Charlotte Mede builds this excellent tale of romance, suspense and evil in a way sure to educate and titillate the reader. Lady Helena's story of abuse in not uncommon among females during the nineteenth century in England. What is unique is her artistic talent, strong spirit and penchant for always seeming to get herself from the frying pan into the fire!

Ms. Mede does a great job with these characters. They are constantly flirting with romance, having erotic interludes that are well done, sometimes in exotic scenarios. But, somehow they still end up with intense mistrust.. Nicholas' character has a plot to wreak revenge on Helena for something her father did do him. I think the man's heart really isn't in it after a while but the pain runs deep for both of them.

When mixed with The X Club, a group supporting Charles Darwin funded by Nicholas, we get history in the making. We get to travel the high seas to Tierra del Fuego and meet the unique people Darwin used as a piece to link humanity to the apes. It's great when Helena, still believing she detests Nicholas, saves his life!

There are so many great things in this storyline, pieces of the puzzle built slowly, in great detail, to lead us to the even more evil person spurring on the Bishop and his really nasty henchman, the Deacon. I adore historical romance mixing fact with fiction. Ms. Mede has done a superb job mixing the two just right for a fantastic story I couldn't put down.

Overall rating:
Sensuality rating: Explicit

Reviewer: Dee Dailey
October 7, 2008