The Lily Brand

by Sandra Schwab

Book Overview

When she releases an imprisoned Englishman her aunt has bought to be her pleasure slave, a young French beauty has little idea that they will meet again in the crush of Regency England. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 084395552X
• ISBN13: 9780843955521
• Release Date: January 2005
• Publisher: Leisure Books
• Length: 310 Pages
• Weight: 0.90 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 4.2" x 6.8"

Customer Reviews

dark and intense

I've had this one in my TBR pile for a while, having bought it based on high recommendations from friends. I wasn't disappointed. After the death of her father, Lillian is left at the mercy of her cruel, controlling stepmother Camille. For her coming-of-age, Camille takes Lillian to the prison, where she chooses a man for her. Lillian's forced to watch and then participate in his torture, culminating in branding him with a lily to show that he's hers. The man is Troy, and he's Earl of Ravenhurst, though they never know his name. Lillian does what she can to ease and minimize his suffering, but she's as much a prisoner as he is. Feeling responsible, when she finally escapes, she takes Troy with her and leaves him alongside the road with her mother's locket for funds. A year later, they're both in England, and Troy is appalled to discover that the woman his young cousin wants to marry is the woman who branded him. He'll do anything to save his cousin from her--including marrying her himself. The story is intense and dark, as Troy struggles with his hate and anger, and Lillian with her guilt and fear. Their characterizations are very believable, particularly in how they remember what happened and in how they react and show (or don't show) their emotions. The only objection I had is that Camille is just a little bit too over-the-top evil. She's explained a bit better at the end, but if she'd been more understandable throughout, I'd have compared this to Kinsale. It did serve a purpose, though--Camille being Evil (with a capital E) put the story firmly in fantasy-land, so it wasn't as frightening a story as it would have been had I felt she was real.

Dark Romance: neither driven by Romance or Lust

This was a very strange read for me; I would call it more of a Dark Romance. But the story is really not built on either romance or lust which is odd considering this is supposed to be a romance. The story resembles a dark and twisted Cinderella story. True there is a happy ending, but the trip there is certainly not happy and you can foresee the characters definitely having mental issues that will always be in the background. Lily's father remarried another woman. When her father died when Lily was a young age, her stepmother became her sole guardian. Camille, her stepmother, is known throughout the French prison where Troy, an Earl, is imprisoned as a POW of the French-British war as the "Black Widow." Camille is in to the S & M, except she doesn't care if her victims die or if they are in pain. Camille goes shopping for another slave in the prison, and chooses Troy as a gift for Lily. Troy's nightmare of a captivity has only just begun have repeated whippings when Camille forces Lily to brand a lily onto Troy's chest to mark him as her possession. From this moment on, Lily sees Troy as hers and despite her stepmothers strict orders to keep meting out the torture on Troy, she tries to ease him in secret in the only she can w/ medicine, food, and removing his gag in private. When the opportunity finally presents an escape from her own environs, Lily helps Troy escape as well, leaving him in a forest w/ the only thing of value she has for him to trade--a locket of her parents. One year later, Lily is being introduced to the ton by her noble aunt and uncle. She is pursued by a young Viscount who is deeply enamored. Unfortunately, the Viscount's cousin is Troy. Troy is determined to prevent any possible marriage and unintentionally compromises Lily in anger, which results in their marriage. The journey of their marriage is truly the most heartbreaking and sad things I have ever read. Both are filled w/ completely w/ nightmares, anguish, and guilt. As I wrote earlier, this is truly a strange romance because there is absolutely nothing romantic or even sensual about the majority of this book. Troy is impotent w/ anger and pain. Lily is terrified w/ guilt and fear of her stepmother. This book is about how 2 people w/ such huge scars inside them were able to break free from their mental chains and be normal once again. Kudos to a very unconventional and darkly emotional read, I'm not sure if I would be able to re-read this because it is very dark. But I gave this 5 stars because, the style was very original and a big gamble against the standard romance.

An Outstanding Debut Effort!!!

Debut author Sandra Schwab has penned a very dark but emotional romance read that will captivate the reader. Lillian is captive to her stepmother Camille. She is known as the Black Widow and she makes her hobby collecting men and having them do her every bidding. When Lillian reaches her majority Camille takes her to the prison to find her "gift." Lillian has no idea the man that has been chose for her is Earl of Ravenhurst, Troy Sacheverell. Wounded on the battlefield fighting Napoleon he is not in any place to fight what is about to happen. When Lillian makes a bid for freedom, she takes Troy with her only as far as she could and still escape. A year later, Lillian is trying to put her past to rest. She worries about the nameless man she branded with her mark at her stepmothers demand. Did he survive? And will her guilt ever go away? Troy survived his captivity and subsequent freedom but he is now emotional and physically scared by what happen to him. When he realizes that his younger cousin is about to propose and to the woman who branded him as if he were an animal, Troy sets out to prevent that from happening. When his actions lead to scandal he marries Lillian but keeps her far from his sight. He is too hurt, angry, and frustrated he does not allow himself to see Lillian for who she is rather then what he thinks she is. Will these two damaged people ever heal from the wounds Camille has inflicted on them and will love grow from such barren start? This is a very dark romance but Ms. Schwab has created wonderful characters and has taken care in fleshing out the storyline that the reader will surly enjoy. Secondary characters are a wonderful light addition to this story that would otherwise be perhaps too overwhelming. I look forward to reading Ms. Schwab again in the future.

A wonderful, rich & satisfying read!

This is a wonderful debut novel by a promising author. The characters are richly drawn and three-dimensional, and the emotional conflict has extraordinary depth. It's a great twist on the standard Regency romance, and is by far more satisfying than any romance I've read in recent years because it breaks the mold and doesn't rely on cookie-cutter characters or situations. And her use of language is gorgeous! She knows how to tug at the heartstrings. I look forward to reading more of her books!

Original, Emotional and Haunting

I had to give this 5 stars for originality, characterization and writing style...this is not a stereotypical romance novel. Pay no attention to the strange cover; the feelings evoked in the book are much deeper than that. Good vs. evil, revenge vs. forgiveness, fear vs. courage, healing vs. hurting. It was unpredictable and addictive. This is a beautifully-written novel by a new author who created an emotional story from a bizarre and sinister setting. I recommend it highly to those who are tired of the usual plot contrivances and typical settings of the historical romance genre.