Some might say that faithful devotees of the Loinfire Club are connoisseurs of pain. Truly awful writing can cause several different kinds of pain in readers: pain both acute (screaming "GAH!" and flinging the book across the room) and chronic (lying on the floor and groaning as though you've eaten too much bad ham- Chapter 1 of 'The Darkest Kiss' seems to bring out this response in people). Lord Sin's minions expect a certain number of unpleasant symptoms from a new book: in 'A Hunger Like No Other's case, we were stocking up on aspirin in anticipation of a particularly headache-inducing case of Fantasy Eugenics*. However, as it turned out, we didn't especially care about the stupidity of the book's magic system, nor the author's lack of knowledge of realworld geography, nor the irritating attempts to sound 'hip' and 'cutting edge' in a way which will no doubt look hopelessly dated within a few years from now**.
These all paled in comparison to our horrified reaction to Lachlain, the book's hero. Again, the horror came not from the fact that he is a Scottish werewolf billionaire, nor from the fact that he believes the best way to keep a wife happy is to constantly buy her things (one new piece of priceless antique jewelery every day, apparently). It's the fact that he is a persistent liar, a kidnapper, a domestic abuser, and a rapist. I've been pained by the actions of many a stupid hero in the past, but I can categorically state that Lachlain is the first romance novel protagonist who ever made me feel physically ill. By the end of Chapter 3 I was shaking with rage and too sick to my stomach to eat any of the Chronicler's delicious Japanese curry. If Kresley Cole was trying to write the next 'Silence of the Lambs', this would be a compliment. However, as the Chronicler has noted, the book is being marketed as 'romance' and the heroine allegedly ends up blissfully in love with this man, so I can only assume that this wasn't the intended response.
'Rapist' is a word that gets thrown around quite a lot in response to the highly dubious sex scenes in many of the Loinfire Club's books. So, in the interest of clarity, let me state that under British law, Lachlain is not a rapist. Technically speaking, it looks like he's just guilty of somewhere between three and six counts of sexual assault (plus at least one count of abduction with intent to commit a serious sex offence). I'm not a lawyer (nor do I play one on TV), but looking at the June 2000 British Home Office report:
"we recommend that these offences should be redefined in the following way:
- that rape be redefined to include penetration of the mouth, anus or female genitalia by a penis;
- a new offence of sexual assault by penetration to deal with all other forms of sexual penetration of the anus and genitalia;
- rape and sexual assault by penetration should be seen as equally serious, and both should carry a maximum penalty of life imprisonment;
- a new offence of sexual assault to replace other nonpenetrative sexual touching now contained in the offence of indecent assault."
Furthermore:
"Both rape and sexual assault by penetration are dependant on lack of consent, as rape is at present, but this concept is so important that we recommend: [that] consent should be defined as ‘free agreement’ [...] the definition of recklessness in sex offences should include the lack of any thought as to consent which can be described as ‘could not care less about consent'.
...The law should include a non-exhaustive list of examples of where consent is not present such as where a person:
- submits or is unable to resist because of force or fear of force;
- submits because of threats or fear of serious harm or serious detriment of any type to themselves or another person;
- was asleep, unconscious, or too affected by alcohol or drugs to give free agreement;
- did not understand the purpose of the act, whether because they lacked the capacity to understand, or were deceived as to the purpose of the act;
- was mistaken or deceived as to the identity of the person or the nature of the act;
- submits or is unable to resist because they are abducted or unlawfully detained;
- has agreement given for them by a third party."
(http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/documents/set_summ.pdf?view=Binary)
Amazingly, the last bullet point seems to be the only rule on consent which ISN'T broken by Lachlain at some point (and that's possibly purely because there's never a third party present who COULD have consented on her behalf). Having said this, the Chronicler is of the opinion that Fate is doing its best to consent on Emma's behalf throughout the book, due to the idiotic way that the 'lifemate' mechanism works. More on that later.
Her first sight of him is him charging across a tourist-filled square towards her, hurling tables out of the way as he screams at her. She runs away and thinks she's managed to escape, before "she felt claws sink into her ankle a second before she was dragged to the muddy ground and thrown onto her back" (p.9). He covers her mouth to keep her from screaming. Then when he's had a good look at her, he forcibly pins her down by her wrists and throat and kisses her while she begs him to stop ("N-no. Please. You have the wrong woman. Don't do this! Please!" -p.10). He then forcibly strips her with his claws (bear in mind, they're in a public park), before ordering her to take him to her hotel room (while she does her best to hold her shredded clothing together to cover herself).
He keeps a tight hold on her all the way to the hotel room, "dragging" her along with a "vise-like grip" (p.13). He only relaxes his guard for a moment, when he's dragging her across the road and almost gets hit by a car (he responds by punching the car "claws crumpling the metal like tinfoil, sending it skidding. When it finally stopped, the engine block dropped to the street with a thud. The driver threw open the door, dived for the street, then darted away" -p.12). When they get to the hotel, she notes that the room is ten floors up and completely soundproof, giving her no way to escape.
"He found the bathroom, yanked her inside, then tilted his head at the fixtures. “Clean yourself.”
“P-privacy?” she croaked. Amusement.
“You have none.” He leaned his shoulder against the wall and crossed his muscled arms, as if awaiting a show. “Now, undress for me and let me see what’s mine.”" (p.16)
She manages to lock the bathroom door while he's distracted by the need to steal food from a terrified room service clerk.
""He limped to the door to the bathing chamber and found it locked. He shook his head as he broke the knob easily, then entered a room so thick with steam he could hardly spy her balled up against the opposite wall. He lifted her up by her arms, scowling to find her still wet and dirty.
“You’ve no’ cleaned yourself?”
When she only stared down at the ground, he demanded, “Why?”
She shrugged miserably." (p.19)
He takes off all his clothes and informs her that if she strips voluntarily, then he'll let her contact her family (although even as he says this, he's aware that it's a lie- "in fact, keeping her from her vampire kin would just be the beginning of his revenge." -p.20).
"When he loomed closer, she peeled the wet jacket and blouse away, then the shredded undergarment beneath them, hastily draping a thin arm over her breasts.
“Please. I-I don’t know who you think I am, but—”
“I think”—before she could blink, he’d ripped her skirt clean from her body and tossed it to the ground—“that I should at least know your name before I set to touchin’ you.”She shook harder if possible, her arm tightening over her breasts." (p.21)
Honestly, I don't think there's any way to summarise how revolting the rest of the scene is: I'll just have to quote as selectively as possible:
"“Put your foot there.” He motioned to the narrow bench along the shower’s back wall. And spread her thighs? “Um, I don’t—”He lifted her knee and placed it there himself. When she began to move it, he snapped, “Doona dare. Now, lean your head back against me.”" (p.24)
"His fingers inched lower. “Keep your legs open to me.”
She’d just been about to shove them together again. She’d never been touched there. Or anywhere else, for that matter.She’d never even held a man’s hand.Swallowing nervously, she watched as his hand trailed down to her sex. “B-but you said—”
“That I would no’ fuck you. Trust me, you’ll know when I’m about to.”" (p.25)
"Her eyes had been heavy-lidded with lust, but now they widened in panic again. “Y-you said you wouldn’t.”
“Changed my mind when I felt you wet and needing.”
She did want him—as she was supposed to. He frowned, uncomprehending when she struggled. Even in his weakened state, quelling her fight took little more effort than holding a wildcat. He pressed her against the wall, pinning her there [...] She’d gone tight again. If he tried to fuck her like this, he’d tear her—but he didn’t care." (p.26)
"Need to be inside her. Haze. She would make him wait longer for the mindlessness he craved? Torturing me just as her kindred did. He bellowed with rage, his hands shooting out on each side of her head to crush the marble behind her.Her eyes went stark once more. [...] He wanted her willing. But he’d take what fate had given.
“I’m going tae be inside you tonight. Best relax.” She gazed up at him with her brows drawn as though with despair.“You said you wouldn’t hurt me. You p-promised.” Did the witch think that promise would be enough to save her? He gripped his cock, dragged her leg up to his hip…
“But you said,” she whispered, devastated that she’d believed him. She hated being lied to, especially since she could never lie back.
“You said….”" (p.27)
"He stilled. With a deep growl, he released her leg and hit the wall again. Her eyes widened when he grabbed her and turned her around. Right when she was about to scratch him, bite him, he pulled her into his arms again, her back against his chest. He shoved her hand to his erection, inhaling sharply at the first touch.
His voice gone guttural, he said, “Stroke me.”
Glad for the reprieve, she tentatively held him, in no way able to fit her palm around him. When she didn’t begin at once, he bucked his hips. She finally ran her hand over him in long strokes, looking away.
“Harder.” She tightened her fingers, face hot with embarrassment." (p.27-8)
"Taking a towel, he dried her completely. He even pinned her still—by hugging an arm around her waist—to run the cloth slowly between her legs. Her eyes grew wider as he continued to inspect her as if she were a prospective purchase. He palmed the curves of her bottom, then brought his hand down hard on each side, making sounds of…approval?He must have noticed her bewildered expression, because he said, “You doona like me learning you?”
“Of course not!”
“I’ll allow you to do the same.” He placed her palm flat on his chest, dragging it down, a challenging look in his eyes.
“I’ll pass,” she squeaked, jerking her hand back.Before she could even cry out, he swooped her up in his arms and carried her to the bed, roughly tossing her there." [...] Enough!
“I—can—dress—myself,” she snapped.He yanked her around to face him, and his tone went deadly.
“Doona displease me, vampire. You canna imagine how many years of rage I’ve got pent up, ready to be tapped.”
She glanced past him, and her jaw slackened when she saw the distinct claw marks that had rent the bedside table.
He’s a madman.She helplessly raised her arms." (p.30)
So it's clear: he doesn't technically "rape" her, as far as British law is concerned (that is, he realises that she's so tight, presumably from panic, that he's likely to tear something if he puts his penis inside her- and, after a certain amount of thought, he decides that he doesn't want to injure her right this minute). So instead he settles for 'only' digitally penetrating her while she begs him to stop, then forcing her to give him a handjob. He gropes her a bit more, despite her clearly stating that she doesn't want him to. Then he throws her to the bed and forces her to dress in nightclothes that he's picked out for her. She makes another escape attempt. Just in case you wondered what kind of person he is, he "enjoyed letting her think she was about to succeed before he dragged her back and tucked her into his side. She went limp, then passed out. He didn’t know if she’d fainted or not. Didn’t particularly care." (p.34)
He then forces her to fall asleep next to him (which she does, because vampires don't seem to have any choice over whether they fall asleep after sunrise- they're effectively in a coma during daylight hours). While she's asleep, he takes the opportunity to steal her credit card and go shopping for designer clothes, "though he continually found his thoughts returning to his new prize" (p.39). There is some difficulty due to the fact that the stolen card belongs to a 'Ms Troy'...
"Initially, there had been some hesitation on the man’s part. He’d asked if “Mr. Troy” could provide any identification whatsoever.
Lachlain had inched forward in his seat, staring him down for long moments, his expression balanced between anger at the question and embarrassment for the man for asking. “No.’’ The answer was casually threatening, succinct, subject-ending.
The man had jumped at the word as he might at an unexpected gun report. Then he’d swallowed and hesitated no more, even at the most bizarre demands." (p.39)
Lachlain's purchases include clothes for himself and for Emma (when dressing her, he specifically chooses very revealing underwear but very conservative overclothes, because he doesn't want other men looking at his property). He also rents them a Mercedes. Presumably he's going on the basis that she was renting a very expensive hotel room; we eventually learn that he's managed to rack up a six-figure credit card bill (see p.346).
When he comes back, she's still unconscious, so he passes the time by going down on her while she's incapable of resisting (which is also explicitly a type of sexual assault under British law- he's penetrating her with his tongue while she is "asleep, unconscious, or too affected by alcohol or drugs to give free agreement". She wakes up at sunset, realises what's going on, and manages to kick him hard enough to get him off her. His response?
"A red haze covered his sight and confused his mind. He roared as he charged her, throwing her to the bed and pinning her down. He freed his trews and gripped himself, about to shove into her, crazed with his rage and lust..." (p.42)
Yes, how dare the stupid bitch reject him like that? No wonder the man is angry!
"Maybe fucking her regularly, taking his pain out on her, was what he was supposed to do. Of course. He felt himself calming at the thought. Yes, he’d been given a vampire solely for his pleasure, for his revenge." (p.43)
As it happens, she manages to narrowly escape being brutally raped, by using her magic powers to scream loud enough to shatter glass and nearly burst his eardrums. This distracts him for just long enough for her to attempt suicide.
Yes, you heard that right. The first encounter with the hero of this ROMANCE NOVEL is so traumatic that the heroine literally wants to kill herself (by jumping off a tenth-floor balcony).
"She whispered, “Why are you doing this to me?”Because I’ve wanted what’s mine. Because I need you and I hate you.
“Come down now,” he ordered. She shook her head slowly.“You canna die from this. From sun, or losing your head, but no’ from a fall.” He made his tone casual, though he was uncertain. They were how many floors up? If she was weak…“And I’ll easily follow you down to bring you back here.” (p.44)
This guy should totally be a suicide counsellor. When it comes to reasons not to kill yourself, "because you'll only survive and be horribly injured and then I can easily hunt you down and rape you" is quite a compelling argument.
"She seemed to wake up, her brows drawing together, her eyes bleak. “I just want to go home,” she said in a small voice.
“You will. I vow you’ll go home.” To your new home. “Just help me get to mine.”
“If I help you, you swear you’ll release me?”
Never. “Aye.”" (p.46)
So, having explicitly lied about eventually letting her go, he manages to convince her to get down from the balcony. The tense neardeath experience over, he decides this is an excellent time to threaten her with rape again:
"If she’d assumed he would give her privacy because he’d learned a lesson, she’d have been wrong. He walked right in and opened the shower stall door. She jumped, startled, fumbling not to drop the conditioner bottle before catching it on the pad of her forefinger.She saw his fists clench and open, and that finger went limp. The bottle thudded.One hit…
The image of the shredded bedside table flashed in her mind, then the memory of the car he’d batted like a crumpled piece of paper. Chunks of marble that hadn’t been pulverized still littered the shower floor. Fool. She’d been a fool to think he wouldn’t hurt her. Of all the things she should fear, she feared pain the most. And now a Lykae [werewolf] clenched his fists in anger. At her.She turned into the corner, giving him her side to try to shield her nudity. And because if he hit, she could sink down and draw her knees to her chest. But with some foreign curse, he stalked off." (p.51)
"She turned into the corner, giving him her side to try to shield her nudity. And because if he hit, she could sink down and draw her knees to her chest." Ask yourself, does that sound more like something that belongs in a romance novel, or in a harrowing account of sexual abuse?
He follows this up by allowing her to make a phonecall to her family (who are sick with worry over the fact that she missed her plane after he kidnapped her. They haven't been able to reach her mobile since it was broken while he was violently assaulting her). Obviously he secretly listens in on the phoneline to make sure she doesn't try to tell them where she's being held.
Emma calls her Aunt Regin (who is the last of some undescribed race of flangebeasts called the Radiant Ones, and hunts down supernatural predators for fun). Regin informs Emma that she's in even bigger trouble than she suspected: not only is she being held prisoner by a violent sex offender, there is also evidence that she's being hunted down by a murderous and hideously-powerful vampire.
And then a very strange thing happens. Emma tells Regin that she is with a man. Regin immediately assumes that Emma, being half-vampire, has persuaded a man to allow her to drink his blood (which she's never done- she feeds only from blood banks).
“If not to drink him, then what would you want with a man? Huh?”
Her voice quavering with anger, Emma said, “What any woman wants! I’m no different from you—”
“You want to, like, sleep with him?”Why did she sound that disbelieving?
“Maybe I do!" (p.59)
"...[Emma] felt a glimmer of hope. She’d been aroused by Lachlain. She’d felt regular lust—not blood lust. And she’d been so close. Even tonight, she’d been to the edge with him. [...] "All right, you want to know? I think he’s…he’s wildly handsome!” With emphasis on wild. “He knows what I am and we’re leaving Paris together.”
“Great Freya, you’re serious. What’s he like?”
“He’s strong. Said he’d protect me.” Great kisser. Intermittently insane. With a broad chest she’d wanted to lick like ice cream.
In a scoffing tone, Regin asked, “Strong enough to take down a vampire?”
“You have no idea.” (p.60)
“When are you leaving Paris?”
“Tonight. Right now, actually.”
“That’s good, at least. Tell me where you’re going.”
“So Annika can come drag me home by my ear?” And fight Lachlain to the death?
“Nope. Tell her I’ll be home week after next at the latest, and that if she tries to find me, I’ll know she doesn’t trust that I am more than capable of taking care of myself—”
Regin snorted, then laughed outright.
“I can take care of myself.” Her tone hurt, she asked, “Why is that funny?”
Shrieking laughter.
“Piss off, Regin! You know what? I’ll send you a postcard!” She slammed the phone down, then snatched up her boots. Stomping into the first one, she muttered angrily, “I will so go.” Another boot shoved on. “And I won’t be catching any Stockholm syndrome." (p.61)
In this context, references to Stockholm Syndrome seem less like a lighthearted quip and more like an entirely accurate psychiatric diagnosis. It's probably less than an hour since she woke up and found him assaulting her in her sleep. Since she had to bodily fight him off from RAPING her. Since she threatened suicide because that was her only chance of escape. Now she has a chance to call for help. OK, there's a good chance he's listening in, and he's clearly psychotic; so even if she tries to come up with some kind of codeword for "I've been kidnapped", he might work it out and be so angry that he rapes and/or murders her. Given his previous behaviour, that seems entirely possible. But just a short while ago she concluded that remaining his captive was literally a fate worse than death. What's changed since then? His behaviour? He broke into her bathroom again and then sulked when her only response was to desperately huddle in the corner, but I suppose that this might count as gentlemanly, relative to him forcing himself on her in the shower.
Just to drive the point home- remember that whole weird "it's not consent if the victim submits because of threats or fear of serious harm" thing that the British Home Office has got going on?
"I'll take you here on the grass on your hands and knees, till well after the sun rises." (p.12. Reader, remember that he knows full well that she's a vampire, and that if she's out in direct sunlight for more than a few seconds, she'll physically catch fire).
Kiss me back, witch, while I decide if I should spare your life. Kiss me like you want to live.
She did [kiss him]. Not because she wanted to live overmuch, but because she thought he would make sure her death was slow and torturing." (p.15)
"Looking at the door like that? I’ll catch you before you make it from this room."
(p.20)
"I doona have to grant you anything! I could just take you in here and then in the bed.” (p.21)
"You canna escape me. You only provoke my anger.” [...]
"I-I don’t want to anger you,” she said with a shaky breath. “I just want to go-” “Do you know how many vampires I’ve killed?” he murmured, either ignoring or not hearing her words."
“No,” she whispered. She wondered if he truly saw her.
“I’ve killed thousands. I hunted them for sport, stalking their lairs.” He ran the back of his dark claw across her neck. “And with one swipe of my claws I severed their heads—before they even woke.” His lips brushed over her neck where he’d trailed his claw, making her shudder. “I could kill you as easily as taking a breath.”
[...]
“Are you going to k-kill me?”He smoothed a strand of hair from her lip.
“I have no’ decided. I’ve never hesitated a second before you.” He was shaking from holding his position above her. “When I wake from this haze—when this madness clears, if I still believe you are what you are…who knows?”
[...]
“You would hurt me that way? [referring to rape]”
“Without a second thought.” His lips curled. His gaze seemed intent on her face, but his eyes were still vacant.
“And that’s just the beginning of the things I’ll do to you, vampire.”(p.33)
---
*Fantasy Eugenics is our current placeholder name for the fiction subgenre in which authors appear to be trying to deliberately cross-breed idiotic fantasy species with badly-defined superpowers, thus giving rise to generations of hideous and over-powered offspring. In AHLNO, for example, the heroine has one vampire parent and one valkyrie parent. The vampire side gives her the ability to teleport and mindread people by drinking their blood. The valkyrie side means that whenever she is feeling a strong sensation, her eyes go silver and lightning begins striking the surrounding area. The novel speculates (on p.264) that this must make it exceptionally difficult for valkyries to masturbate discreetly. She also has pointy ears: the book doesn't mention these as either a vampire OR a valkyrie trait, so perhaps they're just some kind of minor unrelated birth defect. In addition, she acquires the werewolf template as the result of drinking werewolf blood. This presumably means that the eventual offspring of Emma and Lachlain will be part-vampire, part-valkyrie, part-human, part-wolf-spirit, part-biscuit.
**Examples: loud and pointed references to leetspeak, iPods, Buffy and Crazy Frog ringtones.
