Title: The Lady's Scandalous Night
Author(s): Jeannie Lin
Genre: Historical, Romance
Publisher/Year: Harlequin/2011
-Webpage/blog: Jeannie Lin Official Page
-Related Reviews: "The Taming of Mei Lin" and Butterfly Swords 

Synopsis: Tang Dynasty China, 759 A.D.

Yao Ru Jiang, known as River, has woven many romantic dreams of honorable swordsman Wei Chen from her brother's stories. Their meeting should have been a happy event; instead, Chen arrives to tell River he is duty bound to kill her brother for rebelling against the warlord they both serve.

River would do anything to distract the handsome, conflicted warrior from his mission—even take him as a lover….

Rating:

Review:  This was a different sort of story from BUTTERFLY SWORDS. Maybe because of the short nature or maybe because the characters were already half in love (and lust) before ever clapping eyes on each other, the story moved quickly. It never felt rushed or abrupt, just quickly paced. 

Lin does mention this reads along side her upcoming novel THE DRAGON AND THE PEARL, which is about General Li Tao (who Wei Chen serves under) and the ending of this story must mirror an event that happens in THE DRAGON since I couldn't see how else it came about.  This was a drawback to having the short story, but not the longer novel it accompanies.  Wei Chen's mission was clear enough, but I felt out of the loop in regards to Li Tao and what exactly happened with River's brother.  From all that was said about him he seemed loyal to Li Tao just as Wei Chen was and we're not given a clear indication as to why he betrayed him and put his family in so much danger.

I liked River.  She was quick on her feet and not prone to just sitting defeated.  While her plan was foolhardy at best (who knew if Wei Chen was really as honorable as her brother said) and suicidal at worst, I applaud the fact that she cared so deeply for her father and brother.  She didn't condone his actions, or even try to argue that he was in the right.  She simply chose to put her family loyalty above all else.

I definitely liked Wei Chen.  He came off as very conflicted and his discomfort with his duty only made me wonder harder at what happened exactly.  I got the impression that he was doing what he had to because that was his duty--he thought of it as more of a mercy considering who Li Tao could have sent.  And his anger and betrayal seemed to stem from hurt and confusion, maybe even a bit of wounded pride.

I do wonder at a guy who offers his sister's hand in marriage to his brother-in-arms rather casually.  Its one thing to trust a man with your life, quite another to put the safety of your sister in his hands.

As a side note for some reason I pictured Wallace Huo (he's a bit scruffy, but that's okay I love him anyhow) as Wei Chen and Liu Shi Shi (she's just so cute) as River.  Possibly because I'm watching Strange Hero Yi Zhi Mei which stars them both (also they're in Chinese Paladin 3 together).


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