Ryder Sherbrooke was a marvel. I loved his humor and extreme sensitivity. Sophie could definately "read men well." At age 19, she knew a bit too much about the males anatomy, but Ryder's inquisitive sister tied in the knowledge well. The mother was fabulous and the children thrown into the mix was delightful. ( )

I wish I could like this book as I do the others in this series. Alas, while I know the two decades of rape in romance fiction has only in recent years come to a well-needed close, this book takes it to such extremes as to make it unbearable. Ryder thinks that as long as he uses "cream", sex with his unwilling wife is a necessity to overcome her brutal past. And the convolutions necessary to have given Sophie a past of sexual abuse but kept her a virgin are ludicrous.

I keep this book in my collection for completeness only. ( )

Ryder Sherbrooke is a fun-loving rake with a secret. When he travels to Jamaica to solve the mystery of the supernatural goings-on at the Sherbrooke sugar plantation, he finds another mystery as well - a sophisticated nineteen-year-old girl, Sophia Stanton-Greville, who wants to bed him. And not, he believes, because she is simply enthralled with his handsome self or his boundless charm.

Sophia has successfully controlled every man in her orbit until she meets Ryder Sherbrooke, a man she knows immediately is different from the others, a man she sees as one of hell's own sons. Ryder, confident as only a successful rake can be when it comes to knowing women, sets out to teach her who is in charge. It's said she already has three lovers. Is she indeed the outrageous tease she appears? A seductress? Or is she an innocent with an ugly and terrifying secret?

As to Ryder's secret, you will see. You will also meet Douglas and Alexandra Sherbrooke from The Sherbrooke Bride; Sinjun Sherbrooke; and the Virgin Bride. The Heiress Bride will feature Sinjun Sherbrooke and Colin Kinross, an impoverished Scottish earl, who does his best to sink the unsinkable Sinjun.