5 HP stars Liked it just as well on the reread.

This book was very different and is frankly the best one I've read from Penny Jordan. It is the story of a woman who was raped as a teenager but who never told anyone and so she never got over it. Unlike most HPs where the author glosses over the fact that the heroine should have had therapy, here the heroine acknowledges that she should have gone to some but was too afraid to tell anyone what had happened. Of course the only other person who knows what happened is the hero. He is the cousin of the rapist and came upon them just after the fact when the heroine was lying dazed and so he doesn't know that is was rape but thinks it was consensual and that the heroine loved his cousin. The heroine however thinks that the hero despises her for being a 'ho.

All that is slightly different but the thing that makes this book shine is that a lot of the story was told from the hero's POV. You learn very quickly that the hero has loved her all along. When in his POV you see him trying his best to always do things right for her and help her and love her. Especially once he figures out that the heroine does not love his cousin. Then it is all about how he can make her fall in love with him.

If you love different HPs then you definitely need to read this one. It is one of those jewels in the HP world that keeps you slogging away through the dross in hopes of finding the treasure. ( )