A misleading title, probably chosen for its impact. A more accurate title might have been 'The Secret Agony of Simon Blackwell' or 'The Secret Torment of Simon Blackwell'.

Simon Blackwell is a tetchy recluse from Yorkshire who is forced to visit London for a relative's birthday. He rescues a small boy from the hooves of a spooked horse, then berates the woman he thinks is the child's mother. The object of his vicious tongue is Anne, the cousin of Caroline, the boy's mother, who was distracted by her other child at the time of the near-accident. Grateful of the stranger's help and unaware of his tongue-lashing of Anne, Caroline invites Sebastian to dinner. The negative tension between Anne and Sebastian is palpable, but when they step out onto the terrace, they find themselves drawn into a passionate kiss, which is unfortunately witnessed by other members of Anne's family.

In this particular social mythology, a stolen kiss disgraces the woman and forces the man to wed her, which is what the pair do with great reluctance.

Whisked away to Sebastian's rambling but shabby and empty country home, Anne finds herself stranded with a morose and tight-lipped spouse who announces that he will not be availing himself of his marital privileges and will arrange a divorce at the earliest socially acceptable opportunity.

For most of the remainder of the book, Anne attempts to pierce the emotional wall surrounding Sebastian, discovering improbably late that he is a widower who lost his wife and children in a tragic fire for which he blames himself.

This part of the story, in which Anne gently slips under Sebastian's guard and even succeeds in arousing him sexually, is the best part of the book.

The author's attempt to bring the confrontation to a climax followed by a happy resolution is less than successful. As the end approaches, raw emotion is replaced with plodding prose and the sudden appearance of Caroline and her kids, symbols of the potential joys of marriage and parenthood, is convenient and facile.

By end of the book I was half-hoping that Anne would leave Sebastian to his self-inflicted misery, thus introducing a sour note to balance the cloying sweetness of the preceding pages. ( )

I was pleasantly surprised with this book. It is true that it is an extremely dark story (the hero mourns his lost wife and kids 5 years after they're gone). It was also very well written, emotional, angsty and with incerdible, palpable tension between the hero and heroine. You can feel Simon's desire and need for his young wife in every page and ache with him. Anne was also a great character; strong and determined to make their marriage a real one, but without being pushy or childish when Simon appears to remain stuck in the past. This is not a book for everyone. But, for those readers who enjoy a darker edge in their romances, I would highly recommend this one. ( )

Wallpaper historical. Two-dimensional characters. ( )

My first book by Samantha James. It was okay. Two strangers marry and learn to lover each other. The first in a new series. ( )

http://booksbypickles.blogspot.com/2008/05/jens-review-secret-passion-of-simon.h... ( )