title: Ruthless (The House of Rohan)
author:  Anne Stuart 
description: Stuart (Fire and Ice) launches a trilogy with this dark, intense, and sometimes unsettling historical romance. In 1760s Paris, penniless British noblewoman Elinor Harriman is struggling to support her family when her ill mother runs away to an orgy held by Viscount Rohan, a mysterious libertine known as the King of Hell. This sets in motion a chain of events that draws Elinor and Rohan into a fierce contest of wills and desires. Stuart's writing is crisp and quick, and her characters are finely and memorably drawn, but Rohan's often violent and predatory treatment of Elinor goes well beyond what most readers will find acceptable in an ostensible hero, especially given Elinor's traumatic childhood. Notions of the reformatory power of love fall flat against these grim scenes, which uncomfortably detract from an otherwise enjoyable and powerful story. <br />Copyright  Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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  The Wicked House of Rohan
  
  Prequel to the House of Rohan Series
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Anne Stuart
  
  ![](images/00002.jpg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  A fallen woman. A most wicked plan for redemption.
  
  Venice, 1740.
  
  Desperate, starving, Kathleen Strong makes her way to a job interview that
  promises a chance at proper employment...and maybe a bite to eat. Accused of
  "gross immorality," she's adrift after being dismissed from her governess
  position, despite being entirely innocent.
  
  That innocence is precisely what a mysterious group of debauched aristocrats
  finds so alluring about Miss Strong. When they propose a scandalous offer that
  she can't refuse...she can't refuse. But if the darkly gallant Alistair Rohan,
  a gentleman involved in all manner of wicked deeds himself, has anything to
  say about it, Kathleen can escape her disrepute in another way.
  
  Of course, the escape route looks very similar to the group's illicit
  proposition itself...
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Contents
  
  [Begin Reading](index_split_004.htm