Ruthless

House of Rohan Series, Book 1

By: Anne Stuart

Narrated by: Susan Ericksen

Length: 11 hrs and 55 mins

Publisher's summary

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)

This was great

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I would recommend this to anyone who likes historical romance. This was one of my favorite books ever.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Lord Rohan was so sexy. He was one of my favorite characters ever.

What does Susan Ericksen bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

The British accents.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I laughed and cried and lusted after Lord Rohan.

Any additional comments?

The only thing that bothered me was that it ended rather abruptly and I felt like it needed an epilogue.

Loved It!

I LOVED this book. The characters were well-developed and the dialogue was witty and often humorous. The plot was even a little bit off the usual "romance novel" path, which made it quite interesting. But what I most loved is that is showed that the the characters of a story don't have to be perfect to be thoroughly likable! Not every hero is always honorable and not every heroine is a delicate, waif-like creature in constant need of rescuing. These characters were both "flawed" in quite different ways, and those flaws made the story believable and very entertaining. The story also managed to be pretty "hot" without a lot of graphic sex scenes. Can't wait for the next installment of this series!

Bang, droop, fizzle

Anne Stuart is an amazing author (whose boots I am unfit to polish), and I literally could not stop listening to this book last night. It was just too, too good to spend time with that delicious hero.
I'm amazed at how erotic the novel was with so little actual sex involved. I'm also amazed that I loved the book and didn't love the story. It began well enough but I found the end was rushed, unconvincing, and unworthy of the amazing characters she brought together.
I'm still looking forward to book two. (But I now know better than to read it on a school night.)

What a fantastic surprise!

I had this in my wish list for a while, and finally started it last night. I didn't expect too much from it, but I was wrong!!!
Excellent writing, very sympathetic and interesting characters, engaging plot, and a very bad, but "oh-so-good" mail lead.

The description of the book makes it seem smutty. While it is sexy, it's surprisingly tasteful and the sex scenes aren't gratuitous.

DEFINITELY worth a buy or credit.

GOTHIC to the extreme!

We have Elinor, an innocent gentlewoman fallen on hard times, who must venture into the chateau of a well-known rake to save her ill mother. Lord Rohan, better known as the 'prince of darkness', is amused to see a feisty innocent come crash his orgy party and start making demands. Like a cat finding a new toy he proceeds to torment her by dangling the safety of her mother and sister in front of her. Elinor endeavors to survive Rohan's mind games and protect the honor of her beautiful younger sister. She has taken the burden of defending her sister and her honor since she was no more than a girl herself and sacrificed a great deal to do so. So she'll be damned to have her efforts thwarted by Rohan as some cruel joke. Of course life chooses that moment to lay even more misfortune upon her and her small household. Until she is left no choice but to return to the dark shadows of Rohan's domain.
I cried SO MUCH for Elinor during the course of this read/listen I'm water logged. My eyes will be swollen all day. Elinor was such a sympathetic and real character that every stab to her heart left me in tears.
Rohan can see that Elinor knows the darker faucets of life including sex, but has never known the pleasure of those sinful delights. He becomes obsessed with teaching those secret pleasures to her. Very sexy times occur. Slow, delicious sexy times.
If I had any complaints it would be her sister, who was easily besotted after meeting a disreputable man once despite all of Elinor's sacrifices for her. Although Lydia was initially presented as a beautiful girl who knew how to use her charms and read the intentions of men I felt her 10 minute romance as ridiculous and out of character. It felt like a deus ex machina meant to resolve the sister issue quickly as to not distract from Elinor's tale. If it was going to be like that I'd rather not have any of Lydia's romance to begin with.
Even with Lydia's nonsense I still enjoyed this book wickedly and was disappointed to have it come to an end! I would love to have more of Lydia and Rohan. Perhaps some kind of epilogue or novella. I need more time with them! Especially if that means more sexy times!

GOOD!

The House of Rohan is an adult book. Very graphic. The story is very crude and filled with detailed descriptions of depravity. The narratives are too long. The author could have presented the exact story in a less time consuming manner. These long periods of BLAH BLAH BLAH are somewhat boring. It makes it difficult to finish the book. Maybe the unabridge version would have been a better buy.

Good Listen

I occasionally like to listen to the historical romance genre. I have to be honest and say it's not my favorite genre but sometimes I do listen to some that are fantastic.For example I loved Maya Banks highlander books. This one is an ok listen for me. I got it on sale and I was pleased with the deal. So for the price it met my expectations. I don't think I will get any of the other books in this series due to the fact that it wasn't good enough for me to want to use my credits on them. In saying that I might be tempted if they come up on the $4.95 sale like this book did.

RUTHLESS IS WILD !!!!

I wasn't sure if I hated or loved the mysterious Viscount Rohan. NOW I'm sure, I LOVE HIM ! Of course I never doubted Elinor. I was so engrossed in this story I was late for work. I can't wait to listen to book 2.

Absolutely loved it!!

Bought this book when it was on sale, and so glad that I took a chance on it. It's an absolutely spellbinding story, that I couldn't put it down once I got started. The characters are captivating, and the narrator brings every character to life, that I found myself imagining more of a movie, rather than just listening to a book. I'm going on to the next in the series.

Great Series

If you could sum up Ruthless in three words, what would they be?

Hot sexy intrigue - the series was worth the credits. I like really bad boys as the heros. This series had all bad boys and they were fun!