Review of A Night Like This by Julia Quinn

Title/Author: A Night Like This (Smythe-Smith Quartet #2) by Julia Quinn
Publisher/Date published: Avon, May 29th 2012
How I got this book: received it from the publisher as an egalley

Goodreads summary: "Anne Wynter might not be who she says she is...
But she's managing quite well as a governess to three highborn young ladies. Her job can be a challenge — in a single week she finds herself hiding in a closet full of tubas, playing an evil queen in a play that might be a tragedy (or might be a comedy — no one is sure), and tending to the wounds of the oh-so-dashing Earl of Winstead. After years of dodging unwanted advances, he's the first man who has truly tempted her, and it's getting harder and harder to remind herself that a governess has no business flirting with a nobleman.
Daniel Smythe-Smith might be in mortal danger...
But that's not going to stop the young earl from falling in love. And when he spies a mysterious woman at his family's annual musicale, he vows to pursue her, even if that means spending his days with a ten-year-old who thinks she's a unicorn. But Daniel has an enemy, one who has vowed to see him dead. And when Anne is thrown into peril, he will stop at nothing to ensure their happy ending..."

So there's a lot of enjoyable historical romance out there if you know where to look. There are some that are really good. And then you have the more rare novels that are truly amazing. This one falls into that last category, I loved every minute of reading it!!

And I mean, what wasn't there to like? You had the strong female character who has actual conflict in her past that she's hiding. There was the strong, handsome and very much likeable hero who I instantly adored, even though he did make me go MEN! in the first couple of pages as well. They have amazing chemistry together and there was a whole set of secondary characters for me to love. I mean, what more could I wish for, right?

I loved Anne, she's a strong, intelligent woman and even though she fell for Daniel, she didn't lose herself in the haze of love and lust, but still managed to be sensible. I also loved how she cared for her charges and for Daniel. And Daniel, he did a really stupid thing while drunk some years ago and has been away from home ever since. He's definitely matured as a result and I loved the bond between him and his family, they are such a wonderful set of people! I loved that even though he was definitely spending time with his cousins because he wanted to be around Anne, he was still a good sport about it and participated in their lessons. I don't think I've ever giggled so hard at a historical romance as the part in this one where Anne, Daniel and the three cousins are acting out a play which one of the cousins wrote herself. It was SO funny! And seriously, I agree with Frances, the play did need a unicorn ;)

And Julia Quinn definitely had the funny going on! I mean, I love it when there's amazing tension and sexytimes, but for me personally, I couldn't imagine being with someone who couldn't make me laugh and I love it when this also enters into the lovestory. And I just love it when a book makes me giggle!

Also, I really appreciated that they didn't immediately jump into bed together. Sure, there's a kiss within 2 minutes of them meeting each other, but they actually form a relationship before taking it further. And I liked that, it seems more realistic to me.

But most of all I found that I very much enjoyed Julia Quinn's writing style. The story just seemed to flow effortlessly and I was immediately sucked into this world she's created and found myself genuinely caring about what happened to all of the characters! I am so kicking myself for not reading a Julia Quinn novel before!! Seriously, I absolute LOVED A Night Like This and it has made me Julia Quinn's newest fangirl!
A Night Like This was everything I could ask for in a historical romance and bonus points for bringing the funny!

My rating: 5+ stars