Review: ‘Twas the Night Before Mischief (Daring Hearts #2.5) – Nina Rowan

Posted 4 March, 2014 by Linda @ (un)Conventional Bookworms in Reviews / 9 Comments

Review: ‘Twas the Night Before Mischief (Daring Hearts #2.5) – Nina Rowan'Twas the Night Before Mischief by Nina Rowan
Published by Forever, Grand Central Publishing on 10 December 2013
Genres: Adult, Historical Romance
Pages: 100
Format: eARC
Source: Netgalley

3 Stars

Twas the night before mischief and all through the house, a lady was plotting-it was time to break out!

When Penelope Darlington is persuaded to elope with a most unsuitable suitor, she wastes no time. With visions of passion and adventure dancing in her head, she steals away in the middle of the night, just before her father's Christmas feast.

Fearing for his daughter's reputation, Henry Darlington begs Darius Hall, the Earl of Rushton's daring yet discreet son, to bring Penelope home. When Darius finally catches up to Penelope he is shocked. She's not the silly little girl he expected, but a beautiful woman with a sharp mind and an allure that cannot be ignored.

Now forced to kidnap Penelope in order to bring her home, Darius and his new charge spend the next several days-and nights-in very close quarters. Penelope wanted passion and adventure, but she never could have imagined the pleasures Darius can provide . . .

*I received a free ARC of ‘Twas the Night Before Mischief from Forever / Grand Central Publishing via Netgalley in exchange of an honest review*

‘Twas the Night Before Mischief is a very sweet historical romance novel set right around Christmas. Penelope has always felt a little out of place and almost invisible, but because she is such a good girl, she has never done anything to try and make herself more visible in any way. A good dose of suspense of disbelief is needed, but if you can manage that, you will enjoy this novella very much.

Penny has always been good, but when a Scottish rogue starts paying attention to her, she will not listen to her father, nor the one man who has been around more than any other ever since she was a little girl. Darius is a serious man, always thinking about different words and their meanings, and Penny thinks he has not a passionate bone in his body. Until that one evening when he kisses her under the mistletoe.

‘Twas the Night Before Mischief follows Penny after she runs away from home, thinking to elope with the Scotsman. When his mama doesn’t approve, he leaves her to fend for herself, though. Luckily for Penny, Darius is on his way to rescue her, and while she doesn’t really want to be rescued seeing him again after that one kiss is all she really needs. As they get to know each other better as adults, emotions and passion is positively crackling between them.

A quick read, ‘Twas the Night Before Mischief is a sweet story of two people who always showed the world what it wanted to see. Underneath the cool exterior, though, they both hide a passionate and loyal personality not many people have seen before. I will be reading more books in the Daring Hearts series, as ‘Twas the Night Before Mischief gave me romance and daring, even if some of it was a little too much it was very romantic and sweet all the same.

The writing is very good, and through only one hundred pages, I got a good idea who Penny and Darius are, as well as who they would like to be.

He was physically powerful, with hard, sharp features intensified by the darkness of his hair and eyes. his spectacles didn’t soften his features either; instead, the wire frames and clear glass enhanced his air of angular, focused intelligence.

Penelope’s heart pounded in an odd rhythm as she faced the door. Behind her, the sound of Darius undressing caused all manner of inappropriate thoughts to flood her mind. She imagined his long, capable fingers unfastening the buttons of his shirt.

A thousand other words appeared in her mind, like lily pads scattered over the surface of a pond. Intelligent. Kind. Determined. Thoughtful. Tender.

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Linda @ (un)Conventional Bookworms

About Linda @ (un)Conventional Bookworms

Linda is an English as foreign language teacher and has a Master's degree in English Language and Literature. She's an avid reader, blogger, compulsive one-clicker and a genre omnivore. Ever since she learnt how to read she has been seen with a book or two in her hands everywhere she goes.

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9 responses to “Review: ‘Twas the Night Before Mischief (Daring Hearts #2.5) – Nina Rowan

    • I agree, romance novels set in a holiday mood always make me all mushy inside ๐Ÿ™‚

      Thanks for stopping by, Pamela.

    • I was so much in the mood for holiday romances, I got several. Somehow, I ended up reading them in January, though ๐Ÿ™‚

      Thanks for stopping by, Melliane.

  1. Silly little romances in the holiday spirit can be very nice reads, though ๐Ÿ˜‰

    You do need to add an historical to your queue for sure! I love those ๐Ÿ™‚

  2. This sounds like such a sweet story! I love how both main characters were hiding their passionate nature from everyone! This sounds like a sexy read. I’m glad you enjoyed it, and found a new series that you want to follow. Great Review Lexx ๐Ÿ™‚

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