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** spoiler alert ** After several days to digest my reaction to this book, I'm prepared to offer some thoughts.

This was my first experience with a no-holds-barred Bodice Ripper (capitalized to emphasize the amount of tattered clothing worn by our heroine), so for that it retains a special place in my library. And what a place it occupies. Despite the labels of "romance," there's very little tenderness in this book. Is that a bad thing? Not at all. For someone who is bored silly by tepid Regency (or Victorian, or Georgian) romances, this book is a welcome shift of style. In fact, I'd like to suggest a subtitle:

Stormfire: the Regency From Hell.

Here's a book where standardized 'witty banter' is thrown out the window. That's not to say there aren't verbal exchanges between h/h. There are plenty, & they're some of the most interesting chapters. But what sits front & center is brutality -- not just between h/h, but between everyone in the story. If you can imagine an unpleasant situation for romantic leads, it's probably crammed somewhere into this potboiling plot. Thankfully Ms Monson decided to skip the kitchen sink -- but she couldn't resist a bathroom washbasin. Rape (heroine), torture (hero), bloody memories, family murder, incest (unintended), guns, knives, jagged cliffs o' doom, slave collars, shipwrecks, insanity, illegitmacy...the list goes on.

Therein lies the book's greatest weakness. It was too long. The last quarter of the book was totally different from the rest; if I'd been Ms Monson's editor, I'd have rec'd she scrap the entire incest plot & end it upon Sean's recovery. Why? Not because I'm afraid of incest in books -- but because without the incest, Kit & Sean would have married after Shelan's destruction...and if they'd married then, the entire France section could've been axed. Isolated interaction between Sean & Kit was the focus for 75% of the story -- for good or ill, they were the stars. But the France plot was disruptive. There was no Sean/Kit. Those chapters didn't add anything to their story; they didn't even add interesting characters (except the Asian prostitute; I would have liked more about her).

As for the rest of the book...

The rape & slavery was discomfiting at times...but I think it squicks more because it's packaged inside a romance. The sex descriptions were less graphic than a modern erotica novel -- but apparently it's the brutality that gets these tepid Regency-fans so up in arms. Well, duh. If I lived on a steady diet of cheesy snoozers, I'd be shocked as well. If you're a blah-romance nut, why on earth would you even read this book? *eyebrow* On the other hand, if you're the sort of person who is frustrated by endless rehashing of the same dull scenarios, take a chance. You might be surprised! The writing isn't for simpletons (much better than most contemp-written romances) & the characters are nicely rounded (whether for good or ill).

Character notes:

I liked Kit. I liked Peg & Flannery. I even liked Liam; though he turned into an obnoxious asshat, he made valid points about Sean's behavior & his frustration with Kit was realistic. As for Sean, I have mixed feelings. I recognize that he's an alpha from a different era of writing...but still. Ordinarily I'm a fan of maligned heroes. I've been a raving Boromir fangirl since I was eight years old; I'm not afraid of misguided males who battle legit demons & do the wrong thing at the wrong time. But Sean takes the cake in the asshole contest. It's not that he didn't suffer enough to redeem himself in the grand scale...but even his kinder moments did nothing to endear himself to yours truly. He was just an unpleasant person. Good on Kit for finding happiness with that guy; she might be the only woman who could.