One Wicked Night (Zebra Splendor Historical Romances) [Mass Market Paperback]

The heroine, Serena Boyce is married to an older man who is impotent. Her husband, Lord Warrington, has a nephew who is truly evil and his only heir. He begs Serena to take a lover in order to defeat the nephew by having a child they will pass off as the heir. Serena has no intention of agreeing to her husband's request, but allows him to believe that she will.

Lucien Clayborne, Marquess of Daneridge, has divorced his faithless wife and is grieving over the death of his daughter. He blames himself for her death and is deeply mired in guilt and grief when he and Serena meet in a very dramatic way. Lucien rescues her from an attack and in the aftermath these two very lonely and unhappy people come together in a single act of passion.

When Serena realizes what she has done she flees and hopes never to see Lucien again. She is terrified that she is like her mother, who was a publicly loose woman. Lucien is horrified to realize she was a virgin and thinking he has seduced someone's innocent daughter, strives to find the lovely Lady. He is shocked and furious to discover she is very much married and that he had been used to cuckold another husband.

With the murder of Serena's husband the skeins of this story become very tangled. Each of them is mired in their own fears and guilts, afraid to trust and definitely afraid to love. This book deals with adultery and it's consequences in a deep and serious way. It is not a night of unpunished pleasure to be forgotten. The hero is afraid to trust a woman who has already cheated on one husband. The heroine is terrified that her one slip, was evidence of a base part of her nature. Yet, this couple keeps you truly involved in their story. There is definite emotional growth on both of their parts. They painfully work through the anger and hurt as Lucien tries to keep Serena safe from the evil nephew and his new co-hort, who happens to be Lucien's ex-wife.

One Wicked Night, kept me turning the pages and I genuinely liked this couple. Their emotional growth from the pain of their first passionate meeting, makes the ending satsifying and believable. This book is a delight from the beautiful front cover to end. Bradley has written a book that deals with adultery in the serious manner it deserves and I hope other readers will look past the backblurb to an emotionally satisfying read.

Linda Hurst
Reviewer
Under the Covers
Pandora's Box/AAR