Madness

Madness

Book 16 of
The Rakehell Regency Romance Series

Sorcha MacMurrough

Freedom, and love, or death…

Gabrielle Howell enters the hellish asylum of Bedlam in London when her sister Lucinda is committed as insane by her husband the Earl of Oxnard.

During a riot at the asylum, Gabrielle is rescued by a handsome inmate known only as Simon, who seems to make an awful lot of sense for someone supposedly deranged.

Drugged and suffering from a mysterious malady, Simon cannot remember his past. All his records seem to indicate he is a deadly killer incarcerated by his prominent family.

But the more Gabrielle gets to know the fiercely intelligent and gentle man, the more she has her doubts that this could ever be true. Simon is principled, kind, and certainly no murderer, and tranforms from loyal ally to the most magnificent lover. The passion that sparks between them is like nothing she has ever known, heady, and addictive.

Simon isn't sure if the gorgeous woman he has held in his arms is real, or a figment of his opium-addled brain. All he knows is, it's true love, a gift from the gods he will never give up, except in death.

Simon refuses to be kept a prisoner any longer by the puppetmasters who have been pulling his strings ever since the war with Napoleon started.

Trusting in his new-found love Gabrielle, Simon is willing to risk everything to defeat his captors, and the opium addiction they have caused by drugging him to keep him cooperative.
 
Simon dares all to escape from Bedlam and come out of the shadows to live a normal life again once more.

Gabrielle begins to believe the impossible: that she can save Simon before it's too late, so they can have a blissful future together. In a bold and daring move, she risks everything to heal Simon and rescue him from the living death he has been consigned to.

Even as their love deepens, the danger swarms in all around them. Society condemns anyone who appears different from themselves, and the agents who imprisoned him in the asylum return all too soon to use him again as a pawn in their deadly political games….

Will allowing themselves to love one other prove to be Gabrielle and Simon's salvation, or sheer madness?

Simon began to tease Gabrielle, rippling his fingers over her peaks and valleys with a surety of touch which set her hips thrusting against his hand so desperately, he had all to do not to take her there and then.

He whispered in her ear, “If we were alone, do you know what I would do?”

She shook her head.

“Do you want me to tell you?” he asked, nuzzling her ear and nibbling the lobe.

“Mmm,” she sighed through parted lips.

“I would lick you all over, running my tongue inside and out. Explore you fully with it, and my fingers, and finally my straining manhood. Penetrate you with all three until you melted against me and called out my name. I would wander over every part of your body, so that you would know my touch everywhere. I’d possess you utterly, so that you could never think of anything but my caresses, my passion. Oh God, Gabrielle,
j’ai besoin de toi.”

“
I
need you too, Simon,” she panted, before feasting on his mouth with her own.

Reviews:

This endlessly creative and talented author has done it again, producing a chilling and clever Regency Noir with strong Gothic elements and a couple who go through hell on earth in order to win each other’s love.

Bedlam asylum is not the most likely place for a genteel young woman to find her lover, but Gabrielle knows there is more to Simon than meets the eye. Though warned off him by her cousin Antony, she is soon caught up in a whirlwind of espionage and murder as she seeks to save him from the hell on earth he has been forced to endure for the sake of his country during the war.

All of the Rakehell heroes are wonderful, but I have to admit that Simon has a special place in my heart. He is the perfect lover and a most remarkable man. With Gabrielle’s love he is able to reintegrate back into the world after the torture he has endured.

Gabrielle is the ultimate MacMurrough heroine, more than a match for Simon and his enemies, brave, intelligent, fiercely loyal. This is truly a wondrous romance that blazes with passionate intensity. Evelyn Trimborn

The incredible talent of Ms. MacMurrough is to be marvelled at once more as we trace the very rocky road to true love for Simon and Gabrielle, a wonderful couple trapped in the living hell of the Bedlam insane asylum together.

Gabrielle knows she is rapidly falling in love with the handsome stranger, but must risk everything to save him from the demon opium and his imprisonment.

This loving man, a paragon of intelligence and sexiness, cannot possibly be the murderer the authorities claim him to be. Gabrielle is determined to seek the truth about his real identity, which proves more stunning than anything she could have ever dreamed of.

Full of suspense, sensuality and the Gothic elements which never fail to keep us guessing, this is another eagerly awaited volume in this fantastic series.
 
Jacinta Carey

Simon is simply the most magnificent Rakehell hero to date. Gabrielle is his perfect foil, the lush bed which sets off the jewels of his personality to perfection—his intelligence, sensuality, and above all, his capacity to love and be loved, even when he has had to endure the most dreadful punishments at the hands of his enemies.

Gabrielle moves heaven and earth to rescue him from the insane asylum they have imprisoned him in. But even more dangers lurk outside in the world than within Bedlam. Their love lights the pages of this endlessly fascinating book. Carolyn Stone

I loved this stunning romance. It has everything we have come to love about a MacMurrough novel: the strong but not bitchy heroine, the hero who can be all male without being violent or abusive, the nasty enemies in the background, the cloak and dagger suspense. Above all, the simmering sensuality and brilliant love scenes guaranteed to make your heart melt.

Simon is one sexy man. From the moment they meet their chemistry is incredible. This is an exuberant novel of love and danger amid Regency power politics, and a worthy continuation to this fantastic series, one you will not want to miss. Anabelle Stevens