Provoked

This is a good book and I don't know why it took me several years to get to it. I was expecting something along the lines of Ava March's books with more plot, but instead, this is much more like a gritty BBC drama. It is not a romance novel, in my opinion, although I see that the romance continues in the rest of the series. I disliked everything about Murdo and I'm having a hard time imagining how he'll redeem himself in future books, but I'll definitely be reading on.

A couple of content warnings:

Homophobia: The main character is truly disgusted with himself for being gay. It sort of gets resolved in the end, but not before his father says some awful things to him. I understand that it's accurate to the period, but I found it rough to read.

Dubious consent: The main character is sexually inexperienced and has some limits, and his love interest doesn't respect those limits. It's described in a realistic way and I think it's supposed to be read as dubious consent. It isn't romanticized. The character doesn't feel violated; he feels disgusted with himself, at first, because he enjoys the experience.