A complete story. A standalone romance. A forbidden love story. I knew all this going in and I was still gut-wrenched, heart-broken, frustrated, happy, slack-jawed, and speechless in turns. 
 Sevin is fighting the bonds of a devoutly religious family (read as bible bashing step-mother) and makes his escape by the way of an arranged marriage (of sorts). The bride-to-be, after all the proper courting and chaperoned time together is the daughter of his fathers friend and this arrangement is his ticket out of his own personal hell. Elle is a pretty, quiet woman with no aspirations beyond being a good wife and mother. That is he goal and more power to her. It's not about judging the dream but achieving the dream. When Sevin meets Evangeline, Elle's sister, for the first time the connection he has never felt with Elle or anyone is overpowering. It leaves him questioning, and her heartbroken when she realizes this is the intended husband of her sister. 
 This story is complicated and deep, and I couldn't put it down. My own brief synopsis above barely covers the first tenth of the book. The characters are dimensional and flawed and Penelope has really hit it out of the park with this story. It is so different from the usual romance tales - it was refreshing. And don't get me wrong - I blog about books because I LOVE the usual romance tales too. But the occasional outlier is a gem, and Sins of Sevin is one of those gems.