A review by jackiehorne
Unclaimed by Courtney Milan

4.0

Milan continues to break new ground in historical romance, particularly in her construction of masculinity. A hero who is a virgin, and a virgin by choice, and who articulates his reasons why in intriguing, articulate, and passionate speech is more than welcome in a field filled with obligatory rakes. Equally interesting is his heroine, a courtesan who has never felt that her sexuality or sexual desires were hers to own, only hers to cede to a buyer. The story of how both come to take ownership of their sexual identities makes for not just an engaging story, but one that makes you think hard about the implications of opening oneself not only to sexual, but to emotional intimacy.

Milan and her generation are pushing romance in a new direction because of their embrace of equality between partners, rather the relying only on the Gothic thrill of the alpha male whose love is always linked to anger, to overpowering his heroine, to the thrill of her surrender. It's lovely to discover romance novels that one doesn't feel like one has to check ones feminism at the door in order to enjoy -- thanks, Courtney Milan!