However, it does have the requisite happily-ever-after ending and intimate moments that some readers may find titillating. This reissue of a classic 1980s-style romance is not particularly heartwarming. Both have their moments of shame and degradation, but out of their misery based upon the impropriety of a relationship between Sarah and a convict, they find compatibility and passion once they determine that society should not determine their fate. Violence dominates the action, with a constant suppressed rage and abusive language masking the growing love between Sarah and Dominic. Set in Australia in the mid 19th century, this is the story of Sarah Markham whose father is a sheep rancher, and Dominic Gallagher, a Irish convict who was. Sentenced to exile for acts perpetrated against the Crown, Dominic Gallagher will do anything to convince this timid. After first gaining recognition for her historical romances, Robards became one of the first.

Sarah would rather be alone than settle until she rescues a convict, Dominic Gallagher, from a near-fatal whipping and finds herself uncharacteristically attracted to him to the point of an episode of complete submission. Dark Torment by Karen Robards, Alexander Liberman Mass Market Paperbound Book, 400 pages See Other Available Editions Description Gentle, highborn Sarah Markham is not prepared for the proud Irish rebel to burst into her life. Karen Robards is a best-selling author of over fifty novels. However, Sarah feels nothing but disgust for Percival despite the family consensus that her plain looks leave him as her only option.

Her father raises sheep, hires convicts to work his ranch, and has hopes that Sarah will marry Percival, his ranch manager. Sarah Markham lives a satisfying though routine life near Melbourne, an Australian penal colony in 1838.