Lily lost her childhood the day the Sharpe gang murdered her parents and "adopted" her.They brought her into their world, and taught her how to be ruthless and smart. Soon, Lily the Cat was also wanted by the law, then captured by a lynch mob and strung up to be hung. Rescue came, but too late to avoid a feeling that the gang had abandoned her. In an act of revenge Lily subsequently betrayed the outlaws. And then she further deceived Texas Sharpe, reluctant heir to the notorious gang - the man who loved her, married her, and defied his father for her. Although he desired her like no other, Texas had taught her the darkness, emotionless ruthlessness of his father’s gang. She used these lessons and his vulnerability to her as she planned to kill him. This is no mild romance. In fact, it is an uncomfortable read. The hero and heroine are both callous murderers. The story is filled with violence, it includes child abuse and a somewhat implausible turn-around for the main protagonists. It is, on the other hand, well written, well paced and unusual to the extent that it is the hero who is madly in love throughout, and the heroine who withholds any closeness other than sex.