LynneC’s review of Bound by the Italian’s Contract by Janette Kenny
Contemporary Romance published by Harlequin Presents 1 Jul 14
I’ve been a grumpy reviewer recently, and now I’m desperately hunting for a great book I can enthuse about. This, sadly, isn’t the one, but I’m not being as hard as I might otherwise be, because I was so keen to find something to like.
Be warned, this review contains a spoiler. I can’t discuss the book without it, but I feel it’s a spoiler that should have been discussed anyway, because it’s a trigger point for a lot of readers.
The hero is standard, but he has an interesting background; the heroine is sympathetic, except for one, glaring point that I’ll come to later; and the writing style is smooth, except for the sex scenes, which don’t just edge into the purple – they plunge daringly in, performing a swan dive and a couple of back flips.
So, the story. Luc is a sexy Italian and an ex-champion skier, who gave up after an accident that left him seriously injured and his brother in a wheelchair for life (No Miracle Cures in the next book, please!)
When he was skiing, he had an assistant, Caprice Tregore, who made a move on him. She was too young, he went away and that same night (here’s the spoiler – it appears at 40% in in my version) she was raped. Uh-huh, raped. It’s her response to this that I have issues with. She kept quiet about it, not wondering if she was condemning other young women to the same fate. She rebuilt her life. She didn’t have therapy (She was a virgin!).
I really don’t appreciate this being used as a plot device, because I feel it isn’t treated properly. Caprice shows subsequent behaviors that are so untypical of rape victims (believe me, I’ve done the research for books of my own) that it serves to trivialise the issue. Rape victims tend (please note the tend) to fall into one of two categories – the “don’t touch me” type, which Caprice does, EXCEPT she then enters a profession that includes a lot of touching, and the “I want to get this nasty taste out of my mouth” type, where they’ll go for as much sex as they can get, in order to put psychological distance between them and the rape, and to prove to themselves that it wasn’t “my fault.” Kenny seems to want the best of both worlds, and it doesn’t work.
Moreover, Complex Traumatic Stress Disorder typically shows that rape victims are at much higher risk of abusing substances, getting clinical depression, serious anxiety disorders and OCD. Guess which of those Caprice suffers from? That’s right, none.
Plus, despite being a near-virgin, she performs fellatio on the hero on their first intimate encounter and she does it so well she spoils him for all women. So when we hear that this together career woman who has chosen a career in rehabilitation and training in the ski industry was violently raped and hasn’t had sex since, it doesn’t ring true.
What does ring true is the Harlequin “formula.” Honestly, I have fought for years against it being called a formula, but in this case, and in many of the other books I’ve read recently, it’s so tired that it reads that way. Plots and characters are giving way to it. The heroine of a Presents book must be a virgin, or of the “tried it didn’t like it” variety. Check. She must be instantly wonderful in bed and the hero must give her multiple orgasms right from the start. Check. So while Caprice is a perfect Harlequin Presents heroine, she is not a believable rape victim.
The hero, Luciano, is delighted when she performs fellatio on him on their first sexual encounter. He’s been a bit of a hound-dog after a tragic first marriage (ahem, Presents formula?). He has employed her to work on centres for rehab and training, so he takes her to his lodge in the mountains to show her the décor (yes, honestly. “come up and see my etchings” has nothing on this). Of course there’s an avalanche, so naturally they get it together in the luxurious lodge. It’s morning before Luc mentions that he’s been in touch with his housekeeper and everything is okay. Except they nearly died in an avalanche. You’d think, with Luc so important and all, that once his assistant tells people where they’d gone, the people left behind would go berserk trying to rescue him. Not so much, apparently.
Neither is there a mention of protection, or if it was there it’s of the blink-and-you’ll-miss-it variety. That would be an instant F with a lot of reviewers. I decided they used condoms, but forgot to mention it. The pill won’t protect you against AIDS or other STDs.
The sex scenes are so purple, it is like going back in time. The style is usually straightforward and dry, to the point of the characters making statements rather than conversation, but that’s probably because she’s saving the descriptives for the sex scenes. Here’s a tiny example:
“lips dueling an erotic melody ”
There’s more, and purpler.
A few notes that maybe an editor might have noticed:
“This is beyond unique,” – “unique” should never be qualified. Something is unique, or it’s not.
“He laughed, a rich contralto ” – he laughed like a girl?
This sentence: (rapist’s name redacted to avoid spoilers) – Caprice is saying this.
“Don’t you see that if I deny anything happened between us, it diminishes XXX’s hold over me?” she asked, desperate for him to understand her fears and phobias. “It gives me the power to choose.”” –
This is spurious and dangerous thinking. No, it doesn’t. She is choosing to let her rapist do it to somebody else. She has no phobias, not that are outlined in the text. I just can’t say how much I hate that sentence. Even reading it over again gives me hives.
So I’m being generous. I like the skiing theme, the heroine being proactive and her refusal to give up her career (not that the hero asks her to). I like Luc. Even his initial rejection of her is understandable. I don’t like most of the other elements. And I really think that a book with a heroine who has been raped should be spoiled in the blurb. There are so many people who would find themselves deeply upset to have this sprung on them.
Grade: C-
Summary:
Bound by business…
Physiotherapist Caprice Tregore steels herself as she prepares to meet the man she had vowed never to see again. She needs his help, and she can only guess at what the captivating Luciano will demand in return. But the years have changed her, and she’s no longer the naive innocent he once knew….
Branded by passion?
Luciano Duchelini needs Caprice to insure his brother’s recovery. But two months in her company shows that the tantalizing attraction he turned his back on years before is still there, and this time he’s determined to satisfy his every desire…regardless of the cost.
Read an excerpt.
