One Night of Sin by Gaelen Foley ****
Better, deeper and HOTTER than I expected
Alec Knight is the "Captain of the London Rakes", a devil-may-care, jaded rake who has done everything and nearly everyone. Rebecca (Becky) Ward is an innocent young woman thrust into intrigue and danger when her Russian cousin threatens her in an attempt to get her compliance. Trying to reach London so that she can seek the aid of the magistrate, she meets Alec who rescues her from pursuing Cossacks, at great risk to himself, and in the meantime they have hot sex. It's not the most intellectually challenging book I've read, but I can accept a lot in the name of decent writing and good sex.
So yeah, anyone who likes tame, closed door sex scenes should stay away from this. But nothing in it was pornographic or "dirty". It was just more than standard missionary, lose the virginity, then maybe one more. Why was there more sex? Well, look at Alec's character! He was all about sex! Sex was used, not as a page filler as some have said, but as a way to show how Alec changes and develops. Sex = Love to him, and he sees, through the course of the book, that sex can be meaningful and beautiful. So no, you're not going to convince me that this book was somehow less desirable to read because it had some hot sex scenes. Oh, and while I like me some Stephanie Laurens well enough, these scenes were not 10 pages long and there weren't even that many in the book! I don't know what books other reviewers are reading, but this definitely didn't go beyond the pale.
Becky (I happen to like the name -- sure is better than Olympia or Grizelda as I've seen in other books lately) is a lively, spunky, smart, compassionate, and keen-witted woman. I like her probably better than any other heroine I've read in any of Gaelen Foley's books. Eden from "His Wicked Kiss" had this potential, but blew it halfway through. Becky kept her wonderful traits, even when turning over her problems to Alec. Acknowledging the need for help doesn't make one weak, and accepting help doesn't make one helpless.
I should say that I have not read "Devil Takes a Bride", but I know the story and I know that Alec wasn't a "good" guy in it. So why would GF take Alec's very problem (gambling) and make it key to the solution to the book? Well, Alec didn't really have an "addiction" to gambling -- the gambling was a symptom of his overall depression, not the cause. This book allowed him to redeem THAT aspect of himself, too. As explained, he preferred the games he had been losing at because it made him feel special and specially chosen. But he excelled at games of skill. When one didn't believe one worthy of winning, one leaves it to fate to "validate" themselves. Then, when fate turns sour, it's justified because of his lack of worth, right? So by allowing Alec to use gambling to become a hero, it showed him that he was worthy no matter what "lady luck" has to say about it.
Contrary to the many criticisms (mostly unfounded in my opinion), this book wouldn't have worked if it was handled much differently. Not to say it's perfect, by any means, but I definitely can't agree with someone who is comparing this negatively to "The Duke," which, quite frankly, I disliked.
Alec wasn't troubled in the ways that many of his brothers were, but his own self-doubts and lack of self-worth manifested itself in "rakish" behavior -- even though he wasn't really a rake at heart. Which is why he didn't really "change" so much as found himself in a situation that allowed him to live up to his potential and prove his own worth.
The mean cousin, Prince Kurkov, was a bit of a caricature. His behavior was over the top in a lot of ways. The Cossacks were stereotypes to the core. But on a whole I found the action and plot to be interesting enough, and certainly better than many other books I've read.
So what bothered me the most? Alec's referring to Becky as "little girl" or "baby girl" a lot. THAT skeeved me out a bit. What else bothered me? That their arguments, though few, often occurred because of Becky being unreasonable. Not that it was unreasonable to expect explanations, but that she didn't seem to grasp that one doesn't keep the Prince Regent waiting! lol
And finally, in regards to a complaint I've heard, indicating that the proprieties weren't properly followed... for the majority of the book, they were hidden away. The Knight servants were used to Alec's "shenanigans," so they weren't horrified. And even if they were, no one knew Becky for who she was. She wasn't exactly having her reputation studied too in-depth, now was she? Of course, when she did finally enter into society there might have been some talk, but since 1) no one really knew the whole story, and thus didn't know whether she was unchaperoned or not, 2) she was, as she said, with the Captain of the Rakes, no one would have expected any less. And 3) of course, once she was accepted by the Knight family, many sins were easily washed away.
Overall I'd give this a fairly strong 4. The story was well written, I didn't find it slow, and I LIKED the sex scenes (especially the "goodnight kiss" scene, and I'll just leave it at that). The issues I had with it were minor, but somewhat offputting. The storyline wasn't the best I've read, but it was interesting. I would definitely recommend this book before I would recommend "The Duke" and I'd put this above "His Wicked Kiss" although I think that book had the most potential out of all of those that I've read. I'd probably put this even with "Lord of Fire," although I like Becky better than Alice.
If more detailed/graphic sex scenes bother you, then this book is probably not your best choice. If you think that Alec should remain a rake, then you probably shouldn't read this. But if you can accept that Alec's behavior was the result of his feelings and not the cause of them, then you should be able to accept his "reform", and understand him even more after reading this book. Alec is definitely a lot more interesting to me now than he ever was before!
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