This was not what I was expecting.

I expected a romance novel. I really did.

I expected “Sarah, Plain and Tall”. I was even looking forward to a period piece about a woman who gives of herself to help a man with his children. I would have even been happy with Sound of Music.

What I got was this menagerie of twisted plots.

Man with dark past advertises for woman to be his wife. She shows up but it nothing like what he wanted. Her past is even darker than his. Toss in a pissed off illegitimate son and you have the workings of an interesting piece of literature.

From the time I sat down to start reading I was sucked in. I realized two chapters later that I hadn’t closed my mouth.

I loved the description in this book. Robert has quite a way with words, which is what got me into this book in the first place, but by the end I was getting a little tired of it and glossing over paragraphs just trying to get to the plot. Perhaps a little more tight editing would have toned it down in places it didn’t belong.

Despite that quibble, I loved the storyline. There were plenty of twists and turns, sorted histories, and yes, even a little romance thrown in around all the debauchery and disorder.