One Night of Sin
Gaelen Foley
Ivy Books, 2005, 480 pages
ISBN# 0345480090
Historical Romance-Regency
London England
$6.99 (US.) $9.99 (CDN)
Reviewed By Erin
June 2005
Miss Rebecca Ward is on the run. She is not in fear of her life but of what her wicked cousin has promised he would do to her once he found her. Just thinking of the depraved things he whispered in her ear is enough to make her shudder in terror. She is wandering the streets of London alone and penniless looking for the Duke of Westland. He is the only man with enough power to stop her cousin, Prince Mikhail Kurkov, a Russian nobleman who has committed a most heinous crime. The problem is she has never been to London before and has no idea how to find Lord Westland. She fled her Yorkshire home and has been dodging her cousin’s Cossack warriors for days. She is filthy, tired, hungry and wet, having been drenched by a storm. No one will help her and everyone seems to mistake her for a streetwalker. She becomes too weary to continue and decides to take shelter under the front portico of a giant townhouse intending to stay only until the rain subsided. She falls asleep.
Alec Knight is a rakehell if there ever was one. Living a life of complete decadence he is one of the most sought after men in London society. Women are constantly at his beck and call so much so that he has never had to keep a mistress. His life is the envy of the haute ton. Every woman wants to be with him and every man wants to be him, every man that is except Alec himself. As of late his existence seems bland and stagnant, the same hobbies, soirees and women. He’s bored and has no idea how to relieve the monotony that has become his life. That is until he meets Becky Ward. He stumbles upon her while she is napping on his friend’s porch. He, too, mistakes her for a lady of the night, as do his friends. When his friends become too forward with her she is frightened and attacks the men. Surprised by her spunk Alec decides to follow her. Using his legendary charm he puts her somewhat at ease.
Such a perfect specimen of male beauty has never confronted Becky. She is instantly drawn to this stranger the only person so far to treat her with something besides contempt. When he asks her to accompany him back to his flat she refuses at first but she then sees the Cossacks stalking up the street and changes her mind. After all she can’t run forever and once Mikhail finds her she knows what he’ll do. It might be her last chance to make her own destiny and give herself willingly to a man she actually wants. Therefore, she agrees to one night of sin.
Gaelen Foley is an author I always look forward to reading. Her writing style is so smooth and natural that she is a joy to read. I was a little hesitant going into this book because it is the sixth in a series and I have only read the first book of the series. My fears were all for naught. As with any excellent series writer, ONE NIGHT OF SIN was wonderfully written to stand on it’s own. Yes, there are mentions here and there of Alec’s prestigious family but, as I had hoped for, the story was all Alec’s.
And what a story it was. Foley certainly did Alec’s story justice. He was one of those heroes that you just enjoy. He’s charming and audacious, handsome to a fault and of course Foley made him an absolute love machine. Gaelen writes awesome love scenes, erotic and provocative, the steam literally rises from the page.
The character development in this story was brilliant. The hidden hurts in Alec’s past makes him that much more adorable in the eyes of the heroine and the reader. Becky is a wonderful counterpart. She is strong and independent but gets in over her head. It was a touch of reality that the heroine couldn’t quite handle everything as we so often see the opposite in most novels. Let’s face it sometimes we all need help. The spunky damsel in distress character was definitely what Alec needed to make him come to heel.
Overall the book was well written with wonderful characters, a wicked villain and fun and entertaining secondary characters. ONE NIGHT OF SIN is a great addition to the Knight series and I recommend everyone pick it up next trip to the bookstore.