It’s been a while since I read a Charlotte Stein book, so I was pleased when this popped up in NetGalley. I didn’t even bother to read the blurb – it’s Charlotte Stein, who needs a blurb? – so when I dove in and started reading I thought I was reading a paranormal. The setting was so Gothic, the lead male so impossibly mysterious, that I couldn’t fathom out where the book was going.
It didn’t turn out to be a paranormal, but this isn’t a bad thing. Instead, what I got was a typically bonkers (in a good way) Charlotte Stein novel that made me feel as though I’d fallen down the fabled rabbit hole and come out in some kind of kinky, Gothic Wonderland. The hero is about as far from typical as it’s possible to get, and I don’t know if it was deliberate, but I envisioned him to be Benedict Cumberbatch’s kinky evil twin. The heroine is delightfully funny and off the wall, and very likeable. This was a book that was wonderfully twisted, and kept me guessing right until the very end. It’s supremely sexy, utterly unique and ideal for erotic romance fans who are looking for something different and clever. Recommended.