DARK TORMENT

Author: Karen Robards ISBN: 0446306185 (Reissue) 12/2004 HISTORICAL Publisher: WARNER
Time Period: Australia, 1838

THE WORLD CALLED HIM A RENEGADE. SHE CALLED HIM HER LOVE "I've a feeling you'll soon rue this day..." These are the fateful words Sarah Markham's father utters after she throws herself between the convict lashed to the ship's mast and the captain's whip. Transported to Australia for crimes against the Crown, Dominic Gallagher has been labeled a troublemaker. No humor lightens his handsome face; everything about him looks dark, deliberate, and dangerous. But independent, feisty Sarah can't bear to see any man flogged to death. She insists that her father buy this young Irish rebel and bring him back to their ranch. Here a forbidden passion will begin to blossom between Dominic and Sarah. And here a twist of fate will sweep them together as an indentured man risks everything for freedom-and his mistress risks everything for love...

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

When I picked up the Karen Robards reissue, DARK TORMENT, I immediately jumped to the wrong conclusion. With its dark purple cover featuring a fuchsia pink covered moon shining over a lone lighthouse in the sea, and its slightly Gothic type title, I thought the book was going to be a dangerous and mysterious thriller. Imagine my surprise when I read the back cover to find out it's a historical romance about a convict sentenced for fifteen years in Melbourne, Australia!

Despite my reluctance to begin reading the book after being so mislead by my own intuition, I settled in and began to like the story, as in mainly its hero and heroine. It is a slightly dark read, but only because the content pertains to a taboo subject. A convict hero wrongly accused and beaten, and his interest in the prim and proper "Plain Jane" heroine who runs the sheep station where he is to serve out his sentence. The only real mystery is whether or not the two of them will kill each other by denying their passion, or because of it. The sparks flying between them keep the book sexy and yet thoughtful. A strange combo to be sure, but there it is. The addition of a wicked stepmother and hateful overseer add some spice of their own to the storyline.

A few years past I read a similar book to this one containing almost the exact same premise: Falsely accused man sent to work in Australia who falls in love with the owner's daughter and is vindicated in the end. I could not help but compare the two as I went along. The true difference is the heat and passion flowing from the pages of DARK TORMENT, and of the more memorable characters created there. This one I will put in my keeper pile; unfortunately I can't recall where the other one ended up.