This was different from the usual round of historical romances. This one explored the emotional fallout of a couple's love affair that turned tragic and how it affected their surviving spouses, Leah and Sebastian. Their stark agony was deeply moving, especially Leah's anguish upon discovering the affair shortly after, and throughout the remainder of the marriage. Bravo to a the woman who was desperate to take charge of her life and feel alive again by flaunting society's strictures of widowhood. Sebastian, however, didn't have the luxury of prior knowledge; he was abruptly thrown into a world of anger and confusion so much of his emotions came from that angle.

I didn't catch when Sebastian fell in love with Leah. I guess the process was so subtle because one minute he's so angry and the next he's attracted to then obsessed with her, and then he's in love. But by the time he's talking love, he's really IN love, in a painfully unrequited way because Leah just wasn't ready to trust herself again. When they do finally come together, it's tempestuous and urgent, just like the scene in which it happens. Beautifully done, if a little late in the story.

There isn't a whole lot of sex, if that's what you're looking for--I know I certainly do--nevertheless, the plot, the characters, the writing, it's all good reading and recommended at 3.8 stars.

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