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Astonishingly bad. I’m shocked this has any good reviews. Before his kidnapping, the hero is—by his own admittance—cruel, selfish, sexually abusive, irresponsible, jealous, and neglectful (I’m too tired to go list examples, but suffice to say it was bad). After his return, he is jealous, irresponsible, selfish, and neglectful. His wife is passive and naive throughout. Instead of a story about redemption and reconciliation, the author spends a dozen chapters describing two miserable people playing hot and cold until a dangerous situation in the last chapter convinces them they are meant to be. The mystery subplot is also profoundly boring.

The hero does not respect his wife at all, or even trust her. He even suspects her of orchestrating his kidnapping and torture. And despite her begging to know why he left her, he tells her it’s not her business, placating their friends and acquaintances with made-up stories about his swashbuckling adventures. He never invites her to help him solve this mystery or recover emotionally from his ordeal. He never warns her they might be in danger. He just lies and lies and lies. She only discovers he was kidnapped when she is kidnapped herself. They are not partners at any point in this story, even at the end.

They have nothing in common, either. Almost every single conversation they have is about their relationship (mostly what’s missing from it). I know nothing about these characters� likes or dislikes, except that she enjoys music, and nothing about their values. They are so, so shallow.

And they don’t ever learn about one another—although she makes more of an effort to do so than he does. He keeps asking her to give him a chance, and she keeps insisting she’s trying to trust him again, but there is no actual evidence of change. He gives her a compliment, and then has another jealous outburst. He gives her jewels, and then runs off for days without telling her where he’s going. His grand unselfish gesture —allowing her to live apart from him—is unconvincing, because she never actually does. Based on the previous chapters, I would just assume he’d chase her down as soon as he heard she was dancing with another man. I just didn’t buy any of it. Their declarations of love seemed so empty.

I would have liked a more complex and compelling mystery plot, or else a story about an actual courtship. Repentance, intimacy, and partnership were missing entirely from this book. There was no humor. The sex scenes weren’t even sexy! It just depressed me!