Status Updates From Dare to Love

I couldn't finished it because the book was borrowed to my cousin in Mexico so i didn't stay enough to finish but as far as i can tell i love the story and the personality of her and i can keep my own ending.

Aaaand right on cue: 'One of [the bandits] was dressed entirely in black, black boots, tight black pants, black shirt, black leather gloves. A silky black hood covered his head, leaving only his eyes visible through two round holes.' ....*gigglesnort*

'They say the Black Hood bandit & his gang are somewhere in this area. I must confess, I'm a tiny bit worried.' ....Well, now we know the next man in Elena's life. >___< Yaaaaaaawn.

Just what I wanted - a recap of exciting things that happened in the years between chapter breaks. Thanks for that, Jennifer Wilde. I adore the time-passing-in-chunks technique. Oh, wait...no I don't. >___<

Hurrah! It's the return of Schroder, that OTT douchebag villain who disappeared for many pages after making his threats o' doom. Maybe now he'll do something villainous & that will... ...Oops. Nevermind. He's dead. And we're back to Mimbo Brence. -_____-

Great. Mimbo Brence has returned & Elena goes to bed with him (again): "I sank my teeth into his shoulder as we plunged into completion, life force jetting out of him in a fountain of fulfillment." ....I can't, guys. That image is a jetting fountain of penile snark.

YAY! An OTT villain has finally arrived on the scene. Perhaps the evul Herr Schroder will inject some zip into the plot.

Here's something you won't find in a romance published after 1985: the heroine being raped by Richard Wagner. :P

'In a very special way, I had loved him, & now he had left me & I was alone again, just as I had been when Brence deserted me. The anguish was the same, the sense of loss almost as great.' ....Whaaat? I thought you said you weren't going to depend on anyone but yourself. And WTF, girl. Stop waffling about that mimbo Brence.

It's entertaining enough & decently written, but plot-wise it's not spectacular. Hopefully the rippery action will pick up when Mary Ellen (Elena) is allowed to leave the damn hotel room.

'But I had been a fool, a naive fool, & I had only myself to blame. Never again would I compromise. Never again would I depend on someone else for happiness. Standing there at the tip of Land's End, the wind tearing my hair, the waves surging below, I made these vows.'

'Early this morning after Chapman had gone, I removed the dress & destroyed it. I could never have worn it again. I had bathed & scrubbed my body & deliberately forced the nightmare out of my mind. It was over, part of the past. John Chapman would get his just reward one day.' ....Evul Rapey Landlords: a staple of bodice rippers everywhere. :P

'Releasing my hand, he gave me a final, triumphant smile & strode confidently toward the gate. As I watched him climb into his carriage & drive away, I wondered if all men were as easy to manipulate. Chapman thought he had won, but the victory was mine.'