Lanna, an English gentlewoman, falls in love with one young American but finds herself coerced into marriage with his dark-tempered friend, who seems intent on punishing her for reasons she does not understand.
Look at that cover. Take a moment to appreciate that cover. I really miss old bodice-ripper style romance covers.
Anyway, young, sheltered Lanna falls squarely in the trap of a dastardly devil with mommy issues who’s trying to get revenge on her father through her, except it turns out that Lanna is not even his daughter and he couldn’t care less, so Damon’s really misfiring on all cylinders. The back copy mentions a love triangle, but don’t be fooled – this is the Damon and Lanna show all the way.
Plot elements get decently outlandish but never truly impossible, and there’s a decent historical backdrop in the rise and fall of the tensions between the United States and England during the War of 1812. Lanna and Damon have plenty of drama but grow together decently by the end of the story, especially The standout of the book to me is the supporting characters, specifically Indigo and Alain, who are sometimes more interesting than the more stock characters of the hero and heroine.
The first half is definitely stronger than the second half, though. Once the characters are split up, they wander so dispiritedly through the plot that things begin to drag. I would have liked to see Damon do more of his maturing on the screen too. And I am actually offended how open-ended Indigo and Alain’s story is left. Why make us care so much to leave everything unresolved?
We do not speak of Rafe in this house. He might as well not have existed.
Yes, bodices are ripped. Also shifts and sundry underthings, and I think at one point hair? The heroine’s vaginal canal also rips open at one point, but that’s because she is giving birth to a baby in the middle of a South Carolina swamp.