The Duke's Captive

I actually didn't think the dialogue was cheesy at all! It was a good book, with mature characters and I couldn't put it down.

Sadly the author attempted to make a sadistic monster into a likable person. I was appalled when she tried to turn a horrible rape scene into a consensual sex encounter. There was nothing redeeming about a man that goes out of his way to destroy a young woman who as an adolescent was abused emotionally by her own family and lost all. I cannot even give this book a one star but had to in order to write this review.

Overall, it wasn’t bad, but MAN are there weird, uncomfortable sexual themes here. Rape is a major element of the story - the guy was drugged and doesn’t remember/ couldn’t have consented to sex, and his revenge includes the threats of violence and rape. I GET that a lot of regency romances paddle around in murky waters because of the gender politics of the time, but this one just made me feel icky. Overall well-written - the plot moves along quickly and the heroine is sufficiently plucky. The sex scenes were hot, but their context was troubling. Basically, you should know what you’re getting into.