A MIDNIGHT DANCE by Lila DiPasqua
FORMAT: Paperback
GENRE: Historical Romance
TRADE PAPERBACK: 355 pages
PUBLISHER: Berkley Sensation (August 2,2011)
Born into wealth, Sabine Laurent and her twin sister lived a life of luxury, their father's prestigious theater frequented by royalty and aristocracy alike. And Sabine dreamed of her own Prince Charming--the devastatingly handsome Jules de Moutier.
That was before the loss of her sister and her family's fall from grace--a disaster Sabine blames on the Moutier family. Now, with her father's death, she's inherited his sizable debt and the responsibility of caring for his spoiled longtime mistress and her two wastrel daughters. But with the help of Sabine's eccentric friends--the balance of her father's acting troupe--she plants to get very close to her old infatuation, seduce the rake--an make off with a fortune.
Resisting Jules's skillful mouth and tantalizing touch is not as easy as Sabine supposed, though. And soon she must decide whether her desire for vengeance is greater than her desire for her one and only prince... (source: back cover)
WHERE TO FIND LILA: Author Site | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads | Blog
WHERE TO BUY: Amazon | Kindle | B&N | Nook | Book Depository
BOOK EXTRAS: Read an Excerpt
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REVIEW and Book Trailer:
Dear Lila DiPasqua,
Please package this book with a cold water bottle so that I can pour it down my shirt while reading.
Love,
Kati R
OMG y'all. This book is HOT, HOT, HOT. I can hear Charles Perrault turning in his grave. Good heavens! Like Sabine trying to describe the hotness of Jules while he was bathing, there are no adequate words to describe this book. Like Jules reading the first sentence of Sabine's journal, I was ensnared. Like the chemistry between Jules and Sabine, this book was bliss.
This is Cinderella like you've never had it re-told before. Yes, there's still a glass slipper. Yes, there is still a Prince Charming. Yes, there are still stepsisters and a stepmother figure. Yes, there is still a Cinderella. Yes, there is still a dead father who leaves his daughter in the hands of the stepmother. Yes, there is still a fairy godmother figure of sorts. Yes, there is still a ball. But that is where the similarities end. I'm sure Cinderella *whispers* did it with Prince Charming after they were wed. But boy oh boy, there's smexing not even 50 pages in and can I just say I was gripping my book so tightly, my knuckles cracked a few times. Oy!
Sabine Laurent has been in love with Jules de Moutier since she was 15 years old. Eight years later, that has changed. Her family is in dire straights (which she blames on the Moutier family) and the only way for her to pay off her father's debt and find her twin sister is to steal silver from a band of men camping in the woods. Mistake #1. The leader of that group of men is none other than Jules. He has grown into a super sexy masculine sex god overlord.
Jules de Moutier's family has been stripped of their home, their land and their title. He has resorted to privateering for the Crown since the fall from grace no longer qualified him to be a part of the Navy. Trying to make his way back into the aristocracy, he is going to use the money from privateering to rebuild his family fortunes and name. Jules gets sidetracked by a forest fairy aka Sabine. Mistake #2. He's been celibate too long and can't resist "Elise".
The chests of silver that Sabine was trying to steal is transferred the next morning, after she gives herself to Jules. She decides to become Jules's lover for the next three days so as to keep an eye on the chests. The chemistry between so hot, they can't keep their hands off of each other. My toes curled, my breath hitched as I read the physical scenes between Jules and Sabine.
Of course their physical bliss is short lived. Jules says something stupid, which reminds Sabine what she was supposed to doing; stealing the chests of silver. Mistake #3. Sabine's eccentric family helps in poisoning (with a sleeping draught of course--don't need a dead hero) Jules and his men so they can steal the remaining chests of silver.
Well, at this point, Sabine and family go back to their home, bury the silver and go on with their daily life. Dun dun dun... Jules finds her and calls her out on her lies. His ribs are broken and need time to heal so he takes over Sabine's room. He discovers her diary, detailing her love for a "Dark Prince." He doesn't want to be jealous, he doesn't want to be attracted to her, but there's just something about her that draws him in.
This is a re-telling of CINDERELLA that you don't want to miss. Seriously. There's so much I want to say but don't want to give any spoilers.
FAVORITE QUOTE: "There we so many things he liked about her. He liked her company. He liked how she'd brought sexual pleasure back into his life. Hell, he'd enjoyed every moment of his time with her. She was adorably bold, beautiful, and bright. Thought he knew he'd never see her again after they parted, the notion left him with an uncommon sense of regret."
OVERALL: Lushly erotic? ABSOLUTELY! Heartbreaking? YES! Romantic? OH MY STARS, yes! Not like that Disney version with the singing and dancing and weird woodland creatures? Thank goodness it's not. This book is a thigh clenching, heart pounding, adrenaline rushing, "did I just moan out loud?" inducing, toe curling, hand gripping book and almost breaking the spine, unputdownable, stay up all night read. Didja get all that? Yes, A MIDNIGHT DANCE was all those things. Pure magic. Well done, Ms. DiPasqua.
P.S. The cover is GORGEOUS! I want to lick it. I may have stroked it a few times. The title is shiny. One of my favorite book covers this year. The only thing that irks me is the way Jules's left hand is spread out. It looks a little awkward. Who does that in real life?
***I won this book from Operation Auction.***
