Search - No Gentle Love

This was one of the first romance novels I read. Forgot how much I didn't like it. Too long, too much wife beating and not enough love.

This was the first book that I have read by R. Brandewyne and of all the 15 books of her's that I went on to read, it remains my favorite. It was a keeper for me. This book was written 20 years ago and many of today's sensitive readers would not like this book because of the strong and sometimes harsh storyline. The hero was a man to read about and to dream of but one would not want to be married to him in reality. He's not a man you can wrap around your little finger.

I'm very conflicted about this book. The hero basically rapes the heroine, his wife, in every "love" scene. But she likes it, or so it would seem because she is always sexually satisfied by him in the end. Brandewyne really means it, though, this woman never experiences gentle lovemaking in the whole book. I think the story was too long by half and much of the story was just upsetting or frustrating. However with all that said, I am still thinking about it, several days later, even though I am reading a different book now. And I found the book difficult to put down. I was invested in their love story and thought the resolution was worthwhile. But I kept wishing that the last couple sections of the epic would have been omitted. It just made me like the heroine less.