Argh. I always thought Dean got screwed. Not within the book, but by LMM. There was some discussion, back when I was on the LMM list, of how she often made her heroines get together with somewhat bland men, and perhaps it was because of her own issues with men in her life. Dean was one of the most compelling characters in any of her books and suddenly he turns around and becomes a total jerk...has always driven me nuts.

Of course, even reading them for the first time at age 11, I also thought Dean was hawt. I always went for the older guy with tragic past.