One Night Is Never Enough by Anne Mallory

Title/Author: One Night Is Never Enough by Anne Mallory
Publisher/Date published: Avon, February 22nd 2011
How I got this book: received it from the publisher through NetGalley
Why I read this book: same reason as always

Goodreads summary: "Powerful, ruthless, seductive - the lord of London's underworld - Roman Merrick gets anything he wants... and he burns for Charlotte Chatsworth, a polished jewel in the glittering ton. So he engages her debt-ridden gambler father in a game of chance, wagering ten thousand pounds against one night with the man's exquisite daughter. And Roman Merrick never loses.
Charlotte is devastated to learn that her reprobate father has lost her in a card game to the most dangerous man she's ever met. With the threat of ruin behind every corner, Charlotte embarks upon a perilous path with the man she cannot forget. But in truth, it's Roman who has everything to lose - for a game undertaken for pleasure alone soon has him gambling his heart. And love and passion unleashed could bring his great, dark empire tumbling down..."

I'm still trying to figure out what my feelings are towards this book, I hope it'll be clearer when I reach the end of this review.

See, what I look for in a historical romance is tension and stolen kisses and scandal looming ahead. And this did have that. But I also want a heroine I can relate to. And a swoonworthy man to fall in love with myself for a bit and who I can understand in his ways. And I think that's where I felt things were missing out.

I didn't connect with Charlotte or Roman. And though he sounds really handsome, he was also a bit odd. And though I know he's not a gentleman of the ton like most rogues in historical romance are, I still didn't get him. Or his annoying brother. Who I'm sure we'll see in another novel, possibly falling in love with Charlotte's sister?

But I'm making silly predictions here, when what this really is about is this particular book. Let me tell you the things I did like about the book.
There was definitely tension and towards the ending, I swear, I would have cried had I connected more with the characters. Everyone should know by now what a huge sap I am, I cry at romance novels all the time and I mention it all the time too..

I also liked how Charlotte felt responsible for her family, she really wanted all the best things in the world for her sister Emily and wasn't afraid to sacrifice her own happiness and reputation in the process. The sisterly affection was heartwarming. I also really liked Emily, she had spunk and I hope as I said above, that we'll see her and Roman's brother have their very own story, but we'll just have to wait and find out what comes next.

Roman was, well.. I'm not sure what to make of him. And I'm not sure exactly why I should be falling in love with him and therefore I didn't. I enjoy falling in love with the men in romance novels, that's part of the fun. There was a lot of angst, though it probably had more to do with him brother than Roman himself.

I'm not really sure what caused me to feel disconnected from this story, but I did and that is in the end why this story doesn't get more stars, cause it was a nice story, it just wasn't for me somehow.

My rating: 2,5 stars