wow. you thought the middle ages were boring - just plagues, crusades, etc. hmmm, throw in a few chains, doms, leather - mildly camouflaged of course. read straight through - a page turner, nay mayhap a barn burner.

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Johanna Lindsey is by far my favorite author. Her books are wonderful deversions from the real world. Once you open the cover of her books, it is so hard to put them down. Her plots are above and beyond anything you can imagine, she does not disappoint her readers. This book is so captivating, you feel sorry for her and understand his anger. The unexpected twists and turns left me breathless. I put this book down with a smile on my face, well pleased. I couldn't wait to read her next book.

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Historical romance set in England 1152... sensuous.

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She is one of my favorite authors and this book lived up to my expectations of her work. Entertaining and fast paced.

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Ugh. This book is a plethora of painful, eye-rolling, cringe-worthy moments. I suppose it was a good-enough story to get me to finish it (albeit with much skimming and page-skipping). But love scenes where there is no female preparation followed by her instant orgasm on penetration just drive me nuts. Maybe Johanna Lindsay is a man because I can't credit love scenes written that way. The female body just doesn't work like that.

The heroine was the biggest weakling, wimp. She never stood up for herself with anyone. She was utterly spineless and I never felt any sympathy for her. She repeatedly followed ridiculous orders. She was a ninny who was afraid of her own shadow, imo, but this was never addressed. She got a 14 year old girl publicly whipped while she in similar circumstances was scared to prevent her own rape for fear of someone slapping her? Just thinking about her reminds me how much I disliked her throughout the book.

Yeah, and that's the end of my experiment with Johanna Lindsey.

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Pretty steamy read right from the start.

Rowena is a lady who is forced into a marriage to better the army and monies of her stepbrother. She would refuse to marry this ancient relic except for the fact that her step-brother is holding her mother hostage and has beaten her in order to get what he wants from Rowena. Unfortunately for the step-brother (and Rowena), the old man who she is to marry dies right before coming to his bed on his wedding night. The step-brother decides to hide this fact from everyone and found someone who is similar in coloring to the old man. He decides that he will have Rowena "rape" this man in order to produce an heir that they can claim is the old (dead) man's heir and therefore still inherit his estates.

They find a man at a local inn who resembles the coloring but are unaware that he is their enemy (seeing as how they gag him so he couldn't speak). Rowena completes the deed she is forced to do but the man they held captive is Warrick deChaville who will eventually exact his revenge on Rowena and her step-brother.

I couldn't put this book down. I love medieval romance and this did not disappoint.

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From the back cover...

Spirited Rowena Belleme must produce an heir-or incur the dangerous wrath of a ruthless stepbrother who stands to forfeit his ill-gotten wealth. And the magnificent Warrick deChaville is the perfect choice to sire her child-though it means imprisoning the handsome knight-and forcing him to bend to her amorous whims.

Vowing to resist but betrayed by his own virility, noble Warrick, is intoxicated by Rowena's sapphire eyes and voluptuous beauty. Yet all the while he plans a fitting revenge-eagerly awaiting the time when his sensuous captor becomes his helpless captive...and is made to suffer the same rapturous torment and exquisite ecstasy that he himself has endured.

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always reliable

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The year is 1152 and, as a woman, Lady Rowena Belleme has no rights. Her evil stepbrother, Gilbert d'Ambray, desires control over as much English land as possible and has pledged Rowena's hand to Lyons of Kirkburough-a man so near death he is a walking corpse. Rowena at first refuses, but Gilbert threatens to kill Rowena's mother if she does not comply. Before the marriage can be consummated, Lyons dies and Rowena celebrates her good fortune, until Gilbert arrives with a new plot-Rowena must become pregnant before Lyons's death is announced. For three nights, Rowena lies with a handsome stranger kidnapped by Gilbert's men. Ashamed at the mistreatment of the man and knowing that Gilbert plans to kill him, Rowena helps him escape. Soon after, Kirkburough is attacked by Gilbert's nemesis Lord Fulkhurst. Rowena is captured and taken to the Fulkhurst dungeon, where Lord Warrick de Chaville cruelly strips Rowena of her title and forces her to become his serf. Despite their passionate hatred of one another, a fervor smolders between them, igniting passion of another kind. Warrick, always feared by the fairer sex, is intrigued by Rowena, who is not afraid of him. Rowena, accustomed to men using her for their own gain, is astonished that Warrick truly cares about her. But will their newfound love be enough to overcome Gilbert's vengeful wrath? Rowena and Gilbert are splendid protagonists, humorously stubborn and pleasingly forthright.

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