Seems like the reviews are all over the place with this one. I really loved it. I loved the super spunky heroine who never ever rolled over and just took what the hero was dishing out. She had enough backbone for any 3 HP heroines. From their first meeting the hero, Ash and the heroine, Tabby, strike sparks off each other.

"If you two are going to keep on chatting in a foreign language and acting like I'm not here..."
"If only you were not," Ash murmured silkily.
Tabby's hands balled into fists.
"I bet quite a few women have thumped you in your time!"
Shimmering eyes dark as sloes challenged her, his lean strong face slashing into a sudden smile of raw amusement. "Not a one..."

You could tell that they were immediately attracted to each other. You could also see that she basically had his head spinning since no one had ever treated him like she did. He wasn't used to a woman who wasn't sucking up to him. You could tell that she amused him. He was not verbally abusive. He never treated her badly, in fact he went out of his way to treat her well. Sure he used marriage to her to inherit but it was fairly clear that he was lying to himself about why he did it. He was rich and arrogant but I just got that "aww shucks, the poor guy just don't know no better" feeling.

I loved how awkward he was with the baby but how he fell for the little girl even though he'd always thought children were a nuisance.

The sex scenes were imaginative and different enough to be interesting without being vulgar. It was great to see a heroine who after she looses her virginity to the hero and he gets out of bed without a word to head to the bathroom, doesn't lie there quaking in misery but instead follows him into the john and grades his performance.

"A-star for the sex, F for failure for the follow up," Tabby pronounced.

He did not intimidate her at all and every time he tried to come over all high handed with her, she just stood right up to him. The best part is that during these little fights she won more often that she lost. That was so refreshing. Usually in HP land the hero is so overwhelming that he wins every argument and the heroine is left with her jaw hanging and her pride beat up.

Without being one of those charming laughing heroes, Ash doesn't take himself too seriously He wasn't a wimp, wasn't at all beta. But he seemed really real.

"You're not a very flexible personality are you?"
"You'd roll me out like a pastry if I was," Tabby quipped. "I'm still mad at you Acheron. You took advantage of my ignorance."

"I'm an alpha male, programmed at birth to take advantage," Acheron pointed out with unapologetic cool. "But you called me on it, which I wasn't expecting."

These two didn't fight for fighting's sake. I thought the dialog was very realistic and not oddly crazy and oddly overdramatic as HPs often are. The two of them just seemed so real. The scene at the end was an example. He was having to fess up to a previous one night stand. Way before he met the heroine in case you were worried. He was embarrassed but a bad one nighter gave the book a refreshing modern feel. And made him seem flesh and blood.
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Typical rich sexy guy meets poor beautiful girl, they of course hate each other. They then fall in love in the space of a month,overcome some obstacles and live happily ever after.Like I said typical but not bad. ( )