I really love this depiction of a hero with Aspergers. And while some see Beth as perhaps too “perfect” for Ian, she is indeed much the sort of woman many men with Aspergers tend to marry.

Karen, thank you so much for sharing your view on the book. I’m so glad you enjoy it! I bet the author would absolutely love it if you took a moment to email her.

My understanding, based on reading articles in neuroscience and philosophy journals, and not on my own expertise or experience, is that both impairment in cognitive empathy (correctly guessing what others are thinking and feeling) and in affective empathy (having the right emotional response to someone else’s emotional states) are more common in people with ASD. However, I also now realize that failure to respond to others’ cues in a way we non-ASD folks consider socially appropriate (such as not looking someone in the eye ) is NOT a reliable sign of lack of empathy in people with ASD. I am sorry to have made that stupid assumption.

I really love this depiction of a hero with Aspergers. And while some see Beth as perhaps too “perfect” for Ian, she is indeed much the sort of woman many men with Aspergers tend to marry.

Good reviews!

Kristie – I agree. And agree and agree. Earthy. Brothers – roles. And Beth/Sarah. All of it. I already knew you loved this one but even if I hadn’t, I’d've known this would appeal to you.

I’m so glad you both loved this book as much as I did and ‘see’ what I did in it. You put it extremely well:
“Sometimes, when I’m really enjoying a book, I just race through it. If I get even five minutes peace, my hand will stray towards it and I’ll fit in however many pages I can. I’ll gorge and guzzle it; devour it the way you might eat a chocolate bar when you’re hungry. And sometimes that greediness leaves me with a feeling of regret afterwards, wishing I’d savoured it more even though I know that the regret is misplaced. Because the compulsion is part of the enjoyment. The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie was such a book for me. I read it over a couple of days, snatching every chance to pack in a few pages.”

That’s exactly what I did when I read this one – raced through it ’cause I couldn’t get enough, then regretted that I did because it was over but then glad I’m a rereader because I could quite happily read it a second time – this time absorbing it better – and then a third and fourth time.
I wish I had the words to explain what it is that makes a book like Lord Ian stand out above others – so much so that I can’t seem to move on until it’s out of my system so to speak – but this one has it in spades. LOL – Tumperkin – I’m glad your standing with me on what a great hero Ian is. One wants to mother him and have hawt, sweaty, earthy sex all at the same time. And earthy is one of the reasons I loved this one – heh heh heh!!
And I didn’t mind the sequel bait as each brother had an important role IMO as to defining Ian and his relationships with them and with ‘his Beth’. They weren’t simply standing around so we could ‘see’ them and wait for their stories.
And comparing the heroine Beth to another recent book that blew me out of the water – Broken Wing – I think I like Beth just a bit better then Sarah. I thought Beth was more fully rounded with her good experiences of sex. I thought she ‘matched’ Ian just a tad bit better -though don’t get me wrong – I really enjoyed Sarah too

I will have to pick up this book now and give it a read myself to see how it comes across to me. Kudos to the author for recognizing, as so few have, that this is a condition that has a long historical existence if very limited understanding until quite recently.