PIRATE'S PASSIONATE SLAVE by Robin Gideon

Publisher: Zebra, 7/1991
Setting: Carribean, 1817
Time span: A few months
Hero: Lord Derek Leiceter York
Heroine: Lauren Masters
Bodice Ripper? Not really
Grade/Rating: B-/3.5 stars

SYNOPSIS:  Lauren Masters was both terrified and furious when a gang of white-slave traders seized her ship. The Virginia vixen swore to fight the cruel rake who carried her off to his cabin...until she saw that Derek York was no ordinary privateer. In his silk shirt and elegant waistcoat, York claimed to be an aristocrat on a secret mission. But when he shed his expensive attire, he became a golden pirate whose muscled masculinity and exquisite loving completely enslaved her senses. Now Lauren had to decide whether her virile captor meant to protect her... or seduce-then sell-her tempting flesh!

Lord Derek, heir apparent to the House of York, had infiltrated this gang of pirates for one reason-to find and rescue his abducted sister. He wasn't in the flesh peddling business, yet when he saw the beautiful ebony-haired Lauren, Derek was consumed by a desire to possess her. At first he imprisoned her in his cabin for her own protection, but soon he was making her his willing slave, roaming her luscious curves and plundering her silken flesh. And when she finally begged him to take her to the frothy peaks of rapture, he knew she'd be forever his...PIRATE'S PASSIONATE SLAVE

MY THOUGHTS: The heroine, Lauren, who's got black hair and brown eyes, in on a ship in the Caribbean, on her way to settle some family business stuff for her parents, who are in Virginia, USA. The ship she's on, Miss Malaki, is taken over by another ship, The Unholy One. The hero, Derek, is captain. He's not really a pirate but is pretending to be one so that he can find his sister, who was abducted a month before when her ship was attacked by pirates.

Derek forces Lauren to stay in his cabin, to keep her away from all the crew members. She hates him instantly but he's attracted to her. He ties her hands together to keep her from struggling and, I believe, rapes her. He repeatedly tells her that he's not going to rape her and that he's there to protect her all the while attempting to have sex with her when she, clearly, doesn't want him to. She stops fighting him and gives in though, still clearly, not wanting it. From the next day and until the end of the story, they have consentual sex all the time.

I didn't care for this novel at all. I'd waited four months to read it and was so disappointed. From the time the hero and heroine meet at the beginning, the entire story is about the two of them trying to find his abducted sister, Amanda. Lots of drama ensues and Lauren gets abducted too. With just a couple of pages left, Derek and Lauren's family find her and they all live happily ever after.

Boring as hell. I don't recommend this and I'm not sure if I'd read another one by this author.

Eight Days in Darkness: The True Story of the Abduction, Rape, and Rescue of Anita Wooldridge by Angela Roegner and Anita Wooldridge

Pub. Date: April 2010 
Publisher: Synergy
Genre: NonFiction/true crime
Rating: C/3 Stars

SYNOPSIS: On June 25, 1998, Anita Wooldridge (21) was taken from her parents' home in broad daylight by a convicted rapist. For eight terrifying days, Anita was savagely beaten and raped by her captor, (Victor Thomas Steel) who locked her in a metal storage cabinet for hours at a time. With only a steadfast faith in God to comfort her, Anita refused to give up hope that she would be found. Eight Days in Darkness chronicles the shocking events of Anita's kidnapping, including her transport across state lines, and the impressive efforts of local authorities and FBI agents which led to her rescue and the dramatic capture and conviction of her abductor. Anita's story is still used today as a case study for prospective FBI agents, and Eight Days in Darkness paints a portrait of the real-life battle between good and evil.

MY THOUGHTS: I was really bored by this book. I didn't find it particularly interesting. Every page was the same as the one before it. I'm very disappointed that the author didn't explore the childhood of the rapist, Victor 'Tom' Steel. Any well written true crime/biography/autobiography/memoir will have a through account of the perpetrators upbringing. We learned nothing much about Tom's childhood, except that his father was abusive and that he has two siblings.

Tom had previously been imprisoned for ten years for raping another woman, long before he met Anita. But that couldn't have been his first taste of crime. Most sex criminals have a history of voyeurism, stalking, obscene phone calls, something but we never learned of any because the author didn't explore his past enough or interview him.

His mother was quite a character. I wanted to know more about her but was told nothing at all. What a disappointment. I found her to be the most interesting person in the book.

I received this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

LOVE'S AVENGING HEART by Patricia Matthews

PUBLISHER: Pinnacle, 1976

SETTINGS: Virginia, July 1717
TIMELINE: 3-4 years
HEROINE: Hannah McCambridge, 16
HERO: Michael Verner, 22-ish
BODICE RIPPER? Yes
GRADE: B/4 stars

SYNOPSIS: Love's dream...
Hannah wondered if her daydreams and nightly fantasies would ever come true. A captive, near-slave to Silas Quint, her brutal stepfather, she lived in squalor, suffering the indignities of poverty and shame. She knew only that she must escape, that must come first. Then to find the man and the lover who'd fulfill her dreams.

Hannah's sordid life with Quint was soon replaced by long hours toiling as an innkeeper's bar maiden -- literally sold into servitude by her stepfather! It was but the beginning of a wild and tumultuous new phase of life that would test Hannah's very soul. Her fiery red hair, voluptuous body, and impudently beautiful face would attract men -- men of wealth, men of nothing but strength and lust -- and she would have to learn to survive amidst their passions and furies.

After all, she was only a wench, a body to be owned, used or bartered. But Hannah would do more than survive, she would win. She would overcome the sadistic beatings, the rapes, the treachery, the crushing humiliation of her circumstances. She would discover the all-consuming raptures of passion when love came to free her questing heart.

MY THOUGHTS: Hannah goes through hell during the first part of the book. Her stepfather leads her, with a rope around her neck, to an inn called The Cup and Horn. He's forcing her to become an indentured servant for the next five years, until she's twenty-one. The man who buys her is the owner of the inn, Amos Stritch. He's fifty, fat and bald. Amos bought her to 'warm his bed' and because she was a virgin. She's to work at the inn too. He rapes her and beats her several times.

She meets a sixty-three year old Englishman named Malcolm Verner. He's owner of a plantation called Malvern, which is assume the word is a combination of his first and last name. He's wealthy because he grows tobacco. He's got a young son, Michael, whom he assumes is dead. He buys Hannah's indenture papers from Silas and gives them to her; he frees her but she chooses to say at Malvern and continue on as his housekeeper. Malcolm asks her to marry him and she agrees. She's now seventeen.

The rest of the book is a bit boring to me. There is some interesting information about Hannah being octoroon, meaning she's 1/8 African. Her father is 1/4 African. There's some blackmail toward her involving that. Malcome dies and his dead son reappears. He and Hannah begin a sexual relationship, resulting in a pregnancy. She flees to Boston and opens up an inn and had a lover. The plague strikes and kills thousands. Michael finds her and they, and their daughter, Michele, move back to Virginia and they get their happily-ever-after.

I didn't like that Michael was only 22 ish or the secret mission he was on to kill the pirate known as Blackbeard. I also didn't like the plague stuff either. The book wasn't quite as good as I was hoping but it was alright.

There's a sequel to this and is about both Hannah and her adult daughter, Dancer of Dreams.

ONLY WITH YOUR LOVE by Lisa Kleypas

PUBLISHER: Avon, October 1992
BODICE RIPPER? Yes, mild
MY GRADE: C

SYNOPSIS: The newlywed bride of a Creole aristocrat, Celia Vallerand prays for deliverance from the bloodthirsty brigands who abducted her from a New Orleans-bound schooner. Though she believes her beloved husband slain and despairs for her own life, the shy French beauty fears above all the dashing privateer who pays a king's ransom to claim her ... and boldly risks capture to possess her.

The most notorious pirate of the open seas, he is called "the Griffin"--a rugged and powerful renegade who arouses within Celia desires as dangerous as they are irresistible. But the magnificent adventurer is a man trapped in a perilous deception--and he guards a shocking secret that could deny him the love of the gossamer-haired enchantress who stirs his manly passions and enslaves his heart.

MY THOUGHTS: This takes place in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States in 1817 ten years after the previous book in the series. The heroine, Celia, is twenty-four. She has blond hair and brown eyes. The hero is Justin Vallerand and he has dark hair and blue eyes and is twenty-five. His identical twin brother, Philippe, is her husband.
 
Sadly, I only liked the first quarter of the book, which was the first 100 pages. So many things, so much action, took place during the beginning that I felt like there was nothing left for the rest of the story. Once Celia moved in with her in-laws the book became very boring to me.
 
Her in-laws were the hero and heroine of the previous book, Only In Your Arms, which was rewritten as When Strangers Marry. Starting when Celia moved in with them, they were featured throughout the entire novel. I don't think that was fair to the readers. They had their own book and ended up with another one. I didn't care for it.
 
Justin wasn't as alpha as I'd have expected him to be, judging by his personality in the previous book. There was a 'forced seduction' scene with Celia early on but other than that I don't think his personality was all that bad. I'd have preferred for him to have been more aggressive in nature. Celia was a bit feisty and was a good match for him. Truth be told, I didn't care too much for either of them.
 
I thought there was too much hanging out at the plantation, since that's where most of the novel took place. I found it mostly boring and some things, like when someone was impersonating another, to be a bit silly and unoriginal. I consider this to be a very mild bodice ripper.

LORDS OF PASSION by Virginia Henley, Kate Pearce, Maggie Robinson (Anthology)

PUBLISHER: Brava, 12/2010
GENRE: Fiction/Historical Romance Anthology
PURCHASE: link
MY GRADE: B

FROM PUBLISHER: This dazzling new historical collection delivers a trio of heroes who are bold, dashing, and unforgettable in every way. . .

Beauty and the Brute by Virginia Henley

It's been three years since Lady Sarah Caversham set eyes on arrogant Charles Lennox--the husband her father chose for her to settle a gambling debt. Now Charles has returned, unaware that the innocent ingénue he wed is determined to turn their marriage of convenience into a blissfully passionate affair. . .

MY THOUGHTS: Story takes place in England in 1719. I'm not sure about the timespan. The heroine is Sarah, sixteen, blond and blue eyed. The hero is Charles, twenty-one, dark haired and brown eyed. They are forced to marry three years before, at the ages of thirteen and eighteen, and have been estranged for three years. Charles returns after being gone and is instantly attracted to his wife, who, apparently, looks much different than she did when last he saw her.

I didn't care for this story at all. I was bored the whole time. Charles and Sarah got along pretty well. I didn't feel much attraction on Sarah's part. She wants to get revenge on her husband for being rude to her when they first met by getting him to fall in love with her. When he does, she then tells him she wants to be a wife in name only, like before. They're estranged for a short while then get back together. Boring! The heroes sister, Anne, is featured throughout and ends up getting married. I couldn't have cared less about her. This is a short story and should have been about hero and heroine only. I wouldn't be interested in reading more about this couple or any of the secondary characters if they ever got their own books in the future. 

I grade this story a C/3 stars.

How to Seduce a Wife by Kate Pearce

Louisa March's new husband, Nicholas, is a perfect gentleman in bed--much to her disappointment. She longs for the kind of fevered passion found in her beloved romance novels. But when she dares him to seduce her properly, she discovers that Nicholas is more than ready to meet her challenge, over and over again. . .

MY THOUGHTS: This was my favorite of the three stories and was the most sexually graphic. It too was the shortest story. It takes place in England in 1816. It ties in to her Simply series. Unfortunately because it was so short it never really could get going. The couples ages weren't given but Nicholas is six years older than his wife. The hero and heroine aren't that compatable sexually. The hero, Nicholas March, sets out to seduce his wife, Louisa. They end up at the House of Pleasure, as featured in the Simply series, and reenact an abduction scene from a romance novel the heroine had been reading. The sex is very explicit and it loved it.  

I grade this story an A/5 stars.

Not Quite a Courtesan by Maggie Robinson

Sensible bluestocking Prudence Thorn has been too busy keeping her cousin Sophy out of trouble to experience any adventures of her own. But when Sophy begs Prudence's help in saving her marriage, Pru encounters handsome, worldly Darius Shaw. And under Darius's skilled tutelage, Pru learns just how delightful a little scandal can be. . .

MY THOUGHTS: This story was pretty enjoyable and explicit. I liked the hero and heroine and thought they made a good pair. At the end, I didn't like that after knowing each other only four days they decided to marry in six months. 

I grade this an A-/4.75 stars.

A SENSE OF SIN by Elizabeth Essex

PUBLISHER: Brava, 4/2011
GENRE: Fiction/Historical Romance
SETTING: England, 1794
SERIES: Darthmouth Brides, #2
MY GRADE: B

FROM PUBLISHER: He Could Be Her Ruin - After a shocking letter and then a mysterious warning about the dangers of unworthy men, Celia Burke is on edge. With her precarious position in society, the merest look could tear her reputation to tatters. And the roguish viscount pursuing her seems interested in far more than just a look...

She Could Be His Salvation - Rupert 'Del' Delacorte, Viscount Darling, believes the ravishing Miss Celia Burke played some part in his beloved sister's death. Looking for revenge, he swears he'll seduce and ruin her - without actually touching her. Yet to win Celia's trust and ignite her passions, Delacorte must open his hardened heart to her - and in the process, risk falling for the very woman he hoped to destroy...

MY THOUGHTS: The hero is Del, twenty-six. He's got blond hair and blue eyes. The heroine is twenty year old Celia, who has dark hair and brown eyes. She's studying botany secretly but her father knows about it. She went to school with Del's younger sister, Emily, until Emily's suicide a year and a before.

I liked the plot of the hero, Del, wanting to get revenge on the heroine, Celia for something he thinks she's done. What I don't like about it is him believing Celia has played a part in his sister's suicide when there's really no reason to believe that. Without giving too much away, there was a rumor going around that involved Celia and Emily. Celia and Del are both being blackmailed by the same person, they find out later.

I doesn't make sense to have Del wanting to get revenge on someone he claims to hate by seducing her. If you hate someone why would you, how could you, want to have sex with them?

When it's revealed who the blackmailer(s) is, I was real disappointed. I thought the author could have been a bit more creative with that. I had trouble understanding why Celia was considering paying off the blackmailer(s) when she hadn't done anything wrong.

I could feel Del's attraction for Celia but I couldn't detect any attraction from her for Del. There love wasn't believable to me at all. Their rushed marriage wasn't either. Their characters were underdeveloped, as were everyone's. We got a tiny bit of backstory for Del but nothing for Celia.

The ending was very, and I mean very abrupt. It came so quick I was left a bit stunned. I actually had to go back and read the previous page to see if I'd missed something. I thought I'd accidentally skipped a few pages. 

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't disappointed in this novel. I liked the revenge plot but it seemed to turn into a non revenge plot as soon as the lead couple met. It was like the author changed her mind and decided to drop the revenge plot.

Comment about the cover. I really like her blue dress. I'm pretty sure though that the hero on the cover has dark hair when Del had blond.

I received this in exchange for an honest review.

THE VALCOURT HEIRESS by Catherine Coulter

PUBLISHER: G.P. Putnam Sons, 10/2010
GENRE: Fiction/Historical Romance
SETTING: England, 1278
PURCHASE: link
MY GRADE: D

FROM PUBLISHER: Twenty-four year old Lord Garron of Kersey is on his way home to succeed his late brother, Arthur, as the Earl of Wareham. But on arrival, Garron discovers his home, Wareham Castle, has been nearly destroyed by The Black Demon and his band of bad bad soldiers looking for Arthur's cache of silver coins which remain hidden. The handful of servants who've survived includes a young girl named Merry, supposedly the castle priest's bastard, who is as clever and enterprising as Garron.

Garron is told this Black Demon destroyed Wareham because no one would tell him where Arthur had hidden stolen silver coins. Equally puzzling is the too-smart bastard Merry -- as well bred, literate and brave as any man he's ever known. Indeed, she galvanizes his people to action before he can even ask her assistance. She's a natural leader and a skilled healer, but Merry has secrets of her own...secrets that could endanger Garron and his people. He knows she's hiding something, knows she could bring more bad things down on his head, but he likes her and her fast mind and her ready wit. But can he survive the truth?

MY THOUGHTS: The heroine is blue eyed, red haired, 18 year old Marianna 'Merry' de Lucede Mornay. The hero is Lord Garron of Kersey. He has black hair and blue eyes. The whole plot of this book is Garron trying to get his brothers silver coins back.

This book was terrible. There was some magic running throughout it that I didn't care for, as I'm not a fan of the paranormal. None of the characters were interesting. Merry's mother is a terrible person. Basically, she was trying to sell Merry to someone she didn't want to marry in exchange for the silver coins that were stolen. She needed the money to buy more things to create spells with. Toward the end there was some silly stuff involving a secret sibling thrown in. Pointless. I never saw any love between hero and heroine either.

NEVER KISS A STRANGER by Heather Grothaus

PUBLISHER: Zebra, 1/2011
GENRE: Historical romance
MY GRADE: C

SYNOPSIS: Nowhere in medieval England are three women so powerful -- or adored -- as the heiresses of Fallstowe Castle: Sybilla, the ruthless beauty, Cecily, the pure-hearted innocent... And Alys, the youngest sister, whose wild spirit has yet to be matched...

Lady Alys thinks everyone knows the legend: If a man and a woman meet at midnight within the ancient Foxe Ring ruins, they are as good as married. But when she finds a captivating stranger lurking there in the middle of the night, she discovers the one man who is unaware.

It's a deadly pursuit that brings Piers Mallory to the Fallstowe lands. But now that fate has attached the alluring, and curiously insistent, Alys to his side, it may work to his advantage to play by her rules, at least for a time. Yet the danger Piers courts is no game -- and the passion he and Alys share is all too real...

MY THOUGHTS:  The story takes place in England in 1276. I think the story only spans about a month or so. The heroine is eighteen year old Alys Foxe. She’s got pale blond hair and brown eyes. She’s the youngest of three sisters. Her parents are deceased and her older sister, Sybilla, runs everything. Alys runs away because Sybilla is making her marry someone whom she doesn’t want to marry.

The hero is thirty year old Piers Mallory. He’s poor and on a mission: to claim his birthright from the King. He comes across Alys sleeping at something called Foxe Ring. It’s a stone ring outside that is supposedly where you go to meet your future spouse. Alys becomes convinced that they’re now husband and wife. I found that to be very annoying.

At the beginning, Alys is given a monkey, whom she names Layla. The vicious monkey is on almost every page of the story. I didn’t care for that at all. That too was very annoying. I don’t believe a romance book should feature a pet. The monkey was very distracting and pointless, really.

Piers suffers a terrible attack by two people who are very close to him. I like those characters because I feel all books, even romance, need a villain or two. I think they add to any story. I don’t think the ones in this story were given enough time to develop their characters. There wasn’t enough character development with both hero and heroine either. Piers lost his mother when he was just six. We don’t really know anything of his life before he met the heroine. Same goes with Alys. What was her life like, especially with no parents? We learned nothing about their pasts.

Almost from the start she claimed she loved Piers and not long after he claimed he loved her too. That was way too rushed, came too fast. They don’t really even know each other. They were sort of thrown together and they didn’t have anyone but each other during a stressful, scary time. Their feelings for one another grew faster than most, I guess, because of it.

I also didn’t like the ‘wood’ people, who live in trees, literally. I thought that was bizarre and unbelievable, more like something you’d read in a Grimm’s fairy tale. I guess it was a bit creative but a little too out-of-the-box for me.

I received this from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

A LASTING SPLENDOR by Elizabeth Bright

PUBLISHER: Paradise Press, 1/1981
GENRE: Fiction/Historical Romance
SETTING: England, 1910
TIMESPAN: Three months
PURCHASE: link
MY GRADE: C

FROM PUBLISHER: HER IMPERIAL BEAUTY STUNNED EDWARDIAN ENGLAND!

But Sylvia was no match for her scheming mother who plotted to use Sylvia's sensual green-eyed charms to her own devious ends.

Angry and rebellious, Sylvia disguised herself as her own maid and offered her love to a gentle stranger, the dark and handsome Parliamentarian Arthur Wicklow.

Caught in her own tale of deceptions, Sylvia threw herself into court society -- determined to forget the quiet young politician in a heady whirl of amorous escapades...

But Arthur had opened a new world of honor and duty and passion to a woman who, once awakened, could never forget...

MY THOUGHTS: The heroine is twenty year old Sylvia Hartley. She has honey colored hair and green eyes. She lives at home with her mother and stepfather. She’s out riding her horse when the horse throws her. The hero sees it happen and carries her into his cottage. That’s how they meet.

The hero is twenty-nine year old virgin Arthur Wicklow. He’s got brown hair and brown eyes. He’s described as being unattractive, very tall and very skinny. He’s a member of Parliament. He’s instantly smitten with Sylvia. They end up having sex in his cottage during that first meeting. Sylvia lies and gives him a false name, the name of her maid. They go their separate ways after that but Arthur never forgets her.

Sylvia is bored with life and is unsure what to do with it. She’s got a terrible relationship with her mother, Lady Constance. Her mother introduces her to Philip Waring. She wants Sylvia to have sex with him, for no apparent reason. Sylvia does, eventually. She ends up meeting another man, Charles. He stutters really bad. They end up deciding to get married but she changes her mind when she realizes he’s so against her being a suffragette or associating with them. She’s gotten involved in women’s rights since meeting with her old friend Kitty. Personally, I could have done without all the suffragette stuff. I didn’t find it interesting at all and wanted it to go away.

Arthur helps Sylvia out toward the end of the story. Some bad things happen to Sylvia’s ex-maid, Meg and her husband Brian. Arthur tells Sylvia that he loves her and she tells him the same. I don’t belive it at all. The barely know each other. During the drama with Meg and Brian, we get to see how cold and nasty both of Sylvia’s parents are. It’s hard to believe they could act that way. I don’t believe, in real life, someone would say the things that they did.

I didn’t really enjoy this story. Ignore the cover; I don’t think it’s a romance story at all. There wasn’t a bit of romance in it. I was excited to read it but was let down.

Elizabeth’s book list.

THE PERFECT MISTRESS by Victoria Alexander

PUBLISHER: Zebra, 1/2011
GENRE: Historical romance
MY GRADE: C

SYNOPSIS: Widowed Julia, Lady Winterset, inherited a shocking book that every gentleman in London wants. For a charismatic businessman, it could be a chance to build an empire. For a dashing novelist, it could guarantee fame. But to a certain proud, domineering earl, it means everything..

Harrison Landingham, Earl of Mountdale, cannot let the obstinate Julia release her shameless memoir, as it would ruin his family’s name. The only way to stop her may be equally sordid, but far more pleasurable. Landingham’s rivals are intent on seducing the captivating woman to acquire her book; and he is not the sort of fellow to back away from a competition where the stakes are high. The winner of this game will claim both the scandalous memoirs, and her heart.”

MY THOUGHTS: Widowed Lady Julia Winterset is in posession of her late great-grandmother’s memoir. She’s looking for a publisher who’ll publish it. She’s in desperate need of funds and that’s how she meets the hero, Harrison Landingham, Lord Mountdale. He’s trying to buy the memoir from her because it contains scandalous information about his father.

That pretty much sums up the whole story. I’m sorry to say I didn’t like this novel at all. I found it to be very tedious and long-winded. I felt indifferent toward all the characters, including hero and heroine. I especially didn’t care for the heroes ex sister-in-law, Veronica. She was in this story way too much for my liking. I suspect she’ll get her own story, if she hasn’t already. I didn’t see this as a love story in any way, shape or form. Julia and Harrison’s love didn’t seem genuine to me at all. I didn’t feel any chemistry between them.

I also didn’t like the touch of paranormal that ran throughout the entire book, right up until the last page. The heroine’s great-grandmother, Hermione, writer of the memoir, who has been dead for years, would show up and have chats with her. I don’t like or read paranormals and didn’t appreciate that being in a historical romance novel.

The only thing I did like about this novel were the scandalous memoir excerpts that were at the end of some chapters. Those, I did find interesting.

I received this from the publisher in 2011 in exchange for an honest review.