As the second daughter, Laura is shut up in a convent while her beloved sister Beatrice is living a life of luxury, engaged to a wealthy, powerful man named Vincenzo. When Laura is suddenly summoned to her father's house in Venice, she thinks that all her prayers have been answered. But when she arrives in Venice, she learns that her sister is dead, and she is set to marry Vincenzo in Beatrice's place. When her bridegroom turns out to be a disgusting old man, she is approached by a secret society of women who promise her they can take her of her husband to be, in exchange for a secret...This was a quick read. I finished it in about 2 hours. But I wish it had been longer. I liked the concept, and the setting. The Venice of the period was quite vivid (I'm not surprised to see that the author lived there are a child) and I thought it was the perfect setting for a story revolving around secrets, vendettas, and murders. But I wish that things had been fleshed out more. I would have loved a more dense narrative, and a more complex plot. I found the reveals to be a bit simplistic. The romance felt a little rushed. I think all these problems could have been fixed if the book had been longer. As it was, it felt a bit unsatisfying which is disappointing, because I liked the characters, and the concept, just not the execution.