Blurb:
When Dr. Nikki Adenike’s rendezvous with an Internet playmate turns into a life-and-death fling with the serial killer called “Lucifer,” she manages to escape–into the arms of the detective investigating the case. But the danger is far from over–and a newfound passion is just beginning.
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This was a reread for me. I originally read it in 2005 and then apparently forgot about it. Over the weekend, I remembered a book about pistachios. Nothing else, just that the hero and heroine were feuding over a bag of pistachios and it made me laugh. My search for “the pistachio book” led me back to One Dark Night by Jaid Black.
Our heroine, Nikki, is a respected surgeon with a lot of stress in her life and no sex. She’s been celibate for three years and all her dates are with men that leave her bored. When she stumbles across a book on dominance/submission, she is intrigued and starts to research the subject. She decides that this is what has been missing in her life and places an ad on a D/s site and meets “Richard.”
Our hero, Thomas, is a homicide detective obsessed with catching Lucifer, a serial killer that has been on the loose for 9 years. One of Lucifer’s victims was someone Thomas loved. When Nikki’s “Richard” and Lucifer turn out to be one and the same, Thomas vows to protect Nikki and takes her away to keep her safe.
I loved the first part of the book. Nikki’s research into the bdsm lifestyle, her determination to find what she needs, Thomas’s heartache at not being able to find the killer after all these years, how his life is totally focused on this case to the exclusion of everything else. The chemistry between Nikki and Thomas is off the charts from their first meeting. Thomas’s feelings when he reads the emails between Nikki and “Richard” are believable and so sexy. And the pistachio scene was just as funny as I remembered.
Then they had sex and it all went downhill for me. Thomas refers to himself as “Daddy” while they are in bed together. Repeatedly. This is a big ick factor for me.
Example 1:
“You’re being a very good little girl,” Thomas murmured, his voice thick, as he once again took to his knees. “Keep it up and Daddy’ll give you a big treat.”
Example 2:
“In fact,” he said thickly, sinking into her on a groan, “it’ll be tomorrow morning before Daddy’ll give his sexy little girl a rest.”
If it was just the sex scenes, I may have been able to over look it but that wasn’t the case. Thomas went from sexy alpha to slightly creepy asshole in one chapter. After their first night together, he had her cook breakfast naked, including frying bacon. Because being splattered with hot grease is sexy? I don’t know. Since Nikki has made it clear that she only wants to submit in the bedroom and be treated as an equal outside of it, Thomas believes he should keep her naked all the time so he can tell her what to do. I really hate when a D/s relationship is portrayed this way in romance.
The suspense aspect seemed to fall apart around the same time. Thomas gets upsetting information from a fellow cop and goes on a drinking binge. He has been looking for a killer for nine years and is solely responsible for guarding the only survivor and he gets fall down drunk. Not exactly hero material. There is also some strange info dump that is an obvious attempt at misdirection and left me not caring who the killer was, why he did it, or even if there would be a HEA at the end for the asshole hero and intrepid heroine who puts up with his crap.
I would give the first half of One Dark Night 5 stars. It really was everything I love about romantic suspense. Unfortunately, the last half is 2 stars. This is a book I should have left as a fond, mostly blurry memory.
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