Overall: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (If I rated this today I think I would give it a 4 – When I first read it in my teens it was 5 to me (and wrecked me and kept a long term love of historical romance going) so I’m going to leave it as my original 5 star rating)
Plot/Storyline: 📖📖📖📖
Feels: 🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋
Emotional Depth: 💔💔💔💔 (Whitney’s is quite strong but Clayton’s is lacking)
Sexual Tension: ⚡⚡⚡
Romance: 💞💞💞
Sensuality: 💋💋
Sex Scene Length: 🍑🍑
Steam Scale (Number of Sex Scenes): 🔥 (This is funny to me because I remembered this book as WAY hotter than what it is)
Humor: Yes, there are some funny parts but overall it’s a darker, angsty story
Perspective: Third person from….everyone. Mostly from Whitney, and a bit from Clayton but you also get random bits from a ton of other characters (classic old school head hopping)
Cliffhanger: No
Epilogue: No
Format: physical copy bought at a used book store (The “old” version without the editing)

Should I read in order?
This is fine to read alone, though it is part of a series. There is a brief mention of the first Duke of Claymore

Basic plot:
Whitney is determined to win her childhood love, but Clayton will do anything to have her as his wife.

Give this a try if you want:
- Regency time period (1816)
- France, London, English countryside settings
- “sold” heroine – Whitney’s father negotiates a marriage settlement without her permission
- you’re okay with some big content warnings (see below)
- you’re okay with plenty of miscommunication/lack of communication as plot devices
- soooo much angst
- enemies to lovers with lots of push and pull
- jealousy/ other man/woman drama
- low steam – I’d say 1 full scene along with some kisses


Ages:
- I’m not sure if Clayton’s age is mentioned but I pictured him as older, maybe mid 30s? Whitney I believe is 19 or 20.

First line:
As their elegant traveling chaise rocked and swayed along the rutted country road, Lady Anne Gilbert leaned her cheek against her husband’s shoulder and heaved a long, impatient sigh.

My thoughts:

“The only ‘terrible’ thing Whitney has ever done in her life was marrying me,” Clayton interrupted


Correct, Clayton!

Oof this book. Now, this was one of my first historical romances. (My very first being With This Ring by Amanda Quick..) So, this book will always have a soft spot in my heart because I was 12 or 13 when I read this and it WRECKED ME. Took my heart out and stomped all over it. And I see things in this book that I have always chased in romance since then, than I have always loved. Maybe some kind of weird nostalgic abuse chasing trauma it gave me…I still crave those jerky, cruel heroes (though perhaps not this cruel…), I still love my heart ripped out, I still love ‘sold’ heroine tropes, and I’m still okay with miscommunication in a plot (IF it leads to my heart getting kicked around...), surprise virgin (though...perhaps not this play out)

So, foremost, don’t read this book as a recommendation from me. Only read if you are okay with some really cruel and unforgivable actions from the hero! Very much a ‘bodice ripper’ feel with the forceful kisses and bedroom activity. Very misogynistic views and this book is riddled with purity culture/virgin on a pedestal. Super problematic and toxic relationship stuff. It also has very large feels of ‘not like other girls’ for the heroine. She does have a few friends that are portrayed in a positive light, but most of the women are used to show how beautiful and interesting Whitney is.

NOTE: There were a few things redone in the updated version of the book. I read the older one, but I believe the rape scene and spanking were removed from the updated one? I told myself I would read that version after but honestly I’m just so, so emotionally tired from this I’m not sure if I can do it again right now.

So, it’s been years since I read this and there was a lot I didn’t remember about it. First of all, it felt WAY steamier to me in my memory. I also don’t remember wanting the book to end like 5 times before it actually ended. I felt the book could have ended after they agreed on a betrothal and an epilogue could have been the wedding. But then 

we had to work through the fact that Clayton raped her and she was scared to have sex again. So we work through the wedding night bedroom activity. THEN the book really should have ended. We are like...over 400 pages in. But then McNaught introduces a totally NEW miscommunication plotline, after the first 6 or 7 have ended. This I felt was totally unnecessary, but I did enjoy his grovel towards the end. I was definitely ready for this book to be over before it was over.

As for the relationship dynamics, they are both awful to each other on multiple occasions. They hurt each other purposefully. They both are prideful and don’t want to apologize unless they are sure they are going to get the outcome they want. I will say this time around I was left...unsatisfied with their HEA. Perhaps if it had ended at the wedding night it would have felt more believable to me. But the fact they fought again, said horrible things to each other, hated each other, over a misconstrued piece of paper...well I was left thinking this would happen again and again in their marriage. I was left thinking they weren’t actually going to make it.

In regards to the apologies….I loved being in Claytons head over his regret about his abuse of Whitney. That was important to me after what he did – I wanted to feel that self hatred and gut wrenching remorse (Side eying myself right now, don’t worry). I think it’s what helped me forgive him when I first read this novel. But I wasn’t as satisfied this read through because once they are together again and Whitney makes another mistake – he totally abandons her. He’s going to literally marry someone else. And he makes her do everything in her power to get him to take her back while all he did for his mistake, which was infinitely larger, was feel bad inside. But the ending did make up for it a bit for me when he acts as her maid, like a servant, and is on his knees before her. She forgave him way too easily though and her feeling bad for him in that position ruined it a bit for me.

Oh! Also, I thought it was absurd that he was going to just ‘leave her’ after raping her and that was his solution. I guess he thought she would marry Paul, but what if Paul didn’t? A woman in that era with a broken engagement like that, ruined after he had taken her from the ball...she would have no life. So I thought it was the cowards way out for him and the fact that he didn’t even talk to her about it was more disgusting.

Whitney, I know a lot of people don’t like her, and I can understand why. But I still liked her. I think she was young, naive, and kind of an idiot sometimes, but I loved her heart and spunk. She had a lot stacked against her in this life and she fought back with everything she had. 

Clayton, gosh he had my teenage heart. I didn’t love him as much this go around. Maybe I have grown up a touch in the past 20 years. But what really got me was when he called her a ‘bitch’ numerous times. I wanted to claw his eyes out.

So I give 4 stars because I still love my heart being trampled and I felt it again here.

Quotes/spoiler-y thoughts:

“Tell me how much you hate my touch,” he hissed. “Say it now, or don’t ever, ever say it to me again.”
Whitney’s chest tightened around an aching lump of poignant contrition and shattering tenderness. She swallowed painfully, tears filling her eyes. “I – I can’t.”
“You can’t tell me you despise my touch?” he jeered in a silky, ominous voice. “Why can’t you?”
“Because,” she whispered, attempting a trembly smile, “you warned me not five minutes ago, never to lie to you again.”

---
All BUT raped?? Nooooo that was rape sir…
Oh Christ! He had all but raped her and she had cried in his arms.

Cringe, cringe, cringe

“What if I refuse to agree?”
Staring at her hands, Whitney swallowed. “Then I’ll submit to you.”
“Submit to me?” Clayton repeated, stunned and a little irritated by her choice of words. He could hardly believe that after eight weeks, Whitney still thought of the final culmination of their desires as some form of punishment to which she must ‘submit’

Content warnings:

- Dubious consent and non-consensual kisses
- Rape by the hero
- Physical abuse against each other (heroine slaps the hero multiple times, hero spanks the heroine as punishment wit ha riding crop, there’s also scenes of physical force used while grabbing/kissing the heroine and she is in pain)
- Hero thinks of and calls the heroine as a bitch multiple times (and tells her to ‘shut up’)
- Animal abuse (there is a horse that’s terrified of the crop and isn’t good with riders – the heroine goads the hero into riding him and then terrifies the horse with the crop and hits the horse with crop accidentally)
- Death of heroine’s mother
- Pregnancy (towards the end/hero doesn’t believe the child is his)

Locations of kisses/intimate scenes:

 
Safe sex: [No – the hero has slept around but hasn’t been with anyone since he wanted Whitney. No protection used but he plans on marrying her (hide spoiler)]
Pg 49 – kiss (Nicki/Whitney)
Pg 78 – kiss (Nicki/Whitney)
Pg 165 – kiss (Clayton/Whitney)
Pg 190 – kiss (Paul/Whitney)
Pg 264 – harsh kiss (Clayton/Whitney)
Pg 289 – kiss (Clayton/Whitney)
Pg 302 – kiss (Clayton/Whitney)
Pg 348 – the revenge rape scene
Pg 474 – missionary
Pg 484 – mention of past sex
Total pages - 538