Customer Reviews

The Captive (Harlequin Blaze)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I loved this book and I would recommend it strongly. Wulf the Viking and Gwendolyn the Saxon heiress are a very caring couple and the love scenes are really exciting. I also like how she helps him let go of the pain of his past, being rejected by a cruel flirt and then blamed for her death by his king and the other Viking warriors.

The one thing I would say is that Wulf, as a hero, is a little too much Mr. Nice Viking. I know we no longer do bodice ripping, forced seduction, but a hero should still have a dark edge, a potential menace. This rugged hunk was just a pussycat right from the get go! He snatches Gwendolyn from her castle and next thing you know he's giving her foot rubs, feeding her hot fish right from the fire, and sharing his mead while promising to give her a fun "adventure."

Somehow I always pictured Vikings as being a little more unpleasant, even a bit confrontational.

In 885 in Wessex, Lady Gwendolyn is an independent person. Her nurturing parents educated her to insure she depended on no one but herself. When they died, she is forced to give up learning for embroidery by her guardian as being a lady activity though she is bored by the stitching. Instead she climbs castle walls and runs loose when she can.

In spite of King Alfred's efforts to keep his Saxon kingdom safe, Norse raiders continually assault Wessex. During one of these forays, Norse chieftain Wulf Giersson spots and captures Gwendolyn. Her élan for life grips him as no woman has before and he vows to make the wildcat his. However, as her Saxon countrymen mount a rescue attempt and another Norse raider wants her, Wulf soon learns who the captive in his relationship with Lady Gwendolyn is.

This is a great Blazing Dark Ages romance starring two strong protagonists and a powerful support cast in pursuit. The story line is fast-paced from the moment Wulf sees Gwendolyn and never slows down until the final confrontations. Readers will be held captive by Joanne Rock's superb historical.

Harriet Klausner

I enjoyed the easy read that this book was and I've read enough of them to know what I was getting into but I still can't help but be bothered by how seldom romance authors write great heroines, especially compared to the heroes who generally have many more layers. Maybe it's just too much to ask of the genre but I see it once in a while so I think it's doable. There were definitely parts of the story I liked but here again, I'm being told by the author how smart and scholarly our heroine is and she never really does anything, well, smart. I'm a little uncomfortable with the storylines that make the heroine seem almost like a child vs this big hulking man who indulges her childlike ways so he can have sex with her. It's a little icky. Another part that bothered me is that it occured to Gwendolyn that if Wulf went to war against Alchere and Alfred that a lot of her people might be killed and she seemed to get all upset about that until she thought he loved her and then it was OK. When she decided he didn't really love her she was all upset about that and not so troubled about the fate of her people. Huh?

Gwendolyn almost never conducted herself with any dignity at all and I don't really mind that because she pretty young and naive still, but please stop telling me how intelligent and gentle and noble and wonderful a heroine is and just show me. She was pretty funny a couple of times as was Wulf and that may have been the thing that saved it for me. Wulf's character was done much better, although I thought the way King Harold bowed out at the end was just plain silly. It's OK for a vanilla formula romance but a little thin in the characterizations for me.

Gwendolyn of Wessex's early life had been a wonderful adventure, thanks to her parents, two wealthy scholars who had traveled the world. Now, at age twenty, she finds herself widowed and once more under the control of a powerful nobleman, Richard Alchere. The Norsemen's attack on Alchere's keep is a welcome relief from her days of tedious embroidery, but she hadn't planned on being rescued by a Viking warrior, Wulf Geirsson.

Wulf and his men are estranged from King Harold, a vengeful Norseman who still blames Wulf for his sister's untimely death. Gwendolyn is a fine Saxon prize, but Wulf finds himself fleeing Norseman and Saxon alike as he strives to keep his noble captive. Over time, however, Gwendolyn comes to care for her handsome Viking and Wulf soon fears that he is also falling for his lovely prisoner.