A friend at work challenged me to read this series (that she owns), which contains no vampires or mythological creatures. I was reluctant. While I cut my reading teeth on my mom's romance novels, I tired of re-reading cliche and sexist stereotypes about weak women who need a big, strong (and sometimes violent) man to show them how to live.

I enjoyed this book,despite it's cheesy romance title, more than I thought I would. Lots of the seemingly "necessary" romance novel elements are included (older, more experienced rake; virginal and impressionable young woman), but I thought the characters were well developed and intricate. Some sections had good suspense. I cared about what happened to them, so I'll probably continue to borrow the rest of the series.