Steamy hot erotic historical fiction is one of my favorite genres and Scottie Barrett does it well. She creates a dark and tortured, but oh so appealing character in Ryder. I loved how the book opens with him in prison and it's not clear where things go from there. It gave me a sense that this was not going to be the average predictable historical romance. Ryder had a lot of depth to his character and I could feel his pain. When Jessie comes into the picture, their chemistry explodes and the sex is off the charts hot. At about 3/4 of the way in, I thought things dragged a bit as they were both reluctant to disclose their feelings for each other and their lack of communication became frustrating. Hence the 4 star review. Otherwise, I thoroughly enjoyed this entertaining tale. This is my second Scottie Barrett novel but it will not be my last!