I don't think most people took away what I did from the book. First and absolutely foremost: this is a romance novel, ROMANCE, I've read a lot of books and the themes, while highly sexual, are that of a romance novel. Rich, handsome, troubled man, with weird kinks finds a fairly normal woman who begins to change his ways, through love (it has been mentioned that this was supposed to be a Twilight fanfic and the parallels between the two couples felt very clear to me). CG is fucked up, he was abused as a kid and is into some strange, OCD-type control sex. He makes that abundantly clear to her that he's fucked up and she shouldn't deal with him. Yes, he showers her with gifts but how it was written never made it feel like it was a part of some master plan to trap her, he genuinely liked her and wanted to give her nice things, even when she didn't, and that played into his OCD, his need to control. She's this tough, independent woman and he's intrigued by that, because she's the fire that melts his cold facade. Someone else mentioned how he entrapped a virgin but honestly he freaks the hell out when he finds out that she's a virgin, that scared him. This is seriously a romance novel, BDSM aside, a rich, broken man's only salvation is through the love of an independent, normal young woman. He's handsome and rich and only has eyes for her. I think a lot of people got caught up in the BDSM stuff but honestly, I never felt the domestic abuse vibe, and I've been through it. I've dealt with a controlling, abusive partner. CG is troubled, definitely needs some therapy but he wasn't raping or beating or manipulating her. Everytime she felt his kinks were going too far for her tastes, they'd talk it out and he'd attempt to work with her on it, that's not exactly any kind of abusive relationship I've been in. This is a fantasy novel about a painfully handsome (seriously, that's how she describes him), incredibly rich man, whose internal pain can only be healed by the MC and her love.