I haven't read any other books in this series, but it still seemed to work. I liked that the heroine was a tortured and tormented as the hero for once but it made for a very dark novel. This is not a light and fluffy read, but rather an intense ride of a book. I believed the characters, I like that she forgave him for doing something that many would find legitamately unforgiveable, because she immediately understood that he was being blackmailed and that the cost of not doing it was too high. I liked both their pain and their pragmatism. Of course they were botha bit superheroish in their physical abilities and pain tolerances, but this is not by any means realism. In the heightened world of erotic t hrillers, everything made perfect sense and worked. I'd recommend it. ( )