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Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Book Review and Giveaway: Lord of Darkness (Maiden Lane) by Elizabeth Hoyt

Once again Ms. Hoyt does a good job of mixing action, lonely characters and a new chance at love.  Book 5 of this series.
Lord of Darkness (Maiden Lane)
Elizabeth Hoyt


  • File Size: 547 KB
  • Print Length: 385 pages
  • Page Numbers Source ISBN: 0749958162
  • Publisher: Grand Central Publishing (February 26, 2013)
  • Sold by: Hachette Book Group
  • Language: English
  • ASIN: B007ZFPRL0
Genre: Historical Romance
My Rating: 4.25 of 5.0


Book Description
Publication Date: February 26, 2013
"Elizabeth Hoyt has outdone herself." --Jennifer Ashley, New York Times bestselling author

WHEN STRANGERS IN THE NIGHT
He lives in the shadows. As the mysterious masked avenger known as the Ghost of St. Giles, Godric St. John's only goal is to protect the innocent of London. Until the night he confronts a fearless young lady pointing a pistol at his head-and realizes she is his wife . . .

BECOME LOVERS . . .
Lady Margaret Reading has vowed to kill the Ghost of St. Giles-the man who murdered her one true love. Returning to London, and to the man she hasn't seen since their wedding day, Margaret does not recognize the man behind the mask. Fierce, commanding, and dangerous, the notorious Ghost of St. Giles is everything she feared he would be-and so much more . . .

DESIRE IS THE ULTIMATE DANGER
When passion flares, these two intimate strangers can't keep from revealing more of themselves than they had ever planned. But when Margaret learns the truth-that the Ghost is her husband-the game is up and the players must surrender . . . to the temptation that could destroy them both.


Review:
Lady Margaret’s secret fiancĂ©, Roger, is murdered, supposedly by the Ghost of St. Giles. Margaret is grief stricken and even more distressed when she realizes she is pregnant. She is hastily married to Godric St. Johns and retires to his country estate. She loses the child and only returns to London for two reasons-- to seduce her husband in hopes of conceiving another child and to seek revenge against the man who murdered her true love.

Godric has shut himself off from the world after the lingering death of his beloved first wife. Godric agreed to a marriage of convenience and has been fine with Margaret away in the country. He is surprised when she shows up at his London home with his sister, a great aunt and a pregnant dog and no apparent plans to leave anytime soon. The home has been allowed to gather cobwebs with no female touch, minimal servants and a master who is disinterested. The only thing that Godric has been interested in is he secret activities as the Ghost of St. Giles. Meg is surprised to discover that her own husband is the dashing, confident Ghost who faces danger to protect innocents in St. Giles.

Although Godric at first refuses to become intimate with his wife, he is aware of the ‘light and laughter’ she brings into his home. He ends up striking a deal with Megs but what starts as duty soon flares to passion and slowly simmers in caring. Godric is the first to move beyond the past and determine that he wants a life with Megs. Margaret has not yet chosen to release her heart to love again. Now Godric must help her get beyond her obsession with the past so they may have a chance at a future, even as that chance is threatened by his own dangerous activities.

I enjoyed the growth of Meg and Godric as they give up their personal ghosts and learn that, as Godric says: “Life is by necessity for the living.” The sexual passion is steamy, real and loving. In addition to the growing romance, the story has plenty of action with Godric rescuing children and being relentlessly pursued by Captain Trevillion who is determined to catch the Ghost and is suspicious of Godric’s nighttime outings. I also liked the myth that is shared at the beginning of each chapter as a parallel to the story.

This is book five of the series and I suppose it might work as a stand alone. However, I do recommend reading the prior books to get the full enjoyment of the surrounding characters and the prior romances. I look forward to more adventures of the Ghost of St. Giles.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Godric realizes that Meg has restored life to his world:
Godric stood, watching as Megs turned and beamed at him, all glorious, vibrant life. Everything he was not. Everything worth protecting. Location 2370.
I received this ebook through NetGalley from the publisher for an honest review and with the opportunity to host a Giveaway.

The wonderful team at Forever Romance at Hachette are GIVING A FULL PRINT SET OF ALL FIVE BOOKS IN THE SERIES to one lucky US winner!!

 ENTER BY RAFFLECOPTER BELOW

For 3 Extra Bonus entries Visit the author's website and tell me something you find of interest.

* This contest is open US Only.
* No P.O Boxes.
* This contest will close 10 PM (Central) on March 22, 2013.
The winner will be randomly selected from all entries.
WINNER WILL BE ANNOUNCED on March 23, 2013.
Winners are asked to respond by email or the linked winners form within 72 hours of the announcement.


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15 comments:

  1. I found out Elizabeth worked as a barista and sales clerk.

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  2. she has two books out WRITING AS JULIA HARPER

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  3. I found out that Elizabeth has a BA in anthropology from the University of Wisconsin at Madison. She also traveled extensively as a child to many countries and was a summer exchange student in Japan.
    Carol L
    Luccky4750 (at) aol (dot) com

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  4. ooops, meant to also say please only enter me if they are Print. I can't read e-books on this computer. Thank you
    Carol L
    Luccky4750 (at) aol (dot) com

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  5. I learned that the next book in this series, "Duke of Midnight" is available for pre-order on Kindle.

    Thanks for this chance to win.

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  6. Thanks for the great post and giveaway! Congrats to Elizabeth as her website said that "Lord of Darkness has made both the New York Times bestseller list and the USA Today bestseller list!"

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  7. I found out that Elizabeth didn't listen to her mother (not normally a good idea), but instead decided to pursue her true calling (in my opinion) to write romance stories.
    sallans d at yahoo dot com

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  8. Please enter me in this giveaway. I want to read Ms. Hoyt's entire ouvre. I loved her books so far.

    Thank your for the giveaway.

    annfesATyahooDOTcom

    ReplyDelete
  9. I find it interesting that Elizabeth travel extensively as a child, visiting St. Andrews, Scotland; Germany; France; and Belgium.

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  10. I found the general FAQs very interesting especially the fact that she and I have alot of the same favorite authors .Thank you for this chance to win Hope you have a wonderful week.

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  11. I love that her books appear to only have 6 months between them rather than a year

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  12. I found out that Elizabeth Hoyt has a degree in anthropology and that she did archeological field work. Both are fascinating to me. I took a Study of Indonesia Anthropology course in college and loved it. Maybe we'll see a romance from her in the future that center around an archeological setting. That would be awesome!

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  13. I didn't realize this was part of a series, but I went and learned about the entire Maiden Lane series, which now graces my TBR with their presence. :)

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  14. She was a summer exchange student to Kawasaki, Japan

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Your comments are always appreciated!