Dancing at Midnight by Julia Quinn (Splendid Trilogy #2)

First Published: 1 December 1995
Publisher: Avon
Pages: 375
Format: Mass Market Paperback
Finished Date: 8 January 2012

Blurb from Goodreads

Lady Arabella Blydon can sense the secrets smoldering behind the dark, penetrating gaze of Lord John Blackwood. Still she desires his handsome, mysterious stranger who stirs her passions like no other man--even as he warns her to stay away.

War scarred Lord John's body and soul. But this brazen, intoxicating, infuriating bluestocking poses an even greater threat: she is forcing him to care again. For Belle is a woman of bold, independent spirit, equally unconcerned about society's petty restrictions and love's hidden perils. And the beautiful, determined schemer will not rest until she returns joy and light to the damaged lord's life...and wins a place in his shuttered heart forever.

My Rating

My Review

Dancing at Midnight was a very enjoyable read for me. It was very light-hearted and I found myself chuckling aloud at various points. It was very entertaining and I really loved the romance between the characters.

John and Belle are two completely opposite people. One is so sunny, nothing ever fazes her, the other is just tortured and tormented. But somehow, they fall in love. Then again, opposites do attract, don’t they?

At times I couldn’t stand John. He is so affected by the event in his past, then it affects his self-confidence, to the point where it affects his identity. It gets really annoying when he lets that stand in the way of him loving Belle. If Belle hadn’t loved him that much, he would have lost her. By his own hands. Because he was stupid enough to think that he wasn’t good enough for Belle, because of what he experienced in the past. He took an angry woman’s words as fact and it affected him so badly.

Belle is her usual sunny self. She is a very interesting character to read about and I really loved her. She just brings joy to the book, I feel. In the beginning, she desperately wanted John to like her, so much that she kept visiting him. Though people may feel its rather shallow, that she wants to be liked so much, I don’t really feel that way. I mean, Belle has always been loved by everyone around her, for someone to take an active dislike towards her is something she has never experienced and of course, she would want to rectify that.

There are several things I loved about the book. The dialogues were always interesting and witty. I found myself laughing out loud many times during the course of reading. I think the thing that really stands out is when John tries to recite poetry to Belle. Belle wants him to write his own poem for her, but he refuses to, saying he can’t. Instead, he tries to pass off other poets writing as his own. As in, he recites them to Belle, hoping that she’ll believe its his own. And Belle tries to circumvent him in that by reading tons and tons of books of poetry. It was really funny actually! I enjoyed the plot too. Though I hated John’s first reason of letting Belle go, I could totally understand why he wanted to avoid Belle when he found out someone was trying to kill him. It was interesting, though I had more or less figured out his would-be killer for quite a long time. And when it was all resolved, Persephone is shown to be amazingly smart and brave. That woman should get her own story. A pity she’s kind of old. But then again, who said age had to matter when it comes to affairs of the heart?

I also loved the characters in the book. Belle’s character is developed a lot more here, and we even see Alex and Emma (from Splendid) here. Their love never fails to touch my heart. I still love it when I read about Alex giving Emma tender looks and being so protective of her! It’s just so sweet and it really truly screams true love. Alright, that’s not really pertinent to the plot, but I just had to say it. John was a pretty interesting character and it was fun reading about him. Even though he was a very tortured person inside, it’s really amazing when you see how love changes all that. For a man who hardly ever smiled, to be able to laugh so freely around the woman he loves just shows me how amazing love is. The pace of the book was alright, not too fast and not too slow. But I do have several complaints.

I found the part before they went to London to be a little repetitive. I mean, it was kind of the same thing over and over again. Its not that it wasn’t interesting, it was. But I felt that a lot of unnecessary time was spent there because about the same events were repeated. Like them bumping into each other almost everyday. It was only when they were both in London and he really started courting her that the pace picked up. From there, it was an amazing read.

Oh yes, I also felt that they defeated John’s enemy, not saying who, a little too easily. I mean, he was quite a big part of the book and it was because of him that a lot of events happened. But the conflict was rather short, and thus a little disappointing. I did love Persephone’s part in that though. It was amazing. She fazed every single person in that room, even the men. Just for that, I love her. You wouldn’t expect it of her, thinking she’s a pretty shallow person. But let me tell you, that woman has a devious brain.

Alright, I just wanted to talk about my favorite parts for a while. As I mentioned earlier, I really enjoyed the poetry part. And the poem he finally composed at the end? I thought it was the best out of everything he had recited. I mean, that was from the heart. Another of my favorite parts was when John climbed into her bedroom. That marriage proposal was so so sweet. My mouth just dropped when I read it. Sigh, that was just so perfect.

Though there were several parts that were quite slow in the book, all in all, I really loved reading it. This was a very fun read and I really vividly remember myself smiling to myself every now and then while reading the book. No, it isn’t worth 5 stars, but definitely 4 stars. Now, I may be rather lenient when it comes to ratings, but well, I get very emotional easily, so a lot of books are great to me! I really enjoyed reading this book!