Prisoner of My Desire: A Medieval Historical Romance Novel

I love Johanna Lindsey. The Malory novels were the first romance novels I ever read when I was 16. Since then I have read my fair share of romance in all the subcategories and I feel like I have developed an expert idea on which books and/or series are just okay, good, great or awesome. For me there are three major things that I look for in order for me to give a book the great or awesome distinction. The first is SEX. And for those of you out there who disagree I am dumbfounded as to why you read these books in the first place. The sex has to be HOT and there has to be enough of it. Some books do too much and some too little. One thing I cannot stand is when there is not enough sex as well as the sex being too corny or chaste. Second is the female lead. I tend to like the books more where the female is strong and smart. There are some that get away with weaker female characters by either toughening her up throughout or having a great male lead that makes up for it. The male lead is important too but for some reason it is not as important to me as the female lead. Probably because I am female and I as the reader am identifying with this character and reading vicariously through them. And lastly: the writing. Bad writing is the worst. Just because I'm reading romance does not mean that I don't want it be smart and well written. Character and plot development is crucial. This being said I gave Prisoner 5 stars because it meets and exceeds all three of these criteria. The story is well written and the plot is well formed and well paced. The female lead is headstrong and clever and the male lead is sexy as hell. The sex is kinky (so for all you who like vanilla sex this is not for you) and hot. Some people might get upset with the whole rape/bondage thing (which is not as bad as it sounds in the actual context of the story) but I say again: this is fantasy people! You read these things to FANTASIZE about experiences that you may never take part in. If you don't like that then find the book that has the fantasy you like and read that one. Hope this helps!

This is one of my keeper books having read this when I was 12-15 years so naturally I wanted to get the hardcover version for my collection. I think the dust jacket picture of the h/H is absolutely stunning and hot. I later learned the artist Elaine Duillo (hope I spelled that write) drew these gorgeous covers like another fave of mine “Once a Princess” dustcover. On to the story! Another one of my nostalgia books – read 13-15 years old. When I saw the front cover I thought the H/h looked hot – very goodlooking  Definitely it was a shocking book for me to read (at that time) and of course the mind blowing h “raping” the H?!!! But yeah, I guess it was a double standard for me in that I guess it didn’t seem as bad vs H “raping” the h…. I know, rape is rape no matter the gender. I got it, I got it! But anyhoo, I was really engrossed in the story. From the start to finish – heck even the finish had one last ultimate danger/climax/excitement. The H is obviously not perfect and in other circumstances (i.e. the contemporary romance novels I read) I don’t like the fact that H has got children from his first wife (I’ll have to read again if he only had 1 wife or 2 wives…) But this is a historical romance and all that so I guess wives die so fast in that era (no modern medicine) and I don’t recall those facts bothering my 13-14 year old self – what with other controversial scenes there. Its not a perfect story and I think today it may even piss off some of the politically correct readers but I do remember that it was an entertaining book that captured my interest. The h had some spunk, the H was a bit of an a-hole in some parts of the book (but given what happened to him, who can blame him) but H did try to redeem himself/grovel. You may not like what happens to the villain but that didn’t bother me that much.

*** Kind of spoilery*** My tears had barely dried before I was supposed to love the hero for realising his monumental stuff up and believe in his declarations of love. Prisoner of my Desire is one of those historical romances that I hate to love. The hero was an utter, utter bast*rd. He is cranky, rude and despicable. He has his reasons, but his resentments and hostilities at times made me want to get my own bloody whip out and chase him down…not that I have a whip mind you. I wanted the hero to suffer more…suck up to the heroine more…scream from the rooftops his love…more. Rowena, poor bloody Rowena. Her brother Gilbert made my skin crawl. His lust filled gaze and the simpering need for Rowena were the stuff of nightmares. He wants her but has no hesitations in using her in his war against his archenemy Lord Fulkhurst. First of all, he beats Rowena’s mother to get her to marry a really, REALLY old Lord who promises Gilbert an army if Rowena marries him. Rowena, seeing her mum suffering, agrees to the horrible deed. The old Lord, wrinkled, blind and deaf is keen for the bedding but luckily keels over after the wedding but before the bedding. Gilbert, knowing that his plans won’t come to fruition if Rowena doesn’t produce an heir, finds a replacement (who looks like the old bugger) to impregnate her. Bugger me…the serf who is shackled to the bed for Rowena to climb onto, mount, ride (rape) turns out to be none other than Gilbert’s enemy. Geez…what a stuff up. Warrick, Lord Fulkhurst, was on the way to claim a new bride. He’s already had two that I think he frightened to death, and now Warrick is attempting to trap a third and hopefully beget a son. He already has two legit and one non-legit daughter’s (bastard is not a nice term), but a boy to carry on his legacy is what he desires. Unfortunately, his plans go haywire when he is attacked and kidnapped before he gets to his betrothed. Shackled to a bed, he finds out that his “job” is to be the stallion to an exquisite filly that he can’t deny he’s attracted to. Used and abused, he finally is unshackled, given clothes and sent on his way. Little did they know, he has a reputation for holding a grudge. Nobody gets away with taking from him, especially his dignity, freedom…and seed. He will have his revenge. Poor Rowena, she is racked with guilt for taking advantage of the man, but little did she know who she was taking advantage of. When Lord Fulkhurst attacks her new home, Gilbert does a runner and tells her to beg for mercy. Once she is faced with Lord Fulkhurst, it didn’t matter what type of begging she did, he was going to be a wee bit cranky. Prisoner of my Desire was a hard book to love, especially when you couldn’t help but despise the hero for most of the book. It’s an extremely steamy read that bordered on kinky, with its dubious consent and rough taking. You can’t help but feel throughout the whole book. Your feelings range from anger to tears, laughter to dread and blushing to gagging. To be honest, if Rowena had had to bed the old coot, I think I would have thrown up a little. Prisoner of my Desire was a love story that does have a happy ending, but it was a journey that had some unpleasantness to it. I really enjoyed it and struggled to tear my eyes away from my kindle. I’m very glad that my Facebook friends introduced me to Johanna Lindsey and her sick and twisted love stories.

Her stories have so much depth. I just wish I could find them published again. I can’t wait to read the next one I find.

I’m not going to address the issue of dubious/non-consent here. If this theme bothers you, skip this book, it contains a lot of it. This is an old skool historical romance with a hero who is pretty nasty to the heroine for the majority of the story (though of course, he has his reasons--or thinks he does). He ends up extremely remorseful and the the heroine does make him suffer :>). This happens to be a theme I enjoy. I’ve noticed it’s making a comeback of late, perhaps ala 50 Shades (which I have not read, though I plan to rent the movie). Anyway, it’s well done here and I was more satisfied with the outcome than most of Johanna Lindsey’s books (that I’ve read) and many of its ilk. The pacing was excellent, the emotions intense, the historical setting felt authentic (oh, how I enjoy this time period—ca. 1100), the heroine was neither meek nor stupid—but truly a victim of her own desire, the main characters’ (and others) motivations were clear. If you enjoy medieval romances with a captive theme, you’re gonna love this one.

I wanted to like this book, but there was so much miscommunication through willful ignorance (translation: Hero didn't want to hear explanations for anything because he was too proud and too self righteous) and petty vengeance and so much hatred and anger that I just couldn't get past it. Admittedly, though, I bought this book because I knew that it would be a bodice ripper and would have some angry sex. So that's on me. I guess I didn't expect the level of anger and hatred, so I skipped around to get to the end. The end was the best part. Not that it ended, but the way it ended. That part I liked. Overall, the writing was good. I liked the heroine. She was resourceful and had personality. The hero, however, didn't do it for me. He was hot and dominant and all those things that we're supposed to like in alpha males, but he was missing empathy and had too much of that anger and hatred that I was harping on above. That killed my ability to enjoy the story. The story itself was interesting, but also frustrating because so much happened because of misplaced assumptions and good intentions gone wrong. So much hurt and anger could have been avoided if the protagonists would have just talked to each other honestly. That frustrated me up to wazoo. Yes, wazoo. I would recommend this book to people who enjoy the bodice ripper type historical romances with lots of angry sex (chains and dungeons and all). If you enjoy the angry sex and bodice ripper historical romance, then you'll love this.

This book was fabulous! I loved Warrick...reminded me a bit of Wulfgar (Wolf & The Dove) only on steroids! The bits of dry humor sprinkled throughout the book between the main characters made me chuckle.. and the very beginning when Rowena needed to consult Mildred as to how men are plumbed was hilarious. The book had everything a historical romance should have!

*****Spoilers***** This book was very well written and I enjoyed Warrick and Rowena, their story was an enemies too love story that ended well. The unfortunate themes in this book though are his rape first followed by hers later in the book, between one another that is. Rowena following orders to spare her mother, him to get revenge against Rowena for her part. The turnabout seemed fair but her virginal fumblings were so close to being pitying and his more about making her enjoy the act that it wasn't as terrible as the words themselves sound on their own, but still a bit uncomfortable to read. Even so, the rest of the story is a page turner and worth the finish I thought. The beginning of the book starts out with a jumble of information that I thought to be confusing, a little too much at once. It wasn't until further along in the story that I understood Gilbert's role and status as well as the drawn out war he had been waging with Warrick. What surprised me more than anything about Gilbert though was how on the one hand he truly did seem to have some affection for Rowena while on the other hand, was so manipulative that he threatened to kill Rowena's mother to get her to go along with his plotting all the while, he planned to have her for himself once she was pregnant. Or maybe he just saw her as a means to an end and was protecting her for himself which is more likely given what we know of his character. Rowena and Warrick especially turn out to have a raging desire for one another once other feelings are out of the way. They get to know more about one another and they both begin to change for the better I think. Secrets about Rowena's identity mean trust is broken once Warrick finds out who she is, the step sister of his enemy so he thinks she's been a spy. Fast forward to him learning the truth and trying to make good with Rowena over the last months of her pregnancy until she delivers him a son. He already has three daughters and the age difference between him and Rowena is close to 15 years I think which is the age of his oldest legitimate daughter. His first born daughter is about Rowena's age if I'm doing my math correctly so there's that. All in all, I did enjoy the read and may have given it a 5 if not for the rapes.

I loved this book. Classic Johanna and it had all the feels. It was angsty and ended well. I would definitely recommend it to anyone looking for older romance books with a strong male hero.

I would not have bought it if I had known how much rape and threat of rape is in this

Yet another great story. Love her books. Never disapoints

The books are in very good condition

Loved this story, at first I found Rowena frustrating as she seemed to just put up with all the horrific circumstances she gets put in and goes along with Warricks cruel demands. However I found in the end this added to the story as she really changes and develops as a character . Johanna is on top form here!