"True love versus Society's mores."

Gabriel Cristofore is a talented painter, who makes a living on the edges of society through gifts from the lonely matrons he paints. Lady Elizabeth Harcourt is the only child of a respected member of parliament who has just married a girl 10 years younger than his daughter, in the hopes of getting an heir. Displaced from her role as her father's hostess, Elizabeth is distracted from her domestic chaos by Gabriel's advances. She surprises him by enthusiastically entering into their tryst, and you begin to wonder who is taking advantage of whom. This is not your typical historical in that Elizabeth acts inappropriately for her times, and yet she is no one's victim.

As enticing as the main characters, the love story of the secondary characters, Gabriel's father and Elizabeth's housekeeper, is compelling and touching. The evil of Elizabeth's father and stepmother is that much more dark because they are acting appropriately for people of their class and you do feel some sympathy for their plight. Society as a whole would support the evil perpetrators and condemn and ostracize the true lovers. Indeed my only critique of the story is that the ending seems unfinished in that the villains' plans to get even have not yet been unleashed, and you wonder if the H/H will actually survive the wrath of society.

This is the third book I have read by Cheryl Holt and I highly recommend them.

Sensuality Rating: Lots of explicit and sensual sex between H/H, sexual abuse between villains. Cheryl Holt has a deft hand with the sexual scenes in that they are honest and raunchy and used to advance the relationship of the characters.

Reviewed by Karen Williston for Sensual Romance.

Reviewed by Sensual Romance
Courtesy Sensual Romance
Posted February 24, 2003