Sakura of DOOM

Serena Riverton was forced to marry Randy Matthew Riverton for money when she was fifteen; he trained his young bride in all sorts of debauched ways. He's finally died, and her brothers want to marry her off to someone else. Serena runs off rather than marry again, and is rescued by Francis, Lord Middlethorpe. As an attempt to repay him and keep him with her, she basically molests him, rapes him, and takes his virginity in the middle of the night, as she believes all men want sex always.

I tried reading this many years ago and didn't finish because I had wanted Serena to be icier and colder than she was. Despite her sexual experience, she and Francis are both very much like ingenues. Serena has no idea how to deal with people who are not cruel to her, and Francis has no idea what to do with this lovely stranger he should probably leave.

I very much like Serena and Francis, particularly how Francis is not your average alpha male, and it's especially interesting to see a guy who is not in control of the sex scenes at all. However, much of the book is taken up with an incredibly stupid series of Big Misunderstandings that had me rolling my eyes the entire time, and then Serena meets the Company of Rogues. There are entirely too many of them, and I did not need to see all the former couples being happily couple-y or how much amassed social power the group has.

I was also unsure at first as to how I felt about Serena and Francis playing at bondage after her experience with Matthew, but I think that I like how it says that it's not the sexual practices that are wrong—I hate the romance shorthand of indicating someone is villainous by showing their non-vanilla sex life—but it's a matter of how it is done and with whom.

I'm still not sure Beverley is for me, particularly given the massive sequelitis, but this one is interesting in spite of its flaws.

Links:
- rilina's review (vaguely spoilery)
- rachelmanija's review