A Midnight Clear by Lynn Kerstan

4 STARS

A Midnight Clear was a surprising romance novel of the regency era. I did not expect what it would bring by reading the first couple of chapters. This is a clean book which at first I wondered about that. I liked the characters, the plot twists were charming.

Jane has just been kicked out of her lodging and has only one job to interview for. Their are a lot of others who are interviewing too. Everyone who comes out of the job interview looks at the horror of what she just went through. Some leave before the interviews even. Jane gets the job.

Her job is to transcribe and put together the novel telling all about the scandles that Lady Eudora Swann knows. And she knows a lot of them. While Jane hates the book she does her best to write it and keep her opinions about it.

Lady Swann has been married six times. She knows all the scandals and wants to leave a legacy so she won't be forgotton. Now she is confined to a bath chair. She has still a lot of gentleman callers who sneak out in the morning. She has a lot of money.

Charles Fallon's relatives are a big part of the book. He wants to restore his family name and reputation. He already has earned the wealth in India. He has heard about Lady Swann's book and wants his family left out of it. He threatens to sue Lady Swann but that will only make the book sell better.

He rejects her offer of sleeping with her. He has set up a house in London and plans to marry good to a lady of Society.
Lady Swann has a idea that will change her mind if he lets Jane find other things about the woman in the Fallon family. Over the Christmas holidays while she goes away to a party for the holidays.

This was quick read,fun in parts,sweet in others as they end up lost in the snow with plenty of drama thrown into.
I would look for more books by Lynn Kerstan in the future to read based on this book.

I was given this ebook to read and asked to give honest review of it when done by Netgalley.
Publisher: Bell Bridge Books (March 11, 2013) 186 pages ASIN: B00BY98QAM

Description below taken off of Netgalley.

Will the twelve days of Christmas bring them together or leave his family in ruin?
Jane Ryder is innocent, plain, poor, and eager for adventure. After taking a job as a secretary with the notorious gossip, Lady Eudora “The Tongue” Swann, she is given the task of transcribing Lady Swann’s scandalous history of the aristocracy, featuring the many promiscuities of the Fallon Marquesses.
When the Fallon heir, Charles, returns from India with a self-made fortune, he dedicates himself to restoring the derelict manor house and the infamous family name. Face-to-face, he orders the crafty Lady Swann to leave his family out of the book.
Lady Swann offers a sly trade: If he agrees to confide intriguing tidbits of his family history (and of his own rise to fortune) to Miss Ryder, she will tone down his family’s sordid tales in Scandalbroth.
At Wolvercote, the centuries-old and long-abandoned seat of the Fallon family, a snowstorm strands Charles and Jane. They’re drawn together in mutual respect, humor, and as time passes, an attraction that cannot be denied, though her lowly station forbids it. When they discover an abandoned infant girl near the stable on Christmas Eve, caring for her together, the formal barricades between them seem to vanish.
Can a romance begun on a night of joy and miracles overcome the strict rules of London society? It may take a meddling old gossip named Lady Swann to persuade them that love is the best Christmas gift of all.