The Dark Lady by Maire Claremont
Series: Mad Passions #1
Published by Headline Eternal on February 2, 2013
Genres: Historical Romance
Source: Borrowed
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The Victorian era was full of majestic beauty and scandalous secrets—a time when corsets were the least of a woman’s restrictions, and men could kill or be killed in the name of honor . . .
Lord Ian Blake has returned from India a broken man. Years ago, he pledged to Lady Eva Carin—his childhood companion and first love—that he would bring her husband back alive. His failure haunts him. But even his jaded soul can’t anticipate the shocking sight of beautiful, independent Eva confined in a madhouse.
Locked in an asylum, forgotten by society, Eva is adrift in both body and mind. For Ian to break her free, they must cross a powerful enemy—and prove her sanity to England’s unforgiving aristocracy. But the biggest danger of all may come when the secrets of Eva’s tragic past are finally unlocked.

It seems like I’m always in the mood for historical romances, so my bestie suggested me an author she thought I’d find interesting, especially considering her book has a dark subject I might have missed in this genre . . .

I have to say this book starts with a bang! The heroine is locked in an asylum and the things going on in there are so revolting that it is impossible not to want Eva out of the madhouse from the very beginning. And not just her, really, but every poor woman/young lady wrongly—or worse, purposefully—put in such a disturbing place. So, when Ian goes to the rescue, I felt like I was also running for my own life. The first part is seriously that adventurous and heart-galloping, with two broken souls you can’t help but sympathise with and a story that warms your heart. However, the second half of the book felt a bit flat—probably because of the whining—I had the secrets already figured out by then, and things went a bit too fast in my opinion, so much that the resolution lost the twist supposed to shock me.

Nevertheless, despite the issues I encountered, the plot and all the dark surrounding the characters were interesting enough to keep me engaged, and I’m still thinking about that awful asylum.

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