The Sherbrooke Bride by Catherine Coulter

Unbelievable and horrifying.Wiill never read another Coulter Regency. We are supposed to like this guy and be titillated by the wife learning to love sex with him because he forces her to orgasm while raping her. I know tegency era was sexist and domestic abuse often accepted, but this was just too much - certainly for a romance read. I am still nauseated thinking about it and was unable to get through it all or finish the book. He does and she seems to learn to like it,although I skipped around and didnt finish because it was all so appalling. He doesn't want to interfere!!! Then our hero promises to tie up and rape our heroine every night until she learns to like sex with him. She tries to escape running naked out of the bedroom and runs into her brother in law who sends her back to bed with his brother even though he feels bad about how terrified she seems. She thinks she may be dying from being ripped apart given the pain and blood.

Then, once this pathetic abused little girl is his wife, he never explains virginity to her or admits she is still a virgin but instead ties her up and rapes her twice on their first night together. Hero then saves heroine from evil, abusive uncle and tricks her into marrying him by drugging her and making her think he took her virginity, which he didnt. Hero wooing heroine starts with molesting heroine on a number of occasions including stripping her to the waist and nude and fondling her awake and drugged no matter how often she says no. We are supposed to love him because women find him sexually irresistible and he pays for the upkeep and likes all his 7 bastard children.

He has 7 bastard children by 7 mistresses and then decides to 'win over' an 18 year old girl who is being constantly physically abused by her guardian uncle - details of which beatings are detailed.

I wish I hadn't!!!! the happy goblucky slaves in Jamaica are bad enough but on top of that, the hero is a monster. The secondary taming of the shrew story and the main marriage both included sexual aggression by husbands against wives but Coulter is so well liked, I tried this second in the series. I read first book of series and found it sexist and distasteful.

The Sherbrooke Bride by Catherine Coulter