Elinor Harriman is the backbone of her small family. Her mother's ever-increasing madness and thirst for gaming has left them penniless and stranded in Paris, one step away from the bitter streets. Her blue blood is of little value when it comes to survival, but she is doing her best to keep her young sister sheltered from the reality of their precarious existence. In a desperate attempt to save their last coins, Elinor follows her heedless mother into the night, to a house where carnal pleasures rule and there is no safety.

Viscount Francis Rohan, Le Comte de Giverney, is trapped by his past. Caught in a cycle of lust and licentiousness, he is known as the King of Hell for hosting sybaritic house parties where guests can revel in any and all acts of pleasure without censure. He seeks anything to fight the ennui and keep his despair at bay.

When Francis is confronted by Elinor and her pleas for the return of her mother, his curiosity is sparked. Despite his responsibility as host he sequesters himself with Elinor in the private spaces of his home. Her stony regard challenges him to break through, to show her the passion which he knows flows in her veins. Elinor is not surprised by the Viscount's salacious companions, but the shabby parlor he calls his retreat shows a different side to the man. Despite her strong will, his touch fires her body in ways impossible to ignore. Surprisingly, he allows her to escape unravished, and even provides her with a carriage home. She has little time to spend on the puzzle he presents when life takes another turn for the worse and her sister is in danger.

Set in mid-eighteenth century France, RUTHLESS is darker than your usual historical romance and offers a realism usually absent in this genre. Elinor's mother is being ravaged by syphilis. Viscount Rohan's parties include mock Satanic rituals and opium in abundance. These themes only highlights the strong golden thread of the main story-- how Elinor and Francis save one another. Usually, I am not attracted to a harsh storyline, seeking escape above all when reading romance. Despite my desire to be an impartial reviewer, I began the book with a strong prejudice against it. Within the first chapter I was won over. The dichotomy between Francis's publicly effeminate persona and his nobility behind closed doors was intriguing. Elinor's virginal behavior contrasted with hints of her past sexual experience. I needed to keep reading to solve the mystery they presented. I was rewarded with a fully satisfying conclusion. RUTHLESS was well worth my time.

RUTHLESS is the first in Stuart's new House of Rohan series with Reckless and Breathless to follow.