I did not read the entire book. Why? Because the hero was a delusional pscho! I like dark heroes but I do not like rape- that was when I stopped reading, when I realized that the author was going to have them end up together. I agree with all the reviewers that this is probably a study of the Stockholom Syndrome. It would have been a better book if the author had explored it from that point of view. What I don't understand is why, if the hero loved her from afar for that long, he never attempted to woo her. Age differences were not such an issue in the 18th-century. And the date the heroine and her fiancee set for the wedding was not so close that he couldn't try to change her mind during that time. His reaction was way too extreme, in my opinion. I usually base my opinions of romance on my reaction to the hero no matter how irritating a heroine might be. This hero repulsed me, ergo the book repulsed me.