Nine Minutes Past Midnight

by Lena de Savoie

I want to say this had the polish of the last novel that I have read by this author but since I have read her books in reverse order, I don’t know that I can but what I can say is that taking that into account  this is an author that has certainly refined her craft since finishing this her first story. That is not to say that this isn’t a decent read, it is…it just didn’t flow quite as I had expected.

Faye is in Venice on business, what else could she possibly be doing since all she ever seems to have time for is work, she is perfectly well aware of her flaws and the fact that her lack of a social life has become office gossip and while she may not like it, she really can’t be bothered to do anything about it, her she owns her idiosyncrasies, so it’s a case of marching forward.

Her time in Venice is unexpectedly extended when she is told there is a problem with her flight and that she will have to spend another night, unfortunately for her the hotel if full…its Carnival after all!

Crispin Sinclair could have the pick of women beating a path to his bedroom door but since the minute he laid eyes on Faye it has been all about her, all he has to do is get her to let her guard down. So with a little subterfuge and a favour from his brother, he has surreptitiously stranded Faye in Venice with him, now to work his magic.

So one night transforms into the weekend and a date and dinner eventually morphs into a whole new ball game, a masked ball where it is definitely a case of anything goes, other than removing the mask that is!

I liked Faye, even though she had herself tied up in stupid rules, no being in someone else’s bed after midnight – really woman what are you thinking! But I loved the fact that she was facing an internal battle because as much as her rigidity was doing everything it could to keep her on her very own straight and narrow, Crispin was having none of it at all and this man was willing to not just bend the rules but ditch them completely.

Crispin wanted to see the real Faye, the woman he knew was hiding away beneath the power suits and early nights, the woman that would fall apart as she screamed his name, all he needed was the opportunity and now he had it, he was going to make sure every minute counted.

As you would expect from a story that was only 80 pages long, the pace is fairly swift but that didn’t detract, I just found the turnaround in Faye a little too extreme, she switched her perspectives as quickly as flicking on a light and that was distracting for me.

I liked Crispin, the fact he went after what he wanted but would his weekend tryst be enough to not only get his woman but keep her?

Looking at this now, knowing that this was the author first book, I would say that it was a decent effort and a great little short read but having read her second book, I am happy to say that the evolution from this to the next was worth the wait.

A great read from a talented young author.