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Captivity
To escape being married off to a rich man — any rich man! — by her snobbish and ambitious mother, Alex fled to Melbourne, only to meet someone who was just as determined as her mother had been. Chase Marshall offered her marriage as well — but Alex was under no illusions as to why: he simply thought she would be suitable. Well, he could keep his offer of marriage!
187 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1981
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119 people want to read
About the author
Margaret Pargeter
104 books75 followersMargaret Pargeter was a popular writer of 50 romance novels in Mills & Boon from 1975 to 1986.
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Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews
February 18, 2022
I couldn't take the heroine seriously after she accused the hero of this. Are you kidding me? I know Alex reacted the way she did because of shock and her own fears as Chase suggested, but it gave me a good laugh. Yes, I'm being a bit mean.
The romance didn't entertain as much in comparison. The bickerfest interactions and dialogue weren't the most exciting which can be attributed in part to the tell vs. show style of writing.
Sorry, Margaret Pargeter. After three strikes, er, books out I think we may have to part ways, unless I find a book of yours that shouldn't be missed.
The romance didn't entertain as much in comparison. The bickerfest interactions and dialogue weren't the most exciting which can be attributed in part to the tell vs. show style of writing.
Sorry, Margaret Pargeter. After three strikes, er, books out I think we may have to part ways, unless I find a book of yours that shouldn't be missed.
February 20, 2018
This book is the only one I read by this author that does not have a doormat for a heroine,Alex is stubborn and sticks to her guns about not marrying the hero and I adored that fact! If u like a book with a sly alpha male who does some serous chasing for the heroine and is quite obviously besotted with the heroine you will love this as much as I did. Def recommend!
October 13, 2022
"Captivity" took my breath away!It really felt like the arrogant hero Chase Marshall held Alex captive and was trying to do everything to make the innocent Alex Latham marry him.He takes her to Coolabra with him and shows the beauty of his hometown in Australia.Pargeter with her skillful writing made the country alive for me and i enjoyed reading the descriptions of the wildness.The passionate chemsitry between Chase and Alex was sorching hot,while she refused his proposals,Chase used every tactic available to him to make her surrender.
Seduction,blackmail,jealousy...you name it!
Seduction,blackmail,jealousy...you name it!
August 20, 2021
Besotted hero engineers heroine's "captivity" at his Outback station. The plan? Heroine (named "Alex") must come to the station to alleviate his sister's fiance's suspicions that she has been dating a guy named Alex. Since the hero's sister is a hard-voiced sophisticate who has been dating a guy named Alex, this is not the most sympathetic of pleas. But heroine heeds them anyway since she thinks she can hide from her matchmaking mother for awhile.
At the station the heroine is quickly accepted into the hero's family as she helps with the (now-humbled) sister with wedding plans. The hero shows his love by accosting the heroine every chance he gets, threatening her, flying in her mother against the heroine's wishes, surviving a plane crash with her, and throwing a last minute OW into the mix.
The last one finally does the trick for an HEA for the hero and a flag of surrender from the heroine. This is just good vintage fun.
At the station the heroine is quickly accepted into the hero's family as she helps with the (now-humbled) sister with wedding plans. The hero shows his love by accosting the heroine every chance he gets, threatening her, flying in her mother against the heroine's wishes, surviving a plane crash with her, and throwing a last minute OW into the mix.
The last one finally does the trick for an HEA for the hero and a flag of surrender from the heroine. This is just good vintage fun.
November 10, 2014
Well now that was interesting.
"I would have told you I loved you, if I'd known you loved me" (Heroine)
"I want to marry you, I want to give "Coolabra a girl like you. Someone untouched. Someone to give m the children I need". (This from the man whore of all man whores, our Hero. In this case, what's good for the goose is not for the gander)
"I would have told you I loved you, if I'd known you loved me" (Heroine)
"I want to marry you, I want to give "Coolabra a girl like you. Someone untouched. Someone to give m the children I need". (This from the man whore of all man whores, our Hero. In this case, what's good for the goose is not for the gander)
December 16, 2025
Incessant bickering
❥ What's the line between bantering and bickering?
❥ What's the line between acceptable asshole and criminal asshole?
➥ The simple answer is
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🕮⋆˚࿔✎𓂃 𝐣𝐨𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐲 𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰
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❥ What's the line between bantering and bickering?
❥ What's the line between acceptable asshole and criminal asshole?
➥ The simple answer is
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🕮⋆˚࿔✎𓂃 𝐣𝐨𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐲 𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰
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June 17, 2020
"Captivity" is the story of Alex and Chase!
Oooh! This was so good!
A totally, madly, crazily obsessed hero, who chases the heroine throughout the book, proposes a gazillion times, bestows rough kisses but goes no further, slowly Stockholms her into falling in love while the young heroine desperately tries to run away from him and her feelings, and fails. Very old school romance with a smitten alpha hero who wasn't cruel for once- and a stubborn, young heroine who stood her ground. However, as described in the first chapter, the hero gets what he wants, and he definitely wants the heroine.
I totally enjoyed it! Low on angst, high on possessive hero.
Safe
4/5
Oooh! This was so good!
A totally, madly, crazily obsessed hero, who chases the heroine throughout the book, proposes a gazillion times, bestows rough kisses but goes no further, slowly Stockholms her into falling in love while the young heroine desperately tries to run away from him and her feelings, and fails. Very old school romance with a smitten alpha hero who wasn't cruel for once- and a stubborn, young heroine who stood her ground. However, as described in the first chapter, the hero gets what he wants, and he definitely wants the heroine.
I totally enjoyed it! Low on angst, high on possessive hero.
Safe
4/5
February 17, 2019
This book was absolutely unbearable. The hero, Chase, was loathsome and the heroine, Alex, pathetic. And I say this as someone who typically enjoys a bit of age-gap-alpha.
Let's start with Chase. At 37, he's pretty much twice Alex's age. He's had a string of mistresses and girlfriends whom he's still seeing during the novel. But after verifying that teenager Alex is a virgin, he proposes to her. He basically wants her to be a brood mare tucked away on his remote station.
I say "proposes". What he actually does is demand. He will not take no for an answer. He spends the entire book berating, controlling and getting angry with Alex. He never says he loves her. He keeps forcing really brutal kisses on her even when she's not responding. The very few times she is up for it, he cuts her off. This man, to my view, is the literal epitome of the Madonna/Whore complex.
There's a particularly awful bit where Chase gets a violent temper with her because a former suitor (that her mother had once tried to set her up) with drops by to congratulate her on her engagement. Chase demands she stop "encouraging other men". And RIGHT AFTERWARDS Chase invites his erstwhile (and probably current) mistress to have lunch with Alex and him - with the pair of them completely cutting Alex out.
Now Alex. She's 19 and has fled to Melbourne from Sydney because her mother keeps trying to marry her off. The reason she agrees to visit Chase's farm/ranch/station is because her mother is heading to Melbourne with another beau, and Alex doesn't think she will have the strength to refuse.
What also doesn't help this book is the thick layer of stupid it's wrapped up in. It was published in 1981. Australian social mores among certain echelons of society may have been a little more conservative back then, but it wasn't Riyadh. Alex's main terror, after being in a plane crash and having to spend the night in a bark hut with Alex, is that "her father will be so upset at her spending the night alone with a man that she will have to temporarily pretend to be engaged to Chase". Her father, for what it's worth, is a kind, mild-mannered man who has just spent 24 hours not knowing whether his daughter is dead or alive. I imagine her "social reputation" is the last thing on his mind.
Chase gets worse and worse and Alex gets more and more pathetic. Stockholm Syndromed to the max, she decides at some point that she's madly in love with Chase, but can't marry him because he doesn't love her. At the 11.999th hour, she "flees" her home in Sydney to escape him. Where?
To the flat in Melbourne that she knows he owns.
By the end of it, I frankly felt she deserved him. It was that or live in sheltered accommodation, she was so incompetent at managing her own life.
For non Australians reading this novel, I feel the need to clarify a few things:
* Mt Isa is not some kind of "Monaco of the outback". There's a passage in here that makes it sound as though Margaret Pargeter was funded by the QLD Mining Tourism Corporation.
* Remote outback farms/ranches aren't the kind of places you suddenly "fall in love with" when seeing them from the air. They tend to be pretty bleak and barren places, it's very arid and rugged country.
* Australians don't typically have the moral standards and social reputation paranoia of early Victorians. (Well, some might, but it's not the norm).
* I'm pretty sure Australian pilots and outback farmers had more advanced communications technology than something called a "tranceiver" (also Chase supposedly transmits their crash location, yet all the rescue effort takes place in the wrong location?)
Anyway, read it if you think you can stomach this awful couple. All in all I think this dynamic would probably have worked better as a "desert sheikh romance", it was just too implausible for a relatively modern-day western couple.
Let's start with Chase. At 37, he's pretty much twice Alex's age. He's had a string of mistresses and girlfriends whom he's still seeing during the novel. But after verifying that teenager Alex is a virgin, he proposes to her. He basically wants her to be a brood mare tucked away on his remote station.
"I want to marry you," his voice was pitched low, but she heard, every syllable hitting her like shock. "I want to give Coolabra a girl like you, someone untouched. Someone to give me the children I need."
I say "proposes". What he actually does is demand. He will not take no for an answer. He spends the entire book berating, controlling and getting angry with Alex. He never says he loves her. He keeps forcing really brutal kisses on her even when she's not responding. The very few times she is up for it, he cuts her off. This man, to my view, is the literal epitome of the Madonna/Whore complex.
There's a particularly awful bit where Chase gets a violent temper with her because a former suitor (that her mother had once tried to set her up) with drops by to congratulate her on her engagement. Chase demands she stop "encouraging other men". And RIGHT AFTERWARDS Chase invites his erstwhile (and probably current) mistress to have lunch with Alex and him - with the pair of them completely cutting Alex out.
Now Alex. She's 19 and has fled to Melbourne from Sydney because her mother keeps trying to marry her off. The reason she agrees to visit Chase's farm/ranch/station is because her mother is heading to Melbourne with another beau, and Alex doesn't think she will have the strength to refuse.
What also doesn't help this book is the thick layer of stupid it's wrapped up in. It was published in 1981. Australian social mores among certain echelons of society may have been a little more conservative back then, but it wasn't Riyadh. Alex's main terror, after being in a plane crash and having to spend the night in a bark hut with Alex, is that "her father will be so upset at her spending the night alone with a man that she will have to temporarily pretend to be engaged to Chase". Her father, for what it's worth, is a kind, mild-mannered man who has just spent 24 hours not knowing whether his daughter is dead or alive. I imagine her "social reputation" is the last thing on his mind.
Chase gets worse and worse and Alex gets more and more pathetic. Stockholm Syndromed to the max, she decides at some point that she's madly in love with Chase, but can't marry him because he doesn't love her. At the 11.999th hour, she "flees" her home in Sydney to escape him. Where?
To the flat in Melbourne that she knows he owns.
By the end of it, I frankly felt she deserved him. It was that or live in sheltered accommodation, she was so incompetent at managing her own life.
For non Australians reading this novel, I feel the need to clarify a few things:
* Mt Isa is not some kind of "Monaco of the outback". There's a passage in here that makes it sound as though Margaret Pargeter was funded by the QLD Mining Tourism Corporation.
* Remote outback farms/ranches aren't the kind of places you suddenly "fall in love with" when seeing them from the air. They tend to be pretty bleak and barren places, it's very arid and rugged country.
* Australians don't typically have the moral standards and social reputation paranoia of early Victorians. (Well, some might, but it's not the norm).
* I'm pretty sure Australian pilots and outback farmers had more advanced communications technology than something called a "tranceiver" (also Chase supposedly transmits their crash location, yet all the rescue effort takes place in the wrong location?)
Anyway, read it if you think you can stomach this awful couple. All in all I think this dynamic would probably have worked better as a "desert sheikh romance", it was just too implausible for a relatively modern-day western couple.
November 8, 2014
Heroine's mother is determined to marry her off to a rich man but Alex won't accept. She moves to Melbourne where she becomes an independent career woman and there she meets hero. Chase is smitten with spirited young Alex but she won't give in cause marriage is the last thing she wants.
If u like a book with a gentleman alpha male who does some serous chasing for the heroine and is crazy in love with her you will love this book! Chase is the epitome of obsessed, besotted, hero!
If u like a book with a gentleman alpha male who does some serous chasing for the heroine and is crazy in love with her you will love this book! Chase is the epitome of obsessed, besotted, hero!
November 6, 2012
3.5 Stars
Pretty good quick read about a young girl being CHASED by the hero. (Ha ha! Just remembered the hero's name is Chase. How appropriate :D) There's also a domineering mother and a beautiful other women. If you have it and want something quick, this one will fit the bill.
Pretty good quick read about a young girl being CHASED by the hero. (Ha ha! Just remembered the hero's name is Chase. How appropriate :D) There's also a domineering mother and a beautiful other women. If you have it and want something quick, this one will fit the bill.
October 11, 2015
omg Chase was absolutely besotted wid Alex ! he was tempted to rape her many times. and I felt sort of odd bcoz she was very young and immature, also clueless about men. her foolishness sometimes grated on my nerves as it was obvious the man loved her! else why had he proposed marriage and wud not have her widout its sanctimony !? he proposed to her so many times I've lost counts ! she was not the only suitable virgin in the world ! lol:p
December 22, 2022
Silly MCs!
July 25, 2021
This is a surprisingly mild book by Margaret Pargeter. The H is Alpha lite and the h is delicate on the outside but made of steel on the inside.
I love the resolution where he has engineered their wedding and when she objects to his tactics he invites the OW to join them for lunch and completely ignores the h. Afterwards he puts her into a taxi and says he'll talk to her that evening; instead she packs her bags, leaves a note saying that she's breaking it off since he loves the OW, and then she's off to the airport. She's planning her future when he shows up in a state full of apologies, heartfelt love declarations, shamefaced admissions of trying to get her jealous, and some light pleading.
I know they will live happily ever after because she has shown him she will walk away if he behaves badly in the future. That seems to put the fear of God into besotted-but-trying-to-hide-it Alphas.
I love the resolution where he has engineered their wedding and when she objects to his tactics he invites the OW to join them for lunch and completely ignores the h. Afterwards he puts her into a taxi and says he'll talk to her that evening; instead she packs her bags, leaves a note saying that she's breaking it off since he loves the OW, and then she's off to the airport. She's planning her future when he shows up in a state full of apologies, heartfelt love declarations, shamefaced admissions of trying to get her jealous, and some light pleading.
I know they will live happily ever after because she has shown him she will walk away if he behaves badly in the future. That seems to put the fear of God into besotted-but-trying-to-hide-it Alphas.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 25, 2020
3.5 stars
So old school .... so totally outdated but well written, enjoyed it!
So old school .... so totally outdated but well written, enjoyed it!
October 18, 2025
No angst. Just a besotted, nice, but very determined H and an always confused ninny h. He was so clear about his feelings for her, but she remained confused. Rumour has it that she is still confused. Anyway, for the besotted H 4 stars.
November 20, 2014
Typical book of its genre. Hurt pride fueled the heroine's stubbornness throughout the book and the hero just refused to come out and say he loved her.
January 28, 2018
I've never warmed up to Pargeter's heroes, so this read turned out to be a pleasant surprise. I really liked him. He pursued the heroine relentlessly, never once faltering along the way. And believe me, the heroine was so terribly annoying that had I been in his place, I'd have run away as swiftly as possible. I really wonder what he saw in that selfish, thankless, whiny, tstl woman. I seriously would've settled for the OW, who was, again, surprisingly better than the usual evil OW penned down by MP.
*Spoilers ahead*
So this book in a nutshell is:
-h takes up a job in Melbourne to get away from her mother who's pestering her to marry a rich guy
-She is sharing a flat with a rather brash & selfish girl called Ruby
-Ruby's brother, the H is besotted with h at first sight
-He takes her on a date to convince her to visit his ranch to fix his sister's reputation (that's another story, but not worth mentioning)
-After the date, the h overhears the H telling his sister that he was bored stiff on the date with the heroine
-So heroine takes her little revenge on the H by stringing him along for a few more dates and declining his invitation to the ranch in the end (but she doesn't reveal that it was a revenge or that she had overheard him)
-Then h's mother rings her up about her intention of visiting the h's place with the aspiring rich fiancee
-So h rings the H up again and accepts his invitation to the ranch.
From then on, it goes around in a loop that seemed never-ending:
*H kisses h passionately*
H: We should get married
h: Gasp! NO! (because he finds me boring)
*Some more heavyduty kissing*
H: You must marry me, don't you know that my intentions are honourable?
h: NOOO (because he finds me boring)
*Naked making out*
H: We ARE getting married
h: NEVER! (because he finds me boring)
*After a life-&-death situation, H produces a beautiful ring and proposes yet again*
h: Keep it for the OW
*Some more heavyduty naked making out*
H: I can't wait any longer, we should get married
h: NEVER EVER (because he finds me boring)
(There are many more such proposals and rejections during regular conversations too; I've lost count)
*Almost did the deed and gasp, h's dad's about to visit, what would he think of her reputation?*
h: I'll wear your ring
Then some OW drama, h runs away, poor H again pursues her and HEA. If I were in his place, I'd have thought, good riddance.
*Spoilers ahead*
So this book in a nutshell is:
-h takes up a job in Melbourne to get away from her mother who's pestering her to marry a rich guy
-She is sharing a flat with a rather brash & selfish girl called Ruby
-Ruby's brother, the H is besotted with h at first sight
-He takes her on a date to convince her to visit his ranch to fix his sister's reputation (that's another story, but not worth mentioning)
-After the date, the h overhears the H telling his sister that he was bored stiff on the date with the heroine
-So heroine takes her little revenge on the H by stringing him along for a few more dates and declining his invitation to the ranch in the end (but she doesn't reveal that it was a revenge or that she had overheard him)
-Then h's mother rings her up about her intention of visiting the h's place with the aspiring rich fiancee
-So h rings the H up again and accepts his invitation to the ranch.
From then on, it goes around in a loop that seemed never-ending:
*H kisses h passionately*
H: We should get married
h: Gasp! NO! (because he finds me boring)
*Some more heavyduty kissing*
H: You must marry me, don't you know that my intentions are honourable?
h: NOOO (because he finds me boring)
*Naked making out*
H: We ARE getting married
h: NEVER! (because he finds me boring)
*After a life-&-death situation, H produces a beautiful ring and proposes yet again*
h: Keep it for the OW
*Some more heavyduty naked making out*
H: I can't wait any longer, we should get married
h: NEVER EVER (because he finds me boring)
(There are many more such proposals and rejections during regular conversations too; I've lost count)
*Almost did the deed and gasp, h's dad's about to visit, what would he think of her reputation?*
h: I'll wear your ring
Then some OW drama, h runs away, poor H again pursues her and HEA. If I were in his place, I'd have thought, good riddance.
July 4, 2014
It's a very enjoyable their foreplay which was a battle of wills and wit. It's doesn't have the same depth as a few of my favorite MP, but it's still a good book which is really stood out of something with substance in comparison the the fluffy nothings that was written of that era. This showed MP prowess with sneaking a little substance but still hold the same standard elements.
November 27, 2018
I didn't care for this one much.
November 5, 2024
I’ve read this before, and I think I must have liked it more last time, because now I find the hero so repugnant I wish he had died in the plane crash and the lovely Alex has been rescued by Drew, the nice-guy pilot. The hero, Chase (because all he does is chase women) is not even redeemed by the change of personality grovel in the last chapter. He bullied the heroine when charm (if one can call it that) failed to get him what he wanted. He’s a player, full of himself, thinking he is special because he is rich. Alex, whilst rather dim, did admirably well to deny his proposal for as long as she did. Also, the writer did not give much sense of setting - all the scenes were emotion driven - it’s a tad claustrophobic. 3 stars because the heroine said no, no, no, and no more than 3 because she was eventually bludgeoned into accepting.
February 16, 2022
That was… interesting to say the least. Yes, the heroine continually turns down the guy and I’m glad that she stuck with her gut. For the most part. She always contradicts herself about how she feels for him. Published in 1981 so I’m sure the book was appropriate for the time but there were scenes where he kisses and touches the heroine without her consent that were so frustrating because she doesn’t even see it as wrong. Overall, it was entertaining to read a harlequin novel and see how people talked and wrote back then.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 24, 2024
Another MP I did not hate. The H is an arrogant ass 17 years older than her, but she tames him in the end. She refuses to marry him repeatedly and who could blame a 19 year old girl for that? In a better book, but not a Harley, she would have stuck to her guns and gone off to university, but it is Harleyland so we take what we can get.
December 21, 2025
It started out well but quickly disintegrated into a bickerfest. The heroine was annoying, and the hero was equally unpleasant, overbearing and possessing the sensitivity of a bull in a china shop . “I don’t love you, but you have to marry me to be my hostess and have my children”, a great recipe for a successful marriage 🤦♀️
December 7, 2017
مترجم للغة العربية من مجموعة روايات عبير القديمة بعنوان: الغذاب اذا ابتسم
October 26, 2022
Ugh! Only finished it to get credit for it on my yearly challenge! I think I need a big break from MP…..
September 12, 2019
حاجة خيال ممل
حكاية البطل الخارق الغني وعنده مزرعة هنا وشركة هناك "ويقود الطائرة بمهارة" هو شاطر في كل حاجة وبيفكر صح دايما مبيغلطش وأنيق في كل لبسه والستات كلها بتحبه ....
والبطلة المغلوبة على أمرها وكل الطرق بتوصل للبطل وهي مش عارفة تهرب منه ..ويوم لما تهرب وتفتكر إن عندها كرامة شوية تسيب كل الفنادق وتختار الشقة اللي كانت مأجرها مع اخته فهو يعرف طبعا لأنه ذكي جداً، وتعترف بحبها ليه، ويعترف بحبه ليها بعد ٢٠٠ صفحة من المشاكل مع بعض لأنها سمعته قال لأخته أنها مملة !!!
حكاية البطل الخارق الغني وعنده مزرعة هنا وشركة هناك "ويقود الطائرة بمهارة" هو شاطر في كل حاجة وبيفكر صح دايما مبيغلطش وأنيق في كل لبسه والستات كلها بتحبه ....
والبطلة المغلوبة على أمرها وكل الطرق بتوصل للبطل وهي مش عارفة تهرب منه ..ويوم لما تهرب وتفتكر إن عندها كرامة شوية تسيب كل الفنادق وتختار الشقة اللي كانت مأجرها مع اخته فهو يعرف طبعا لأنه ذكي جداً، وتعترف بحبها ليه، ويعترف بحبه ليها بعد ٢٠٠ صفحة من المشاكل مع بعض لأنها سمعته قال لأخته أنها مملة !!!
August 26, 2022
Do you realize what you're turning down?"
Chase Marshall's question was arrogant. He obviously thought that just because he was rich and handsome no girl in her right mind could refuse to marry him.
But Alex had struggled against a matchmaking mother for the right to lead her own life. And that didn't include marriage especially to someone who boasted that he always got his own way.
It was time someone said no to Chase Marshall—and meant it!
Chase Marshall's question was arrogant. He obviously thought that just because he was rich and handsome no girl in her right mind could refuse to marry him.
But Alex had struggled against a matchmaking mother for the right to lead her own life. And that didn't include marriage especially to someone who boasted that he always got his own way.
It was time someone said no to Chase Marshall—and meant it!
Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews