GENRE: Fiction/Historical Romance
SETTING: England, 1818
RAPE? Yes
MY GRADE: C
SYNOPSIS: The Duke of Cynssyr didn't believe in love. He planned to marry for beauty. But a night of unforgettable passion left him a changed man—a man tied to a bespectacled spinster. Anne Sinclair's long legs drove him wild with desire, and her quick wit challenged his mind. Ruined for any other, the notorious rake had only one choice: to court his wife. To win her confidence, however, nothing less than his love would do.
Anne Sinclair had sworn to protect her sister from the infamous Lord Ruin. Yet she never expected to sacrifice her own virtue. Forced to give the rogue her hand in marriage, she vowed never to relinquish her heart. But Ruan worshiped her body and valued her intelligence, making Anne long to succumb to the ultimate temptation: falling for her husband.
MY THOUGHTS: Anne is pretty bland. She's twenty-five, has gray-blue eyes and wears eyeglasses. She doesn't have much of a personality. We didn't get to know her at all. She was just there. That's about all I have to say about her. Ruan Cynssyr, aka "Lord Ruin" is a member of Parliament and former commanding officer in the military. He's got dark brown hair and green eyes. His age is never given. We didn't get any background on him.
About the rape. Anne sprains her ankle while at someone's house. It's bedtime so they put her to bed in the bedroom that Cyn uses when he's at that person's house. She'd doped up on laudanum for the pain. He comes home ahead of schedule early in the morning and finds Anne in his bed. He doesn't recognize her because it's too dark. He assumes she's a prostitute put there by his friend, since its happened before. He proceeds to talk to her, still assuming he's talking to a prostitute who's fallen asleep and is waking up, and is fully willing. Anne is very groggy but speaks to him like a lover would and proceeds to give him oral sex (and she even swallows) then regular sex. He doesn't know she's drugged and since she's drugged, she doesn't even know what she's doing. The scene jumps ahead to everyone in the house finding out what happened, Cyn realizes what he's just done, so they marry the very next day in case she gets pregnant.
I have to admit to liking the murder mystery better than the romance between Anne and Cyn. That saved this book for me but it wasn't introduced properly. Someone is raping and sometimes murdering women. No one sat anyone down and explained what was going on with some of the women in London and it was a bit confusing. I don't understand why Cyn and a few friends are investigating it. He's not a police officer or private investigator and there's no mention of the police being involved. And we weren't told how many women had been killed or raped. And there was a suicide by a pregnant rape victim that came out of nowhere.
The problem with this book is that Cyn and Anne get married far too soon (p. 52) and they get along great from the start. There's zero conflict between them. He treats her well, doesn't cheat on her, and, well, that's all. Everything is normal between them. I just don't know where a story can go when the marriage happens so soon.
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