Customer Reviews

Captive Bride

5 star:		(25)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(14)
2 star:		(9)
1 star:		(34)

 

 

Can you give less than one star?
I dunno, maybe I'm lacking in the romance gene, but I just couldn't get into this book. Somehow rape, beatings, threats and fear just don't seem to be the stuff of this woman's dreams. Philip needs to do time, and the woman (what was her name again? She was such a wimpy non-entity that it now escapes me)needs therapy and a restraining order.
Some of the reviewers state that this sort of thing was acceptable in the 70's. I was around then (yes, children, way, WAY back then) and I can tell you that treating a woman like dirt and actually enslaving her was no more acceptable then than it is now.Let's not romanticise violence, and excuse abuse towards a woman by calling it love.
Unless you're the kind of woman who trolls for dates at a maximum-security institution, I'd give this one a miss. To say the least.

This was one of the worst books I have ever read. There wasn't one redeeming quality about Philip! What a creep! As if any woman would want to be with him! He treated Christina abominably and she loves him! He spanks her and constantly threatens to beat her! And then when she does get away from him, he threatens to take her child? Please!!! I couldn't wait till the book was over. Johanna has improved sooooo much since this book! Please don't waste your time, and if you do, don't judge her work by this terrible book!

I love Johanna Lindsey novels and have read them all, but I must admit that "Captive Bride" really sucked. In fact, it is worse than "A Pirate's Love," which is pretty damn terrible, but at least "Pirate" is so terrible it's funny. "Captive" didn't even have a spark of wit, intentional or otherwise.

So what is wrong with "Captive Bride"?

1. For starters, it took me a week to read it. A week! In contrast, I read JL's superb "When Love Awaits" in 3 hours. I even read "A Pirate's Love" in 2 days, and I thought that was pushing it. But a week?!? The first few chapters of "Captive" are VERY boring. Most of it is spent on stupid dialogue like Christina asking the servants for a bath or in dumb topics like brushing her hair or getting dressed. Nothing of interest happens until Philip steals her in the middle of the night and drags her halfway across Egypt to be his love slave.

2. All the characters are wooden, with perhaps the exception of Tommy, who surprised me by screaming like a baby in the end. JL can't even keep her characterization straight. For instance: one second, Philip claims he won't marry, the next he's proposing the moment he meets Christina. Hmmmm. And WHY does Christina weep over the old sheik's death? I didn't notice anything worthy about him. After all, he was all for Christina being kidnapped. And she likes him????

3. "Captive" is a first novel. That's not to say all first novels suck. But I'd hazard a guess that if someone tried getting this published today, they'd be laughed at - if the editor ever made it past reading the first three sentences.

I strongly urge you to NOT read "Captive" unless you are dead set on curing insomnia. If you are new to Lindsey novels, then I would suggest you read "Savage Thunder," "Once A Princess," "Defy Not the Heart," or "A Heart So Wild." Or, if you need a good Arab romp, read Lindsey's "Silver Angel," about an Englishwoman sold into a harem. You won't regret it.

After reading some of your reviews, I wish I would never have even picked this one up! To actually think this book is romantic is unbelievable! Some better adjectives to describe it? Asinine, farfetched, tortured, and just plain terrible! The characters are ludicrous and difficult to relate with. The hero of the book is a rapist who continually rapes and beats this poor woman, who actually considers herself lucky! Feels more like a Jerry Springer episode than a romance novel.
I have read some of her other books and cannot believe this one actually got published.
Where are the women's rights groups? Shame on anyone who might think this twisted relationship is romantic on any level!

I just finished collecting all of Johanna Lindsey's books and picked this one up to read despite the bad reviews because I wanted to read all her books, even the ones that are not as good.

And... well... I did find it to be a good story I guess... the plot had a lot of potential, BUT I read it through and didn't find myself caring much for any of the characters. They had absolutely no depth.

It was written almost in a rushed way with barely any communication, conversation or in-depth storylines. It didn't make me laugh, cry or feel for Christina and Phillip in any way.

I knew that I probably wouldn't love the book since it was one of her earlier works, but truth is that I didn't even like it a little bit. I was just trying to get through it.

I hated Philip, even from what little I learned of him. I really didn't understand his nastiness or what motivated him. I didn't feel that he loved Christina, but only wanted her for his own selfish reasons, not caring in the least that he had taken her from everyone she loved and that she was grieving about this.

Christina hated Philip in the beginning and I just could not understand what on earth changed her feelings to love... He didn't seem worthy of her love or her respect. It didn't seem very realistic at all.

Anyway, I'm glad I read it because it is one of Johanna's and I will read the rest of her books because I know she has some great ones in the collection. It is kinda hard to believe that the same author wrote this and Prisoner of My Desire... What a difference!

I have read several Johanna Lindsey novels that I have enjoyed, and this was not one of them. I couldn't stomach the spanking that she felt she deserved for being bad, and the other instances of punishment. This man was not a hero a woman should run to, but should run from.

Being a fan of Johanna Lindsey's Malory series I bought Captive Bride and instead of enjoying this book like the Malory books I was very disappointed and I have to agree with Gina and other reviewers with why they don't like this book, I don't like it for the very same reasons and think the book is just awful!

Sorry but abusive men just don't do it for me!

This book is a disgrace. I wish I could give it a zero rating. Alas. The main character is so incredibly off the wall. If you are looking for the way NOT to write read this book. She is a Mary Sue through and through. The first few chapters are a disgusting reinforcement of how unbelievably perfect she is. -_-;

All the other characters are totally two dimensional and unoriginal.

It was painful for me to read this book; in fact, the only reason I didn't stop is because I cannot start something and NOT finish it.

This Author has produced much better works. This simply reeks of ignorance. Yes, it was written thirty-odd years ago, but trust me rape and all that jazz weren't smiled upon then. And the whole "Its another culture argument" is bologna and the product of ignorance.

This was very clearly a first attempt...I am, however, surprised this one made it. Don't get the wrong idea, this is a great author, but this book is beyond horrible. Calling it atrocious would be an understatement.

Horribly slow, horribly written...spare yourself and don't read this.

The plot was pretty good, however I thought she could have done a lot better by lengthing the romance between the two characters. It seemed to me the characters went to fast. One minute Christina hates Philip, then the next she can't live without him. I thought she could have developed these characters a little more and given some depth to their romance. This was one of the shortest novels of Ms. Lindsey's that I have read and I must say she rushed through the story and it was very obvious.

I just purchased this book after reading just about all of her others and couldn't wait to sit down and read it. There is not much dialogue between the characters just alot of JL explaining what is going on and what the characters are feeling (very descriptive). I felt I couldn't connect with the characters because I wasn't waiting with bated breath to see what they had to say. I actually checked the front cover to see when it was written and I found out it was indeed an early book. This one falls in line with "Pirate's Love", which was much worse than this in content, but better written.