterly necessary.
- Prostitute with a heart of gold.
- A villain who exists only to be e-e-e-e-evil.
The romance between Tristan and Deirdre is sweet, but very predictable. Each has a tortured past, and the hurts they carry inside are real and could have been compelling. But while there is no contrived pain over someone laughing at the badly colored dress someone wore to Lady X's soiree or anything silly of that nature, the hackneyed feel of the setting made it hard for me to simply let go and empathize with the characters. This is a real shame because Logan shows promise of being able to write books that pack a real emotional punch. She just needs to write more unique material to frame it.
As mentioned above, Logan's secondary characters hail directly from Central Casting. There is a secondary teen romance woven into the story that is very sweet - some may find it even more touching than the primary relationship in the novel - but otherwise the secondary characters simply seem to exist to provide lovable scenery.
There are some very good Regency-set historical novels out there, however, this one simply does not rise above the hackneyed clichés. Except for a romantic development between the hero and heroine in the latter half of the book that almost seems to be turning into an Avon hallmark, there is nothing truly horrendous about A Kiss in the Dark, but there is also nothing that really keeps it from being anything other than ordinary. Readers who prefer more originality in plot and settings may want to skip this one.
Sensuality: Warm
Publication Date: 2005/03
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