Night Falls Darkly: A Novel of the Shadow Guard

Orphaned Elena Whitney, in training to be a physician, strikes sensual sparks with her mysterious guardian, Archer, Lord Black, in Lenox's promising but not entirely satisfying debut, a supernatural Victorian romance. Though courted by the gentle Dr. Charles Harcourt, Elena is unable to resist her attraction to Archer, a member of the evil-hunting Order of the Shadow Guards, who has recently returned to London in search of Jack the Ripper. Period detail mixes with delicious humor as Archer's fellow Guards, one-eyed Mr. Leeson and fiery, book-devouring Selene, Countess Pavlenco, must simultaneously advance their hunt and cope with decidedly human and stubbornly unconventional Elena. Lenox displays a real talent for both erotic and suspenseful scenes, but they can't quite carry the story past its disorganized plot and one-dimensional characters. (Oct.)