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Virtue & Vanity
With crushed dreams and a heavy heart, Isabelle Walsh becomes the wife of New York City millionaire Sebastian Everett. On the surface, her rich and beautiful husband is the embodiment of every girl’s dream, but Isabelle will learn just how deceiving looks can be. By the time she discovers there is real danger hidden behind those captivating green eyes and thick layers of sophisticated appearance, it is too late to escape Sebastian’s cruelty. Without a thread of compassion, he shows her the true meaning of hell, making it abundantly clear her fragile feelings mean nothing to him.
But life has strange ways of playing with one’s fate.
In an intriguing turn of events, the same man who had once shattered her to pieces, suddenly starts treating her with extreme care and swears there will be no more pain. Isabelle has been tricked too many times to believe him, but the devil she bargained with refuses to give up on his mission to earn her forgiveness as well as her heart. While Sebastian unfolds from a monster into Prince Charming right before her eyes, Isabelle finds herself falling under his spell and getting closer to making a choice that might be fatal for both of them.
But life has strange ways of playing with one’s fate.
In an intriguing turn of events, the same man who had once shattered her to pieces, suddenly starts treating her with extreme care and swears there will be no more pain. Isabelle has been tricked too many times to believe him, but the devil she bargained with refuses to give up on his mission to earn her forgiveness as well as her heart. While Sebastian unfolds from a monster into Prince Charming right before her eyes, Isabelle finds herself falling under his spell and getting closer to making a choice that might be fatal for both of them.
528 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 22, 2016
660 people are currently reading
3654 people want to read
About the author
Astrid Jane Ray
4 books395 followersAstrid Jane Ray is an author who likes writing anything from poems to short stories and novels. Being a hopeless dreamer, she isn't limited to any particular genres, although she is desperately addicted to dark romance novels. Her style is best described as a mixture of dark, angst filled drama which is followed by the slow development of love and redemption.
More than writing, she likes to read and her idea of a perfect day is a good book combined with a cup of hot tea and preferably rain.
Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/astridjane_...
E-mail: astridjaneray@gmail.com
More than writing, she likes to read and her idea of a perfect day is a good book combined with a cup of hot tea and preferably rain.
Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/astridjane_...
E-mail: astridjaneray@gmail.com
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 650 reviews
July 5, 2021
Fair warning to everyone so I don't get roasted and cyberbullied later:
🌚 the hero rapes the heroine on their wedding night and slaps her 1 or 2 times throughout the book. 🌚
Also the entire book consists of him grovelling and her still acting scared of him and being extremely traumatised.
Even though he changes his tactics and behaviour towards her, Sebastian stays a selfish, patriarchal piece of shit till the end of the story. (IMO)
The heroine is very meek and never stands up for herself. 🌚
That being said, I loved this story, it has a special place in my heart and I reread it when I feel desperate and want to cry alone in the silence of my room. 🤡
Original thoughts
Wow, this book was so very intense and disturbing that even though I read it a few months ago, my mind keeps wandering to it sometimes.
It may seem slow-paced and repetitive but I was glued to the characters and their feelings/emotions rather than hooked on plot development.
The hero is cruel but towards the end he shows his better side (not sure he has one but still. He makes mistakes (terrible ones), treats people like shit and the list goes on.
The heroine is being criticised here and labeled as a doormat by many readers. I personally found her really sweet (not a hypocrital bitchface or a girl swooning over a prick hero for no rational reason). She is a kind girl, repressed by her own so-called mother, terrified of the psycho "hero" and his dearest relatives. She had neither a person to rely on nor a positive role model her entire life. Her reactions to a string of some crazy things thrown her way were very natural/believable/logical IMO and didn't irritate me in the least. I didn't get any bad vibes from her throughout the book which made me really love her personality. She also induced the hero to rethink his actions.
Their interactions were damn intense. ✨
Also I cannot imagine such events happening in the 21st century USA (the actual setting) but I don't give a single fuck. 😌 That's my comfort read.
Astrid Jane Ray, I hope you keep writing dark, emotional stories with your beautiful writing style . I am waiting impatiently for any book you plan to write!!!
🌚 the hero rapes the heroine on their wedding night and slaps her 1 or 2 times throughout the book. 🌚
Also the entire book consists of him grovelling and her still acting scared of him and being extremely traumatised.
Even though he changes his tactics and behaviour towards her, Sebastian stays a selfish, patriarchal piece of shit till the end of the story. (IMO)
The heroine is very meek and never stands up for herself. 🌚
That being said, I loved this story, it has a special place in my heart and I reread it when I feel desperate and want to cry alone in the silence of my room. 🤡
Original thoughts
Wow, this book was so very intense and disturbing that even though I read it a few months ago, my mind keeps wandering to it sometimes.
It may seem slow-paced and repetitive but I was glued to the characters and their feelings/emotions rather than hooked on plot development.
The hero is cruel but towards the end he shows his better side (not sure he has one but still. He makes mistakes (terrible ones), treats people like shit and the list goes on.
The heroine is being criticised here and labeled as a doormat by many readers. I personally found her really sweet (not a hypocrital bitchface or a girl swooning over a prick hero for no rational reason). She is a kind girl, repressed by her own so-called mother, terrified of the psycho "hero" and his dearest relatives. She had neither a person to rely on nor a positive role model her entire life. Her reactions to a string of some crazy things thrown her way were very natural/believable/logical IMO and didn't irritate me in the least. I didn't get any bad vibes from her throughout the book which made me really love her personality. She also induced the hero to rethink his actions.
Their interactions were damn intense. ✨
Also I cannot imagine such events happening in the 21st century USA (the actual setting) but I don't give a single fuck. 😌 That's my comfort read.
Astrid Jane Ray, I hope you keep writing dark, emotional stories with your beautiful writing style . I am waiting impatiently for any book you plan to write!!!
February 10, 2017
This is so sad because this book has everything I WANT! The plot was interesting, we have a cruel hero, hero who is inlove with ow, TSTL under dog heroine and they are in a marriage of convenience. Sounds promising yeah? Not really...
It just didn't do it for me. As I mentioned, the story line was good.. first few chapters was engaging but it quickly went down after that. The drama was MEH. I feel like I was just reading it and it should have made me feel like I'M IN IT. The way it was told was a lil off, some scenarios was all over the place that my mind couldn't even process it. There were some revelations but the way it was delivered was chappy and boring. For me the whole thing was lacking of something. Everything just didn't sit right to me. I don't know.. I'm prolly not making any sense here again. lol!
I'm all into underdog characters- heroine with no backbone? Fuck sign me up! But the heroine here annoyed the shit out of me! It seems like she cried in every fuckin chapter! I think the author was trying to make us reader feel sorry for her, but the constant whining, shaking, throwing up, passing out and the self pity bullshit was too much EVEN for me WHO LOVES THIS KIND OF SHIT!
I've been reading this for 3 days, not even close to the end and It made me think.. "Why do I even bother?"
So I gave up. I skimmed throughout and just read the ending. I can now cross this one out!
BTW- I'm not sure why this one is labeled as dark, it sure didn't feel like anything dark to me!
October 16, 2021
dnf 25%
I usually actually I never rate books I dnf that early but you people don't understand the emotional, mental and spiritual distress this story has caused me.
And no, it wasn't even because of the crimes the hero committed by unapologetically raping the heroine while having the personality of a cardboard box.
Many people hated Isabella. They say she is the weakest, most pathetic, doormat heroine to ever grace the pages of literature.
I disagree.
I admire her. No, I am baffled by the mental influence this girl had on me by the first quarter of this book.
In those short 25% I went from having a great productive day, a smile on my face and positive energy all around to scouting for a rope to hang myself with.
Isabella's soul looks like a neverending pit of sadness and despair. She spends her days recounting every reason for her miserable, tortured life and when she runs out? She sits in the veil of her depression telling everyone how pitiful and useless she is. I am shocked her tear ducts are still functioning with the amount of time she spends crying and crying AND CRYING.
It takes one hell of a spirit to hate yourself that much and not go insane. Isabella, please go to therapy, like how are you even alive.
What I imagine Isabella's gaunt, lost soul to look like:
And no I literally do not care if she gets better with time (which judging by the reviews she does not) BECAUSE I STILL WANT TO JUMP OFF A CLIFF.
Buddy read with TJ and Samradni. I QUIT LIKE THE DRAMATIC ASS BITCH I AM, but I hope you guys survive through this with no suicides<3
And no, it wasn't even because of the crimes the hero committed by unapologetically raping the heroine while having the personality of a cardboard box.
Many people hated Isabella. They say she is the weakest, most pathetic, doormat heroine to ever grace the pages of literature.
I disagree.
I admire her. No, I am baffled by the mental influence this girl had on me by the first quarter of this book.
In those short 25% I went from having a great productive day, a smile on my face and positive energy all around to scouting for a rope to hang myself with.
Isabella's soul looks like a neverending pit of sadness and despair. She spends her days recounting every reason for her miserable, tortured life and when she runs out? She sits in the veil of her depression telling everyone how pitiful and useless she is. I am shocked her tear ducts are still functioning with the amount of time she spends crying and crying AND CRYING.
It takes one hell of a spirit to hate yourself that much and not go insane. Isabella, please go to therapy, like how are you even alive.
What I imagine Isabella's gaunt, lost soul to look like:
And no I literally do not care if she gets better with time (which judging by the reviews she does not) BECAUSE I STILL WANT TO JUMP OFF A CLIFF.
Buddy read with TJ and Samradni. I QUIT LIKE THE DRAMATIC ASS BITCH I AM, but I hope you guys survive through this with no suicides<3
March 31, 2017
This book makes me deeply uneasy. Mainly because tho he does work to win her over, he is still abusive. Abuse and an abuser mentality happens when you refuse to let the other person act under their own agency.
No matter what he thought she had done in collaboration with her mother, when he refuses to let her go - in spite of her clearly stated request, when he keeps touching her - in spite of her clearly stated request, when he continually tells her she has no choice - no matter how well he treats her or how nice he becomes - he is an abuser. Then he divorces her - again without consulting her.
This woman is not a child and can act on her own agency and her own behalf. Yet this man consistently and persistently denies her requests and refuses to let HER decide what she wants to do. All of that is abuse.
The appropriate action of a man who doesn't abuse is to A) not rape the woman, B) not hit the woman and C) when the woman asks for a divorce, to immediately call an attorney and accede to her wishes.
None of that happens here, so what you have isn't a bad start then a slow courtship to true love - you have an intimidated and fearful woman who is affected by Stockholm Syndrome and traumatic bonding. No matter how sorry he says he is, if he was really willing to make amends, he would have divorced her the first time she asked. Instead he forces her to accommodate HIS demands to be in his presence and do what HE wants her to do.
It leaves a very bad taste in the mouth to see this in a contemporary current book. No matter how much or how many bodice rippers one has read in the past, it isn't 1974 anymore and romances are supposed to be better than this.
No matter what he thought she had done in collaboration with her mother, when he refuses to let her go - in spite of her clearly stated request, when he keeps touching her - in spite of her clearly stated request, when he continually tells her she has no choice - no matter how well he treats her or how nice he becomes - he is an abuser. Then he divorces her - again without consulting her.
This woman is not a child and can act on her own agency and her own behalf. Yet this man consistently and persistently denies her requests and refuses to let HER decide what she wants to do. All of that is abuse.
The appropriate action of a man who doesn't abuse is to A) not rape the woman, B) not hit the woman and C) when the woman asks for a divorce, to immediately call an attorney and accede to her wishes.
None of that happens here, so what you have isn't a bad start then a slow courtship to true love - you have an intimidated and fearful woman who is affected by Stockholm Syndrome and traumatic bonding. No matter how sorry he says he is, if he was really willing to make amends, he would have divorced her the first time she asked. Instead he forces her to accommodate HIS demands to be in his presence and do what HE wants her to do.
It leaves a very bad taste in the mouth to see this in a contemporary current book. No matter how much or how many bodice rippers one has read in the past, it isn't 1974 anymore and romances are supposed to be better than this.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 30, 2021
2 stars
Before getting into the review, I just wanna says that books with plots like this one which contain abuse by a partner do not qualify as romance in my definition so I’m just gonna judge this by how well it tried and achieved/failed to convey the necessary emotions I wanted to go through while reading this. I think that if you wanna write something like this and turn it into a HEA (even if realistically, nobody should do that) then you gotta take me on a rollercoaster ride of angst, indignation, emotional pain, anger, then you gotta give me something to quench my vengeful mind and my “tit for tat” life mantra.
Right off the bat, I’ll say that this book did not do any of the above.
The Unwanted Wife by Natasha Anders was much, much better because it actually made me emotional and also the plot was less convoluted. And by plot I actually mean the reason for the whole misunderstanding that started all the bad vibes between them (look at me calling rape and physical abuse bad vibes - I clearly read too much dark stuff because this was mild to say the least).
So, as I was saying, this didn’t live up to my expectations. And to anyone wondering, NO, I didn’t rate this down because of the very problematic things that happened, or because I consider this to be a messed up relationship with a clear power imbalance and a heroine who was emotionally manipulated. Nope, none of that factored in because I knew all of their details going in.
The rating reflects the fact that this was not as angsty and emotional as it promised to be. At least not after 25% of the book and also it was wayyy too long for the actual content that it offered. I could have cut it in half and still have the same story. Overall it just wasn’t that good ya’know? Also, towards the end it got so so so cheesy, and I can’t stand OTT declarations of love. Just yuck.
Before getting into the review, I just wanna says that books with plots like this one which contain abuse by a partner do not qualify as romance in my definition so I’m just gonna judge this by how well it tried and achieved/failed to convey the necessary emotions I wanted to go through while reading this. I think that if you wanna write something like this and turn it into a HEA (even if realistically, nobody should do that) then you gotta take me on a rollercoaster ride of angst, indignation, emotional pain, anger, then you gotta give me something to quench my vengeful mind and my “tit for tat” life mantra.
Right off the bat, I’ll say that this book did not do any of the above.
The Unwanted Wife by Natasha Anders was much, much better because it actually made me emotional and also the plot was less convoluted. And by plot I actually mean the reason for the whole misunderstanding that started all the bad vibes between them (look at me calling rape and physical abuse bad vibes - I clearly read too much dark stuff because this was mild to say the least).
So, as I was saying, this didn’t live up to my expectations. And to anyone wondering, NO, I didn’t rate this down because of the very problematic things that happened, or because I consider this to be a messed up relationship with a clear power imbalance and a heroine who was emotionally manipulated. Nope, none of that factored in because I knew all of their details going in.
The rating reflects the fact that this was not as angsty and emotional as it promised to be. At least not after 25% of the book and also it was wayyy too long for the actual content that it offered. I could have cut it in half and still have the same story. Overall it just wasn’t that good ya’know? Also, towards the end it got so so so cheesy, and I can’t stand OTT declarations of love. Just yuck.
September 27, 2021
Dear Sebastian:
I need time to process the fact that your wife was the weakest heroine I’ve ever known 🤡
You’ll have my love forever Sebastian. That groveling you did right there was something to behold for some, but I couldn’t look sometimes because it was getting a bit too much…
Don’t you want to divorce her and come live with me? You can make me pancakes anytime you want, and I won’t be squirming for a year if you slap me (I’ll just slap you back).
All the love,
Ainhoa.
I need time to process the fact that your wife was the weakest heroine I’ve ever known 🤡
You’ll have my love forever Sebastian. That groveling you did right there was something to behold for some, but I couldn’t look sometimes because it was getting a bit too much…
Don’t you want to divorce her and come live with me? You can make me pancakes anytime you want, and I won’t be squirming for a year if you slap me (I’ll just slap you back).
All the love,
Ainhoa.
March 24, 2025
2 stars
Because I lost my fuel to read my current book, I tried to spark up my interest again by reading my ultimate favorite trope, the groveling hero. I found this book recommended on Reddit under "romance books with groveling heroes" lol, and without checking the reviews on Goodreads, I dived right in. And yes, everybody, I was that desperate to find another top-tier groveling book like The Unwanted Wife. If anybody knows one, please tell me!
I really had a good feeling about this one when I read the first 25% of the book. It had everything I crave, arrogant MMC, underdog FMC, forced marriage, etc. But then… It started falling apart from there (I think that was my limit, but I don’t know, I read Consequences by Aleatha Romig and loved it, but not this one. That specific part gave me the ick).
The story was all over the place. It really reminded me of Fifty Shits of Grey But just as ridiculous (I hate that book with all my being, and this book brought me right back to it.)
The girl kept hyperventilating and crying in every chapter, and the asshole? I don’t know—his groveling didn’t satisfy me at all. I skimmed so many parts. And I know that when I skim, it’s grim.
And the cheeeeeeeesy galore, oh goshhhhh, it made my skin crawl.
I would die laughing if someone said that during foreplay. 💀💀💀💀💀💀💀
Note: I didn’t give it 1 star because the first part did satisfy my craving, even if only for a while. lol
Note 2: No offense to all the Mr. Grey lovers out there and everyone who loved this book.
Because I lost my fuel to read my current book, I tried to spark up my interest again by reading my ultimate favorite trope, the groveling hero. I found this book recommended on Reddit under "romance books with groveling heroes" lol, and without checking the reviews on Goodreads, I dived right in. And yes, everybody, I was that desperate to find another top-tier groveling book like The Unwanted Wife. If anybody knows one, please tell me!
I really had a good feeling about this one when I read the first 25% of the book. It had everything I crave, arrogant MMC, underdog FMC, forced marriage, etc. But then… It started falling apart from there (I think that was my limit, but I don’t know, I read Consequences by Aleatha Romig and loved it, but not this one. That specific part gave me the ick).
The story was all over the place. It really reminded me of Fifty Shits of Grey But just as ridiculous (I hate that book with all my being, and this book brought me right back to it.)
The girl kept hyperventilating and crying in every chapter, and the asshole? I don’t know—his groveling didn’t satisfy me at all. I skimmed so many parts. And I know that when I skim, it’s grim.
And the cheeeeeeeesy galore, oh goshhhhh, it made my skin crawl.
"Let me take you back to paradise where you came from."
I would die laughing if someone said that during foreplay. 💀💀💀💀💀💀💀
Note: I didn’t give it 1 star because the first part did satisfy my craving, even if only for a while. lol
Note 2: No offense to all the Mr. Grey lovers out there and everyone who loved this book.
October 16, 2021
dnf @ 55%
BR with the superhuman samradni 🏋🏽♀️ and my fellow quitter anna 🏃🏽♀️ (also chaotically supervised by the books biggest lover and biggest hater, aunty irunía and queen rat tanaz)
i'll try to keep this short and sweet: the hero was so bland it offends me he thought he could get away w antihero behavior without even an OUNCE of charisma. the heroine cries so much bitch might as well be a FOUNTAIN, and real talk this book should have a trigger warning that being inside her head for longer than fifty pages at a time may induce feelings of depression and suicidal thoughts for the reader. i respect and honestly fear anyone w the resolve to finish this 💀 just let it be known i lasted longer than anna sksksks
BR with the superhuman samradni 🏋🏽♀️ and my fellow quitter anna 🏃🏽♀️ (also chaotically supervised by the books biggest lover and biggest hater, aunty irunía and queen rat tanaz)
i'll try to keep this short and sweet: the hero was so bland it offends me he thought he could get away w antihero behavior without even an OUNCE of charisma. the heroine cries so much bitch might as well be a FOUNTAIN, and real talk this book should have a trigger warning that being inside her head for longer than fifty pages at a time may induce feelings of depression and suicidal thoughts for the reader. i respect and honestly fear anyone w the resolve to finish this 💀 just let it be known i lasted longer than anna sksksks
dnf
March 22, 2016I'm not going to rate, because I skimmed far too much to justify it. The soapy Unwanted Wife premise intrigued me, but I found I couldn't continue. It wasn't the disturbing content in the beginning I knew going in this book dealt with controversial issues, although I realize it may be triggering to some readers and thus deserves a warning.
MHO this could have worked had an editor condensed it into about half the length (The book is around 550 pages). That could have been done without losing any content. Also it's first person, which isn't my favorite (ymmv) and some of the phrasing was a bit odd and the dialogue stilted. There was so much repetitive navel gazing and if the heroine cried one more time I was going to scream.
For fans of dark romance - this really doesn't fit that category. It had disturbing content in the beginning, but was more reminiscent of an old school Harley with a cruel hero than a "dark romance". It's not nearly twisted enough for that label, based on others I've read from the genre.
MHO this could have worked had an editor condensed it into about half the length (The book is around 550 pages). That could have been done without losing any content. Also it's first person, which isn't my favorite (ymmv) and some of the phrasing was a bit odd and the dialogue stilted. There was so much repetitive navel gazing and if the heroine cried one more time I was going to scream.
For fans of dark romance - this really doesn't fit that category. It had disturbing content in the beginning, but was more reminiscent of an old school Harley with a cruel hero than a "dark romance". It's not nearly twisted enough for that label, based on others I've read from the genre.
Want to read
June 8, 2025i don't like it, i mean it 😂
i'm not adding it to my read list because i literally skimmed 80% of it and just read interactions between main characters! kinda basically like how i watch shows 😭 and since the ratings were 3.2 (wayyyyy too low), i decided not to waste my time reading 500 pages of it lololol
tbh it's so long and repetitive as i've concluded and core wattpad type book BUT i actually kind of had fun hsjdhsjs 😂 but i will obviously support anyone who hates it because it actually has a lot of controversial scenes.
a) marital rape? the girl wasn't ready and the guy thought she's a gold-digger and since it was in the ✨ contract ✨ to do your duties, he forced her.
b) she slapped him and he slapped her back 😔
i had my fair share of 'what the actual fuck' moments in the start. mom selling her daughter to the richest man, the man is forced to marry the girl because of some old shitty rules and other wattpad 2014 things ✋🏻
did i mention BLONDE HAIR, BLUE EYES??
nvm he raped her and she's so fucking scared of him for the 60% of the book and during the 35% he realised his mistake and started groveling. like it was THE GROVELING, it was necessary and the whole book is basically about him groveling. he was so patient, kind, gentle and nice and at one moment i was like
nice
BUT NO FUCKING WAY. ✋🏻 i don't like these type of shit whatever idc. hsjshajja i don't like this guys i don't!!!!but the groveling was nice
also a friend suggested it and since she has read 500 romance books and KNOW ME, i thought she would suggest smth... dub con type but this was straight af non con like HOW DARE SHE!
i'm not adding it to my read list because i literally skimmed 80% of it and just read interactions between main characters! kinda basically like how i watch shows 😭 and since the ratings were 3.2 (wayyyyy too low), i decided not to waste my time reading 500 pages of it lololol
tbh it's so long and repetitive as i've concluded and core wattpad type book BUT i actually kind of had fun hsjdhsjs 😂 but i will obviously support anyone who hates it because it actually has a lot of controversial scenes.
a) marital rape? the girl wasn't ready and the guy thought she's a gold-digger and since it was in the ✨ contract ✨ to do your duties, he forced her.
b) she slapped him and he slapped her back 😔
i had my fair share of 'what the actual fuck' moments in the start. mom selling her daughter to the richest man, the man is forced to marry the girl because of some old shitty rules and other wattpad 2014 things ✋🏻
did i mention BLONDE HAIR, BLUE EYES??
nvm he raped her and she's so fucking scared of him for the 60% of the book and during the 35% he realised his mistake and started groveling. like it was THE GROVELING, it was necessary and the whole book is basically about him groveling. he was so patient, kind, gentle and nice and at one moment i was like
nice
BUT NO FUCKING WAY. ✋🏻 i don't like these type of shit whatever idc. hsjshajja i don't like this guys i don't!!!!
also a friend suggested it and since she has read 500 romance books and KNOW ME, i thought she would suggest smth... dub con type but this was straight af non con like HOW DARE SHE!
January 23, 2019
I enjoyed this angsty ride quite a bit. I'm so happy that I picked this baby up a long time ago, as it's no longer available for purchase. The first half of the story was a solid 4 Stars for me, the last half was a solid 3 Stars. I did have a couple of issues with this story though. First off, the entire premise of WHY Isabelle agreed to marry Seb was her mother threatened to kick her 19 year old adult ass out of her mother's house if she didn't agree to marry him. Really?? That's the big threat?
Then her mother threatened to pull her other daughters out of school if Isabelle continued to refuse, and that sealed it. Yep, she's signing up to marry a complete stranger she doesn't want to be married to.
Seb actually tried to give Isabelle an out to walk away before the wedding ceremony. Isabelle should have confessed right then that she was being blackmailed into marrying him, and asked him for a little help to move out and get custody of her sisters. They could have both walked away from this ridiculous forced marriage, and Isabelle could have walked away from her mother giving her the one finger salute!
These issues aside, this story started out with a ton of promise. Sebastian started out in this story as the most gigantic, hateful prick I have ever read before. The way Seb treated Isabelle through the first half of the story was devastating. He was so cruel and mean, and he seriously seemed to thrive on his mental abuse he was inflicting on her. Isabelle's trauma, and then her broken spirit and terror she exibited felt extrememly realistic. My heart broke for her, and she was getting it from everybody around her. Her new husband, the awful help around the house, Seb's family (except one sweet adopted sister). Poor Isabelle could not win. I was devastated for her, and I could truly feel her shattered emotions completely. The angst whore in me was loving every second of all of these feels.
Then all of a sudden it was like a flip of a switch that didn't make any sense, and Seb became super sweet and caring, and decides he wants his marriage with Isabelle. He's going to take care for her and try to reverse the damage he's done to her to make her this broken creature she's turned into through the entire story. The extreme change in him didn't really make any sense. It was like he woke up one morning, and suddenly decided to stop being a dick for a change. This story needed a much bigger catalyst to create this huge change in his behavior than was given.
For me, this is where the story started to take a huge fall. This scathing hateful dick that Seb had been through the entire story so far, turned into this emasculated beta, and he didn't feel genuine anymore. And his endearing terms for Isabelle were ridiculous and annoying, and they felt entirely disingenuous. Speaking of annoying, I was so sick of Isabelle's crying, and flinching and whining by this point in the story. I swear I'm not insensitive, but it was SO repetitive it became grating. And the blushing. Omg, if I had to read about her blushing one more time I thought I was going to puke.
The story came together in the end, and Seb turned into the good guy that I truly didn't think was possible for him to transform into. Isabelle got back to a healthy place again, and there was a nice HEA in the ending. I did enjoy the story despite the aggravations in it, and I loved the decent amount of angst from the jealousy over Seb's previous fiance, and the heartbreak caused by asshole secondary characters. This author is very talented and I wouldn't hesitate to read other future stories she might come out with.
July 6, 2021
Aaaaarghhhh!
And this could been quite good!
It took me weeks but I saw it through so that I could rate it in good conscience.
1.75* or 2* are generous but they're for the bare bones of the plot and not for the treatment or the self-indulgent writing.
And this could been quite good!
It took me weeks but I saw it through so that I could rate it in good conscience.
1.75* or 2* are generous but they're for the bare bones of the plot and not for the treatment or the self-indulgent writing.
April 21, 2020
1 ⭐- Ugh! Didn't like it or triggers or pet peeve!
======================================
RAPE
======================================
RAPE
Without a warning, he took my virginity in one sudden, rough move and I screamed from the pain of the intrusion.
There was no tenderness, no mercy, and no reassurance. Slowly, he pulled out from me and panic gripped me when the next thrust was more painful than the first.
Tears kept falling down my numb face but I didn’t make a single sound.
Deep down I knew, in all sincerity, that I would never heal from what had just happened to me.
I wanted to die, and a heroic part of me hoped that he would kill me, because the excruciating pain and humiliation was too much to bear.
I was hit by the realization that I wasn’t innocent enough to believe in happy endings anymore.
Then his hand flew to my right cheek and he slapped me so hard, I hit the cold floor. But it didn’t end there. As I was staring at him in shock and fought to hold back the sting of tears in my eyes, he grabbed me by my elbow and ordered me to stand up.
Sebastian had hit me pretty hard but I was so concentrated on my emotions, that the swollen cheek hadn’t bothered me until now.
“Sebastian had gone through the same procedure with a girl named Cora. Her family lives in New York.
“So then, why? Didn’t Sebastian want to marry her?” I was astonished by Helen’s story.
“He did, very much. But it turned out that she...” Helen trailed off and she suddenly seemed sad. “Anyway, their marriage was out of the question.”
I was only meant to be used as a whore who would provide him with a son and would be tossed aside like a broken toy nobody wanted to play with anymore
A young woman was sitting on the sofa with her head leaned against Sebastian’s chest. My heart sank as I watched him hold her in his arms. He was so tender, stroking her hair and caressing her face. Then he laid a gentle kiss on her forehead while whispering softly to her. “Don’t ever forget how much I care.
I will always be there for you.” He treated her with such delicacy, like she was made of glass. “I know, Sebastian.” She looked up at him and answered quietly.
My mother’s threats, Dianne’s comments, Sebastian’s humiliations before our wedding, the night when he brutalized me, my nightmares, his constant intimidations, the horrible agreement I signed without thinking and that last thing I’d seen him do managed to come together into a ball of burning steel that crushed me with its overwhelming weight.
The realization that he was in love with Cora but still wanted to hold me accountable for signing that crazy agreement, broke my already battered heart.
What puzzled me even more was that Sebastian had shown me that he was ashamed of me on numerous occasions and yet, even though nothing had changed, he wanted to present me—the wife who was beneath him, to his work associates.
“Oh, did it happen at last? I’m Ethan.” He offered his hand and just when I was about to say my name, he forestalled me. “Nice to finally meet you, Cora.”
“Her name is Isabelle.” A courteous smile twisted his lips.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 22, 2021
I loved the angst but the story got VERY repetitive.
Good I was in the mood for endless tears, drama, misery and soap opera.
Strange circumstances of their marriage, reads more like a historical romance.
The author has a knack for weaving words BUT sometimes she doesn't make sense
Good I was in the mood for endless tears, drama, misery and soap opera.
Strange circumstances of their marriage, reads more like a historical romance.
The author has a knack for weaving words BUT sometimes she doesn't make sense
December 28, 2024
4.5 AAAAANGSTY stars
Ufffff. Talk about angsty with a capital A.
Isabelle’s (19) being blackmailed to marry millionaire architect Sebastian (26) by none other than her unloving mother 🥴. If she doesn’t marry Sebastian, then she won’t have anywhere to live and she can say goodbye to her dreams of going to college too 😑. After Sebastian’s father’s doctor confirms Isabelle is “pure” (😑), she’s forced to sign a contract (one she doesn’t even get a chance to read) and then she finally meets her husband-to-be.
Except he’s not happy about this union. He’s also doing this for inheritance reasons, one of which requires him to have an heir by someone from Isabelle’s bloodline 😒 which is why he agrees. After signing the contact and walking down the aisle where he humiliates Isabelle, he forcibly takes her v the night of their wedding 😬, and in the aftermath, he continues acting like an a s s😒.
But once he learns some truths, he realizes his mistakes.
Can he redeem himself? Will Isabelle ever forgive him?
Let the groveling begin 👏🏻
What I liked/loved: SPOILERS
—GROOOOOOOOVEL with the biggest, most capitalized G ever 👀. Listen. Sebastian f’ed up 🤷♀️. He did the crime, so he needed to pay the price, and boy does he does his best to do this 😅. He belittles her, embarrasses her, demeans her, and he thought she’d be okay with just a few words? Nah… you gotta do more, and more he does 👏🏻. Short of having bloodied knees (which he definitely could’ve done, but anyway 😒🤣🤣), he did whatever he could to make her trust in him again
—how patient he is with her 🫶. He was such an a hole to her, so he best be patient with her to make amends 🤷♀️. It’s the least he could do 💁♀️
—shredding her wedding dress and asking for a divorce 👏🏻 that’s right Isabelle. You show you have some kind of backbone 😅. I wish there were more scenes of these kind though 😬 especially after the ow scene
—how realistic trauma is depicted 😅. It’s not all rainbows and butterflies, and Isabelle is VERY affected by Sebastian’s v-taking AND then of the slap he gives her (which ends up bruising her 😬)
—character growth ❤️. Sebastian’s character had a looooot of development. I actually didn’t think I could ever like him 🤷♀️ but he changes so much. Isabelle gets stronger too ❤️
—Sebastian taking care of her when she’s sick (even though it’s because of him 😑 but anywayssss), making her tea, wanting to make their marriage work ❤️, and begging her 🥹 but also 😈
—the sweet stuff ❤️ like changing his cologne, asking her on dates, walking, talking, getting to know each other, reading together, playing the piano together, making her pancakes ❤️ the list is endless with how he tries to make amends while showing her how much he cares 🫶
—Sebastian supporting Isabelle ❤️
—the one good 🔥 scene at the VERY end. I’m glad Sebastian prepared her and was incredibly patient with her. It was hot and sweet 🫶 makes sense ❤️
—Sebastian firing Teresa 💅. Good riddance 😑
What I didn’t like/wanted more of:
—the owd 😒. Yeah. So his ex was dying, I still didn’t agree with him kissing her 😒
—he hits her back 😬. I mean. He DOES explain himself, but still 😑
—the amount of crying by Isabelle 😬. It was so PAINFUL to see how much pain she was in 😅. I know. I’m a terrible person 🫣 but man… she cried… a looooot 😅. Most of the time, I wanted to hug her, but other times? I cringed 🥴🫣🫣. Yes. What she experienced was traumatic, but, my gosh Isabelle… get a hold of yourself 🫣🫣🫣
—more 🔥 buildup. We get one good scene at the VEEEEEEERY end, which was beautiful and sweet. But I wish we had gotten more 😅. There were a few times Sebastian tries, but because of her trauma, nothing happens 😒 lowkey, I was upset 😒. lol!!! I’m terrible I know 🫣
—more into their future 👀
Overall, I loved it
⚠️safety squad⚠️
-no sharing/omd
-cheating*- after they’re married, the H kisses his ex on her forehead and chastely on her lips (she’s dying and he’s comforting her). I didn’t exactly consider this true cheating, but it technically is
-OWD: the H’s ex makes a couple of appearances. See note above. This causes the h distress (and also makes her ask for a divorce). We don’t see her after the 45% mark when their relationship changes. Before the 50% mark a friend of his accidentally calls the h the ow’s name 😬 (the H and the friend hadn’t seen each other in years and assumed the h was the ow whom the H was with for years)
-death of alcoholic father
-neglectful mother/emotionally abusive
-noncon/rape (1 time)
-the H hits the h one time as well
-condoms
-virgin h/not a manwhore H
-HEA/epilogue/7 years later
Ufffff. Talk about angsty with a capital A.
Isabelle’s (19) being blackmailed to marry millionaire architect Sebastian (26) by none other than her unloving mother 🥴. If she doesn’t marry Sebastian, then she won’t have anywhere to live and she can say goodbye to her dreams of going to college too 😑. After Sebastian’s father’s doctor confirms Isabelle is “pure” (😑), she’s forced to sign a contract (one she doesn’t even get a chance to read) and then she finally meets her husband-to-be.
Except he’s not happy about this union. He’s also doing this for inheritance reasons, one of which requires him to have an heir by someone from Isabelle’s bloodline 😒 which is why he agrees. After signing the contact and walking down the aisle where he humiliates Isabelle, he forcibly takes her v the night of their wedding 😬, and in the aftermath, he continues acting like an a s s😒.
But once he learns some truths, he realizes his mistakes.
Can he redeem himself? Will Isabelle ever forgive him?
Let the groveling begin 👏🏻
What I liked/loved: SPOILERS
—GROOOOOOOOVEL with the biggest, most capitalized G ever 👀. Listen. Sebastian f’ed up 🤷♀️. He did the crime, so he needed to pay the price, and boy does he does his best to do this 😅. He belittles her, embarrasses her, demeans her, and he thought she’d be okay with just a few words? Nah… you gotta do more, and more he does 👏🏻. Short of having bloodied knees (which he definitely could’ve done, but anyway 😒🤣🤣), he did whatever he could to make her trust in him again
—how patient he is with her 🫶. He was such an a hole to her, so he best be patient with her to make amends 🤷♀️. It’s the least he could do 💁♀️
—shredding her wedding dress and asking for a divorce 👏🏻 that’s right Isabelle. You show you have some kind of backbone 😅. I wish there were more scenes of these kind though 😬 especially after the ow scene
—how realistic trauma is depicted 😅. It’s not all rainbows and butterflies, and Isabelle is VERY affected by Sebastian’s v-taking AND then of the slap he gives her (which ends up bruising her 😬)
—character growth ❤️. Sebastian’s character had a looooot of development. I actually didn’t think I could ever like him 🤷♀️ but he changes so much. Isabelle gets stronger too ❤️
—Sebastian taking care of her when she’s sick (even though it’s because of him 😑 but anywayssss), making her tea, wanting to make their marriage work ❤️, and begging her 🥹 but also 😈
—the sweet stuff ❤️ like changing his cologne, asking her on dates, walking, talking, getting to know each other, reading together, playing the piano together, making her pancakes ❤️ the list is endless with how he tries to make amends while showing her how much he cares 🫶
—Sebastian supporting Isabelle ❤️
—the one good 🔥 scene at the VERY end. I’m glad Sebastian prepared her and was incredibly patient with her. It was hot and sweet 🫶 makes sense ❤️
—Sebastian firing Teresa 💅. Good riddance 😑
What I didn’t like/wanted more of:
—the owd 😒. Yeah. So his ex was dying, I still didn’t agree with him kissing her 😒
—he hits her back 😬. I mean. He DOES explain himself, but still 😑
—the amount of crying by Isabelle 😬. It was so PAINFUL to see how much pain she was in 😅. I know. I’m a terrible person 🫣 but man… she cried… a looooot 😅. Most of the time, I wanted to hug her, but other times? I cringed 🥴🫣🫣. Yes. What she experienced was traumatic, but, my gosh Isabelle… get a hold of yourself 🫣🫣🫣
—more 🔥 buildup. We get one good scene at the VEEEEEEERY end, which was beautiful and sweet. But I wish we had gotten more 😅. There were a few times Sebastian tries, but because of her trauma, nothing happens 😒 lowkey, I was upset 😒. lol!!! I’m terrible I know 🫣
—more into their future 👀
Overall, I loved it
⚠️safety squad⚠️
-no sharing/omd
-cheating*- after they’re married, the H kisses his ex on her forehead and chastely on her lips (she’s dying and he’s comforting her). I didn’t exactly consider this true cheating, but it technically is
-OWD: the H’s ex makes a couple of appearances. See note above. This causes the h distress (and also makes her ask for a divorce). We don’t see her after the 45% mark when their relationship changes. Before the 50% mark a friend of his accidentally calls the h the ow’s name 😬 (the H and the friend hadn’t seen each other in years and assumed the h was the ow whom the H was with for years)
-death of alcoholic father
-neglectful mother/emotionally abusive
-noncon/rape (1 time)
-the H hits the h one time as well
-condoms
-virgin h/not a manwhore H
-HEA/epilogue/7 years later
December 12, 2017
Holy fuck this shit was bad.
The premise was great...for a Regency Romance. There was hardly any content that grounded this story in modern times and TONS that made me think Johana Lindsay could have written this shit better.
93% and the only sex scene was the H raping the h at 10%.
Believe the bad reviews. They’re not lying.
I’m still on the hunt for a great angsty-trainwreck...
The premise was great...for a Regency Romance. There was hardly any content that grounded this story in modern times and TONS that made me think Johana Lindsay could have written this shit better.
93% and the only sex scene was the H raping the h at 10%.
Believe the bad reviews. They’re not lying.
I’m still on the hunt for a great angsty-trainwreck...
June 6, 2022
3 stars⭐️⭐️⭐️
TW: Rape and abuse.
Sebastian is the definition of a man with questionable morals and zero redeeming qualities. He was vicious. Absolutely vicious…Until he wasn’t.🥵
I was dubious about this book at the beginning but all my doubts went out the window (along with my dubious (😌💅🏼) morals) the moment Sebastian opened his mouth and said this:
This book started out so good but it quickly plummeted from a solid 4 star to 2 star. The writing felt a bit off and amateurish to me and there were no paragraph breaks! But I didn’t mind it that much at the beginning because the story sounded promising but it quickly went downhill and the writing and the characters started grating on my nerves. The story got repetitive and the characters got stuck in an endless cycle of grovel, cry, sleep, and repeat.
Here’s a brief summary of the book:
The beginning of the book: The H rapes the h on their wedding night.
The middle of the book: the h gets constant nightmares and is absolutely terrified of the H. The H realizes what a grave mistake he’s made. Suddenly gains a conscience and spends all his time groveling for h’s forgiveness.
The second-middle of the book: the h flinches and trembles every time the H comes near her and hates to be in his presence. So the H grovels even more.
The third-middle of the book: the h is still skittish and the H is still groveling.
The fourth-middle of the book: no progress. The H is STILL groveling.
The fifth-middle of the book: the H makes some progress with the h and she starts to let her guard down a little. But is still afraid to be intimate with the H.
The end of the book: well I don’t know what happened in the end because it was really dragging and it really AGITATED and AGONIZED me. So I quit. *shrugs nonchalantly*
But please don’t let the 3 stars fool you into thinking that there was nothing memorable about the book. Because there was. Oh, there was. Want to know what? The way Sebastian cared for Isabelle after he’d been nothing but cruel to her when she came down with a fever. The way he changed his cologne because it triggered bad memories for Isabelle. The way he caressed her bruised cheek, after he’d heartlessly slapped her, while she was asleep.
I might not remember the names of the characters or the name of the book in the future but I KNOW I’ll always remember these moments. 🥺💅🏼
TW: Rape and abuse.
Sebastian is the definition of a man with questionable morals and zero redeeming qualities. He was vicious. Absolutely vicious…Until he wasn’t.🥵
I was dubious about this book at the beginning but all my doubts went out the window (along with my dubious (😌💅🏼) morals) the moment Sebastian opened his mouth and said this:
”“Why didn’t you tell me you were a virgin?” His unexpected question broke the silence.”
This book started out so good but it quickly plummeted from a solid 4 star to 2 star. The writing felt a bit off and amateurish to me and there were no paragraph breaks! But I didn’t mind it that much at the beginning because the story sounded promising but it quickly went downhill and the writing and the characters started grating on my nerves. The story got repetitive and the characters got stuck in an endless cycle of grovel, cry, sleep, and repeat.
Here’s a brief summary of the book:
The beginning of the book: The H rapes the h on their wedding night.
The middle of the book: the h gets constant nightmares and is absolutely terrified of the H. The H realizes what a grave mistake he’s made. Suddenly gains a conscience and spends all his time groveling for h’s forgiveness.
The second-middle of the book: the h flinches and trembles every time the H comes near her and hates to be in his presence. So the H grovels even more.
The third-middle of the book: the h is still skittish and the H is still groveling.
The fourth-middle of the book: no progress. The H is STILL groveling.
The fifth-middle of the book: the H makes some progress with the h and she starts to let her guard down a little. But is still afraid to be intimate with the H.
The end of the book: well I don’t know what happened in the end because it was really dragging and it really AGITATED and AGONIZED me. So I quit. *shrugs nonchalantly*
But please don’t let the 3 stars fool you into thinking that there was nothing memorable about the book. Because there was. Oh, there was. Want to know what? The way Sebastian cared for Isabelle after he’d been nothing but cruel to her when she came down with a fever. The way he changed his cologne because it triggered bad memories for Isabelle. The way he caressed her bruised cheek, after he’d heartlessly slapped her, while she was asleep.
I might not remember the names of the characters or the name of the book in the future but I KNOW I’ll always remember these moments. 🥺💅🏼
January 22, 2023
DNF: I really really really tried, but after almost 3 days of agony, self-loathing and feeling like my teeth are being pulled, I gave up
Knowing before venturing into this book that the hero would rape and slap the heroine twice didn't deter me (Thanks, Irunia). No, on the contrary, it made me morbidly curious how the author would come from that to convincing me in their love story. Plus, sometimes I really want to read something dark or sick, mkay? 💀
To give you context, I've read a lot of bully/mafia/dark romances, where the hero sexually assaults the heroine (not rapes, there's a vast difference imo), but the author manages to still write a compelling love story later. Even those few and far between reads, where there was "non con", it was written from the heroine's POV (a must in my opinion, since it's crucial to know her emotions and feelings at that point) and we saw that she still enjoyed it physically, got to come and was left unhurt in the physical sense of the word. Usually those kind of scenarios were filled with "betraying body syndrome", anger at the hero for his actions, but also anger at herself for liking it. What makes all of those books different from this one, - and also far more convincing in the romance context - is the behavior of the heroine AFTERWARDS. The heroine USUALLY gives it to him as good as she takes: either hits/slaps him, or uses mind games, or her sarcasm or any other weapon in her arsenal to show the hero and the readers, that she is NOT weak, that she is NOT broken, that she WILL survive and come stronger after whatever the pesky little hero tried to do to her.
Here though...the hero raped her on their wedding night and the heroine was ruined beyond repair. Months later she was still puking her guts out from trauma, fainting, having night terrors, flinching away, being terrified, feeling petrified, always being ashamed and humiliated, and crying, and crying, and crying, and SO MUCH CRYING. DISCLAIMER: in no way, shape or form do I judge any woman's behavior who suffered rape. Everything she does to cope with the trauma is justified and you go girl! BUT! If that's the case with the HEROINE of a romance, there should be NO ROMANCE tbh. I wanted to send the heroine to some mental retreat and then to years long therapy, after which she should've rented a house in the woods and read books in peace and quiet.
Reading this book was torture. The first few chapters were great, which turned against me, because I was waiting for the book to be that great again, but alas...it didn't happen! I think I expected the heroes to behave a certain way, and the more my expectations were further away from reality, the more frustrated and pissed of I got. And it started LONG BEFORE THE RAPE SCENE.
The heroine was meek, timid and weak right from the start. She meets her future husband and his family for the first time (arranged marriage), where all of them except one person proceed to insult her, laugh at her and humiliate her. All her responses to this treatment are "Thank you" and "I'm sorry, I'll do better". I wanted to shake her out of her pathetic submission and remind her, that the rich snobs NEED her for this arranged marriage, or at least to say SOMETHING, really anything at this point to defend herself. But she remained quiet. And that was only the beginning of her quiet journey.
It was very seldom that she had a thought in her head that would defend herself, but sometimes she had whole lines as a reply to someone's comments. Only problem is, those articulated lines remained IN HER HEAD *scoffs in disappointment* There were HUNDREDS of times where she "wanted to say something", but "couldn't utter a word". Hon, better for you to utter that word. Could you imagine how infuriating it is to try and have a conversation with a person, to direct at her 10-15 lines and ALL of them being met with dead silence and non ending tears. I don't consider myself a violent person, but even I wanted to do bad things to such a heroine. So, I really think something went wrong for this author, because it's PROBABLY not a reaction she wanted to evoke in her readers towards the heroine.
The hero was also an imbecile. He was a rude, inconsiderate shit to her at the start, raped her on their wedding night, but then was very CONFUSED why she behaved the way she behaved 🤡🤬 Him traumatizing her beyond repair, ordering her around and then in the midst of her sobbing and drowning in tears and fear, ordering her to NOT BE AFRAID was top tier of STUPIDITY. Sir, how can you have a successful business empire with that tiny tiny little brain of yours? 👀 The change in his behavior was so random/ One moment he's a cold, unfeeling bastard that doesn't give a shit about the heroine and wants to use her to get to his family's money, the other moment he wants her to trust him and be convinced that he "won't hurt her" 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤡 My question is why? I get him finally getting a little bit of a guilty conscience, seeing as she was crying every five minutes and fainting all the time, but good god, why did he SUDDENLY feel romantic attraction towards her? It's not as if she was ignoring only him, but showing her vivacious personality to everybody else around her. She was severely traumatized to the point where she only slept and showered and went to library to read, where she cried, fainted and was transported back to bed. She then slept and showered and went to library to read, where she cried, fainted and was transported back to bed. Rinse and repeat. I couldn't understand if it was day or night every time she woke up.
I got to the 45% mark, where the heroine starts to feel something towards the hero beyond fear, craves for him to apologize but knows he would never do it (although she remembers him apologizing right before she drifted to sleep), the hero starts saying something nice to the heroine only for her to interpret it wrong, getting offended and the hero, for SOME REASON, not wanting to push her, doesn't clarify and leaves. This messed up miscommunication will exist probably right till the epilogue, but I can't take it.
The heroes are both bland and lifeless in their own ways. The hero is moronic without any charisma, and the heroine is idiotic with no spine. The book is too long to suffer through it till the end. The romance aspect is non existent.
I'm curios though what's the deal with Cora, what happened there and is there any explanation for hero's initial behavior?
Knowing before venturing into this book that the hero would rape and slap the heroine twice didn't deter me (Thanks, Irunia). No, on the contrary, it made me morbidly curious how the author would come from that to convincing me in their love story. Plus, sometimes I really want to read something dark or sick, mkay? 💀
To give you context, I've read a lot of bully/mafia/dark romances, where the hero sexually assaults the heroine (not rapes, there's a vast difference imo), but the author manages to still write a compelling love story later. Even those few and far between reads, where there was "non con", it was written from the heroine's POV (a must in my opinion, since it's crucial to know her emotions and feelings at that point) and we saw that she still enjoyed it physically, got to come and was left unhurt in the physical sense of the word. Usually those kind of scenarios were filled with "betraying body syndrome", anger at the hero for his actions, but also anger at herself for liking it. What makes all of those books different from this one, - and also far more convincing in the romance context - is the behavior of the heroine AFTERWARDS. The heroine USUALLY gives it to him as good as she takes: either hits/slaps him, or uses mind games, or her sarcasm or any other weapon in her arsenal to show the hero and the readers, that she is NOT weak, that she is NOT broken, that she WILL survive and come stronger after whatever the pesky little hero tried to do to her.
Here though...the hero raped her on their wedding night and the heroine was ruined beyond repair. Months later she was still puking her guts out from trauma, fainting, having night terrors, flinching away, being terrified, feeling petrified, always being ashamed and humiliated, and crying, and crying, and crying, and SO MUCH CRYING. DISCLAIMER: in no way, shape or form do I judge any woman's behavior who suffered rape. Everything she does to cope with the trauma is justified and you go girl! BUT! If that's the case with the HEROINE of a romance, there should be NO ROMANCE tbh. I wanted to send the heroine to some mental retreat and then to years long therapy, after which she should've rented a house in the woods and read books in peace and quiet.
Reading this book was torture. The first few chapters were great, which turned against me, because I was waiting for the book to be that great again, but alas...it didn't happen! I think I expected the heroes to behave a certain way, and the more my expectations were further away from reality, the more frustrated and pissed of I got. And it started LONG BEFORE THE RAPE SCENE.
The heroine was meek, timid and weak right from the start. She meets her future husband and his family for the first time (arranged marriage), where all of them except one person proceed to insult her, laugh at her and humiliate her. All her responses to this treatment are "Thank you" and "I'm sorry, I'll do better". I wanted to shake her out of her pathetic submission and remind her, that the rich snobs NEED her for this arranged marriage, or at least to say SOMETHING, really anything at this point to defend herself. But she remained quiet. And that was only the beginning of her quiet journey.
It was very seldom that she had a thought in her head that would defend herself, but sometimes she had whole lines as a reply to someone's comments. Only problem is, those articulated lines remained IN HER HEAD *scoffs in disappointment* There were HUNDREDS of times where she "wanted to say something", but "couldn't utter a word". Hon, better for you to utter that word. Could you imagine how infuriating it is to try and have a conversation with a person, to direct at her 10-15 lines and ALL of them being met with dead silence and non ending tears. I don't consider myself a violent person, but even I wanted to do bad things to such a heroine. So, I really think something went wrong for this author, because it's PROBABLY not a reaction she wanted to evoke in her readers towards the heroine.
The hero was also an imbecile. He was a rude, inconsiderate shit to her at the start, raped her on their wedding night, but then was very CONFUSED why she behaved the way she behaved 🤡🤬 Him traumatizing her beyond repair, ordering her around and then in the midst of her sobbing and drowning in tears and fear, ordering her to NOT BE AFRAID was top tier of STUPIDITY. Sir, how can you have a successful business empire with that tiny tiny little brain of yours? 👀 The change in his behavior was so random/ One moment he's a cold, unfeeling bastard that doesn't give a shit about the heroine and wants to use her to get to his family's money, the other moment he wants her to trust him and be convinced that he "won't hurt her" 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤡 My question is why? I get him finally getting a little bit of a guilty conscience, seeing as she was crying every five minutes and fainting all the time, but good god, why did he SUDDENLY feel romantic attraction towards her? It's not as if she was ignoring only him, but showing her vivacious personality to everybody else around her. She was severely traumatized to the point where she only slept and showered and went to library to read, where she cried, fainted and was transported back to bed. She then slept and showered and went to library to read, where she cried, fainted and was transported back to bed. Rinse and repeat. I couldn't understand if it was day or night every time she woke up.
I got to the 45% mark, where the heroine starts to feel something towards the hero beyond fear, craves for him to apologize but knows he would never do it (although she remembers him apologizing right before she drifted to sleep), the hero starts saying something nice to the heroine only for her to interpret it wrong, getting offended and the hero, for SOME REASON, not wanting to push her, doesn't clarify and leaves. This messed up miscommunication will exist probably right till the epilogue, but I can't take it.
The heroes are both bland and lifeless in their own ways. The hero is moronic without any charisma, and the heroine is idiotic with no spine. The book is too long to suffer through it till the end. The romance aspect is non existent.
I'm curios though what's the deal with Cora, what happened there and is there any explanation for hero's initial behavior?
October 13, 2021
the hero was a piece of shit lol
March 21, 2016
I really struggled to finish this one. I liked the concept, but the heroine was just too much...too much crying, too much introspection, too much lack of backbone. (And for a category romance enthusiast, that is saying a lot.) The rapid turn around for the hero from almost evil to lovey dovey was jarring. I liked the gothic feel when I started reading, but that quickly dwindled as there was too much of what felt like filler and the occasional odd word choice.
May 11, 2021
H rapes the h on their wedding night and slaps her on one occasion. she got PTSD and gets sick. This is not romance.
His excuse was that he did not know she was a virgin and thought she was a gold digger. However, still I just did not enjoy the book that much.
And I still don't understand how the H fell in love with her? It happened suddenly and the romantic development was lacking.
His excuse was that he did not know she was a virgin and thought she was a gold digger. However, still I just did not enjoy the book that much.
And I still don't understand how the H fell in love with her? It happened suddenly and the romantic development was lacking.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 27, 2022
The GOOD: ***SPOILERS***
Good believable redemption & character growth of 26yo architect H who cruelly treated & once-raped his new arranged-wife 19yo virgin good-girl h, who he believed was a gold-digger who deliberately married him for money due to the marriage contract she signed (which required that she birth him a son and then they divorce) & who he believed was just acting the shy hard-to-get lover @ their wedding night. Loved that H's groveling took about 1 year with daily displays of his patience, his genuine remorse, and his non-pushy love & devotion to h who had daily nightmares & panic-attacks from the 1 painful sexual experience she had with H on their wedding night.
H's character change was consistent and stood the test of time especially with h's clear distrust of him & the pressures from his family & their strict marriage contract. Loved how he kept showing h in small & major ways how she's become the most important thing in his life & he willingly sacrificed his glorious company/his reputation/his comforts for her. Loved how he transformed from a emotionally-distant/cold/cruel man who valued his family reputation & his career to a tender & devoted husband who was calming/smiling/vulnerable/open/supportive of h & made amends for the wrongs he'd done her. Good emotionality with angsty moments that brought some tears to my eyes for how much H grew to love h so much yet she couldn't see how he could ever make-up for the cruelty he heaped on her when they 1st married.
MEH or the BAD:
1-star off for h's constant crying in the 1st 60% of the book which made her seem really weak & pathetic & got on my nerves. In the 1st 60%, h was passive doormat who fainted & cried at the drop of a hat. Liked that h became stronger & less weepy & faint-y towards the latter part of the book. She developed some gumption & wasn't as passive & fought back with her manipulative mom & fired her spying maid. h's character growth was largely due to H's constant show of his love & support of her which enabled her to blossom as a woman & writer. Good-enough S tension which didn't occur until towards the end & was appropriate given how H was trying to show h that it wasn't about sex for him but his love & care for h. The 2 sex scenes (1st one was more detailed to show the pain & offense of H's coldness towards h as his forced-wife-by-contract and 2nd one was tender & spiritual & less graphic).
Sexual History:
virgin h had never been kissed until H. The doctor H's family sent to confirm her virginity was the very 1st to ever see or touch her before H. H loved his 1st arranged-fiance (OW) (who he grew up with & both knew they were to MOC since they were kids) who he admittedly had sex with all the way until before his wedding to h. Based on the strict multi-generational marriage contract which required that H's wife had to be from h's small town & was to birth him a son or else all their family coffers would be donated to the small town, H couldn't marry OW because she was sick with cancer & couldn't bear him a child. h saw H kiss OW weeks after their wedding & H said that it was a goodbye kiss to his old love who he was giving some support to since OW had cancer treatment that day. Not sure if H had other lovers aside from OW. H was celibate for months (1 year?) since his wedding night with h.
Good believable redemption & character growth of 26yo architect H who cruelly treated & once-raped his new arranged-wife 19yo virgin good-girl h, who he believed was a gold-digger who deliberately married him for money due to the marriage contract she signed (which required that she birth him a son and then they divorce) & who he believed was just acting the shy hard-to-get lover @ their wedding night. Loved that H's groveling took about 1 year with daily displays of his patience, his genuine remorse, and his non-pushy love & devotion to h who had daily nightmares & panic-attacks from the 1 painful sexual experience she had with H on their wedding night.
H's character change was consistent and stood the test of time especially with h's clear distrust of him & the pressures from his family & their strict marriage contract. Loved how he kept showing h in small & major ways how she's become the most important thing in his life & he willingly sacrificed his glorious company/his reputation/his comforts for her. Loved how he transformed from a emotionally-distant/cold/cruel man who valued his family reputation & his career to a tender & devoted husband who was calming/smiling/vulnerable/open/supportive of h & made amends for the wrongs he'd done her. Good emotionality with angsty moments that brought some tears to my eyes for how much H grew to love h so much yet she couldn't see how he could ever make-up for the cruelty he heaped on her when they 1st married.
MEH or the BAD:
1-star off for h's constant crying in the 1st 60% of the book which made her seem really weak & pathetic & got on my nerves. In the 1st 60%, h was passive doormat who fainted & cried at the drop of a hat. Liked that h became stronger & less weepy & faint-y towards the latter part of the book. She developed some gumption & wasn't as passive & fought back with her manipulative mom & fired her spying maid. h's character growth was largely due to H's constant show of his love & support of her which enabled her to blossom as a woman & writer. Good-enough S tension which didn't occur until towards the end & was appropriate given how H was trying to show h that it wasn't about sex for him but his love & care for h. The 2 sex scenes (1st one was more detailed to show the pain & offense of H's coldness towards h as his forced-wife-by-contract and 2nd one was tender & spiritual & less graphic).
Sexual History:
virgin h had never been kissed until H. The doctor H's family sent to confirm her virginity was the very 1st to ever see or touch her before H. H loved his 1st arranged-fiance (OW) (who he grew up with & both knew they were to MOC since they were kids) who he admittedly had sex with all the way until before his wedding to h. Based on the strict multi-generational marriage contract which required that H's wife had to be from h's small town & was to birth him a son or else all their family coffers would be donated to the small town, H couldn't marry OW because she was sick with cancer & couldn't bear him a child. h saw H kiss OW weeks after their wedding & H said that it was a goodbye kiss to his old love who he was giving some support to since OW had cancer treatment that day. Not sure if H had other lovers aside from OW. H was celibate for months (1 year?) since his wedding night with h.
March 23, 2019
Wow...just wow!!!!! Never in my life would I have thought I would have loved a book like this!!!! To be honest I almost almost didn't read it because of the warning because It gave me the feeling it was going to be somewhat ...vulgar, something along the lines of Fifty shades of Grey (Even though I've never read that book, so I'm just basing that based on the book plot) I felt it was going to be one of those books that's really weird and trust me I don't read those types of books but there was just something about this particular book that just said "give me a chance, I'm not what you think. Don't judge me based on my cover." I AM SOOOO OOH GLAD I READ IT!!!!! Don't misunderstand, this book did have to deal with a strong subject but, even though I absolutely do NOT approve off, it was tackled in a real way because this happens a lot and the pain and suffering of the victim is real and it's not something that can just heal immediately. It takes time and that is exactly why I loved this book. The way the author handled the healing process was real. There were parts I just felt my heart break into a gazillion pieces for Isabelle, especially in the beginning after the wedding. Sebastian was a total idiot/jerk/bully/insensitive/no respect whatsoever for her feelings!!! Especially after what he did, he deserved all the bad things I envisioned in my head!!!!!! I was like "How in the freak is he going to be forgiven and redeemed himself. HOW?!?!?!" Poor Isabella. And don't get me started of a witch or more like witches called mom and sister in law from the opposite of heaven!!! I wanted both to just fall off a cliff, they were horrible horrible people!! Helena was awesome though, at least someone showed some compassion to Isabella in a time she needed it and so was Anne.
While the story progressed I got a lot of The Unwanted Wife vibes (another book I really liked) especially the male leads. Once they both realized they royally fudge up and realized how amazing their wives are did the story really begins. I don't want to give too much away because the journey to forgiveness was my favorite part of the book. Sebastian is utterly repulsed with himself and only after realizing what an angel he married but how broken she was because of his doing did he start to win his wife's affections and boy did he really went far and beyond, but would that be enough? I would highly recommend it to everyone who like stories about second chances and honestly besides the f bombs that were said in the beginning and well one other thing you should read for yourself, this could almost be seen as a semi-clean romance. It was much more than I expected and I definitely know I will be rereading this wonderful heartbreaking book again!!!!!
While the story progressed I got a lot of The Unwanted Wife vibes (another book I really liked) especially the male leads. Once they both realized they royally fudge up and realized how amazing their wives are did the story really begins. I don't want to give too much away because the journey to forgiveness was my favorite part of the book. Sebastian is utterly repulsed with himself and only after realizing what an angel he married but how broken she was because of his doing did he start to win his wife's affections and boy did he really went far and beyond, but would that be enough? I would highly recommend it to everyone who like stories about second chances and honestly besides the f bombs that were said in the beginning and well one other thing you should read for yourself, this could almost be seen as a semi-clean romance. It was much more than I expected and I definitely know I will be rereading this wonderful heartbreaking book again!!!!!
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August 9, 2021𝗗𝗡𝗙 @𝟱𝟱%
♪♫ … I'm running out of patience
It's getting hard to cope
I'm screaming out for silence
I'm running out of rope … ♪♫
✘ 𝗩𝗜𝗥𝗧𝗨𝗘 & 𝗩𝗔𝗡𝗜𝗧𝗬 𝗪𝗔𝗦 𝗔 𝗗𝗡𝗙 𝗙𝗢𝗥 𝗧𝗪𝗢 𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗦𝗢𝗡𝗦 ✘
𝟭.) 𝗢𝗞𝗔𝗬… 𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗦 𝗠𝗜𝗚𝗛𝗧 𝗦𝗢𝗨𝗡𝗗 𝗕𝗔𝗗, 𝗕𝗨𝗧… I couldn't with Virtue & Vanity heroine, Isabelle Walsh. All this bish did was cry, and cry, and cry some more. Which, look - her situation was horrible. I get that. But, idk… I wanted her to do more than just cry about it. I can only take so much crying. Moreover, Isabella was missing that spark that I usually look for in my favorite heroines. There was something off about her. God, I feel like such a horrible person for hating on Isabelle… *sigh*
𝟮.) 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗛𝗘𝗥𝗢𝗘𝗦 𝗖𝗔𝗦𝗘 𝗢𝗙 𝗜𝗡𝗦𝗧𝗔-𝗟𝗢𝗩𝗘 𝗪𝗔𝗦 𝗦𝗢 𝗘𝗫𝗧𝗥𝗘𝗠𝗘… and honestly it's the reason I DNF'd VITRUE & VANITY. Now, usually I can deal with insta-love if it creeps up. That said, I cannot stand insta-love when the hero has been a downright rapey douchecanoe towards the heroine. And wouldn't you know, Sebastian treats Isabella horribly for the flimsiest reason. Which - you do you boo. Be fuckin' stupid. But then, all of a sudden, he starts to treat her nice and fall in love with her because, why? Seriously, tell me why? IDK, Sebastian had a whole lotta potential. He had all the pieces that make up a great anti-hero. Unfortunately, none of those pieces ever seemed to connect… alas.
♪♫ … I'm running out of patience
It's getting hard to cope
I'm screaming out for silence
I'm running out of rope … ♪♫
✘ 𝗩𝗜𝗥𝗧𝗨𝗘 & 𝗩𝗔𝗡𝗜𝗧𝗬 𝗪𝗔𝗦 𝗔 𝗗𝗡𝗙 𝗙𝗢𝗥 𝗧𝗪𝗢 𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗦𝗢𝗡𝗦 ✘
𝟭.) 𝗢𝗞𝗔𝗬… 𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗦 𝗠𝗜𝗚𝗛𝗧 𝗦𝗢𝗨𝗡𝗗 𝗕𝗔𝗗, 𝗕𝗨𝗧… I couldn't with Virtue & Vanity heroine, Isabelle Walsh. All this bish did was cry, and cry, and cry some more. Which, look - her situation was horrible. I get that. But, idk… I wanted her to do more than just cry about it. I can only take so much crying. Moreover, Isabella was missing that spark that I usually look for in my favorite heroines. There was something off about her. God, I feel like such a horrible person for hating on Isabelle… *sigh*
𝟮.) 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗛𝗘𝗥𝗢𝗘𝗦 𝗖𝗔𝗦𝗘 𝗢𝗙 𝗜𝗡𝗦𝗧𝗔-𝗟𝗢𝗩𝗘 𝗪𝗔𝗦 𝗦𝗢 𝗘𝗫𝗧𝗥𝗘𝗠𝗘… and honestly it's the reason I DNF'd VITRUE & VANITY. Now, usually I can deal with insta-love if it creeps up. That said, I cannot stand insta-love when the hero has been a downright rapey douchecanoe towards the heroine. And wouldn't you know, Sebastian treats Isabella horribly for the flimsiest reason. Which - you do you boo. Be fuckin' stupid. But then, all of a sudden, he starts to treat her nice and fall in love with her because, why? Seriously, tell me why? IDK, Sebastian had a whole lotta potential. He had all the pieces that make up a great anti-hero. Unfortunately, none of those pieces ever seemed to connect… alas.
March 8, 2024
🌟Brief Summary:
4.5 stars
OMG 😭😭😭😭😭
This one had me up ALL NIGHT. I didn’t sleep 😴 cause I could not put this down.
😭I have not read a book in a long time that had left this kind of feels and impact.
I CRIED, RAGED and actually SWOONED and fell IN LOVE so many times. This was definitely a rollercoaster of emotions.
-Loads of REDEMPTION.
-Definite Grovel and Remorse
-Lots of Patience and work toward Redemption
-Arranged Marriage/ Contract Marriage
-Misunderstanding
-Enemies to Lovers
-Brutal treatment from H to h
-SO MANY FEELS
-Broken beat down FMC
-Rags to riches
-Ex Fiancé that’s sick
-Perceived cheating (mild)
- Family Drama on both sides
-Manipulation from a parent
-Innocent FMC
-Abusive Hero
-But also SWOOOONY HERO- EVENTUALLY
-Loving patient hero
-Road to Healing was so good
-Noncon - thier wedding night
-He hits her 😬only once but still
-THEY CHOOSE EACH OTHER
❣️Things I Liked/Loved❣️
GROVEL- Did we get it? Yes absolutely. Was it a long grovel? It was decent a for sure but it could have been longer for how cruel he was….but I was totally satisfied with it in the end!
THE official apology and FULL turn around happened around the 50% mark (Vegas). I would NOT say it was a FULL grovel although there was definitely aspects of grovel. I would say it’s REDEMPTION of the hero and A LOT of PATIENCE and WORK on his part- which was VERY needed- to win and heal her heart.
-Around the 43% mark (After the kiss w OW) was when we could see the hero start to work to make things better BUT I don’t think his BIG REVELATION and UNDERSTANDING for what he has done started till 50%.
I’ve read some reviews saying this whole book was grovel or most of it. And I would say NO! I waited and waited and got frustrated and until about 40% in then we started to see the turn around but officially the GROVEL didn’t start till 50% for sure.
-💯❤️All the things he did to heal them and fix the damaged he did 😭…. Gah this man won me over and I really didn’t think he could!!!!!
-McDonald’s and other places he took her and met her on her level and enjoyed it. 🥲
-❤️All the compassion and holding her, the gentle touches and kisses, comforting her, the care he showed her, the patience and understanding and the TIME he gave her to heal. ❤️
-Nursing her back to health 🤒
-Dating her so they could get to know each other. Their new memories and banter… so sweet. 👩🏼🤝👨🏻
-Making her pancakes 💕
-Taking trips away with her to get alone bonding time.
-Sleeping in separate rooms to give her space. 😴
-Changing is cologne ❤️🩹
-Protecting her from his family! PUTTING HER FIRST! 🥳
-I appreciated all the open communication after the truth came out. 🥰
-The……we are in this together…. We are all that is important …attitude from him.
-💕you are my EVERYTHING, ❤️The I LOVE YOUS we so heartfelt.
-GIVING UP HIS BUSINESS AND INHERITANCE FOR HER AND ONLY HER (he didn’t do that for the ex!) 😍
-Divorcing her only so he can marry her the RIGHT way. Between the proposal, the rings, the wedding, the wedding kiss and the wedding night ❤️ he RIGHTS all the wrongs he did to her and gave her EVERY LITTLE THING SHE DESERVED.
‼️ The fact that he NEVER excused what he did on their wedding night. He explains it yes but he won’t excuse what he did. And he doesn’t forgive himself.
-🤷🏼♀️Im sure I missed stuff, this guys takes EVERY little thing into account and fixes it big and small. He really was so swoon by the end.
-❤️The moment she forgives him❤️ OMG 😭😭😭 just 😭😭😭. When he cries!!
-Loved how he wanted to send a THANK YOU to the people who manipulated this contract marriage cause it brought HER TO HIM😭❤️.
-I truley felt the depth of their ❤️ love for each other by the end. I felt their very deep connection 💯💯.
Things I Did 💔 Not Like
-This definitely didn’t feel modern. It felt like it was done in the 1800s. Some of these aspects were far fetched for this era.
-THE WEDDING NIGHT 😭😭😭 devastating and I wasn’t sure I could forgive him!!! The way he left and how he treated her the next morning when she was in such a horrible state 🤬🤮😭…. I was SOOOOOOOOOO FREAKING MAD.
-When he HIT HER 😡😡😡.
I felt this was VERY glossed over. After they start to bond and heal this is NEVER mentioned. It’s all about the wedding night and no one brings up that he hit this woman. Regardless of what he believed of her at that time there was NO EXCUSE and NO APOLOGY EVER! This was highly disappointing cause for me it inexcusable to it hands on a woman.
-Could have done without her crying so much after a while lol. It was a bit much at times.
-I wanted more wrap up about the OW his ex fiancee. What happened to her? Did he see her again? Did they stay friends? Did he say goodbye before she passed? There was just nothing. After the party where she meets her we don’t see her again. And considering she was so important in the H life we needed more clarity about how this all ended with her.
-Her mother needed some comeuppance!!!! Big time. But it all worked out in the end, still this bitch needed some karma.
🥀 Hero:
Sabatian- 26yrs old
Rich heir to a fortune and workaholic.
Has a very cold cruel side but also has a very sweet soft side for those he cares about.
🦋 Heroine:
Isabelle - His Angel 😇
19yrs old
Extremely sheltered and very poor
She writes romance stories and has dreams to be a published writer one day.
💭 POV:
First person through the FMC only
🔥 Burn Rate:
Very very slow
😡/😍 Angst level:
Very very High
❤️🔥 Sexy times & Descriptive sex:
Yes it was horrific and then it was BEAUTIFUL
🌓 Push/Pull:
BOTH PUSH AWAY
☠️ OW/OM Drama:
-OWD- his ex fiancé it was arranged.
-He was told they would be married at a young age.
-They became close friends and then lovers.
-He planned to marry her because he gave his word.
‼️HE WAS NOT IN LOVE WITH HER but yes he cared for her.
-He cannot marry her because she gets cancer and cannot have children.
-He feels horrible for breaking his word to her and a lot of guilt cause he has to abandon her in such a dire time for her.
‼️A few weeks/ over a month into their marriage he takes his ex to her first cancer treatment and see this horrible struggle she is having. She was told it’s terminal.
So he takes her back to his place to console her and the h sees him holding the OW and treating her with such care and compassion. The H kisses the OW. But only as a way to comfort her it’s not sexual.
Once he sees that the h saw this and is hurt he REGRETS it IMMEDIATELY. He chases after the h and that’s the real turning point for him.
💔I was devastated for the h cause even though they were not in a good marriage at this point and she thought he hated her, she was so completely devastated to see him treat OW with such tender care when he had NEVER (at this point) even treated her like a human being. It’s was horrible🤬
🤮 OW/OM Sex / Fluid or DNA Exchange:
OW- Just the one kiss 👆🏻
🤬 Cheating:
The kiss with OW I consider it cheating because technically it is. They may not have had a real marriage at the time but still it was wrong. And he knew it after.
He is sexually faithful to her once they are married and he only met her once before the wedding and he HATED her at that point.
I do NOT believe her was emotionally unfaithful either. He never loved the OW and only wanted to support her through her death sentence. He cared for his friend.
👰🏼♀️ Virgins:
Virgin h- she goes through a pretty humiliating experience w a doctor to check and make sure she is a V per his families request 😢
Hero- he has sex with his ex fiancee right up until the wedding but celibate after and only with the h after they are married.
⛈️Separation/ 3rd Act Breakup:
None no 3rd act
Safety⚠️Triggers🗡️:
THE WHOLE BOOK!
Not safe- I wouldn’t consider this a safe read.
🌈Epilogue:
YES 7 years later they have a daughter and it’s sooooo sweet. I would have like even more
🥂HEA:
Yes a very happy one
❌My opinion is just that… MY OPINION.
I know we all get passionate about our favorite reads and characters but we should respect each opinions a thoughts. ~Thank you
4.5 stars
OMG 😭😭😭😭😭
This one had me up ALL NIGHT. I didn’t sleep 😴 cause I could not put this down.
😭I have not read a book in a long time that had left this kind of feels and impact.
I CRIED, RAGED and actually SWOONED and fell IN LOVE so many times. This was definitely a rollercoaster of emotions.
-Loads of REDEMPTION.
-Definite Grovel and Remorse
-Lots of Patience and work toward Redemption
-Arranged Marriage/ Contract Marriage
-Misunderstanding
-Enemies to Lovers
-Brutal treatment from H to h
-SO MANY FEELS
-Broken beat down FMC
-Rags to riches
-Ex Fiancé that’s sick
-Perceived cheating (mild)
- Family Drama on both sides
-Manipulation from a parent
-Innocent FMC
-Abusive Hero
-But also SWOOOONY HERO- EVENTUALLY
-Loving patient hero
-Road to Healing was so good
-Noncon - thier wedding night
-He hits her 😬only once but still
-THEY CHOOSE EACH OTHER
❣️Things I Liked/Loved❣️
GROVEL- Did we get it? Yes absolutely. Was it a long grovel? It was decent a for sure but it could have been longer for how cruel he was….but I was totally satisfied with it in the end!
THE official apology and FULL turn around happened around the 50% mark (Vegas). I would NOT say it was a FULL grovel although there was definitely aspects of grovel. I would say it’s REDEMPTION of the hero and A LOT of PATIENCE and WORK on his part- which was VERY needed- to win and heal her heart.
-Around the 43% mark (After the kiss w OW) was when we could see the hero start to work to make things better BUT I don’t think his BIG REVELATION and UNDERSTANDING for what he has done started till 50%.
I’ve read some reviews saying this whole book was grovel or most of it. And I would say NO! I waited and waited and got frustrated and until about 40% in then we started to see the turn around but officially the GROVEL didn’t start till 50% for sure.
-💯❤️All the things he did to heal them and fix the damaged he did 😭…. Gah this man won me over and I really didn’t think he could!!!!!
-McDonald’s and other places he took her and met her on her level and enjoyed it. 🥲
-❤️All the compassion and holding her, the gentle touches and kisses, comforting her, the care he showed her, the patience and understanding and the TIME he gave her to heal. ❤️
-Nursing her back to health 🤒
-Dating her so they could get to know each other. Their new memories and banter… so sweet. 👩🏼🤝👨🏻
-Making her pancakes 💕
-Taking trips away with her to get alone bonding time.
-Sleeping in separate rooms to give her space. 😴
-Changing is cologne ❤️🩹
-Protecting her from his family! PUTTING HER FIRST! 🥳
-I appreciated all the open communication after the truth came out. 🥰
-The……we are in this together…. We are all that is important …attitude from him.
-💕you are my EVERYTHING, ❤️The I LOVE YOUS we so heartfelt.
-GIVING UP HIS BUSINESS AND INHERITANCE FOR HER AND ONLY HER (he didn’t do that for the ex!) 😍
-Divorcing her only so he can marry her the RIGHT way. Between the proposal, the rings, the wedding, the wedding kiss and the wedding night ❤️ he RIGHTS all the wrongs he did to her and gave her EVERY LITTLE THING SHE DESERVED.
‼️ The fact that he NEVER excused what he did on their wedding night. He explains it yes but he won’t excuse what he did. And he doesn’t forgive himself.
-🤷🏼♀️Im sure I missed stuff, this guys takes EVERY little thing into account and fixes it big and small. He really was so swoon by the end.
-❤️The moment she forgives him❤️ OMG 😭😭😭 just 😭😭😭. When he cries!!
-Loved how he wanted to send a THANK YOU to the people who manipulated this contract marriage cause it brought HER TO HIM😭❤️.
-I truley felt the depth of their ❤️ love for each other by the end. I felt their very deep connection 💯💯.
Things I Did 💔 Not Like
-This definitely didn’t feel modern. It felt like it was done in the 1800s. Some of these aspects were far fetched for this era.
-THE WEDDING NIGHT 😭😭😭 devastating and I wasn’t sure I could forgive him!!! The way he left and how he treated her the next morning when she was in such a horrible state 🤬🤮😭…. I was SOOOOOOOOOO FREAKING MAD.
-When he HIT HER 😡😡😡.
I felt this was VERY glossed over. After they start to bond and heal this is NEVER mentioned. It’s all about the wedding night and no one brings up that he hit this woman. Regardless of what he believed of her at that time there was NO EXCUSE and NO APOLOGY EVER! This was highly disappointing cause for me it inexcusable to it hands on a woman.
-Could have done without her crying so much after a while lol. It was a bit much at times.
-I wanted more wrap up about the OW his ex fiancee. What happened to her? Did he see her again? Did they stay friends? Did he say goodbye before she passed? There was just nothing. After the party where she meets her we don’t see her again. And considering she was so important in the H life we needed more clarity about how this all ended with her.
-Her mother needed some comeuppance!!!! Big time. But it all worked out in the end, still this bitch needed some karma.
🥀 Hero:
Sabatian- 26yrs old
Rich heir to a fortune and workaholic.
Has a very cold cruel side but also has a very sweet soft side for those he cares about.
🦋 Heroine:
Isabelle - His Angel 😇
19yrs old
Extremely sheltered and very poor
She writes romance stories and has dreams to be a published writer one day.
💭 POV:
First person through the FMC only
🔥 Burn Rate:
Very very slow
😡/😍 Angst level:
Very very High
❤️🔥 Sexy times & Descriptive sex:
Yes it was horrific and then it was BEAUTIFUL
🌓 Push/Pull:
BOTH PUSH AWAY
☠️ OW/OM Drama:
-OWD- his ex fiancé it was arranged.
-He was told they would be married at a young age.
-They became close friends and then lovers.
-He planned to marry her because he gave his word.
‼️HE WAS NOT IN LOVE WITH HER but yes he cared for her.
-He cannot marry her because she gets cancer and cannot have children.
-He feels horrible for breaking his word to her and a lot of guilt cause he has to abandon her in such a dire time for her.
‼️A few weeks/ over a month into their marriage he takes his ex to her first cancer treatment and see this horrible struggle she is having. She was told it’s terminal.
So he takes her back to his place to console her and the h sees him holding the OW and treating her with such care and compassion. The H kisses the OW. But only as a way to comfort her it’s not sexual.
Once he sees that the h saw this and is hurt he REGRETS it IMMEDIATELY. He chases after the h and that’s the real turning point for him.
💔I was devastated for the h cause even though they were not in a good marriage at this point and she thought he hated her, she was so completely devastated to see him treat OW with such tender care when he had NEVER (at this point) even treated her like a human being. It’s was horrible🤬
🤮 OW/OM Sex / Fluid or DNA Exchange:
OW- Just the one kiss 👆🏻
🤬 Cheating:
The kiss with OW I consider it cheating because technically it is. They may not have had a real marriage at the time but still it was wrong. And he knew it after.
He is sexually faithful to her once they are married and he only met her once before the wedding and he HATED her at that point.
I do NOT believe her was emotionally unfaithful either. He never loved the OW and only wanted to support her through her death sentence. He cared for his friend.
👰🏼♀️ Virgins:
Virgin h- she goes through a pretty humiliating experience w a doctor to check and make sure she is a V per his families request 😢
Hero- he has sex with his ex fiancee right up until the wedding but celibate after and only with the h after they are married.
⛈️Separation/ 3rd Act Breakup:
None no 3rd act
Safety⚠️Triggers🗡️:
THE WHOLE BOOK!
Not safe- I wouldn’t consider this a safe read.
🌈Epilogue:
YES 7 years later they have a daughter and it’s sooooo sweet. I would have like even more
🥂HEA:
Yes a very happy one
❌My opinion is just that… MY OPINION.
I know we all get passionate about our favorite reads and characters but we should respect each opinions a thoughts. ~Thank you
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 15, 2020
Dnf at 60%
( summary of the book + review )
- heroine forced to marry a rich dude who is the HERO
- rich dude rapes her on their wedding night
- rich dude humiliates her and kisses another girl
- did i mention rich dude is a manchild?
- rich dude slaps her... yes
- heroine has PTSD, and is scared of the hero
- hero suddenly stars to treat her with respect
- you know why? Because manchild wants his own child
- cringe moments
- cringe moments
- hero is forgiven..... i guess
- dnf
( do i need to explain more?)
( summary of the book + review )
- heroine forced to marry a rich dude who is the HERO
- rich dude rapes her on their wedding night
- rich dude humiliates her and kisses another girl
- did i mention rich dude is a manchild?
- rich dude slaps her... yes
- heroine has PTSD, and is scared of the hero
- hero suddenly stars to treat her with respect
- you know why? Because manchild wants his own child
- cringe moments
- cringe moments
- hero is forgiven..... i guess
- dnf
( do i need to explain more?)
July 11, 2025
I will not elaborate bye
October 15, 2018
I liked this book. Liked it a lot, actually. With regard to reading, this was one of the rare times I have allowed my curiosity to have its head and haven't regretted it.
This book isn't for everyone, obviously. There are a few scenes that are not black and white in any sense and require going into with an open mind. This book isn't shallow, quick-fix entertainment. It isn't steamy or sexy. Much of the tone is very somber until it begins to gradually lighten past the 50% mark. But for anyone who views life without seeing everything in absolutes, this story will challenge them to think, to look below the surface.
At the end of the day, Sebastian and Isabelle are people from vastly different backgrounds but who have both been manipulated by their families their entire lives. Isabelle is young, Sebastian isn't much older and they are both forced into an untenable situation. To say they absolutely do not want anything to do with it is an understatement, but they are trapped.
Sebastian is grieving and full of anger, and has been entirely misled with regards to the woman he is to marry. Far from being the greedy gold-digger willing to sell her soul for a fortune, Isabelle is an innocent, naïve young woman who has lived a sheltered life under the thumb of a cold, scheming mother. And yes, Sebastian easily breaks Isabelle and that scene isn't easy to read. Nor is it easy to endure Isabelle's protracted fragility afterwards.
But the character growth in this tale is to a degree I have rarely encountered and experiencing it is one of the elements that made this one of the most fulfilling reads I've found in years. This was a faerie-tale of sorts, but one about real, flawed people. Despite his earlier, rage-driven actions, Sebastian was a really good guy. He spent most of the story trying to atone for the harm he caused, never losing patience with Isabelle - hardly the actions of a monster. For readers who love a good grovel, 75% of this story is a guy seeking redemption and falling in love in the process.
In Isabelle, we see a broken, disillusioned girl begin to heal and gradually find herself and the strength she never knew she had. And while all that growth is hers, it is carefully nurtured by the most unlikely person - with whom she falls in love right alongside.
At the end of the story, the pair have evolved so much it's hard to recognise their versions from the beginning.
This book riveted me from start to finish. I blew through this sucker way too quickly. Was it easy to read? Not always. Did it have some dubious moments? Yes. But I could see the justification in them too, difficult as it may be for some to believe. And I'd rather read about someone royally fucking up and moving heaven and earth to fix it than another sex-fest starring so-called posessive Alpha males with control issues and the stupid women who fall down and spread their legs. I want a story I can sink my teeth into, not smut and mentions of wet panties and hard nipples.
I suspect this book is a translation, due to some unusual phrasing and word usage, but it's fairly well-written.
I would recommend this book, but caution anyone considering it to keep an open mind. Things are not always as they seem.
4 stars
This book isn't for everyone, obviously. There are a few scenes that are not black and white in any sense and require going into with an open mind. This book isn't shallow, quick-fix entertainment. It isn't steamy or sexy. Much of the tone is very somber until it begins to gradually lighten past the 50% mark. But for anyone who views life without seeing everything in absolutes, this story will challenge them to think, to look below the surface.
At the end of the day, Sebastian and Isabelle are people from vastly different backgrounds but who have both been manipulated by their families their entire lives. Isabelle is young, Sebastian isn't much older and they are both forced into an untenable situation. To say they absolutely do not want anything to do with it is an understatement, but they are trapped.
Sebastian is grieving and full of anger, and has been entirely misled with regards to the woman he is to marry. Far from being the greedy gold-digger willing to sell her soul for a fortune, Isabelle is an innocent, naïve young woman who has lived a sheltered life under the thumb of a cold, scheming mother. And yes, Sebastian easily breaks Isabelle and that scene isn't easy to read. Nor is it easy to endure Isabelle's protracted fragility afterwards.
But the character growth in this tale is to a degree I have rarely encountered and experiencing it is one of the elements that made this one of the most fulfilling reads I've found in years. This was a faerie-tale of sorts, but one about real, flawed people. Despite his earlier, rage-driven actions, Sebastian was a really good guy. He spent most of the story trying to atone for the harm he caused, never losing patience with Isabelle - hardly the actions of a monster. For readers who love a good grovel, 75% of this story is a guy seeking redemption and falling in love in the process.
In Isabelle, we see a broken, disillusioned girl begin to heal and gradually find herself and the strength she never knew she had. And while all that growth is hers, it is carefully nurtured by the most unlikely person - with whom she falls in love right alongside.
At the end of the story, the pair have evolved so much it's hard to recognise their versions from the beginning.
This book riveted me from start to finish. I blew through this sucker way too quickly. Was it easy to read? Not always. Did it have some dubious moments? Yes. But I could see the justification in them too, difficult as it may be for some to believe. And I'd rather read about someone royally fucking up and moving heaven and earth to fix it than another sex-fest starring so-called posessive Alpha males with control issues and the stupid women who fall down and spread their legs. I want a story I can sink my teeth into, not smut and mentions of wet panties and hard nipples.
I suspect this book is a translation, due to some unusual phrasing and word usage, but it's fairly well-written.
I would recommend this book, but caution anyone considering it to keep an open mind. Things are not always as they seem.
4 stars
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 12, 2016
Omg the main female character in this book is so annoying. I understand she's in a f*cked up situation but let's be clear she had a choice. And she made her choice. She agreed to marry this man did she really think he wouldn't want to have sex on his Wedding night?!?!! And yes I do agree he could have been more gentle with her but I also see it from his point of view as well. This book is extremely long I haven't finished it. According to iBooks it's 1700 PAGES LONG. 1700 pages of the same repetitive sh*t. In every scene she is crying. "Omg he's looking at me" *cries* "omg he coming in the same room as me" *cries* omg he's thinking about me" *cries*. I get the situation is tough but it is what she signed up for LITERALLY. I mean she decided to marry a complete stranger. Every scene is the same with her breaking down crying or throwing up. Or running away. Its like girl maybe you should of took more initiative to read over that contract instead signing your life away becuz your momma said so because at the end of the day it will be you in that marriage not your mother. Idk but this book has completely annoyed me. And I literally wanna punch ole girl in the face everytime a tear forms. It's like damn toughen up. Becuz the situation can be ten times worst. I've read plenty of dark romances and compared to those this book appears to b really tame.
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lost-interest
September 30, 2021DNF
I think I read about 250 pages before I quit. I didn't dislike it, it was just boring (and nothing was happening after a while) and nothing compelled me to finish it.
It was a little grating to see the push and pull go on for so long (and probably even longer) and the heroine was crying every single interaction with the hero. I wanted at least some chemistry or hope that it would get better. It was just a too long winded for my taste.
I liked the writing, so I'm not rating this since it's a me issue, not the book.
Safety for what I read:
I think I read about 250 pages before I quit. I didn't dislike it, it was just boring (and nothing was happening after a while) and nothing compelled me to finish it.
It was a little grating to see the push and pull go on for so long (and probably even longer) and the heroine was crying every single interaction with the hero. I wanted at least some chemistry or hope that it would get better. It was just a too long winded for my taste.
I liked the writing, so I'm not rating this since it's a me issue, not the book.
Safety for what I read:
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