After the Kiss Book

I had a hard time deciding whether to give this book 4 stars or not, a very hard time. Overall, I really enjoyed the book, I found both Eliza and Marcus to be likable characters, the twins were charming and the story was good without being overly complicated and bogged down with too many plot twists and turns. I liked the book a lot actually. What I didn't like were the few scenes with forced (upon) sex between Eliza and Marcus. Marcus is angry and bitter over his lot after returning from the war, he is physically scarred and as well as emotionally. There is tremendous guilt over his personal losses among which are the possible death of his brother, his self imposed estrangement from the twins, the guilt over his best friends death and his guilt over not having stepped up to and done the right thing by Eliza when he had the chance. He uses Eliza's dire circumstances and her love for the twins to force her into accepting a marriage that he wants on his terms only. His terms: Eliza is his at night but she is forbidden to see him or interact with him during the day. Marcus is so angry and twisted by this time that he is unable to be gentle with Eliza, unable to believe she might love him for who he is, unable to sort out his feelings for her without letting pure lust rule his actions. I had a hard time with the "love" scenes, they were uncomfortable and quite honestly, nothing short of rape. I know the book was written in 1991 and this kind of love scene in romance novels was more common then but frankly, there is nothing sexy or enticing about it.