Completed: October 7, 2025
Recommendation: Mild recommendation
Recommended By: The Author
Review:
I am trying to enjoy the romance genre. SPOILERS AHEAD.
This book looks at romance through the lens of rape. Arden is almost gang raped at the outset of the book. A flashback tells you she was abused. As the book progresses, she is living with "kept women" most of the time. She, herself, becomes a kept woman (and has sex with a lord in exchange for safety from her childhood abuser). Later, she marries (in order to keep her child) a man with whom she is friends, but not a romantic interest. She comes to love this man who faces an untimely death and she returns to her lord where she is more of a girl toy. Eventually, she prostitutes herself to save her child and nurse maid (who, meanwhile, is raped). Finally, she ends up marrying the lord who gives up his title to be with her.
As a result of the focus on rape, I found the sex scenes (even when conceptually mutually agreed) to be mildly unattractive. The concept of the book as a whole put me off. I will grant that at least the lord comes to realize he has effectively raped Arden though by the end she freely loves him. I just didn't find this book romantic and, with the overtones of rape rife throughout, I did not find it pleasant. I offer a mild recommendation because this book did not feel formulaic and some of the characters do change over the course of the book. The plot was fairly straight forward with the exception of the step father who, of course, is raped in jail and comes to understand what he had done to his step daughter (I did not expect that nuance).
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