I thought the pacing was good in the first half or so, but the plot died in the second half. Campbell did a good job making the hero tortured, too good -- I thought he was a psycho rather than "hero" material. And when the heroine blamed herself for trying to run away from him? Grrr. The rape, for all of the discussion and furor, was a relatively small part of the book. And it was rape, no question at all. I didn't believe the HEA for a variety of reasons: first, because they both need serious therapy; second, because I didn't believe they loved each other; third, because of the casual dismissal of the social problems attendant to a duke marrying a whore...who may be barren. Of course, he probably has magic sperm, so maybe she isn't. Who knows?

C-/D+ from me.

Of course, I would never have picked it up but for the buzz. Neither the cover nor the back blurb would've prompted me to pick it up otherwise.