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I very rarely give single star ratings, but I quickly went from unimpressed to a continual, active dislike. lol. I've enjoyed some previous books from this author decently, but this was honestly kind of miserable to get through. I was just already far enough in by the time I gave up hope of things turning around that I stubbornly stuck it out anyway.
The heroine lies to everyone, including herself, absolutely constantly! And the hero is a manipulative ass and hardly shows a desirable trait throughout the entire book. And they're both kind of dim-witted. It was a lot. Additionally, the heroine was incredibly naive, which I don't always hold against a character, but she was also overly self assured and reckless, and, combined with the hero's "worldly" rakishness, it created a sketchy predator/prey dynamic. She's attracted to his looks, and he's intrigued by her denied interest, and even by the end they hardly know any more of each other than that! 90% of the book is just the two of them in a battle of wills, broken up with some seduction, (some of which is 'forced seduction' by the way. There are definite consent issues, fair warning). The plot is a sizeable stretch, there's a lack of almost anything romantic (with the two of them never just in accord with each other or admiring something beyond appearance or sexual skill, until the very end of the book), and there's an obvious and cheap villain thrown in. The seduction overall felt a bit icky to me with her constantly spouting how much she loathed him and sometimes making threats or actually struggling, while he felt entitled to her body and ruining her just because it would amuse him to have her and because he could. (I also dislike in general when heroines put up a fight when inside they secretly want things to continue as well. The very notion seems like it's trying to validate rapists or something. 'She said "no. stop." but I knew better than her what she really wanted!' Ew).

And side note, this didn't contribute to my rating, but was still noteable. I'm not usually a stickler for anachronisms, they're usually just referencing a play a decade before it was written or something and pretty harmless, but in this book an invalid teases that he's not considering suicide yet by saying he's not ready to 'stick his fork in the wall'. Which is a reference to purposeful electrocution by sticking metal into an electrical wall outlet, something which wouldn't be possible because electrical homes wouldn't exist for another 100 years. So unless they're time travelers it would be a preposterous thing to say with no understood meaning of any kind. This is not a new author self publishing all on their own, she's been writing historicals for 50 years and must have a team of people reading these before they go to print. I'm surprised none of them thought to question this. ( )

I read this book before though I never marked it on Goodreads. I'm on a historical romance binge and grabbed a copy of this to read.
Reading parts of this book made me uncomfortable, though in terms of the setting there was nothing inappropriate. It's based on the Hellfire Club which was an 18th-century scene of depravities enjoyed by nobles. The story is the trope of a rake who falls for the bluestocking who only intends to view the goings-on for 'scientific research' purpose, intending to remain a spinster virgin. The villain is suitably villainous, the hero is heroic, and the heroine is spunky. There's a nice secondary romance as a counterpoint. I think the book manages to surpass its tropes and ends up as a good romance. ( )

Lots of fun. I agree with the other reviewer on this page: the plot is nothing revolutionary. In fact, the whole thing is a re-tread of Georgette Heyer's DEVIL'S CUB. And yet...I *really* enjoyed reading this. The hero and heroine were delightful (and consistently characterized); the plot clipped along at a perfect pace; the secondary romance was one of the best I've seen in years. The whole book was a great and entertaining read.

I'd definitely recommend this to fans of Anne Stuart and historical romance. I don't have any complaints about this book; it was naughty, well-written fun -- a great romance novel. 4.5 stars = A grade. ( )

Not as good as the first one. There wasn't quite enough conflict in this for me, so the plot fell a little flat. I also wasn't thrilled about the whole storyline with Etienne basically killing Francis and Elinors first son, the one she is pregnant with at the end of Ruthless. All in all though it was a decent read and I still want to continue the series. There is a level of darkness that isn't present in a lot of historical, which can lean toward the extreme side of fluffy. ( )