Format: E-book
Read with: iBooks for iPad
Length: Novel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Harlequin Superromance
Publisher: Harlequin
Hero: Rhys Andrew Walker
Heroine: Charlotte Long
Sensuality: 3
Date of Publication: February 1, 2012
Started On: February 4, 2012
Finished On: February 4, 2012

Trust Sarah Mayberry to take a plot that has practically been done to death in the world of romance and still give readers a story that is worth remembering. In my eyes, Sarah Mayberry is one of the few authors in the contemporary romance genre who can do no wrong. Each and every single story that I have read from her has always been memorable, and her latest release is no exception to the rule.

32 year old Charlotte (Charlie) Long leaves the army after 14 long years of service and is trying to find her place in civilian life. Her best friend Gina sees a cause for celebration her first night back and that is how she crosses paths with the handsome, charming and sexy Rhys Andrew Walker, who himself is celebrating the successful sealing of a business deal that means the world to him. Driven, determined and ambitious is what Rhys is all about, and when he sees Charlie and the spark and connection between them is an immediate and instantaneous one, Rhys convinces Charlie to indulge with him in one night of decadent passion.

However for Charlie, the light of the morning brings forth with a vengeance the insecurities that had been kept at bay in the darkness of the night and Charlie slips away, believing deep in her heart that someone as sinfully good looking as Rhys would never give her the time of the day. Eight weeks later the story continues, Charlie slowly and surely finding her footing in the uncertain waters that is civilian life. And then comes the scariest revelation of her life; that she is pregnant with Rhys’s baby.

More than One Night is a story that stands true to the remarkable talent that Sarah Mayberry shows whenever she puts pen to paper to create her vivid cast of characters and emotions that practically seeps through the pages. And in More than One Night I found a story that nearly had me in tears, a relationship that when it unfolded had me holding my breathe in just to see how Rhys and Charlie make their way through a situation fraught with the unknown and emotions that neither of them had never felt before.

Charlie is one of the most complex heroines I have encountered in the fact that she has so much pain and feelings of insecurity buried so deep inside of her. As a child, Charlie had learnt early on to keep her emotions in check, to show a calm and controlled front to the rest of the world. Having never received love or affection from her father, Charlie had set out to join the military as the last attempt at winning over his affections. But even that had not turned out as she had thought it would though the military had given her a sense of belonging she hadn’t ever felt before.

The pivotal moment in the story during which Charlie came out with all the fears and insecurities that had been bottled up deep inside of her for a lifetime, I seriously found myself with tears in my eyes and a lump in my throat the size of a roadblock that refused to go away no matter how hard I tried. And I am not one to cry easily either at movies or over a book, and the fact that Charlie’s character invoked so much emotion from me surprised me all in a good way. Needless to say, I loved Charlie, her straightforward and pragmatic manner, her loyalty, the way she wants to do the right thing above everything else and the way she faces whatever challenge that she comes across with a strength and determination that astounded me at times.

It is a rare circumstance for me to gush about a heroine in a book and totally forget about the hero. Rhys’s character was what made everything deep inside of Charlie better and stronger in the end. Rhys is the type of man who focuses on what he wants, goes after it and succeeds in his attempts to win over the goals he sets in his life. But all those things that had seemed so important to him before suddenly takes a backseat when he discovers he is going to be a father, a news that has him reeling at first. But slowly and surely, Rhys finds that becoming a father with Charlie in the picture is exactly what he wants and needs, if only he could convince Charlie to let go, to trust in him and their newfound love for one another.

It was a thing of beauty to witness the phases that Charlie goes through in order to come out the triumphant one in the end. Rhys works his brand of magic on her, like a soothing salve on those wounds that had festered away for far too long. As I said before, the emotional impact of the story is one that completely sucker punched me, from the sexually charged scenes to the beautiful proposal at the end that had me smiling through all the emotions that had bombarded me from all corners for the better half of the story.

If you want a story that would completely draw you in, characters that feel real, and go through honest emotions to come out winners with a love that is that much more beautiful because of the journey they take towards the ultimate happily ever after, this one’s for you.

Favorite Quotes

He leaned closer and she swallowed the rest of her words as he pressed a kiss to her lips. He lifted his head slightly and looked into her eyes. She stared back at him, stunned, her heart thudding against her breastbone. He palmed the nape of her neck, and then he was kissing her again, his tongue sweeping into her mouth this time, turning her legs to jelly.
She pressed her body against his, her skin on fire, desire beating a tattoo through her veins. His tongue stroked hers gently, provocatively, and she reached out and gripped his shoulders with both hands.
After a long, long moment he drew back. “Come home with me?” he asked very quietly, his voice a low husk.
Dear God, I thought you’d never ask.

Just when she was about to scream with frustration he flexed his hips and slid inside her. Her body welcomed him as he buried himself to the hilt. She let out a broken little sob, almost tearful over how good it felt to be filled by him, how hard and thick and hot he felt inside her.
He started to move, and within seconds she’d found his rhythm. Every clumsy sexual encounter she’d ever had, every second of self-consciousness over her body or her own needs, every doubt she’d ever experienced went out the window as she gave herself over to the moment.

He pulled her close and kissed her the way he’d been wanting to for weeks. There was the smallest of hesitations then she kissed him back, her body straining toward his almost desperately. She tasted of salty tears and need and he tightened his arms around her, wanting to take away the pain he’d caused her, needing to make things right between them. 

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