Again, I find myself in the very awkward position of having the unpopular opinion about a widely loved novel. Again, I find myself asking, "Is it me? Am I just too unforgiving or too critical?" To give myself credit, I did try to read A Lady by Midnight out of loyalty. But alas, it was just so bad I had to stop by the first hundred pages. 
 I have three main issues with the novel: 
 First, the heroine, Kate, was too anachronistic and inconsistent. I don't normally give too much importance on historical accuracy. I'm quite lenient and forgiving with the dialogues and storytelling in a historical romance novel, not really minding if they tend to be too modern at times. But I do have my limits; I know when to raise my eyebrow when the character's actions become too ridiculous for the time set. 
 And Kate's actions were exactly that--ridiculously anachronistic. For instance, Kate actually said the following snarky comments about Thorne in public: 
 "I hope you don't take Thorne's crude manners to heart, Miss Taylor." 
 "Who, me?" She forced a little laugh. "Oh, I'm more sensible than that. Why should I take to heart the words of a heartless man?" She ran a fingertip around the teacup's rim, thoughtful. "But kindly do me a favor, Mr. Fosbury." 
 "Whatever you ask, Miss Taylor." 
 "The next time I'm tempted to extend an olive branch of friendship to Corporal Thorne . . . ?" She arched one brow and gave him a playful smile. "Remind me to whack him over the head with it instead." 
 The setting is 1814, the Regency era, and I'd bet a great deal of money that talking like that--about a Corporal, no less!--at public was simply not done. Um, correct me if I'm wrong but didn't they have rules of propriety back then? 
 Another issue about Kate is her inconsistency in character. Early on in the novel, she established herself as a very optimistic and resourceful woman, but her actions and thoughts said otherwise. 
 Her worst fears had been realized. She was alone. Not just tonight, but forever. Her own relations had abandoned her years ago. No one wanted her now. She would die alone. Living in some cramped pensioner's apartment like Miss Paringham's, drinking thrice-washed tea and chewing on her own bitterness. 
 Wow. A ball of sunshine, this girl. And oh, don't let me get started with her snarky comments. 
 And when she lifted her head, she was guaranteed to find a friendly face, unless . . . 
 "Miss Taylor?" 
 Unless. 
 Unless it was him. 
 "Corporal Thorne," she whispered. 
 On another day, Kate could have laughed at the irony. Of all the men to come to her rescue, it would be this one. 
 Um, girl, the man just saved you from getting whipped and this is how you repay him??? What is wrong with you? 
 Second, some of the scenes or events were over-the-top and illogical, with no proper buildup. I'm talking about the events that transpired in Chapter 2, where Miss Paringham, Kate's old schoolmistress in the orphanage, actually beat her with a cane out of spite. 
 Yeah. You read that right. The old woman caned her. And for what, you ask? 
 "You never liked me," Kate whispered. "I knew it. You always made it clear, in small, unspoken ways, that any kindness you showed me was begrudged." 
 "Very well. You are correct. I never liked you." 
 ... 
 "May I ask on what basis was I so reviled? I was appropriately grateful for every small thing I was given. I didn't cause mischief. I never complained. I minded my lessons and earned high marks." 
 "Precisely. You showed no humility. You behaved as though you had as much claim to joy as any other girl at Margate. Always singing. Always smiling." 
 The idea was so absurd, Kate couldn't help but laugh. "You disliked me because I smiled too much? Should I have been melancholy and brooding?" 
 I don't know about you, but having an illogical dislike at a person is not a legitimate excuse for violence. Ugh. This seemed to be the writer's pathetic effort to evoke some sympathy from us. In my case, at least, that failed miserably, and made things look ridiculous and too blown out of proportion. 
 In the same chapter as well, Kate nearly gets whipped by an irate cart driver who got irritated at her for disturbing his horse. Okay, I get it, he was mad, but hello, this was the Regency, and I highly doubt that whipping a lady in the streets account for a normal action. Again with the anachronism. Sigh. 
 Third, the writing was just too horrible. This was actually the deal breaker, for me. I could have stomached the first two issues had it not been for the writing. I was shocked, actually. It's been a long time since I read her one of her books, but I remembered liking them. What happened? Did she change? Or did I? 
 But then again, I read her way before I read the works of Lorraine Heath, Elizabeth Hoyt, Lisa Kleypas and Amanda Quick. Maybe my standards changed. I don't know what happened, but I find myself unable to stomach such storytelling. There were too many simple sentences, with no proper transitioning. The characters' thoughts were too disjointed to create a proper image. Unnecessary breaks between thoughts were too abundant. For example: 
 Chilling, those words. But effective. The cart swiftly rolled away. 
 And: 
 She burst into tears. Right there in the street, for God's sake. Her lovely face screwed up. She bent forward until her forehead met his chest, and then she heaved a loud, wrenching sob. 
 Then a second. And a third. 
 That's not really my idea of a smooth narration. 
 I'm sorry, but I have to add this to my DNF list. Others may have liked it, but for reasons stated above, I just can't do so. I certainly don't recommend this.