I was a bit leery when I started this book. My first Meredith Duran book was The Duke of Shadows and I absolutely loved that book. I couldn't wait to read the next two, Bound by Your Touch and Written on Your Skin. I did enjoy them, but I never had any connection to the story. I felt very removed from the characters and their issues. When this came out I hesitated, but in the end I bought it anyway. I am so glad that I decided to! Once again I felt that connection that immerses me in the story and makes me become invested in the characters and their relationship.

When the story opens you might think that Gwen and Alex are an unlikely pair. However, as the story progresses the author shows us more and more of their layers and we realize just how perfectly they do fit. Alex and Gwen have a sizzling chemistry between them. What's even better than that is way they develop into friends. I'm so glad that the author made them meshing personality-wise just as important and their sexual chemistry. There were some great scenes in this book, and some excellent banter between the protagonists.

While trying to explain this book to a friend of mine I realized how cliched and trite it sounds to explain how Gwen decided to live for herself and stop trying to be so nice after she's jilted for the second time. I realize that the good girl gone bad seems like it's been done a million times before, but that's not how this storyline came across at all. It's not a story of Gwen going bad and starting to hang out with a rake, it's a story about Gwen growing up and dealing with her issues and learning who she is as a person. Along the way she falls in love with a man who is so much more than his surface personality would suggest.

I loved the scene toward the end where everyone was gathered in the library (trying not to give spoilers). I loved watching Alex try to deal with all his assumptions turning out wrong. I felt bad for him but also found it rather humorous. I sympathized with them both but was also kind of proud of Gwen. Toward the end when I found out why she did that I was kind of surprised. That wasn't what I thought the issue was, but oh well it still worked for me because it made sense.

I highly recommend this book, but I do have to admit it wasn't perfect. The whole situation with property was kind of a letdown. At the end when everything was figured out it still didn't seem that intelligent to me. I guess I just expected that to make a bit more sense.