Review: A study in dysfunction
Rating: 2 out of 5
Date: 04 3, 2012
In this Regency romance, Marcus and Catherine, darlings of the ton, enjoy a few months of wedded bliss before Marcus leaves on business.  His young wife, missing her beloved, runs to London and proceeds to flirt with other men, hoping her husband will rush back home to be by her side.  Instead, gossip spreads like wildfire, and Marcus returns to hear that his wife has bestowed her favors on several other men.  Enraged, he forces a separation.  They're married, but they live separate lives.  Here's the catch: they're both still in love with each other, even though he believes she's been unfaithful and Catherine hears that Marcus has taken a mistress.This story begins 3 years later, with Catherine begging him for a divorce and Marcus refusing.  She can no longer stand to be married to someone she loves while they're torturing each other.  Finally, Marcus offers a compromise.  He will grant the divorce if she'll bear him a child.  She gives him two months to impregnate her, but they only last one night together before they're hurting each other again, and she's running away.  At the end, they both suddenly come to their senses and realize something miraculous has happened to bring them back together.The problem with this story line is that we are expected to believe that a young couple, so completely in love, would allow rumors to break them apart without ever communicating to each other.  Catherine allows Marcus to be tormented, thinking she has been unfaithful, simply because he did not come out and plainly ask her if it was true.  Marcus is no hero, either.  He's crude and hateful, enjoying tormenting her while he thinks he loves her.  I can't imagine a more masochistic pair!  I realize the misunderstanding is a common element in many romances, but in this case it's ridiculous.  For Marcus and Catherine to love from a distance and never confront the issue is hardly believable.  What we're left with is a story of two people who have wounded each other so thoroughly that a happy ending is highly unlikely.  Badly, badly done.