A wonderful tale of true love in unusual circumstances.

I had never read anything by Anne Mallory prior to being introduced to her new Secrets series. The first book Seven Secrets of Seduction was an interesting book but not my favorite. So I wanted to go into reading this second book with an open mind and not let the last story throw me off. The first book does not need to be read in order to read One Night is Never Enough but there are some reoccurring characters. I was happy to find that both the plot and the characters in this book were more appealing than those in the first book. But, once again I found that I didn’t really enjoy the book all that much.

Charlotte Chatsworth is a diamond of the ton, her beauty and poise making up for her lack of dowry or title. Her wastrel father drinks, gambles, and whores much to the detriment of Charlotte, her mother, and her sister. But when her father loses a bet to the king of the London underworld Roman Merrick, Charlotte spends the most unforgettable night of her life with a man who barely lays a finger on her. Neither Charlotte nor Roman can forget the night they spent together and their love grows slowly as he shows her all the wonders to be found in physical intimacy. But Charlotte is set to marry a man who can get her family out of debt and bring a much desired title to her name. The new lovers must fight their attraction for each other, the threats of her father and his cronies and even a few underworld usurpers in order to find their happy ending.

The plot moves at a good pace, with multiple layers to the story but I found myself confused at times and unsure where the author was taking me. Conversations were fragmented, characters pasts alluded to but never explained and I found I could never get quite the whole picture at the end of each scene. I am not sure if it is the author’s writing style but the way the story was told left me a little unsatisfied with the resolution of plot items and the eventual triumph of the romance. It is hard to explain the many layers to the plot and I think that perhaps a more simply story would have satisfied me more in the end.

The characters were developed very differently than I would have liked. I found that I got to know Charlotte, our heroine, far more than our hero Roman. Charlotte is the self-sacrificing type who is determined to make a good marriage in order to provide her younger sister with options she never had. But this unwavering certainty that her only option is to marry a man from the ton blinds her to the wonderful man she can’t take her mind off of. I thought Charlotte was a good heroine and I enjoyed her progress as Roman slowly thaws out the ice she has encased herself in for self preservation. You hear her voice and perspective throughout the book but don’t get as great a view of Roman. I would have liked to see more of the story from his perspective.

Roman has that dark allure that makes a hero so sinfully appealing. Whispered commands in the dark of night give the reader shivers and totally ramp up his charm. I liked the fact that he was a dangerous villain of a man who any sane girl of the ton should stay far away from.

When you put these two characters together the sparks should fly. But alas, they don’t. The love scenes were far too gentle to really ignite my imagination and didn’t really fit the expectations that the author sets the reader up for nor the tone of the book.

Overall, I was a little let down with a story that had tons of potential. The book needed a bit more spark to ignite the love story and a more simple plot to keep the reader interested. But, I would still recommend you read it and I do hope that Anne plans on adding to this series.

Reviewed by: Danielle