I DON'T KNOW WHY I PUT MYSELF THROUGH THIS TORTURE. Harlequins and Silhouettes aren't generally known for their good writing BUT I KEEP READING THEM. Ugh. This one was worse than usual. And yet, YET, I still keep going back to Harlequins. Stupid me, huh? You can say that again. I don't know what it is about them that pulls me. Maybe it's just hope that one day, one day, I'll find another 5 star like that Contaxis or Bride or whatever its name was. Maybe it's just because I enjoy reading about the tortured, self-deprecating TDH guys. Maybe it's the sex. Maybe (this is the most likely one) I just want something I can finish quickly, something to read during times as these (exam-time, see). It's just that I so desperately miss reading during my exams and I suppose that ANYTHING would do, even awful books like this one. But in all fairness, I LOVED the guy to bits. Loved him, loved him, loved him.I cannot express my dislike for the author's writing. She was honestly one of the worst I've read. There was no sequence or flow to the context or the conversations, she put inappropriate words in EVERY sentence (I'm presuming a thesaurus was put to great use) and the writing just had 'WRONG' written all over it. The only redeeming point was Cullen *swoon* My wonderful, tortured, abused, amazing man. I loved him. AND I HATED LAUREL OR WHATEVER HER NAME WAS FOR BEING SUCH A BLIND, SELFISH B****. I mean, STOP COMPLAINING ABOUT HOW BAD YOU'VE GOT AND LOOK AT HIM, WOMAN!! Look at how amazing a guy he is! Look at how much he's willing to sacrifice for YOU AND THE BABY!!! Look at how he's torturing himself, look beneath the 'hard, cold granite wall' he puts up! I honestly hated her. And not only that, BUT SHE WENT ON ABOUT HOW SHE WAS WILLING TO 'FIGHT' FOR HIM. And what does she do? Sit and complain and feel sorry for herself and tell herself that she WAS going to fight. God. Awful heroines. I'VE HAD ENOUGH OF THEM. WHY CAN'T THEY ALL BE NICE AND SWEET AND STRONG AND TRUSTING AND TOUGH LIKE GARWOOD'S OLDER NOVEL HEROINES??? WHYYYYY???

I just picked this book up on a whim, but boy did Cullen win me over. He is hot hot hot. I loved the story of these two who don't expect to find love, much less together. If you like Linda Howard's earlier series books you'll love this one.