Avon, $5.99, ISBN 0-380-81850-7
Historical Romance, 2001

Suzanne Enoch’s second book in the With This Ring trilogy (the first one is Reforming a Rake) has a cover that looks a lot of previous Avon blue covers. It is a good indication of the story inside the covers, because Meet Me at Midnight reads a lot like previous Regency-era historical romances too.

Let’s see – misunderstood hellion who actually is anything but a hellion (that’s Victoria “Vixen” Fontaine) kisses a rakehell former War hero Sinclair “Lord Sin” Grafton one night in a garden. Daddy Fontaine shouts in apoplexy when he discovers them in semi-carnal embrace.

Ding dong bell. Marriage on the way.

And yes, there’s also a murder mystery where the hero must solve the case of who offed his brother. Since the marriage takes place early, what’s left to keep the show going is our dearest Vixen bungling up Sinny’s plans and stratagems. No one does anything unexpected, nothing goes that is unplanned or unread before, and at the end of the day, the whole thing strikes me as one of the many okay-while-it-lasts reads to have come my way recently.

Then comes the next book to be read, and Meet Me at Midnight becomes another to-be-soon-forgotten book by virtue of its dire predictability. I’m still wondering whether my $5.99 spent has been worth it.