Anny P. (wolfnme) reviewed on 5/10/2006 + 3389 more book reviews

Francis Middlethorpe is a sweet, gentle and caring man, who is half-way in love with Nicholas's wife Eleanor but knows he must marry to ensure the continuation of his title and line. He is on the point of becoming engaged to Anne Peckworth, a duke's daughter; then he meets Serena Riverton, widow of a man dubbed Randy Riverton by the ton and whose marriage - entered into when she was 15 - had been an appalling, abusive sexual servitude. Running away from her brothers' attempts to sell her into another distasteful marriage, she wonders whether life as Lord Middlethorpe's mistress might be more congenial - so she seduces him.

As a result, Francis - being an honourable man - feels that he has no choice but to marry her. But the lack of trust between them, added to Serena's own preconceptions about marriage and sex, mean that their relationship is uneasy. A man who was a virgin until his wife seduced him, and a woman who views 'bed-work' as something to be endured and in which she must not display any reluctance, have a lot of difficulties to overcome.

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