Grade: A+

I never thought I would ever type these words: for a rapist, he’s not such a bad guy. Isn’t that awful? I’ve never been a fan of “forced seduction” in romance novels and in this case, it isn’t even a “seduction” because she doesn’t have an orgasm nor does she throw herself in his arms in gratitude afterward. Her “no, no, no” doesn’t mean “yes! yes! yes!”. She doesn’t cry. She lays there, lets him do what he wants, then she puts her clothes back on, and returns to work. That’s some cold shit. I mean, it is rape. There are a lot of very uncomfortable scenes in this book, but that one… man, I am a huge fan of Bentley Little and I got a little nauseous when I got to that scene. The “hero” doesn’t physically hurt her, but he is still twice as big as she is and easily overpowers her. And the “heroine”… well, she just spent the last ten years in prison for supposedly murdering her husband and she ain’t got a lot of fight in her. Now think of a way to make that romantic. You can’t and Gaffney doesn’t try to. That’s why the scene worked for me. Gaffney doesn’t treat it like a “forced seduction”. Hell no, she knows it’s rape and treats it like rape. It is a credit to Gaffney’s writing ability that I was able to endure a dozen more uncomfortable little scenes like that and managed to find the hero worthy of love and happiness by the end of the book. A lot of you may cry “foul” and refuse to read the book because of that one little scene… but believe me when I say that you’ll be totally missing out if you do. Seriously, you guys, this is one of the most genuine, most heart-wrenching books I have read in a long time (and since I’m on a heart-wrenching binge, I’ve read a lot).

Sebastian Verlaine, Viscount D’Aubrey, is not the easiest man to love. For one thing, he is the worst kind of rake. He is rich, ridiculously handsome, morally starved, and easily bored. In fact, at the beginning of the book, we see him dumping his beautiful mistress because he’s sick of her, before heading off to the courthouse of the little village where he’s the magistrate for some fun and games. Sebastian thinks he could punish a couple of people, impose a couple of fines, and get home in time for some serious napping, but boy, is he in for a surprise. The last docket of the day is a widow who has just finished serving a ten year sentence for murdering her husband and she has just been arrested again for vagrancy and loitering. Sebastian acknowledges to himself that she’s not attractive–she’s emaciated, pale, and looking more than a little used up–but when he looks into her eyes, he finds himself intrigued by what he sees there. What does he see? Nothing. There is no fire, no soul, no spark… her eyes are those of a corpse and Sebastian, who can never resist a challenge, decides on the spot that the woman shall be his new project. When the mayor tells Sebastian that the woman will be hauled off to prison again because there is no room for her at the factories, Sebastian impulsively offers the woman a position as his housekeeper, and takes her away.

Our heroine Rachel Wade is not your usual in-your-face, feisty, “I’m just trying to matter” romance novel heroine. She doesn’t have spirit. She’s not all sunshine and moonbeams. And she’s definitely not Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm. She skulks, creeps, mutters, whispers, and doesn’t say a whole lot. When she was eighteen years old, her ambitious parents pushed her to marry a wealthy older man who mistreated her, used her as a sexual plaything, and pretty much broke whatever made Rachel a woman… in the space of a week. You see, a week after the wedding, someone murdered the nasty, evil bastard, and Rachel was arrested for the crime. After spending ten years in prison, Rachel doesn’t want anything in life, but to find somewhere where she can live the rest of her life quietly and without being hungry all the time. Rachel is just… defeated. There is no life to her, no joy, not even anger. She’s just… gone. The one thing she doesn’t want, however, is to go back to prison and she vows to find a way to kill herself if it ever happened again. When the Viscount D’Aubrey offers her a housekeeping job at his estate, Rachel doesn’t even hesitate to take it even though she suspects that D’Aubrey isn’t giving her the job out of sheer altruism. Rachel is not a fool. She realizes that the housekeeping gig is only a front for D’Aubrey’s more nefarious intentions, but beggars literally can’t be choosers in this case. And Rachel would rather become a rich man’s toy than go back to prison.

The development of the relationship between Sebastian and Rachel is a little hard to read. They do not start out as friends. As soon as Sebastian gets Rachel alone, he pretty much begins treating her like a new pet. He watches her, stalks her, and devises one scheme after the other to make Rachel as uncomfortable as possible. He wants to have sex with her, alright, not because he finds her particularly attractive, but because he wants to know what it would be like. There isn’t a moment that Sebastian isn’t torturing Rachel and the weird thing is, he doesn’t even know why he does it. Sebastian even invites his depraved London friends to come join in his fun of poking at Rachel like a little boy with a stick; this latest scheme is designed to get the maximum discomfort out of Rachel, especially since one of Sebastian’s friends is the nephew of Rachel’s dead husband. In a particularly uncomfortable game of “Truth”, Sebastian allows his friends to interrogate Rachel about her life in prison, the supposed sexual deviances of her dead husband, and all sorts of deeply personal shit, which Rachel answers gamely and automatically. As he watches his friends make fun of her and pretty much treat her like dog shit, Sebastian realizes what a complete asshole he is and what complete assholes his friends are. After saving Rachel from an attempted rape by her dead husband’s nephew, Sebastian vows that no one will harm Rachel ever again and that he will do anything in his power to make her happy.

Rachel is a well-written, fully developed character. She is more than a Barbie doll with a pair of tits and a couple of holes; she is just a woman who is trying to survive. She’s had a very shitty life and for the first half of the book, all we see of Rachel is a woman is who is just trying very hard to keep herself together. She is afraid of the servants, afraid of Sebastian, afraid of herself… almost like a scrawny little chihuahua who’d piss herself if you tried to touch it. Little by little, though, Rachel allows herself to be happy and trust the people around her. Unlike the traditional romance heroine who’d yell and shriek in protest each time the hero tries to give her something, Rachel takes each and every one of Sebastian’s gifts gratefully because no one has really ever cared enough for her to give her anything before. When Sebastian asks her to be her mistress, she agrees because she knows that Sebastian will take care of her and that he is powerful enough to keep her out of prison. She is practical, mature, and knows which side of her bread is buttered. Eventually, she becomes strong and brave enough to yell at the servants–a huge accomplishment which she adorably brags to Sebastian about–and make decisions for herself. Basically, we see Rachel evolve as a woman of her own worth and pride. I couldn’t help but like her even when she was darkety-dark-dark and cheered her on every time she did something for herself. Man, I loved this girl. She does one stupid thing near the end that made me want to reach into the book and give her a good, hard slap, but I understood why she did it, and gradually forgave her for it. I thought about it later on and decided that I probably would have reacted the same way she did. It was a stupid misunderstanding, to be sure, but I think I would have been as pissed as she was and just as unforgiving.

The transformation of Sebastian from arrogant asshole to best-boyfriend-evah was a convincing one if only because he actually saw for himself what a complete bastard he used to be. I just loved this man. I loved the way he completely and totally abases himself before Rachel for all the stupid shit he pulls. I loved the possessive way he looks at her. I loved the way he treats her like a goddess to be worshipped. I loved the way he saves her as well as himself. Granted Sebastian does some really heinous, totally dastardly things in the beginning of the book, but believe me when I say that he completely and totally redeems himself. I think what I enjoyed most about Sebastian is that it was he–the male–who encouraged Rachel to talk about her feelings, and when she did, he listens to every word she says. He just becomes so devotedly, so madly in love with her that I couldn’t help but adore him. One of my favorite parts of the book–aside from the part where he massages her feet in the bathtub–is when he realizes that he was no longer “in danger of falling in love with her because he was already deeply in love with her.” Oh, I do love a reformed rake!

Of course this book couldn’t have worked if it weren’t for the talents of Patricia Gaffney. I especially loved the way she wrote the “quiet” moments between Rachel and Sebastian. Nothing about the development of their courtship was rushed. I also applaud her for writing a heroine who doesn’t spontaneously have an orgasm just because the hero blew in her ear. Oh no, dear readers, Sebastian has to work–and work hard–for Rachel to get an orgasm. How often do you read about that? Sure, we encounter dozens of heroines who can’t ever achieve an orgasm, but the second they meet the hero… ooooh, boy, watch out. Like all of a sudden, she’s an orgasm factory. I also admire Gaffney for writing some of the classier scenes I’ve read in a while, as well as some truly great dialogue. That “rape” scene alone would have been pretty difficult to pull off, but I just want to thank her for not exploiting the shit out of it and for showing us the emotional impact of it from both sides of the two major characters. That scene… it was just so beautiful and ugly at the same time. And that shit takes talent, yo.

As for the side characters, I just have to laugh at how ridiculously evil AND crazy they were. It should have been over-the-top, but I think the story needed it. I especially enjoyed Violet, the evil maid who makes Rachel’s job as a housekeeper very difficult, and the way she partners up with the main villain of the story. That was just classic! I mean, the two of them together would have done everything to keep Sebastian and Rachel from truly finding happiness and the shit they pull, you guys, it brings tears to my eyes just thinking about it. I also enjoyed the cameo appearances of Anne and Christy, the love birds from the previous book. I haven’t read that one, but am really looking forward to it because these two are just adorable. They were vital to the plot and didn’t make me want to throw up. That’s important to me, yo, and for that I shall reward them by reading their book.

All and all, this book was just a blast to read. It was beautiful, touching, not frighteningly sentimental, and absolutely genuine. Rachel and Sebastian were brilliantly written as a couple and as individuals and the book itself was tightly plotted. Well, okay, not that tightly plotted. The deus ex machina ending kind of took out some of the fun for me and the villians were a little cartoony (but hilarious), but I just really, really liked this book. I’m probably not going to re-read it again any time soon because it tore off pieces off my heart as I was reading it and I don’t think I can endure that again in the near future. I may pick it up a year from now and be pleasantly reminded of how much I enjoyed this book, but who knows. One thing’s for sure, though, it’s definitely going into my keeper shelf. You guys definitely have to check this one out, but it may be out of print. I got my copy for three cents at Thriftbooks, but I think Amazon is selling ‘em used for seven bucks a pop. Either way it’s worth it, so go get it.

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 25th, 2006 at 10:15 pm and is filed under Books, Grade: A, Romance: Historical. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.