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isitcake 's review for:
Prisoner of My Desire
by Johanna Lindsey
challenging
dark
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
I have such mixed feelings on this. I binge read this in 1 day; it's hard to put down. This reminded me a lot of A Kingdom of Dreams and Gentle Rogue, both enemies-to-lovers tropes where the families both hero and heroine come from are enemies, where the heroine initially has power until the hero takes that away, seducing her to his side.
Rowena is forced by her stepbrother Gillbert to wed a decrepit old lord, who dies getting into the marriage bed. Gillbert decides to hide the death and find a lookalike that Rowena can use to get herself with child, which Gillbert will claim was the old lords' child so that he can claim his army and lands. However, they unwittingly capture his greatest rival Warrick de Fulkhurst; they just think he's a landless knight or a serf. Rowena uses him for 3 nights, manages to get pregnant, then frees him before Gillbert can kill him.
Warrick comes back and captures her, sending her to his castle's dungeon. He gives her back "like for like" - chaining her to a bed and making her climax for 3 nights. He releases her but then makes her a servant. But they're both attracted to each other even as they fight it. Rowena acts like a lady even as she's forced to serve him his meals, wash him, mend his clothes, clean his rooms, etc.
But the biggest plot point is that she doesn't reveal her true identity. He doesn't know that she is related to Gilbert, his sworn enemy. She claims she has her own lands but he almost just laughs? He doesn't push too hard imo to get answers. And because she doesn't reveal this..
Warrick leaves to go siege Gillbert's castle where it all comes out who Rowena is. Initially he locks her back in the dungeon but then has her locked away in solitary confinement for 25 days (!!) while he searches for Gillbert. He finally comes back and they have their confrontation but he assumes she and Gillbert have been secretly messaging each other, that this is all a plot against him. He was planning to marry her before finding out who she really was - his people were starting to treat her like a lady even - and now she becomes his servant again.
Weeks go by until finally her mother Anne visits, who after being freed from Gillbert reveals that she married his best friend Sheldon. And Anne tells Warrick how Gillbert beat her to force Rowena to do his bidding. Warrick realizes how he's assumed all wrong (FUCKING FINALLY!!) and tries to make it up to Rowena but she's fucking done - tells him if he loves her to free her. Months pass - she's back at her castle about to give birth. Warrick has visited every month but she refuses to see him. Then Gilbert shows up the same time as Warrick and they battle each other, there's a roof scene where Rowena nearly falls but Gillbert saves her. So Warrick lets Gillbert live and have his castle back if he swears fealty to him, in exchange since Gillbert saved Rowena. Rowena is immediately in labor but before she's given a midwife Warrick makes her marry him (C'MON!). She gives birth to a son and its presumably happily ever after.
God SO MANY PROBLEMS THOUGH. The rape isn't even that bad because it's pleasurable for both. It's the humiliation, the degradation that happens in this book. I know its the 1100s and yes that's just how women were treated but that doesn't make it easy to read. Rowena is completely at Warrick's mercy way more than he ever was her's.
There's also Warrick's 13 and 14 year old daughters (Rowena is like 18-19 btw). Since he's been away at war and his first 2 wives died, they've grown up without a parent so they're bitchy snobs. Beatrixwants to get back at Warrick for marrying her off so while he's gone for weeks she hatches a scheme to accuse Rowen of stealing her pearls, which would send her to the dungeon where she would be raped and tortured. Rowena's former maid Mildred warns her of the plot so she can escape. And later when Beatrix accuses her in front of Warrick she has an alibi. So Warrick whips Beatrix with his belt in front of everyone.
The justification for Warrick's behavior is that his castle, which he took back and they're in now, was taken from him - his father was murdered, his mother was raped to death, and his 2 sisters jumped to their death to escape the same fate. He's been "hard & cold" ever since - he vows 10x vengeance to what is ever done to him. That's why he goes to war over the slightest insult.
So yea - this was incredibly well written. Good plot. I like the characters even as I hate them lol. I'm so torn.
Warrick comes back and captures her, sending her to his castle's dungeon. He gives her back "like for like" - chaining her to a bed and making her climax for 3 nights. He releases her but then makes her a servant. But they're both attracted to each other even as they fight it. Rowena acts like a lady even as she's forced to serve him his meals, wash him, mend his clothes, clean his rooms, etc.
But the biggest plot point is that she doesn't reveal her true identity. He doesn't know that she is related to Gilbert, his sworn enemy. She claims she has her own lands but he almost just laughs? He doesn't push too hard imo to get answers. And because she doesn't reveal this..
Warrick leaves to go siege Gillbert's castle where it all comes out who Rowena is. Initially he locks her back in the dungeon but then has her locked away in solitary confinement for 25 days (!!) while he searches for Gillbert. He finally comes back and they have their confrontation but he assumes she and Gillbert have been secretly messaging each other, that this is all a plot against him. He was planning to marry her before finding out who she really was - his people were starting to treat her like a lady even - and now she becomes his servant again.
Weeks go by until finally her mother Anne visits, who after being freed from Gillbert reveals that she married his best friend Sheldon. And Anne tells Warrick how Gillbert beat her to force Rowena to do his bidding. Warrick realizes how he's assumed all wrong (FUCKING FINALLY!!) and tries to make it up to Rowena but she's fucking done - tells him if he loves her to free her. Months pass - she's back at her castle about to give birth. Warrick has visited every month but she refuses to see him. Then Gilbert shows up the same time as Warrick and they battle each other, there's a roof scene where Rowena nearly falls but Gillbert saves her. So Warrick lets Gillbert live and have his castle back if he swears fealty to him, in exchange since Gillbert saved Rowena. Rowena is immediately in labor but before she's given a midwife Warrick makes her marry him (C'MON!). She gives birth to a son and its presumably happily ever after.
God SO MANY PROBLEMS THOUGH. The rape isn't even that bad because it's pleasurable for both. It's the humiliation, the degradation that happens in this book. I know its the 1100s and yes that's just how women were treated but that doesn't make it easy to read. Rowena is completely at Warrick's mercy way more than he ever was her's.
There's also Warrick's 13 and 14 year old daughters (Rowena is like 18-19 btw). Since he's been away at war and his first 2 wives died, they've grown up without a parent so they're bitchy snobs. Beatrix
The justification for Warrick's behavior is that his castle, which he took back and they're in now, was taken from him - his father was murdered, his mother was raped to death, and his 2 sisters jumped to their death to escape the same fate. He's been "hard & cold" ever since - he vows 10x vengeance to what is ever done to him. That's why he goes to war over the slightest insult.
So yea - this was incredibly well written. Good plot. I like the characters even as I hate them lol. I'm so torn.