Review: Once Upon a Moonlit Night (Maiden Lane #10.5)

Once Upon a Moonlit Night (Maiden Lane #10.5)

by Elizabeth Hoyt

Blurb:

Hippolyta Royle is running for her life. Pursued by hounds on a cold rainy night, the heiress flags down a passing carriage and throws herself at the mercy of the coach's occupant. Whoever this handsome traveler may be, he is her only hope to escape a terrible fate. But should he agree to escort her to safety, he's in for much more than he bargained for.

At first Matthew Mortimer doesn't believe Hippolyta's story, that she's a fabulously wealthy heiress who's been kidnapped. He assumes she's a beggar, an actress, or worse. But once his new travel companion washes the mud from her surprisingly lovely face, and they share a breathtaking kiss, there is no turning back.

Themes:  Historical, Novella

Rating: 3.75 stars

Heat Rating: 

Review:

For readers that have been following this series you will recognize the heroine Hippolyta Royle as the sweet, young and wealthy heiress that burst onto the scene in London and turned quite a few heads.  Her father is a wealthy self-made man and he is offering quite the dowry for her marriage; but Hippolyta and her father are keeping secrets and a blackmailer is out to profit from them.  She is running for her life after escaping her kidnapper when she finds herself in the path of Matthew’s carriage, literally, and is desperate for his help to finish her escape. Matthew only sees a dirty and scheming woman when he sees Hippolyta, but against his better judgment he takes on the task of escorting her to the next town. Once Hippolyta is all cleaned up, Matt sees the beauty underneath the dirt and is immediately drawn to the sensual but sweet young woman, even though he doesn’t believe the story of her identity. As they travel to London together the pull between them becomes more and more apparent, but Matt has no intention of falling for the lady, heiress or not, until circumstances dictate that they are stuck with one another, forever.  I loved seeing Hippolyta’s spunk and sass even as she dealt with some pretty serious garbage.  Matt was an ass to her again and again, but she never let it bring her down and looked on her journey as an adventure once she was no longer in immediate danger.  It’s obvious the lady has more backbone than many of the men of her world and I LOVED the way she bestest the blackmailer.  Matt, once he accepted his attraction was not going away, becomes more of a gentleman and the type of guy that I can see myself falling for.  While the story is short, the love between them is apparent in every word and seeing them come together was sweet and thrilling.  Once Upon a Moonlit Night was a great story to hold us over until the next release and a great way to wrap up the previous story.  Simple HEAs are always welcome after the intensity and craziness of stories like the previous one in the series, Duke of Sin, and I am looking forward even more to the next release after reading Matt and Hippolyta’s love story.

*ebook provided by publisher (via netgalley) for the purpose of an honest and unbiased review.  No compensation was provided.