The Bliss is plagued by problems of both plot and of character. The author told far more than she showed, something guaranteed to stop a story dead in its tracks, and as for the characters, just call them Mr. Sullen ‘n Broody and Little Miss Perky ‘n Feisty. This is one I had to force myself to finish..

Morgan Gage, Earl of Waring, is known as The Wicked Earl. Found covered in blood next to his father’s dead body, he was sentenced to prison. Though released when other evidence cast doubt on his guilt, Society still shuns him. Morgan knows who the real killer is and plans his revenge, but he needs entree back into Society to carry out his plan.

Leah Brodie has a scandal of her own in the past. Though her father is in a trade (he’s a wealthy banker), her family was accepted into the ton and Leah snared a rich beau. In an incident which we are told about but never see, she publically dumps him when she realizes he’s a cad. In a world where looks could cut one dead in social circles, the author would have us believe that after this incident, Leah’s money was enough to make her an attractive match – even though her father works for a living.

Leah and Morgan meet when he kidnaps her (he has mistaken her for someone else). Morgan is charmed by her ability to swear, and she is intrigued by his roguish self. The plan is for Morgan to be taken in by the Brodie family and ease his way back into the ton’s good graces. It’s not explained all that well how an earl with a bad reputation could rehabilitate himself through an association with a family involved with their own scandal. That bit of illogic aside, Morgan puts his plan for revenge against his father’s real killer into motion.

Anything else? Oh yes, Morgan and Leah fall in love and she finally gets to experience “the bliss,” something she and her cousin have read about but haven’t quite worked out the details.

The Bliss might have worked better if it had been shorter, along the lines of a Harlequin Historical at roughly 300 pages, With fifty more than that in its page count, it suffered from an excess of broody scenes from Morgan and feisty scenes from Leah. All this padding failed to register with me; at times I realized I’d read several pages, but nothing had impressed me and I had to reread them only to find out that nothing had impressed me because nothing had happened. One of the few interesting tidbits was a throwaway conversation about Leah’s mother’s postpartum depression. But that was as far as it went – a single conversation. Unfortunately, there were many more “Leah gets feisty” scenes, and while I enjoy a strong heroine, the foot-stomping, hair-tossing, pouty face heroine doesn’t impress me much. As for Morgan – eh – there was nothing unique to set him apart from any other brooding, tortured guy.

There’s a gray fog outside as I sit here typing my review for The Bliss. That pretty well sums up my feelings toward the book – gray, amorphous, and dull.