Ruthless

House of Rohan Series, Book 1

By: Anne Stuart

Narrated by: Susan Ericksen

Few outsiders will ever witness the dark misdeeds of the Heavenly Host. And among this secret society, where exiled Georgian aristocrats gather to indulge their carnal desires, fewer still can match the insatiable appetite of their chief provocateur, the mysterious Viscount Rohan. Pursuit of physical pleasure is both his preferred pastime and his most pressing urge, until he encounters the fascination of a woman who won't be swayed. And while his dark seduction appalls the pure and impoverished Elinor Harriman, she finds herself intrigued...and secretly drawn to the man behind the desire.

©2010 Anne Kristine Stuart Ohlrogge (P)2011 Tantor

Critic reviews

"Witty, inventive, dark and sexy---a wild adventure for the mind...and the heart." (Susan Wiggs)

Different - and excellent

This one is terrific! It's not a "bit of fluff", but there are still moments of humor, and the reader is lured cleverly into developing feelings right along with the heroine. A difficult task, considering the initial actions of the "Hero"! I loved this one and Book 2 as well.

"The best love story ever!

Loved it! I enjoy reading stories set in a time where romance and chivalry were in fashion. I always enjoyed listening to Susan Ericksen narrate, she has the perfect voice and accent for stories like this. It was romantic and full of mystery an, oh yeah sex. Rohan was wonderfully delicious, and unapologetically wicked. But, he met his match in the heroine Eleanor
! All the other characters were well written and quite interesting
. My favorite part was at the end, When Rohan realized his true feelings, and with no hesitation rushed to the rescue. Excellent read. Unfortunately, these wonderful characters were pushed to the background in the following series; the other stories and Rohans descendants were not as interesting. This is actually the best book in the series. Maybe one day they'll be a prequel, or the lost years of Rohan. I would love to read more about him. Pity.

WOW!!!!

I have always had a hard time with books that are of past times but this one took me from the beginning. Last night i started listening to it and could not put it down, reluctantly I turned it off to sleep but first thing this morning I started in again. OMG, I even stayed home from work to finish it and glad I did. The narrator did an amazing job and now I am going to start the next one in hopes that it takes me away.

Everybody is right

The hero is not convincing as the villain we get pounded into our heads, as he suddenly (like so many formula stories) decides love is real and he does have a heart. But I don’t fault the story for that.

I have doubts about a happily ever after when the basis of the relationship has been he teases he in a mean way the whole way and she takes it seriously. (Or are we supposed to thinks she’s not really angry?)

I thought the way he dealt with her trauma was excellent and worth the listen, and it was at this point his character arch becomes something you can get behind.

Overall I don’t care for heroines with such severe self-esteem problems. I know there are plenty of women that may identify, but I prefer stronger characters who know their worth. It’s believable that she believes a lie, but this kind of thing doesn’t go away the moment someone loves you. (Sorry, guess I’m too much of a realist to enjoy all the angst in this story).

Start of a good trilogy

These are the kinds of romance that I enjoy most - less than perfect hero and heroine and a mystery to make it interesting. The story kept me listening to the end, although I had already read the book. The reader did a good job, especially with the voice of Francis. I hope the other two books in this trilogy are released soon on audio. In the meantime, I'm rereading the other two books in the trilogy until the audios become available.

Awesome Series

What did you love best about Ruthless?

Bottom line: RUTHLESS was a beautifully structured romance both sensual and powerful showing both the glamour of 1760???s Paris as well as the wretchedness. I loved it all!

What did you like best about this story?

The characters

Which character ??? as performed by Susan Ericksen ??? was your favorite?

Both Elinor and Rohan

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

See history come alive!

Any additional comments?

In this initial offering of a new trilogy by Ann Stuart, you are introduced to Viscount Rohan, a mysterious libertine known as the King of Hell. It is at times dark, intense and unsettling - a somewhat new sort of historical for me, but purely believable. Set in 1760???s Paris, a penniless British noblewoman, Elinor Harriman is struggling to keep her family from utter ruin and starvation; a feat that at times seems almost impossible with the constant vigilance of caring for a mother who is both drifting into insanity while dying a little each day from the Spanish disease. When Elinor???s mother escapes taking with her the very last scrap of money the family had to gambleaway, it forced Elinor to venture into a world of vice and depravity, and the attention of the King of Hell himself Lord Rohan.??????*** This was without a doubt one of the most intensely satisfying and powerful historical romances I???ve read in a very long time. Ms. Stuart???s voice was both eloquent and powerful and her fleshing out of her characters motivations was totally intoxicating. They both had very turbulent backgrounds to support their behavior during the setting of this novel, and not to give anything away - the reader will recognize those motivations as they are revealed. ??????Both Rohan and Elinor were equally paired in terms of holding up their ends of the attraction that sizzled between them, yet wounded enough to deny feelings that everyone around them could see. One thing for sure, the foreplay in RUTHLESS was definitely a turn-on, with their extremely titillating dialogs. Suffice it to say, that the pace never slowed in this story. As far as the villain in RUTHLESS goes; he turned out to be quite nasty! However, he got his just desserts in the end, as well as another who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time [I actually cheered at that one!]. There is also a smaller secondary romance going on that tied up quite nicely in the end, though not as delicious as Elinor and Rohan. ???

Really?

Years of constant casual sex and distain for others is in no way attractive. This story couldn’t possibly be about real love...just impossibly helpless lust. The man was a pompous jerk. The ONLY reason he got away with his crap was because he was handsome. Such egomaniacal thinking and actions would be a deal breaker to any strong sensible woman which made the thoughts of ‘love’, so ridiculous by the heroine. Made no sense. Annoying lust match

5 Stars In A Circle and A Hollah!

I really, really liked this audio book. It's one of my absolute favorites as far as historical romance. And, let me say that Susan Ericksen does an EXTRAODINARY job of narrating. I mentioned the narrator first because I believe that it is the narrator who holds the interest of the listening audience. Some narrators are actors, Susan sounds like she understands and embraces the characters.

And Anne Stuart is an excellent writer who weaves a good, unpredictable, sexy, romantic story. I downloaded the second in this series and I may just say please refer to my earlier review.

Fantastic series!

Slightly demented, definitely wicked, heartily romantic, sort of humorous and indubitably depraved....oh, and virtually yummy!
A love story (or two) that exist and grow in the midst of sin, vice, and twisted morals. All with colorful characters, vivid personalities and a new angle for a historical HEA romance.

I have never been as surprised by a book as I was of this one.... I think a lot of that surprise arises from the fact that I truly enjoyed it! I loved this series ( this has been my 2nd time listening to it) even though it steps into a darker side of sin. This isn't erotica or anything overly graphic but it's still.... kind of twisted.

There was not a single character whose individuality or personality was not exceptionally well written!

I am NOT fond of lace, high heels, face patches or powdered wigs on the men in my novels. I also dislike the female versions which exist in this era. However I did find it almost humorous when our hero here was preening in what to my taste is less than virile when HE definitely was a very strong virile male lead. Other than those moments the visuals this era evokes were non existent.

NARRATOR : Susan Erickson isn't my favorite at all... but I can't really say why. Listen to the snippet and decide for yourself. All in all she delivered a very good performance.

CREDITWORTHY? YES!!!!!

HEAT FACTOR: SCORCHING!

Good

I enjoyed the story line and the narrator had a pleasant voice. The story kept me interested and looking forward to next chapter. I do wish it had been a little more unique. I know romances usually have the same story structure. I find myself wishing for a complete surprise. All and all a good traditional romance and I enjoyed it.