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Highest Stakes Of All (2011)

by Sara Craven(Favorite Author)

2.97 of 5 Votes: 4

ISBN

1459201841 (ISBN13: 9781459201842)

languge

English

genre

Romance

publisher

Harlequin Books

review 1: Oooff! I need to think.Okay, there are several problems with this, hence the time I needed to think. First and foremostly: this is not tongue-in-cheek satire or some nod at former bodice rippers by a young author. No, this is an actual bodice ripper, written in 2010 by a woman who wrote them already in the 1970s. Sara Craven was 72 when she wrote this book, and the purplish prose as well as the unmitigated bodice ripping (aka rape-apology and male supremancy) obviously are a result of her own ideology.Given this I have a very hard time being amused by this book, even though I actually was amused at times. Read from a modern vantage point I might agree with Loederkoningin's take of this being sort of a D/s-non-con slavery scenario sprung at unwary romance readers. Had it be... moreen written as such, with a certain tongue-in-cheek attitude and routing all the FSoG-derivates and Twilight-wannabes at the same time, this would have certainly commanded a high rating and my applause.Unfortunately I am convinced it isn't this. Instead I think it is a genuine article written many years after its heyday. Therefore it gets 1* for being rape-apologist and 2* for being amusing. And I rounded up rather than down here on Goodreads for the plot bunnies it gave me ;)
review 2: I realize this book will not be for everyone but I liked it. Maybe it's because it is an extremely old school Harlequin and I have a soft spot for those. Hero is very alpha, heroine is his victim but she is also a con artist so she's not entirely innocent. Her kidnapping didn't bother me and her "rape" didn't bother me either because I didn't see it as rape at all. She was clearly smitten with her captor and she definitely enjoyed their lovemaking.In my opinion the real villain of the story was her father. Talk about a major bastard! I wanted to slap him silly for using his daughter nonstop and basically prostituting her. What made me even more furious was that the heroine forgave him for being such an asshole. She should kick him to the curb but alas she has a kind heart! less

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