Thursday, July 21, 2011

A Midnight Dance-Lila DiPasqua

A Midnight Dance
Lila DiPasqua
Berkley, Aug 2 2011, $15.00
ISBN: 9780425241981

In 1650 watching from the back stage as her father’s plays are being performed, Sabine Laurent begins falling in love with one of the aristocrats attending the theater; her Dark Prince, nineteen year old Jules de Moutier. Her twin Isabelle is attracted to Jules’s younger brother Luc.

However, a failed coup d’état leaves her father dead and her twin sister Isabelle missing and presumed dead. She and the surviving extended family members to include the troupe face debtor’s prison. The king and subsequently Sabine blame Jules who fled France to become a privateer.

In 1658 Sabine plans to avenge what Jules did to her family by stealing silver from him to keep her loved ones out of prison and to search for her sibling in hopes Isabelle lives. However, her courtesan scheme goes astray when she meets her Dark Prince.

The third "Fiery Tale" (see Awakened by a Kiss and The Princess in His Bed) is an adult version of Cinderella in an adult historical romantic setting. Jules and Sabine are an intriguing pairing as she holds him culpable for what happened to her loved ones. The fate of Isabelle and a Machiavellian aristocrat enhance a strong well written seventeenth century tale.

Harriet Klausner

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