One Night to Remember by Kristin Miller

First class clothing designer Elizabeth Scott isn’t all that she appears. She may be elegant and poised on the outside, dining with the richest on the ship, but she’s hiding a dark secret within.

Thieves boarded the Titanic, too…

Officer Thomas McGuire is as honest as they come. Working to make a decent living on the ship of dreams, he can’t believe his eyes when the most striking lady he’s ever seen steals from another first class passenger. As the night goes on, Thomas must decide whether he plans to arrest or seduce Elizabeth and she’s not making it easy on him—the heat sparking between their bodies is unlike anything either of them has ever known.

Time is running out…

The Titanic is sinking fast, with little more than an hour before it settles on the ocean floor. Although Elizabeth has finally met a true gentlemen, one who gazes upon her with total adoration and fulfills her deepest fantasies, he insists on helping other passengers until the last minute, even if that means going down with the ship.

There is much at stake—not only their lives, but their only chance at true love.

A historical romance set aboard the Titanic, One Night to Remember has, I think, one fatal flaw. It is too short! It is written as a novella and to make things work in a shorter format you night a very tight story. Unfortunately that does not happen here.

The blurb practically says everything about the story. In fact he does give more details than I found in the story. It's difficult to care for the characters because we don't really get to know them enough. It's also not easy to understand their actions for the same reason. The story begins with Thomas chasing Elizabeth through the corridors of the ship and suddenly they are madly in love and falling into bed together. Besides lust, there doesn't seem to be an explanation for it.

I think the premise could actually be a good story, a first class passenger stealing from the rich to give to the ones in steerage. The conflict between her and the official who catches her. But there's too much we don't understand. Where did Elizabeth meet those people; is that family the only she is helping or there are others? And why doesn't she think about them anymore after the ship sinks? And why is she on board in the first place?

Regarding the sinking itself I think Miller described it competently and managed to add a few moving details. There's an author's note where she mentions that she is a Titanic lover. I think this might have been her celebration of the centennial but I wish her love of it would have been translated into a stronger story.

Grade: 2.5/5