Lord of the Night by Susan Wiggs Book Review

Author: Susan Wiggs
Title: Lord of the Night
Genre: Historical Romance, Murder Mystery
Pages: 361
First Published: 1993
Where I Got It: Library


"Sandro Cavalli, Lord of the Night, is legendary for bringing criminals to justice. But in the city's shadowy alleyways, a new, deadly plot is afoot - a sinister threat that even Sandro needs help to uncover.

He enlists the aid of an alluring, sensuous beauty, Laura Bandello, but Laura's innocent loveliness may hide a dark secret, and Sandro vows to keep his distance. Yet the deeper he delves into the underworld, the harder he falls for Laura. Pursued by unspeakable danger, Sandro risks his honor, his reputation, and even his heart - all for the love of a mysterious beauty he can't quite trust."



The story is not only just a romance, but it's also a great murder mystery. I love when authors of Historical Romances adds more depth to the story then just the typical love theme. I tend to get bored with those easily. Susan Wiggs did an amazing job balancing the murder mystery with the romance aspect. It was nicely balanced.

I will admit it though....I read the first chapter and was annoyed. The main character, Laura, was one of those perfect characters with virtually no flaws to speak of, so I just walked away from the book for a couple days and then I forced myself to continue reading. She may have limited flaws, but once you read more you start finding yourself really liking Laura. Even though her name seemed silly; I didn't know if 'Laura' was an Italian name or not, but I'm not an expert on names, so I can't pass judgement...

Yet again I figured out who the murderer was WAY before the end of the book. I'm not sure if it was obvious or not, but I pieced all the clues together before Sandro or any of the other characters. I just have a sixth sense about stuff like that, I guess. I might have figured that part out, but I couldn't figure out the motive behind the horrific murders. It baffled me! When the reason was told, I was...STUNNED! I had re-read it a couple of times to wrap my mind around it. Also, there was a huge twist at the end that I didn't see coming at all! That twist boggled my mind! However, it does make sense though! It answered so many unanswered questions. I love it when authors do that too you! I love being stunned and having my mind boggled.

The only thing I didn't like about the book was the some of interactions between Sandro and Laura...for some reason they annoyed me a little bit. It's not Laura's fault, it's Sandro. I couldn't stand him. The only thing I liked about him was his loyalty and how naive he was too love. That's about it, other than that I couldn't stand the man. I just wanted to push him into one of canals and hope that an Italian alligator would eat him. He was so whiny and just plain stupid. Ugh, just thinking about him irritates me. Also I didn't like Laura's name, I kept forgetting she was Italian...I'm not even sure if the name was in existence in the 1531. Huh. Oh well.

All-in-all I really liked this book. It had humor, romance, drama, mystery, and revenge. It covered all the bases of your emotions and I felt every emotion reading this book. So out of five stars I grant this one 5 stars. In all reality, it would be 4.5, but I rounded up. So I recommend this book to any one who love Historical Romance novels and/or mysteries. Or if you just like a nice book to read during the summer, so you can avoid the sun.

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<3Carole Rae