4.5 rounded up to 5I read this one back in June and cannot believe that I haven't written a peep on this beauty. This is a story about an older man (a whopping 29 if I can remember correctly) marrying a tender little thing of 15 or 16? This is an arranged marriage between neighboring families, which was actually a plot by the girl's parents to do in the H so they can take his lands.
I loved this story for its details. The author gives us a little history lesson at the beginning, telling us some truths about our knights in shining armor (they stunk to high heaven), what it really meant to lord over a land and what they had to do to maintain their position, as well as the beliefs of society (such as those with deformities being viewed as being of the devil.)
I also loved the hero, who was the picture of imperfection. He was beat all to hell, had a limp due to a foot deformity (didn't detract from the story for those who require more perfection), was an insecure tortured soul, was apparently one of those stinky knights mentioned in the preface, and was known to take it whether the woman was willingly giving it up or not (though we never acutally get to see any of this taking followed through to its fruition, but not for a lack of trying.) There is a rather big hard limit: He cheats on the heroine, though she made his ass sorry. See! That's why I could've sworn I wrote a review for this story, because I remember I was going to take off a star for that. Well, changed my mind anyway ;D
The heroine was young but mature. She has to do a lot of submitting to things that would piss a person off, but still tended to be seen as strong. She wasn't daring or wild but likable nonetheless.
So bottom line, this is your typical old skool bodice ripper. Not as demented as [b:The Silver Devil|425516|The Silver Devil|Teresa Denys|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1290290139s/425516.jpg|414576] or as exciting as [b:Stormfire|784045|Stormfire|Christine Monson|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1204513214s/784045.jpg|770048], but it definitely can hold its own.
