Stroke of Midnight (Cinderella Sisterhood #2) by Olivia Drake
Published
June 4th 2013
by St. Martin’s Paperbacks
Genre: Adult Historical Romance
Heat Level: Somewhat Steamy
Source: Thank you St Martin’s Paperbacks for providing me a copy of this finished book exchange of an honest review!
Amazon | The Book Depository | Goodreads
Mature Content Advisory, must be 18+
It’s Never Too Late
Theinfamous Laura Falkner has returned to London society in disguise.
Determined to clear her father’s name, she becomes a companion to
elderly Lady Josephine—only to learn the woman’s nephew is none other
than Alexander Ross, the devilish Earl of Copley, the man Laura once
loved with all her heart. The same man who’d accused her father of theft
and forced them to flee England.
To Fall Head Over Heels In LoveAlex
has never forgotten Laura—or forgiven himself for letting her go.
Today, Laura is as lovely—and stubborn—as ever, and her attempts at
crime-solving are putting her in danger. The only way Alex can keep her
safe is to marry her. But how can this notorious rake convince Laura
that his heart is true…before the clock strikes twelve?
After her father’s get’s accused of stealing the Blue Moon Diamond, Laura watches her entire life change within a blink of an eye. Just when things looked like they were going great with Alex the Earl of Copley, she walks on him trying to apprehend her father and take him in for the stolen jewelry when a matching set of earrings is discovered in his desk drawer.
Now her father is dead, murdered on the streets on London and Laura comes back into the society that shunned her father in disguise. Her intentions are to find the real thief and murdered and bring justice to her father and clear his name. Little did Laura expect was to end up being a companion to Alex’s aging aunt with memory issues thanks to the London’s matchmaker who stuck her there.
Stroke of Midnight did have a bit of Cinderella undertones in it, which I think is what made this book that much appealing to me. I really enjoyed Laura, a girl who lost everything but would stop at nothing to bring down one of the society elite’s in order to prove that her father was innocent. Alex of course has his own doubts simply of what he knows about Laura’s father, which strains their relationship. Plus it doesn’t help that in order to save her father from Alex, Laura just happened to cut his cheek and leave a scar to remember her by.
I loved that it had an interesting story line, love, mystery, betrayal and eventually a wonderful HAE. The sparks between Alex and Laura still remain after so many years, but both of them feel a bit betrayed by the events that have unfolded and it’s going to take some healing of the heart. When Laura gets caught in the scandal of her own doing, she must marry Alex in order to save face with the society if she still wants to be able to find the man that accused her father.
I really liked both Laura and Alex. It was so sweet how she took care of his Aunt. Both obviously have issues they need to resolve, especially since Laura thinks that Alex is only marrying her out of lust and that so she can bare his heir. The mystery had me guessing until the very end and the culprit ended up being someone I wasn’t expecting but it all fell into place nicely and was a very enjoyable read!
Andrea @The Bookish Babes
This sounds like a wonderful historical romance. Great review, Lily!
Kindlemom
This sounds like a great series! I love a good historical every now and then.
Great review!