REVIEW: Nightingale by Cathy Maxwell

Nightingale by Cathy Maxwell: Sir Dane Pendleton, a self-made man, is writing out his last will and testament. Why? Because he has accepted a challenge from young Lord Whiting, the brother of woman who broke his heart, and he will face him at dawn. Although Dane expects to win the challenge, he is responsible, and is putting his affairs in order nonetheless. Then, there is a knock at his door, and in walks Jemma Carson, as beautiful as she ever was, and ready to do nearly anything to plead for her brother’s life. Seeing her again, after so many years, awakens many memories in Dane about how they met, and what went wrong. But most of all, about how he felt for her back then:

Jemma had smiled at him then, pleased he had woken her…. and in that moment, Dane had fallen in love. The horses, the bees, even the calls of their friends had faded from consciousness. All he’d ever wanted has been centered here, with this woman. The realization had been so sudden and so certain that he’d been surprised he hadn’t been struck blind that Paul on the road to Damascus.

Jemma, on her part, has many regrets. She regrets that she had turned from Dane and had married another. She regrets her drunken, feckless brother and grasping parents. This is her one chance to grab what she wants and live life, if only for an evening, and be with the man she has always loved.

She had wondered if the many mistresses he was rumored to keep found him as loving and adoring as she once had. She felt a stab of jealousy, coupled with the bile of regret. He could have been hers.

A well written novella is akin a to gemstone: small, perfect and complete. Often, novellas are used to introduce a series, or fill in a gap in a series, and don’t seem complete in and of themselves. “Nightingale” defies this expectation by using a version of the “locked in a room” trope to great effect. With deep resentment and animosity to overcome, the only way for Dane and Jemma to realize that they still have feelings for each other, is to be enclosed together, to be forced to confront each other and their emotions without distraction. Even thought it is short, and a quick read, “Nightingale” is satisfying, and memorable.

Book Info:

Published August 26th 2014 by Avon Impulse

Fate has brought them together—again.

At one time, Jemma meant the world to Dane Pendleton, but then she betrayed their young love.

Now Time has turned the tables. Dane is wealthy, respected, and knighted, while Jemma has nothing but her pride.

His honor for hers …

Dane’s name is on the lips of every beauty in London. They whisper that he learned “tricks” while he was in the Orient. But has he forgotten Jemma and what they once meant to each other?

And will he accept her devil’s bargain?

In every woman’s life, there is that one flame who slipped away. The man who makes her wonder “what if?”

But is this a momentary madness or a chance to rekindle a love that could last a lifetime?(