Review: review of devil's bargain
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 03 3, 2014
The medieval love story was quite unusual I have yet to read anything of this nature especially of this genre the book was just sad, gritty and very dark.  The handsome brooding hero Adrian was also much the same gritty, tragic and dark several of the minor characters also were suffering under the same conditions if not for the beautiful charismatic courageous heroine Lynette.  I think I would have given up reading the book in a few pages if I didn't like the heroine so much which would have been unfortunate because I really like reading Ms. Jade Lee novel’s well at least the books I have read from her thus far.I also liked the main plot of the story the poor down on her luck parson’s daughter after losing her father while attending his funeral hears of a way to support her family by offering herself to Adrian a sort of marriage broker to secure a older rich gentleman to marry.  So Adrian trains her in the way a proper lady should behave and by pleasing a rich older guy but Lynette despite being able to act as a proper lady should it is her personal and private interactions she has with Adrian and his aunt the Baroness.  There were several times throughout the book that Adrian bothered me I think his behavior also bothered several characters in the book too.  Adrian would send her strange cryptic messages each day, the outlandish things he suggested and demanded of her, the way he watches her at night literally creeped me out and lastly the horrific time when he sends Lynette to a surgeon to check her out physically making sure she was a virgin just made me think of the first time well pretty much every time I go to the gynecologist.  I felt much the same way as Lynette and I still feel somewhat violated going that I’m sure every woman understands this experience and just tolerates as best they can much as Lynette does.  It definitely made me wonder why Lynette even fell for Adrian and could love him.  I think several times he wonders why she doesn’t run from him like several of his girls because if I would have met him I definitely would have run far away from him!  Adrian really had way too many mental issues sure he was cold, demeaning, heartless and brooding but he didn’t seem like a gothic hero to me. Adrian definitely had the major depressive disorder down pat that not only did I want to run out  and take some Prozac but I definitely wanted to give him some too but he also had some sort of personality disorder on top of that.  Yes, I like well-developed characters but when they blatantly display too many emotional psychiatric characteristics I feel as if I need to whip out the DSM-IV and seriously think these types of characters not only need to be treated but I feel that I do as well.After stating all of this it sounds like I really hated the book but in actuality I was able to finish it and mildly enjoyed reading the story.  I rated the story four stars and would read another of Ms. Lee’s stories but I don’t think I will read this one again due to the strange and bizarre content.