Re Innocent Sins - Anne Mather continues her long tradition of keeping it in the family Typhoon of Tackiness HPlandia outings with this one.
The backstory is that the ten years before the story starts, the h's father married the H's mother. The H's mother is the stereotypical AM evil, conniving, gold digging amoral OW who has an unhealthy hold over her momma's boy H son.
As these things go in the Province of Anne Matherdom, the stepmother loathed and despised the h as she sees the h as her rival in the h's father's affections. So when the 21 year old H sleeps with the 16 year old h, the stepmother OW is worried that her husband will blame her for not managing the children better.
More importantly, the stepmother realizes that the h is massively in love with the H and in the aftermath of their one night of love, the stepmother realizes she can use her influence with her son to send him off to chase his career while having a threat to hold over the h.
The stepmother also likes the fact that she get some major self esteem blows in against the h, cause now she is a Tarty Tart McTartlet - which hopefully will also drive the h away and she can have the h's father (and his money) all to herself.
The h is very hurt by the H's silent departure and even more devastated by the nasty remarks and taunts of her stepmother when she miscarries the baby she and the H created in their one time event.
The h takes herself off to uni in the aftermath of all this and her relations with her father become distant and there is no contact at all with the H.
A few years later, the h marries an American and the H becomes a famous photographer with a bevy of supermodel girlfriends. Eventually the h gets a divorce and focuses on her career in America, but the H and h are destined to meet again at the funeral of the h's father,
Apparently the h's father died in somewhat mysterious circumstances. His body was found in the house by the stepmother, but it was several hours after he departed this plane of existence. Since the body was literally outside the room where the stepmother had been secluded in all day, there is some question as to why it took so long for him to be found, surely she heard the thump?
There is also the question of the h's father's new will. The house that the father and stepmother lived in was the h's mother's family home, but the h's father originally intended to leave it to his second wife. For some reason the h's father changed his will to leave the house to the h shortly before his death by apparent cardiac incident.
The stepmother wants the money from the sale of the house, (which was left to her in the original terms of the father's will.) But now the stepmother is imploring her son, the H, to hide the second will which invalidates the stepmother's claim.
The H appears to go along with this, for reasons that aren't clearly defined, but do indicate that this H is a lyin', cheatin' nematode snot snarfing pustule. AM lets us know this by having the very unavailable, cause he is hooked to a supermodel, H put the moves on the h, even tho his model girlfriend is calling and trying to visit the H pretty much every other page.
After many tense confrontations between the H and h and ghostly father visitations to the h while she is in the family home, the truth finally comes out. The H's father realized that his wife, the H's mother, was having affairs with the local ladies' husbands - right in the marital home.
After years of believing the stepmother over his own daughter, the father finally realized what a sewer sucking parasite he had allowed to latch on to him. In an attempt to redress the great wrong he had done towards his child, he arranged for the h to inherit her own mother's home.
The final kicker was when the h's father walked into his own bedroom and saw the stepmother with her latest married lover, he dropped dead from the shock and the stepmother was too busy gettin' busy to realize her husband was dead.
The H is only convinced to reveal the existence of the second will when the h's aunt - who is the housekeeper for the family home- calls both the H and h to show up unexpectedly. When the H and h arrive, it is to find the stepmother again ensconced upon her married lover.
There is a HUGE verbal battle and the stepmother reveals the h's miscarriage and the H realizes he has been a right wanker for way too many years. (Plus there is a question of the H's jealousy when another man is getting what this momma's boy H infers to be his.)
In a fit of sudden remorse for his and his mother's actions, (or maybe the H finally gets that it is really tacky to try and tap his own mother,) the H tells the h about the will and the stepmother is moved into a grotty flat the next day.
The H takes off on his next photography assignment and the h goes back to America and her loft in NYC. The h declines to press criminal charges against the H or his mother for trying to circumvent her inheritance.
Several months go by while the h and H have their respective brooding mopey moments, but the h sees that the H has broken up with his supermodel girlfriend and calls the H to express her sympathy - she has to leave a small message as he is unavailable.
The H gets the message the h called a few days later and he goes to NYC to lurve her up and convince her to marry him, supposedly he has longed and pined madly for her all these years and he wants to make up for the baby loss.
The h is all okay with that, cause she loves the H just as madly back and we leave the two of them in dubious domestic bliss for another Typhoon of Tackiness, AM Trainwreck HPlandia outing.