Lovers of dark and emotional romance, take note: there is a new author to check out! The Lily Brand, Sandra Schwab’s debut novel, is an historical romance set just after the Napoleonic Wars. As I read the overwhelmingly dark opening of this novel, I was taken aback by the relentless evil in this story, but the stark novel soon drew me in and I enjoyed a most unusual read.

Lillian lives in France as the virtual prisoner of her debauched stepmother Camille. As the novel opens, Camille has taken Lillian to a prison to purchase a man who will essentially be used as a plaything. The brutal Camille has her own virtual army of male slaves at home, but she has decided to initiate the gentle and fearful Lillian into her way of life.

The man chosen to be Lillian’s is taken home and humiliated at the hands of Camille. Though Lillian has some compassion for him, she fears Camille and so goes along with at least some of Camille’s sadistic requirements. The scenes between Lillian, a prisoner of sorts herself, and her intended plaything are some of the most wrenching I have recently read. Eventually, an opportunity presents itself for Lillian to escape her stepmother and she flees to England to live with her grandfather.

In England Lillian is presented to Society. There she meets Troy, a cousin of her suitor, and recently returned from France. To her horror, Lillian realizes that she has come face to face with her former prisoner. Even worse, he recognizes her and identifies her with the brutal treatment meted out by Camille. Since he thinks her complicit in Camille’s actions, he sees Lillian as evil also. The ensuing relationship between Lillian and Troy is fraught with emotion as their attraction becomes tangled up with Troy’s attempts to recover from his treatment in France and his memories of Lillian as his tormentor.

For those who like to read of tortured heroes, poor Troy has certainly been to hell and back. He carries forever the scars of his time in France and these mark his life with Lillian from the moment he meets her in England. Though at times the drama in this story strained my ability to suspend disbelief and I found myself wishing the author would show more of what the ordeal in France had done to Lillian, I also found myself turning the pages compulsively. I kept hoping for Lillian and Troy to find their happy ending even as it became apparent that they would really have to work hard for it.

A word about the sensuality rating is in order here as well. The book is rated Warm since there are few explicit scenes. However, readers should note that while Schwab’s writing is not always explicit, she fills much of the story with a level of erotic tension that often makes the story seem hotter than your average Warm read.

The secondary characters in this tale are not comic, but they do provide a bit of light when the darkness of the story threatens to overwhelm. My only problem with the introduction of characters in the second half of the book is that this half of the book is not paced quite so well as the first, making the ending seem a little rushed. Still, the characters and their plight drew me in from the beginning and I found The Lily Brand to be a rather addictive read.