All that momentum was built up, and then, as far as I was concerned, it trickled away. It’s almost as though Joyce couldn’t figure out how to integrate the two aspects of the plot seamlessly. That’s what I meant by the Gothic element not feeling organic.

For me, the momentum didn’t trickle away, but it did move to the background of the story, when I would have preferred that it remain in the foreground. I didn’t have the feeling that I was seeing “seams” though. But keep in mind that I often like books that do 180 degree U-turns, even when other readers don’t always. I like to be surprised.

Also, unlike you, I was not tempted to skim at any point. My interest was held throughout. But the first third was riveting, and the latter two thirds less so (at least, until close to the ending, when Fern discovers Colin’s secret).

“Distant” is precisely the word. There is only one Kinsale, but I would submit that my very favorite authors, the numerous writers that I find truly memorable, make the same kind of emotional connection with me, the reader, as most of Kinsale’s characters. For some reason, with Joyce’s books, the emotional resonance is just not there, even though her writing is often original, and her characters interesting.

I did feel some emotional resonance here, especially in the first third of the book, and even more so in Voices of the Night (especially its first half). I think it’s a matter of degree.

Yes, I too have other writers whose books impact me more strongly emotionally but almost no one can reach into my chest and wring out my heart the way Kinsale does. I try not to compare most authors to her because doing so would raise my expectations to a level that almost no one could meet.

A bigger concern for me was that I would have liked for the relationship between Colin and Fern to remain center stage, and I did feel that it was a bit overshadowed by the mysteries of Wrexmere.

Yes, exactly. All that momentum was built up, and then, as far as I was concerned, it trickled away. It’s almost as though Joyce couldn’t figure out how to integrate the two aspects of the plot seamlessly. That’s what I meant by the Gothic element not feeling organic.

For me Joyce’s books don’t have that same kind of intensity but it can be argued I think, that (for me a least) almost no one matches the emotional punch that Kinsale’s books pack. I do like Joyce’s characters as well but for me it is a more distant kind of liking, most of the time.

“Distant” is precisely the word. There is only one Kinsale, but I would submit that my very favorite authors, the numerous writers that I find truly memorable, make the same kind of emotional connection with me, the reader, as most of Kinsale’s characters. For some reason, with Joyce’s books, the emotional resonance is just not there, even though her writing is often original, and her characters interesting.

In my view, the biggest problem with this book was something that has become a pattern in all of the Joyce books I’ve read. She chooses interesting settings, and intriguing characters. She starts off very, very well. And then, partway through the book, something happens to derail my interest. In this case, it was the Gothic subplot that developed after the move to Wrexmere. It never really seemed organic to the plot, and I did a lot of skimming through the last half of the book.

I did feel that the gothic subplot at Wrexmere wasn’t what I was expecting based on the first third of the book, but while it was less interesting than the interactions of Fern and Colin in Brighton and on the road, I still found it interesting enough. I sometimes like it when books go in unexpected directions, so a big change in tone doesn’t necessarily keep me from enjoying a book.

A bigger concern for me was that I would have liked for the relationship between Colin and Fern to remain center stage, and I did feel that it was a bit overshadowed by the mysteries of Wrexmere. I also would have liked for things between Fern and Colin to develop a bit more slowly. But overall, I still enjoyed the book more than many other historicals that I pick up and attempt to read. I like that the book was unconventional, and its D/s aspects actually worked better for me than those in some other books I’ve read.

One other thing that I noticed about Shadows of the Night that I also noticed about her other books is that no matter how carefully written her characters are, I never really like them. It’s hard to explain what I mean, especially as I am not a reader who wants to be BFF with the characters in the book I’m reading. For example, in For My lady’s Heart, Melanthe is not a particularly likeable person, but I loved her. She felt real and fully realized. Joyce’s characters always feel like intellectual constructs to me, and I’m not quite sure why. I always feel as though I should like her books a very great deal more than I actually do, and I wish I could pin down why that is.

It sounds to me like you are talking about the difference between finding a character sympathetic or likable according to conventional standards and connecting with that character emotionally. Melanthe in FMLH is not what most readers think of as a sympathetic character, and yet I too did sympathize with her deeply, because Kinsale made me feel the intensity of her emotions.

For me Joyce’s books don’t have that same kind of intensity but it can be argued I think, that (for me a least) almost no one matches the emotional punch that Kinsale’s books pack. I do like Joyce’s characters as well but for me it is a more distant kind of liking, most of the time.

Have you read her previous book, The Voices of the Night? I felt a stronger emotional connection to Maggie and Charles in that book than I have to the heroes and heroines in Joyce’s other books.