Product Description

FAITH DEVLIN: A poor, outcast child in Prescott, Louisiana, she'd always adored the town's golden boy from afar. But he called her white trash that sultry Southern night when his rich, respected father disappeared, along with her pretty Mom. Now Faith wanted to hate Gray Rouillard...not to feel a powerful surge of desire. But she couldn't quench her passion, any more than she could hide the truth about the past she had waited so long to unravel.

GRAY ROUILLARD: Even when he raised hell, he did it with style. Reckless, charming, and backed by Rouillard money, Gray controlled the town of Prescott -- and Devlin was a name he never wanted to hear again. But when he gazed at Faith Devlin, all he saw was a swirl of tangled sheets and her silken flesh beneath him. To care for her was impossible, unthinkable...because Gray Rouillard planned to use all his power to ruin her.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #7818 in Books
• Published on: 1997-11-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 352 pages

Amazon.com Review
Faith Devlin grew up knowing that Gray Rouillard thought she was trash because his rich father ran away with her pretty, sexy mother. She almost hates him for it, but she can't, because every time he looks at her she wants him more. Gray controls the tiny Louisiana town, but he finds can't control Faith -- until he gets close to her. And underneath the passion, there's a mystery to be solved. Steamy and compelling!

From Publishers Weekly
Flawed and predictable, Howard's latest offering after Dream Man is the rather cliched contemporary story of a dirt-poor Southern girl in love with the handsome son of a Louisiana town's wealthiest family. Loving Rouillard men seems to run in the Devlin family. Twelve years ago, Renee Devlin and Guy Rouillard disappeared simultaneously one summer night. The entire town assumed the longtime lovers had eloped, and Guy's handsome young son, Gray, enraged, had the remaining Devlins driven out of town, leaving 14-year-old Faith to care for her fatally ill baby brother. Now Faith is back, financially independent and still nursing a passion for Gray that his actions couldn't possibly justify. But she's also ready to even the score?especially when she learns that the elder Rouillard may have been murdered that fateful summer night. Faith is not as sympathetic as Howard's previous heroines, and Gray goes a half-step beyond the acceptable bad-boy hero. Howard does manage to offset these problems with provocative secondary characters and borderline erotica, creating a sexy speed read.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review
Ever since she was a young girl, on the edge of puberty, Faith Devlin has worshiped stunning, sophisticated Gray Rouillard. They couldn't be more different. Gray's father practically owns Prescott, in her girlish dreams, Gray is a knight in shining armor. Until the night he throws Faith and her dirt-poor family out into the streets. It seems Gray's father, a notorious womanizer has finally gone over the edge. He's left his family, disappearing into the night with one of his paramours: Faith's no good mother. When Gray learns that his father's deceit has almost cost his sister her life, he takes out his rage on Faith's motherless family, evicting them from Rouillard land in the middle of the night. In the years since her family was driven from town, Faith has climbed the ladder to success. And now it's time to come home. Home to find out what really happened the night her mother disappeared with Gray Rouillard's father. Once he learns she's back in Prescott, Gray does everything in his power to drive her out of town again. Not only is Faith a hated Devlin, but she's the spitting image of her whore of a mother. The woman who stole his father and drove his young sister to the brink of suicide. But neither Gray nor Faith realized that the attraction Faith carried for Gray, the attraction she was sure had died that night so many years ago, would bloom into a wild, passionate yearning. Much as he hates her family, Gray can't help but care about Faith. And when someone in town starts threatening her, Gray finds himself wanting to protect her. As Faith and Gray struggle to overcome the past, someone in Prescott plans to see that they never unravel the mystery. Powerful characters, a powerful setting, and an intriguing mystery. After the Night has it all! Linda Howard weaves a spell as dark as a moon less night in the bayous! Intense romance and mounting tension will keep you up late to finish this one!Annette Carney -- Copyright © 1994-97 Literary Times, Inc. All rights reserved -- From Literary Times

Customer Reviews

After the Night
After the Night

This book is well written but the romance leaves something to be desired.

The story begins with Faith Devlin as an 11 year old girl. Her family is very poor and have a reputation for being "white trash". Faith's mother Renee is the town tramp, her sister is also very promiscuous, her father is an abusive alcoholic, and her brothers are heading in the same direction. She has a young mentally handicapped brother named Scottie who Faith adores. Faith is the responsible one in the family and she has taken on the task of raising her brother Scottie. What Faith's world really centres around is Gray Rouillard. Although it isn't quite love, she idolizes him. Gray's father, Guy, basically owns the town and is having an affair with Faith's mother, Renee.

Three years later Faith's idolization has turned to young, unrequited love. She is even more reliable then she was at the age of 11. She cooks, she cleans and she tries to keep the sanity in her home. She is also more a mother to Scottie than ever before.

When Renee and Guy both disappear at the same time it is assumed that they have run away together. Gray reacts with rage and evicts the entire Devlin family from their home in the middle of the night. Gray finds himself aroused by the young girl,who has been dragged from her bed and is standing in her nightgown. As Faith is leaving he tells her she is trash.

Twelve years later a confident and successful Faith moves back to try to find out what really happened that aweful day. A lot of things happen during those twelve years and I won't spoil it for everyone. She has been in contact with her mother and knows that she never left with Guy. She also wants to prove herself to the town that has judged her so cruelly.

Gray finds out almost immediately that Faith is back and he evicts her out of his hotel. Gray is very attracted to Faith and immediately wants to sleep with her but is repulsed by the idea because he assumes she is just like her mother. He does everything in his power to make her leave forever. He also convinces the entire town to do the same. This is where I find flaws with the book. It's not really that it isn't realistic. It very well could happen but the fact that the author is writing a romance novel and has such an unromantic hero is what bothers me. Gray was just plain nasty and never showed one ounce of remorse. He repeatedly physically restrained Faith, chased her when she tried to escape, sexually assaults her, throws her down and says horrific, unforgivable things to her. She continues to be madly in love with him. The romance was based wholly on lust. It couldn't be more because they never had a conversation that didn't involve him trying to persuade her to leave town or convince her she was unworthy. He was selfish, manipulative and controlling. Let's not forget to mention the whispered four letter endearments. It didn't change even after he realized what a wonderful person she was. The fact that Faith still loves him despite the fact that he behaved like an #ss the whole time made me dislike Faith. I like a good alpha male but this was way beyond that.

While the book was well written and kept me turning the pages, the romance left me feeling very, very cold.

Loved it!
I am so glad I gave this book a try. I was reluctant because of the tone of some of the reviews here and a disappointing read of a Linda Howard historical.

I liked that the story was told as it unfolded, rather than in flashbacks, which is more common in books where the h/h have a past. Telling the story this way enabled the reader to get to know the characters first hand and not through any distortion of memory.

I thought Gray and Faith made a great couple. The dynamics of their relationship was so real and raw. Ideal? No. Hot and gripping? Most definately. This book goes in the keeper file and I will be re-reading it. Many times.

Linda Howard is great.
This is the 4th book of Linda Howard's I have read. If you haven't read a book by her, boy are you missing out, she writes such strong characters. The minor problem that I had with the story was a little bit of the connection with the h/h. But what I do like about this is the "girl goes back to home town" story is a little different. Now, I had to read this book for a book that made me think of summer, and let me tell you there were some SCORCHING scenes involving the couple in the summer on the front porch, the courthouse bathroom, and oh the kitchen table. All in all, I enjoyed it, just missed a little bit on the connection, not enough to no read this book!"