I honestly couldn't stand Reuben, sure his love for Ayla is inspiring however his constant attempts to cross her boundaries and undermine her authority as liege Lady is simply off-putting. I did like the authenticity regarding the historical aspects of this book, but Reuben is honestly disrespecting and I just couldn't handle it. If you love someone as he supposedly does, you shouldn't try and force them into doing something (AKA forcing Ayla to have premarital sex when she obviously does not want to even if she is attracted to him) and disregarding her direct orders as a superior simply because he (view spoiler)[cannot feel pain and isn't easily threatened (hide spoiler)] just makes me dislike him.