When Anna Browning is caught trying to elope she can't imagine the punishment she will get. Her father is not one to be disobeyed.

After his twelve years in the army at war Desmond Bretton comes home to a very different home. His strict father who sent him away is dead along with his elder brother, so that makes him the new Earl of Torrington.

A neighbour who also recently came in to his title brings news that will turn his world upside down and gives him hope.

This is a very emotional story, more so when you realize that these things really happened. The power men had over the women was truely terrible.

Our poor heroine literally goes through Hell. Can she possibly recover fully??

Our hero is not about to let anyone suffer if he can stop it.

The characters are strong and incredibly brave. You will need the tissues and be prepared to read about the things that happened to the poor women in the asylum.

This is part of a series where each book can be read separately.

Very emotional story.

Fabulous book. I loved Anna and Dez.
It made me laugh, cry and scream.
I love a book that makes feel all sorts of emotions.
Look forward to seeing what happens to Dorlinda and Jessa

I give this book 10 stars out of 5! I started reading this book and could not put it down until it was finished. It was so engaging and uplifting. The hero and heroine are the same ages and fall in love in their teens. The heroine gets told she will have to marry a cruel man 60 years older than her. She goes to the hero and he decides they need to elope. But, a maid had turned them in to her father. His father and older brother throw him onto a ship, headed for the war in France. The heroine's father locks her away in a sadistic madhouse and tells everyone that she is dead. Once the fathers have died, about 9 years later, the hero comes back to the estates and the heir to the heroine's father,her cousin, comes to visit with some strange bills requesting payment for a yearly charge. They realize what had happened when the heroine's sister speaks up and the story is so well written. It is very dark at times and deals with hellacious tortures and PTSD on behalf of both parties. But sometimes, everything lines up in the world and it all comes together. This was such an eye-opening book as to the deficiencies of mental health facilities and the role of women in that time period. It was smooth and consistent in it's read, no spelling or grammatical errors, The characters were very likeable and grew with the story. I give this story a 5 star rating and heartily recommend reading

This was a very difficult book to read with such graphic details of what Anna suffers in the insane asylum. I almost quit reading a couple of times because of this. I also found her "recovering" in just 2 days after more than a decade in that hell hole totally unrealistic. I did like the hero and his unrelenting pursuit trying to free as many women from the asylum.

My heart broke for Anna and for Dez for how they were split up. And my heart just broke as he took care of her. It was a great story and I would read from this author again.