His Captive (Zebra Debut) [Paperback]

Diana J. Cosby (Author)

Book Description

Series: Zebra Debut | Publication Date: November 1, 2007

With a wastrel brother and a treacherous former fiance, Lady Nichola Westcott hardly expects the dangerously seductive Scot who kidnaps her to be a man of his word. Though Sir Alexander MacGruder promises not to hurt her, Nichola's only value is as a pawn to be ransomed.Alexander's goal is to avenge his father's murder, not to become entangled with the enemy. But his desire to keep Nichola with him, in his home - in his bed - unwittingly make her a target for those who have no qualms about shedding English blood. Now Nichola is trapped - by her powerful attraction to a man whose touch shakes her to the core. Unwilling and unable to resist each other, can Nichola and Alexander save a love that has enslaved them both?

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Cosby delivers a medieval battle-of-wills romance designed (for) those who enjoy good repartee, 13th-century backdrop...and sensuality."
- Romantic Times

"Finally! At last! A bold, lusty Medieval! Diana Cosby is superbly talented. HIS CAPTIVE is the beginning of a wonderful career."
New York Times Bestselling author Cathy Maxwell

"A sexy new voice in historical romance"
USA Today Bestselling author Sandra Hill

"Reading His Captive, I'm distinctly taken back to reading Voyager, my first Diana Gabaldon!" Kim Castillo

"Charming, entertaining and romantic, Diana Cosby's debut novel, HIS CAPTIVE, transports you to the rugged bens and glens of medieval Scotland, captures your heart, and leaves you sighing for more wonderful tales from this bright new voice in historical romance."
Award-winning author Laurin Wittig

From the Author

His Captive is the 1st book in the best-selling MacGruder brothers series!

Book#1:  His Captive
Book #2:  His Woman
Book #3:  His Conquest
Book #4:  His Destiny

*Please check back for updates on this award-winning series!
dianacosby.com

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Zebra (November 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1420101080
• ISBN-13: 978-1420101089
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.7 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #349,474 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Captivating English/Scottish romance admist rebellion, November 15, 2007

By 

Misuzmama (New York, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: His Captive (Zebra Debut) (Paperback)

On the English/Scottish border, in the year 1296, Sir Alexander MacGruder, a Scot, is assigned a task by his brother. To kidnap an English Baron for ransom. The money is needed to pay for arms to help the rebels in the fight against English occupation. Upon gaining stealth entry into the castle, the Baron is nowhere to be found. Instead, in a split decision, Alexander decides to kidnap the nobleman's sister. Lady Nicola Westcourt is outraged and frightened by the dangerous and seductive Scot. As a mere pawn, Nicola is wary of Alexander's assurances of her safety. With revenge of his fathers death upper most in his mind, he cannot entangle himself with the enemy. But as everyday passes on their journey back into Scotland, a deep attraction for each other comes to light. Pushing their emerging feelings aside, they both must resist this deadly passion.

What a wonderful book! A really good *romance* centered romance. I say this because sometimes the love story is overshadowed in romance books (crazy I know!) and not given enough space (pages) to develop. Not here! The reader can actually *see* the deep love budding & building between the H/H. I ached for Alexander, torn for his love for Nicola and his duty to his homeland. And Nicola's frustration with her treacherous feelings. Each emotional scene between these two was tinged with sadness, knowing that this could be their last. A relationship that was doomed to failure from the beginning. I had no idea how Cosby (author) could resolve this problem, but this is a romance, so of course there is a happily-ever-after-ending. An ending which is quite clever, I might add, and completely believable.

Since most of the book focused on the romance, little was spent on the historical aspect. I would have liked have read a little bit more about the Scottish rebellion and Sir William Wallace. Those snippets were very interesting.

I found the secondary characters, mostly Alex's brothers, intriguing and hope to read about them in a sequel. The light-hearted rogue Duncan and the serious Earl would make great hero's.

So all-in-all good characterizations. Ample sexual tension. An old plot device made fresh. Mixed in with some action which makes this a captivating (ha ha -couldn't help myself!) Scottish romance debut.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Predictable with bland characters, July 14, 2008

By 

Melissa (USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: His Captive (Zebra Debut) (Paperback)

This novel was a predictable captor captive romance. There was a little twist in the plot at the end, but it was still your basic romance formula of: female captive hates her captor yet is drawn to him and attempts to escape several times, usually to her own detriment. There is also the requisite villian too. What would have elevated this novel to more than just a captive/captor plotline would have been really likeable leads. They were a bit bland.

English Lady Nichola, the heroine, never really knows her own mind. After she is captured from her brother's castle by Scottish hero Alexander she fights her feelings for him as they traverse Scotland. However, her actions did not demonstrate tender emotions. She was at times terribly ungrateful for his kindness when she clearly deserved his wrath.

Alex spent most of the time regretting his decision to capture Nichola because he believed her to be so vulnerable. I never saw it in Nichola except her irrational fear of storms and locked rooms. It seemed Alex was constantly saying "I'm sorry" to Nichola for every mishap that had occurred in her life. It was a bit tiresome. He is also torn between duty to country and his feelings for Nichola; she recognized this faster than he did.

Also, I did not see Nichola do much to endear herself to others, especially the Scots. This would have made her character richer and kinder as it was she seemed aloof with everyone.

As stated earlier, the ending has an unexpected twist which did surprise me, but other than the "that's interesting" ending, the book fell flat.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Good first effort but..., June 9, 2008

By 

So many books....so little time... - See all my reviews

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This review is from: His Captive (Zebra Debut) (Paperback)

overall pretty boring. The book was reasonably well-structured and followed the typical historical romance formula. It simply didn't contain enough excitement and certainly not enough romance for me and the characters were pretty one-dimensional. The author has talent, but unfortunately this book didn't hold my interest.