Oh my. I thought I'd 'read' tortured heroes, and knew them all. Now I'm rethinking. Myles Dampier is a brooding, incredibly tortured hero, unjustly sent first to the stinking hulks on the Thames, then transported as a convict to New South Wales. We meet him when he's on his way back to mother England, full of molten vengeance for his betrayers. Sabina Grey also meets him, when he rescues her from a shipwreck in the wild seas. Theirs is a stormy relationship, as Sabina realizes she's caught a seething tiger by the tail. And Myles? He cannot relinquish his plans for vengeance. Not even for Sabina, who falls in love with him even as she's horrified by his dark side.
The romance in this book is stunning. It is lush and sensual, a little dark but very, very mesmerizing. Thrilling, even. I found myself holding my breath as each new scene revealed a little more of Myles' and Sabina's incredible internal conflicts, and revealed more and more of their characters - wow! This will satisfy Gothic romance readers, and fans of Mary Jo Putney, Laura Kinsale, Loretta Chase and Candice Proctor. Bravo, Holly Cook! I can't wait to read your next book.