The banter between the protagonists was good but I didn't like either of them. She was a Mary Sue and he was just too damn lecherous to hold any appeal.

He constantly called her 'my child' which is creepy considering their age difference. There wasn't enough redemption for the hero to suddenly turn around and stop all his debauchery. ( )

re-read in May 2014. Elinor realllly annoyed me. ( )

I enjoyed this book the first time around. But it was a nice book to listen to as well. ( )

I would say not to let my careful scruples w/r/t stars dissuade you because while this book is trash, I enjoyed it immensely. ( )

This wasn't as good as I'd hoped, but I'll still continue with the series. We hear that the heroine has had to be level-headed and responsible for the past decade, but, I guess the hero just unsettles her, because she hardly acts with caution or practicality the entire book. The hero is determined to seduce the heroine, but the 'seduction' felt kinda like just wearing her down, lol. And the heroine is attracted to the hero but doesn't want to be, so she spends the vast majority of the book trying to despise and thwart him. Other people might be into the 'battle of wills' sort of thing more than I am, but to me it didn't leave a lot of room for any actual romance. Or even getting to know each other. It's all oppositional head-butting until suddenly in the end they're deeply in love.
I will say also, with the hero being the leader of a free-for-all sin society, I really thought this would be steamier. That scandalousness is very much in the background, and with all the 'thwarting' going on, the main couple don't have many steamy scenes either. There is also a secondary romance as well but they don't really get any steam at all.
So, it wasn't what I was expecting, but I didn't despise the characters or anything. We'll see how the rest of the series goes. ( )