Past Midnight by Jasmine Haynes
Erotic Romance
May 3, 2011
Trade Paperback
Berkley Heat

Guest Reviewed by Helyce. Find her on Goodreads.

Past Midnight was not what I expected. The back blurb made me want to read it, but I was saddened when I realized the tragedy was the death of a child. I kind of had to step outside of myself and read this without inflicting my personal morals and beliefs where commitment and relationships are concerned. After all, everyone deals with the tragedy of an unexpected death in their own way and this is an erotic romance.

Dominic and Erin DeKnight are a 40-ish aged married couple who also own and run their engineering company DeKnight Gauges (DKG). The story begins a little over a year since the death of their young son, just before the holidays. Since their son’s death, their relationship is strained to say the least and while Erin seems ok with the status quo, Dominic is tired of walking on eggshells and avoiding the elephant in the room, so to speak. He can’t talk to Erin about what happened. Their employees know not to speak of their son and they know better than to mention the upcoming holidays in any way.

Since their son’s death, the only time Erin is intimate with Dominic is after midnight when she’ll reach for him, in total darkness and they make love without a sound. Erin uses sex as an escape of sorts. She needs the connection to Dominic, and she wants the release, but she does not want to deal with her emotions at all. Dominic loves his wife and he doesn’t know what to do. He wants his wife back, the way she was and he does not know how to bring her back. He accepts that this is all his wife has to give, but it’s not enough.

At work, Dominic and Erin are dealing with a serious patent infringement charge from one of their major competitors. Dominic doesn’t think the charge will stand, but it’s just one more thing for Erin to worry about. When Dominic begins to receive letters with information that there is no way the competitor should or could know, he begins to suspect that one of his employees might be providing the information to their competitor.

In a desperate attempt to break down the wall Erin has erected around herself, Dominic decides to make Erin attend a trade show that DKG is attending in Florida. At an after party, Dominic notices a good looking man checking Erin out and when he brings it to her attention, Erin immediately blushes, but there is that telltale spark of interest in her eye which Dominic can’t miss. Eventually the man introduces himself and there is a lot of sexy talk with innuendo. When Erin and Dominic go back to their hotel, the sex is hot and nothing like their silent sex of the past year. Dominic is ecstatic and thinks that things are on the road to recovery. Unfortunately, once Monday rolls around things are decidedly back to the way they were before Florida. Erin’s walls are back up and she doesn’t touch Dominic at all, not even after midnight. When Dominic realizes that the change in Erin was brought on by their brief encounter with the man at the party, he decides that they need to do that again. What follows is a series of sex play and encounters which include role playing, light BDSM and ménage.

I didn’t like Erin. Sure, she lost her child and we can all imagine the complete and utter grief of the situation, but because the author alludes to their happiness prior to their tragedy, I could not understand why Erin almost completely shut out Dominic. Yes, she’s dealing with her own guilt as is Dominic, but shouldn’t he be her “go to” person? The first time you see Erin show any emotion regarding her son, when she lets that wall down for mere seconds, she’s talking to an employee. I felt so much more for Dominic. For a year he’s played along, letting Erin be, hoping that she’ll come back to herself in her own time. When it’s clear that’s not going to happen he takes matters into his own hands. While I may not agree with his methods, you knew that he was willing to do anything, to bring that spark to Erin’s eye, to see her look alive, to see her experience emotion. His heart was breaking, he was barely hanging on and he was desperate. He does all this knowing that in the end, he could lose her for good.

Past Midnight will take you on quite a ride. Ms. Haynes writes hot sex but she can totally bring heartfelt emotions into play. The story lags a little at points and there is some repetition but in the end you will believe in the love that Dominic and Erin feel for each other and you will long for them to get back to the place where they are everything they need to be for each other. Just them. No one else.

Rating: B-

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