Overall 4.5 starsRe: the audio. James Clamp did a good job of narrating. I don't normally like men narrating romance, because their female voices always make me think of a big strapping woman with 'man hands'. Of course, some females do an equally poor job with the males. YMMV, I'm sure.The story was nice and 'forbidden', which was what I was looking for. As her ward, the H legally had all the power of a father over the heroine. Plus he was almost 20yrs older than she. Then there's the tiny little fact that he's already married. I normally wouldn't read something with a already-married H, but I could swallow it here. The H hadn't had sex with his wife in years and that's how she wanted it. It would have been different had she been pining away for him, but she couldn't have cared less. As far as she was concerned he could have all the mistresses he wanted as long as he was discreet and left her alone. The only thing she wanted was his title/money.I really did like the h. She wasn't perfect, but she was 17 and sheltered and she acted like it. Robards really made you feel her loneliness and pain at having had no one in her life who cared for her. I'm still not sure who she was though. Maybe I wasn't paying enough attention. I took it that she was an orphaned 5yr old on the H's Irish estate when he took her on as a ward. There was some hint that he may have had something going on with her mother, but well after the h was born.Meagan may have been reckless in how she pursued the romance with Justin, but she was desperate for love and attention AND she didn't know about the Countess. Yes, some have said that's hard to swallow and I agree it was unrealistic. However, within the context of the story, I have no doubt that Meagan did not know and that's what is important to me.The first half was a little slow to me at times and I'd rate it a 3.5. It was your basic people falling in love with 'seemingly' no great conflict aside from the H being much older and feeling he should be a father figure not a lover. Of course, at that time a 17yr old and a 36yr old wasn't that unheard of. We do know that Justin has a wife and he knows more is at stake, but that's all conveniently pushed under the rug for the time being. The H does give the h a slight spanking (3 whacks) at one point, so that was kinda kinky (or completely DNW depending on your point of view). But, oh, the last half was filled with crazy and that's what I came here for :) Justin goes nuts once Meagan tries to find a husband within the Ton. She still loves him, but has to convince him she wants to marry another because she's pregnant and knows Justin will not allow her to marry if he knows. She chooses the child over Justin and I respected her for that. She knew Justin would keep her and the child in luxury, but the child would still be a bastard and that was a huge thing at the time. (view spoiler)[ Like her, I never thought it would be so relatively simple for the H to get an annulment (it took him 4-5 months). In fact, he'd never mentioned the possibility. He did mention divorce, but the reader and the h were led to believe this was a long shot and could take years to accomplish - years she didn't have due to the pregnancy. When the H returns to the isolated Welsh manor where he had essentially imprisoned Meagan during her pregnancy, I expected him to deliver the news of a tragic accident, illness, etc that had conveniently gotten the Countess out of the picture. But nope, he got an annulment. No convenient pianos falling from the sky. I was a little surprised. (hide spoiler)]
"Kiss me back, you little bitch, or I'll take you here and now."That little gem is just one of the many heart warming things the "hero" says to the heroine. The book starts out fine, I was into the whole guardian/ward thing. I could even overlook his whole 'loveless' marriage excuse for infidelity....but then Justin took a turn for the worse. Justin got rapey. Sure Megan could get annoying...BECAUSE SHE WAS 17!!!! I'm down with age differences by the way, just not when the man is an enormous asstard. The real drama and Justin's sociopathic unveiling comes when Megan finds ut that Justin is married. She freaks out. I can't really blame her...but....how the fuck are we supposed to believe that she had no clue her ENTIRE life that her guardian was married. It was too unbelievable. She gives Justin the cold shoulder which throws him into a spiral of rage and jealousy. He demeans her, belittles her, calls her a bitch etc. She goes out of her way to flirt with other men, bad men she is told. Justin saves her from getting raped...only to basically rape her himself. How romantic. She ends up pregnant, of course she would. She decides to marry someone else so the baby isn't a bastard. Justin won't have that so he kidnaps her, has a couple more rapey interludes, and then abandons her in some creepy mansion. Oh and she gets to spend the rest of her pregnancy alone. He comes back, marries her and then bitch slaps her. She tries to run away from him, falls off a fucking cliff and their baby dies. WHAT KIND OF FUCKERY IS THIS??? I signed up for a fluffy romance novel. Of course she forgives....the end. Happily ever after. On that note, here are some romantic quotes to end my review with:"I could kill you," he said. "I could do it so easily. If you weren't carrying my child, I think I would.""You vicious, immoral little slut!""God, if you do I think I'll strangle you." (this was supposed to be a cute joke in the middle of foreplay, but after his previous treatment of her I fail to see the humor)"That's a filthy whore's trick!" (she tried to give him a blowjob)I need to throw bleach in my eyes now.
What do You think about Forbidden Love (1997)?
This is classic Robards at her best and makes me sad for the recent stuff she's put out especially her latest, Shameless, which I found incessantly boring. This one on the other hand was quite the opposite. Wonderful, angst filled, heart wrenching story about a young woman in love with her guardian and said guardian in love with his young ward. Both Megan and Justin are strong willed people and they hurt each other as they work through the difficulties of their relationship.I wish that Karen Robards still wrote books like this. I really enjoyed this one and it is up there with my KR favorites, Morning Song and .(view spoiler)[There is a scene at the end when the hero slaps the heroine but let me assure you that the hero grovels very well and feels such torment over the incident of which he believes his slap caused. The scene where he proclaims his love to the heroine after losing their child made me cry. (hide spoiler)]
—Lynsey A
Se Lo sguardo della tigre, altro storico celebre della Robards, nonostante le aspettative, mi aveva delusa molto, questo romanzo mi ha entusiasmato. Finalmente un romance dove non si abusa della parola proibito. In questo romanzo l'aggettivo è utilizzato con giusta causa e a ragione: l'amore tra i due protagonisti è proibito perchè lui è il suo tutore, è proibito perchè lei è minorenne e vergine, è proibito perchè lui è sposato. E questo alone di proibito si respira per tutto il romanzo, attrave
—Manuela
I did my best to really put this book in my top 30 list, but it fell so short, it's no longer in my top 50.... Twilight holds a higher respect in my eyes. Let's start from the top, shall we?Megan has a "daddy complex" that is so painstakingly obvious, it hurts! I let that slide, however, since some marriages with large age differences happened often back then, and it was socially acceptable. Justin, the short-tempered control freak, and Megan, the spoiled orphan allowed to run amok for 12 years,
—Jennifer
