Yours Until Dawn

Title: Yours Until Dawn

Author: Teresa Medeiros

Genre: Historical 

Was She an Angel of Mercy or a Devil in Disguise

Prim nurse Samantha Wickersham arrives at Fairchild Park to find her new charge behaving more like a beast than a man. After their first fiery confrontation, she engages the arrogant earl in a hilarious battle of both wit and wills. Although he pronounces her a “tart, vinegary creature without an ounce of womanly softness about her”, he is secretly intrigued by her dry sense of humor, her lack of pity, and the bold way she brooks no nonsense from him. Whenever she is near, he feels the stirrings of a desire he never thought he would feel again.

As Samantha begins to let the light back into Gabriel’s life and his heart, they both discover that some pleasures are best explored in the dark.

This book starts out with young nurse Samantha Wickersham at a job interview for the position of taking care of return soldier Gabriel Fairchild.  Wounded at war, Gabriel is now blind and in a state of anger and despair.  With two previous nurses leaving the job just as fast as they started it, Samantha knows she has her work cut out for her.  Gabriel is stubborn, angry and throws tantrums throughout the house by way of shouting and breaking things.  Samantha has a way of putting him in his place and she breaks through his pain by helping him adjust to his new blindness.  Samantha is running from a secret from her own – with her secret being a great twist to the story.

This is my first time reading Medeiros – and not my last.  This is one of those books that you read in one sitting or stay up all night to finish.  The banter back and forth between Gabriel and Samantha is so smart and well written.  You can’t help feel for Gabriel in this book – he was left at the hospital by his finance and his mother feels it would have been better if he died in the war.  I think what I really loved about this book was the love that Gabriel’s household staff had for him.  His family left him in a large secluded mansion to live out the rest of his life, so the staff and his new nurse became his family.

Most readers will figure out Samantha’s secret early on, but I think this adds to the book.  If you don’t figure it out, I guarantee you will be flipping back pages to reread certain parts of the beginning.  There is only one part in this book that prevented me from giving it an A+, but it’s a spoiler so I can’t reveal it in this review.

This book ended up being a wonderful surprise, so glad I read it.  I promise you it will make you laugh out loud and shed a tear or two.

Grade: A