Review: Needing and Wanting More
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 04 23, 2014
(Reviewer’s Note: This story contains a detailed near-rape scene. If you are squeamish about this subject, or if this is a trigger for you, please take this note consideration before purchasing this book.)***Received through Tasty Book Tours from NetGalley for an honest review***In this story, love came softly and unexpectedly for Sebastian and Beatrice. Their marriage of convenience secured her family financially, and provided a way for Sebastian to have an heir. Neither married for love (he killed her brother Doogie in a duel over her brother’s mistress); they agreed to want respect, trust, and companionship from each other only.Discovering Sebastian didn’t kill Doogie took this story in an interesting direction. As a renowned rake, I half-expected Sebastian to cast Beatrice aside, maybe annul their marriage since they hadn’t consummated their marriage before this discovery. He didn’t. He stuck to their original plan. And I loved him for that.His journey from distant husband to loving spouse wasn’t easy. His past contended with his present and future, making it difficult for him to admit what he for Beatrice was more than high regard or friendship. He thought himself above lowly feelings such as love and jealousy, but he discovered he wasn’t. He experienced jealousy first, and lashed out in the most cruel way to Beatrice. Instead of seeking her out right away and asking her forgiveness, he sought to lose himself in another woman’s body. Despite her beauty and willingness to please him, he found (much to his dismay I think) he didn’t want anyone other than his wife. I hated him for his infidelity but forgave him when he admitted it.His honesty, even when it didn’t seem like he wanted to be honest, was like a breath of fresh air. A rake who wouldn’t hide behind smooth words and glossed over lies? Interesting indeed.Beatrice’s dishonesty was shocking and disappointing. I would have loved for her to be as open with Sebastian as he was with her. Oh, I understood her reason and why she couldn’t tell him at first. But he’s her husband, her lover, her provider, her protector. He was honest when he didn’t have to be. He braved his past to reveal his love for her. Surely she knew he would do all he could to help in her time of need?The hardest scene for me to read was close to the end. Rape is always difficult to read about. Whether in real life or in fiction, it’s hard to swallow the cruelty someone would bestow on another simply because they can. Yet, one word at a time, the scene that is painted involving Beatrice and a lord is devastating and gut-wrenching. But then Sebastian is there, putting a stop to it, saving her from what could have happened. If she didn’t know it before, she knew then with full-clarity how much he loved her.There is immense power in loving and forgiving someone. Ms. Evans demonstrates that more than once in Sebastian and Beatrice’s relationship. They’re not perfect. Their relationship is ripe with mishaps and misunderstandings. Their pasts continuously darken their present. But they press forward, persevering against their own doubts, reaching for a future neither considered possible when they started this journey, and gaining a happy ever after they fought hard for.