The Wicked House of Rohan - Anne Stuart

A fallen woman. A most wicked plan for redemption.
Venice, 1740.
Desperate, starving, Kathleen Strong makes her way to a job interview that promises a chance at proper employment...and maybe a bite to eat. Accused of "gross immorality," she's adrift after being dismissed from her governess position, despite being entirely innocent.
That innocence is precisely what a mysterious group of debauched aristocrats finds so alluring about Miss Strong. When they propose a scandalous offer that she can't refuse...she can't refuse. But if the darkly gallant Alistair Rohan, a gentleman involved in all manner of wicked deeds himself, has anything to say about it, Kathleen can escape her disrepute in another way.
Of course, the escape route looks very similar to the group's illicit proposition itself...

I usually mention Anne Stuart when talking about my favourite authors but it's been so long since I read one of her books that I decided to grab this one (apparently the introduction to her latest historical series) and see if I liked it.

I am happy to say that I did like it. It has a trademark Stuart hero - a bad boy apparently without a heart - but it was very, very short. This means that there wasn't much room for character or plot development and that it gave us only a glimpse of what the series will be about.

The main male character is Alistair Rohan, since the series is called the Wicked House of Rohan I am thinking the other books will be about family members. On the other hand Stuart also introduces a male sosiety - devoted to debauchery no less - called the Heavenly Host - and I wonder if this will feature in the other books.

I remember reading mixed reviews when the books came out. Although not all of her books have worked for me, most of them did. The thing is that, looking back, I would say it's mostly her older books that have kept me glued to the pages and truth be told while I did enjoy rereading To Love a Dark Lord a few months ago it didn't rate it as higher as the first time.

I know I won't resist grabbing these and seeing how much I like them but since her books have, mostly, dark and tortured characters I think I will wait for a bit before getting to the first one and then I'll read some lighter stories in the middle...

This one gets a 4/5. The premise was very good the delivery suffered a bit from being too short.