I have enjoyed reading several of Christina Dodd's book and found this one lacking.

Lady Guinevere Mary Fairchild and her brother ran away from their home after having something to do with a man's death. Mary ended up working as head housekeeper for Lady Valery who is notorious for having clandestine liaisons with members of the parliament. Unfortunately, the details of her liasions were added to her diary which has been stolen by someone in the Fairchild family and she asks for her godson's (Lord Sebastian Durant's) help to get it back.

Her plot is to have Sebastian announce his engagement to Mary and return to the Fairchild estate to find the diary.

After the beginning, the story seemed to lag and I didn't feel the love between the two main characters. To me it seemed all about the sex and getting revenge. I think it could have had stronger characters and a better plot throughout the whole book.

This was a disappointment to me since I've enjoyed so many of Ms. Dodd's other books. ( )

I liked this book for the first part. Then I hated it. Who in God's name ever thought that rape was sexy??? Because that's exactly what it was. Mary was flat-out raped, and the fact that we're supposed to like the guy who did this almost made me vomit. I lost any sympathy for the hero at that point. He claims to love her - and I don't believe a bit of it. He's cruel, selfish, and a rapist to boot. And his attempt at an "apology" later is pathetic. Disgusting. ( )