Sondra Stanford

I don't know what to make of the male lead in this one. At first, he appears to be very kind to the heroine (he calls her Peanut! Awwww~), but then when she says something he doesn't like, he turns nasty and forces himself [kisses and embraces] on her and the usual grip-so-tightly-it hurts-or-bruises. I read a lot of old fashion romances (Harlequin Presents) and a lot of older ones, too, so I'm used to alpha heroes who are "over the top," to put it gently, but the kindness aspect is really throwing me off. It feels like he is an alpha male disguising as a beta? I really like it when he is on beta mode, but then when he switch from kindness to his nasty side in an instant, I have a hard time separating an abusive person in reality from the obvious fantasy of this story. So what am I saying? I guess if the hero is nasty to the heroine from the start, like in a lot of these older romances, then I wouldn't have trouble reading this. I mean I won't enjoy it, but at least I won't be thrown off when I expect someone who can be so kind to suddenly turn nasty. So scary...… (meer)