Lucien is a man tormented by the scarrs of his parents' miserable marriage. He distrust all women, thinking they are all as treacherous and dangerous like his mother. Obsess with the desire not to end up like his parents, he pours all his dreams and hope onto Clara, whom he was promised to at birth. Desperate with the hope that Clara will never betray him, will never leave him, will never love anyone else but him, Lucien was devastated when all his dreams was shattered during a childhood misunderstanding. From then, he hated Clara with a passion close to madness. He was obsess with her. He wanted to marry her in revenge for rejecting him, to bind her to him regardless if she is willing. His love was an obsession.

Thinking that he is strong enough to withstand the lurs of Clara, Lucien made a bet with the earl of Kerlain to prove to everyone, including himself that he will not be enslave by love as his late father. Of course, things do not turn out as he has planned. Lucien soon finds himself desperately in love and desperately trying to win Clara's love, despite the distrust and insecurities that haunts his soul.

Clara, on the other hand, is a loving, generous individual, highly skilled in the art of flirtation. She is welcomed where ever she goes because she is good to everyone around her. Though her beauty is lacking, she attracts many admirers with her careless charms. Not surprisingly, this drives Lucien into countless fits of jealousy. (Very adorble) She knows just how to mend Luciens's heart, and help him learn to trust again.

I find this story to be very touching and beautiful. The secondary charaters adds charms to the plot, and provide uplifting humour. The chemistry between Lucien and Clara is very passionate and deep (you can actually feel it). Lucien might be a jerk at times, but you can tell it is only his way of defending himself against the love he feels for Clara, a love he feels will enslave him and destroy his soul. It's very obvious he loves Clara, almost to a point of madness.

In any case, I've enjoyed this book immensely and recommend it to all. Hope you will love it as much as I did.

His betrothed, Lady Clara Harkhams, while not a beauty, had the soul of an angel - and she really and truly loved him, or rather she loved the boy he had been, not the man he had become. It must have been her women's intuition that made her stick it out with him to find that the tortured soul needed her, badly, to bring him out of the darkness and into the light. It is a wonderful story to watch the love develop, finally, into an everlasting love such as the kind dreams are made of.

On the other hand, there were a few other story lines contained in here that at once amused - Wulf and Bella - and wanted to make you cry - Uncle Robby and Aunt Anna. These could have been stories in themselves but lent beautifully in the telling of the love story between Lucien and Clara.

Excellent story. I particularly love the way Ms. Spencer always weaves the villians or villinesses into her storyline. I would have given this one 5 stars if I hadn't been so frustrated with Lucien - somehow I couldn't get over his earlier darkness! Well worth finding a copy and reading it!