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The silken trap
Book by Lamb, Charlotte
Paperback
First published January 1, 1979
2 people are currently reading
76 people want to read
About the author
Charlotte Lamb
261 books316 followersSheila Ann Mary Coates Holland
aka Sheila Holland, Sheila Coates, Charlotte Lamb, Sheila Lancaster, Victoria Woolf, Laura Hardy
Sheila Ann Mary Coates was born on 1937 in Essex, England, just before the Second World War in the East End of London. As a child, she was moved from relative to relative to escape the bombings of World War II. Sheila attended the Ursuline Convent for Girls. On leaving school at 16, the convent-educated author worked for the Bank of England as a clerk. Sheila continued her education by taking advantage of the B of E's enormous library during her lunch breaks and after work. She later worked as a secretary for the BBC. While there, she met and married Richard Holland, a political reporter. A voracious reader of romance novels, she began writing at her husband's suggestion. She wrote her first book in three days with three children underfoot! In between raising her five children (including a set of twins), Charlotte wrote several more novels. She used both her married and maiden names, Sheila Holland and Sheila Coates, before her first novel as Charlotte Lamb, Follow a Stranger, was published by Mills & Boon in 1973. She also used the pennames: Sheila Lancaster, Victoria Wolf and Laura Hardy. Sheila was a true revolutionary in the field of romance writing. One of the first writers to explore the boundaries of sexual desire, her novels often reflected the forefront of the "sexual revolution" of the 1970s. Her books touched on then-taboo subjects such as child abuse and rape, and she created sexually confident - even dominant - heroines. She was also one of the first to create a modern romantic heroine: independent, imperfect, and perfectly capable of initiating a sexual or romantic relationship. A prolific author, Sheila penned more than 160 novels, most of them for Mills & Boon. Known for her swiftness as well as for her skill in writing, Sheila typically wrote a minimum of two thousand words per day, working from 9:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. While she once finished a full-length novel in four days, she herself pegged her average speed at two weeks to complete a full novel. Since 1977, Sheila had been living on the Isle of Man as a tax exile with her husband and four of their five children: Michael Holland, Sarah Holland, Jane Holland, Charlotte Holland and David Holland. Sheila passed away on October 8, 2000 in her baronial-style home 'Crogga' on the Island. She is greatly missed by her many fans, and by the romance writing community.
aka Sheila Holland, Sheila Coates, Charlotte Lamb, Sheila Lancaster, Victoria Woolf, Laura Hardy
Sheila Ann Mary Coates was born on 1937 in Essex, England, just before the Second World War in the East End of London. As a child, she was moved from relative to relative to escape the bombings of World War II. Sheila attended the Ursuline Convent for Girls. On leaving school at 16, the convent-educated author worked for the Bank of England as a clerk. Sheila continued her education by taking advantage of the B of E's enormous library during her lunch breaks and after work. She later worked as a secretary for the BBC. While there, she met and married Richard Holland, a political reporter. A voracious reader of romance novels, she began writing at her husband's suggestion. She wrote her first book in three days with three children underfoot! In between raising her five children (including a set of twins), Charlotte wrote several more novels. She used both her married and maiden names, Sheila Holland and Sheila Coates, before her first novel as Charlotte Lamb, Follow a Stranger, was published by Mills & Boon in 1973. She also used the pennames: Sheila Lancaster, Victoria Wolf and Laura Hardy. Sheila was a true revolutionary in the field of romance writing. One of the first writers to explore the boundaries of sexual desire, her novels often reflected the forefront of the "sexual revolution" of the 1970s. Her books touched on then-taboo subjects such as child abuse and rape, and she created sexually confident - even dominant - heroines. She was also one of the first to create a modern romantic heroine: independent, imperfect, and perfectly capable of initiating a sexual or romantic relationship. A prolific author, Sheila penned more than 160 novels, most of them for Mills & Boon. Known for her swiftness as well as for her skill in writing, Sheila typically wrote a minimum of two thousand words per day, working from 9:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. While she once finished a full-length novel in four days, she herself pegged her average speed at two weeks to complete a full novel. Since 1977, Sheila had been living on the Isle of Man as a tax exile with her husband and four of their five children: Michael Holland, Sarah Holland, Jane Holland, Charlotte Holland and David Holland. Sheila passed away on October 8, 2000 in her baronial-style home 'Crogga' on the Island. She is greatly missed by her many fans, and by the romance writing community.
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
November 14, 2016
2.5 stars rounded up. This is an unusual book in Charlotte Lamb's canon because it takes place in a fictional Arab country and the four main characters have to make a run for it when a revolution breaks out. Thus, there is only one mention of melon in the entire story.
Forgive me, if I'm feeling a bit disoriented.
However, we have an arrogant war correspondent hero who isn't above calling the heroine a "neurotic bitch." And we have an icy beautiful heroine who won't tell her boss anything to clear up the misunderstandings in her life, so yes, there is consistency in the CL world.
This is a second chance story where the central conflict is that the heroine doesn't like the hero's dangerous job. Is this great love or stifling selfishness? According the title, domestic life is a silken trap and that's how this conflict is "solved." I'm not fond of this trope - I've never found a story where I felt it was solved successfully for both romantic partners. This story is no different. So two stars for the central romance.
I did like the secondary character's romance and the fun action scenes, so a half star for those.
Forgive me, if I'm feeling a bit disoriented.
However, we have an arrogant war correspondent hero who isn't above calling the heroine a "neurotic bitch." And we have an icy beautiful heroine who won't tell her boss anything to clear up the misunderstandings in her life, so yes, there is consistency in the CL world.
This is a second chance story where the central conflict is that the heroine doesn't like the hero's dangerous job. Is this great love or stifling selfishness? According the title, domestic life is a silken trap and that's how this conflict is "solved." I'm not fond of this trope - I've never found a story where I felt it was solved successfully for both romantic partners. This story is no different. So two stars for the central romance.
I did like the secondary character's romance and the fun action scenes, so a half star for those.
April 26, 2018
Very silly of you, Charlotte :~{
Marry in haste, repent at leisure. The one dimensional protagonists of The Silken Trap mistook their infatuation for love and entered a very unnecessary, very messy, short-lived marriage.
If they had just engaged in a hot little affair, the sparks would have petered out quickly and they would have walked away unscathed. Instead, the reader is treated to their endless bickerfest fraught with petty, childish jealousies, resentment and one-upmanship. It is all set in the background of a fictional Middle-eastern country where it literally takes a revolution to put and end to their headache-inducing marital discord, albeit only temporarily.
Really not CL's best felt like she was phoning it in.
Marry in haste, repent at leisure. The one dimensional protagonists of The Silken Trap mistook their infatuation for love and entered a very unnecessary, very messy, short-lived marriage.
If they had just engaged in a hot little affair, the sparks would have petered out quickly and they would have walked away unscathed. Instead, the reader is treated to their endless bickerfest fraught with petty, childish jealousies, resentment and one-upmanship. It is all set in the background of a fictional Middle-eastern country where it literally takes a revolution to put and end to their headache-inducing marital discord, albeit only temporarily.
Really not CL's best felt like she was phoning it in.
February 25, 2017
This was a good one! Loved it! I mean it wasn't perfect but I was quite satisfied with it. But you gotta go into it blind; I'm lucky I didn't read the blurb/description or any reviews beforehand cos the surprises were all very interesting when they just hit you with no warning. So I'd advise against clicking the spoiler or reading anything else about it...
September 13, 2018
'For God's sake, you stupid bitch, don't you know when you're not wanted?'
'Predictable little bitch, aren't you? But if you think I'm spending a day stuck in a bedroom with you and acting like a little wooden gentleman, you can think again, my darling.'
They understand how to treat women out here. None of this equality nonsense—women are as much property as goats or camels.'
'So rather than risk getting hurt you refuse to live at all,' he said contemptuously.
'Great! What a little heroine!'
'I never pretended to be a heroine!'
'You're not even a woman,' he said scathingly.
-Our two main male leads to and about the female leads
"The Silken Trap" is the story of Claire and Nick.
Basically, our heroine Claire has grown up with an unstable childhood and craves stability, something which she realizes she might not get when a whirlwind courtship leads her married to the virtual stranger Nick, who's a disaster reporter. She then runs out on him, taking a job under the hotelier Andrew.
However, on an assignment in a distant Arab nation, she comes across her not so ex again, and finds that the sparks have not even remotely diminshed.
If you like your male leads being verbally and emotionally abusive, chauvanistic, jealous, possessive and having archaic views about female gender- this book will be your cup of tea.
The female leads however, end up pandering to their tantrums, having a dramatic breakdown and ultimately giving in.
So much OM/OW drama, push and pull, insane spars which ultimately lead to an unsatisfying ending.
Meh.
SWE
2/5
'Predictable little bitch, aren't you? But if you think I'm spending a day stuck in a bedroom with you and acting like a little wooden gentleman, you can think again, my darling.'
They understand how to treat women out here. None of this equality nonsense—women are as much property as goats or camels.'
'So rather than risk getting hurt you refuse to live at all,' he said contemptuously.
'Great! What a little heroine!'
'I never pretended to be a heroine!'
'You're not even a woman,' he said scathingly.
-Our two main male leads to and about the female leads
"The Silken Trap" is the story of Claire and Nick.
Basically, our heroine Claire has grown up with an unstable childhood and craves stability, something which she realizes she might not get when a whirlwind courtship leads her married to the virtual stranger Nick, who's a disaster reporter. She then runs out on him, taking a job under the hotelier Andrew.
However, on an assignment in a distant Arab nation, she comes across her not so ex again, and finds that the sparks have not even remotely diminshed.
If you like your male leads being verbally and emotionally abusive, chauvanistic, jealous, possessive and having archaic views about female gender- this book will be your cup of tea.
The female leads however, end up pandering to their tantrums, having a dramatic breakdown and ultimately giving in.
So much OM/OW drama, push and pull, insane spars which ultimately lead to an unsatisfying ending.
Meh.
SWE
2/5
June 18, 2021
If you like a gentle, nice H, this HP is definitely not one for you.
This H is one of Charlotte Lamb’s passionate, jealous, obsessive, possessive, dominant, besotted H’s who doesn’t take know for an answer and is relentlessly pursuing the h. He only has eyes for her. I love it.
This H is one of Charlotte Lamb’s passionate, jealous, obsessive, possessive, dominant, besotted H’s who doesn’t take know for an answer and is relentlessly pursuing the h. He only has eyes for her. I love it.
October 10, 2023
'There hasn't been anyone else but you, Claire, since the day I met you,'
H was totally besotted! 👍
H was totally besotted! 👍
October 29, 2019
She wouldn't live her life in fear
Claire knew Nick loved his job as newsman in the world's trouble spots, but did he love it more than he did her? She'd seen her mother suffer from her father's dangerous job and was determined not to go through the same torture.
So she'd left Nick--but the year without him had been as agonizing as the constant goodbyes when he'd gone on assignments.
Now, seeing Nick again in the unstable Middle East, Claire realized she still loved him. She wondered if she could make the same decision again . . . . (less)
Claire knew Nick loved his job as newsman in the world's trouble spots, but did he love it more than he did her? She'd seen her mother suffer from her father's dangerous job and was determined not to go through the same torture.
So she'd left Nick--but the year without him had been as agonizing as the constant goodbyes when he'd gone on assignments.
Now, seeing Nick again in the unstable Middle East, Claire realized she still loved him. She wondered if she could make the same decision again . . . . (less)
December 28, 2021
I got the Italian edition (Trappola per due) as a birthday joke from two good friends who know that I've been trying to learn the language by reading everything that comes my way.
Well, I did glean a couple of useful phrases, I guess, but what I understood of the plot irritated me to no end! The book was written in 1979 and it didn't age gracefully.
I don't swear in my everyday life, I really don't, but half a page into the male love interest's grand entrance had me shrieking "F*** you!" and waving middle fingers at the book.
Three pages later and the thus-far decent-looking alternative candidate (it has a love triangle, of course it has!) earned his fair share of the rage.
A one-dimensional, good-looking, stylishly dressed wet lettuce posed as the female protagonist, and both men were proprietorial in an unappealing, disquieting manner.
Of course she chooses the more possessive, more manipulative Psychopath in the end, and it infuriates me that a depiction of abusive jealousy passes for "love" in the novel.
I kid you not, I read through the last two chapters expecting familial homicide to occur at any given moment.
Well, I did glean a couple of useful phrases, I guess, but what I understood of the plot irritated me to no end! The book was written in 1979 and it didn't age gracefully.
I don't swear in my everyday life, I really don't, but half a page into the male love interest's grand entrance had me shrieking "F*** you!" and waving middle fingers at the book.
Three pages later and the thus-far decent-looking alternative candidate (it has a love triangle, of course it has!) earned his fair share of the rage.
A one-dimensional, good-looking, stylishly dressed wet lettuce posed as the female protagonist, and both men were proprietorial in an unappealing, disquieting manner.
Of course she chooses the more possessive, more manipulative Psychopath in the end, and it infuriates me that a depiction of abusive jealousy passes for "love" in the novel.
I kid you not, I read through the last two chapters expecting familial homicide to occur at any given moment.
May 30, 2018
A realistic premise. The guy is an adventure seeking live coverage TV journalist. The girl is a simple, timid little lamb from rural Suffolk.
A chance meeting, sparks fly. Craze is strong enough to lead to marriage.
But only after marriage they realise the true gap in their approach to life - he courts danger, she covets stability.
Now this could have led to a passionate and explosive war of minds and bodies. It could have made for a great read.
But the author focuses more on silly jealousies between the leads and the respective OW and OM. And the story is brought down to a mundane 4 some.
A chance meeting, sparks fly. Craze is strong enough to lead to marriage.
But only after marriage they realise the true gap in their approach to life - he courts danger, she covets stability.
Now this could have led to a passionate and explosive war of minds and bodies. It could have made for a great read.
But the author focuses more on silly jealousies between the leads and the respective OW and OM. And the story is brought down to a mundane 4 some.
April 16, 2024
The 23 year old heroine has been married to the hero for a year, but they have been apart as she doesn't like that his journalist job puts him in danger. She now works for another misogynist, who takes her to a country where she sees the hero again, there is a revolution, she still resolves to stay apart and eventually, back in London, because he asks sincerely/needily she gives in to him. The "romance" between the boss and the non-OW is more interesting, although lacks a conclusion. Not up to Charlotte Lamb's characterisation standards as feels very 2d. But not awful.
March 16, 2025
Once again, I read a book where I find myself more interested in the SC than the H and h. They were quite an entertaining couple, and each was thought to be a romantic rival of the H and h (the OM was the h's boss, the OW was the H's co-worker). The OW was a sort of tomboy turned glamour girl, and the OM was angry at himself for being attracted to the same woman he'd spent so much time arguing with, they had different views on just about everything! The OM was also a bit of a waffler, as he also had feelings for the h, which she kind if encouraged, first to make the H jealous, then because she needed a shoulder to cry on when she thought she'd lost him. The OM actually makes a pass at her on purpose, to make her acknowledge her feelings for the H, who happens to be her estranged husband, whom it took her forever to tell the OM about. Yes, this h had a lot of growing up to do!
She also had major issues, since she married the H after a whirlwind romance, and then discovered his dangerous job of being a news reporter wherever the action is (earthquakes, wars, political upheavals, whatever), something the H neglected to tell her about until after they got married, VERY UNFAIR of him!! His excuse that he figured she wouldn't have married him if he had told her beforehand was a crappy one.
He was always called away to some dangerous situation, she never knew when he'd have to leave or when (not to mention if) he'd be back, and though he wanted her to try and adjust to it and give their marriage a chance, she felt she couldn't do it, since it brought back bad memories of her parents' marriage. Her father was a race car driver who was killed, her mother had left him two years prior and married her old boyfriend (another of those simps who hangs around, hoping someday the girl will be his, meanwhile she's getting naked with another guy), then killed herself after her ex (whom she still loved) died. (The H actually told the h her mother was a coward to take her own life; I think that was uncalled for, not to mention crummy!) The h was afraid she'd end up like her mom, so she left the H, while he was away on yet another assignment.
They meet again, when she and the OM go to a Middle East country on hotel business, and the H and his crew (including the OW) are there because of the political tension and a possible government takeover.
The story alternates between the H and h fighting their feelings, then wanting to give into them, he H being jealous of the OM, the h being jealous of the OW, the OM and OW arguing half the time e and the other half fighting their attraction to each other, and quite a bit of danger mixed in, including snipers, gunshot wounds, close calls (the OM proves to be pretty good with a gun), rescues (the H rescues the h in her hotel room, when the building's targeted by insurrectionists, and in an interesting twist, the OW rescues the OM), and plenty to keep you turning pages.
There are times when you could strangle the h, like when she and the OM are about to board the ship for evacuees and the h, angry at the H because he has to stay there because of his job, refuses to kiss him goodbye, even knowing the danger he was facing. Afterward, she regrets it and cries in the OM's arms, but big deal! She deserved being sick with worry for a time, before she found out the H was safe.
FINALLY, they both realize a relationship takes compromise, it can't be a "my way or the highway" situation. The H is going to take less dangerous assignments and be home more, and realizes he wants that more than the freedom he prized so much, and the h wants a baby ASAP (perhaps to ensure he sticks around???) and the H makes a comment about falling into that "silken trap" of domesticity. But then again, if he didn't really want it, wouldn't he have divorced the h, instead of wanting he back when she left him???
I wish I knew if the OM and OW had their HEA; she told the h she was going to do everything she could to get him, but the H said he thought they were too different to last long, so who knows? The author chose not to answer that.
Frustrating story at times, but still very entertaining.
She also had major issues, since she married the H after a whirlwind romance, and then discovered his dangerous job of being a news reporter wherever the action is (earthquakes, wars, political upheavals, whatever), something the H neglected to tell her about until after they got married, VERY UNFAIR of him!! His excuse that he figured she wouldn't have married him if he had told her beforehand was a crappy one.
He was always called away to some dangerous situation, she never knew when he'd have to leave or when (not to mention if) he'd be back, and though he wanted her to try and adjust to it and give their marriage a chance, she felt she couldn't do it, since it brought back bad memories of her parents' marriage. Her father was a race car driver who was killed, her mother had left him two years prior and married her old boyfriend (another of those simps who hangs around, hoping someday the girl will be his, meanwhile she's getting naked with another guy), then killed herself after her ex (whom she still loved) died. (The H actually told the h her mother was a coward to take her own life; I think that was uncalled for, not to mention crummy!) The h was afraid she'd end up like her mom, so she left the H, while he was away on yet another assignment.
They meet again, when she and the OM go to a Middle East country on hotel business, and the H and his crew (including the OW) are there because of the political tension and a possible government takeover.
The story alternates between the H and h fighting their feelings, then wanting to give into them, he H being jealous of the OM, the h being jealous of the OW, the OM and OW arguing half the time e and the other half fighting their attraction to each other, and quite a bit of danger mixed in, including snipers, gunshot wounds, close calls (the OM proves to be pretty good with a gun), rescues (the H rescues the h in her hotel room, when the building's targeted by insurrectionists, and in an interesting twist, the OW rescues the OM), and plenty to keep you turning pages.
There are times when you could strangle the h, like when she and the OM are about to board the ship for evacuees and the h, angry at the H because he has to stay there because of his job, refuses to kiss him goodbye, even knowing the danger he was facing. Afterward, she regrets it and cries in the OM's arms, but big deal! She deserved being sick with worry for a time, before she found out the H was safe.
FINALLY, they both realize a relationship takes compromise, it can't be a "my way or the highway" situation. The H is going to take less dangerous assignments and be home more, and realizes he wants that more than the freedom he prized so much, and the h wants a baby ASAP (perhaps to ensure he sticks around???) and the H makes a comment about falling into that "silken trap" of domesticity. But then again, if he didn't really want it, wouldn't he have divorced the h, instead of wanting he back when she left him???
I wish I knew if the OM and OW had their HEA; she told the h she was going to do everything she could to get him, but the H said he thought they were too different to last long, so who knows? The author chose not to answer that.
Frustrating story at times, but still very entertaining.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 5, 2017
¿Merece una reseña una novela como esta? No, porque basta con leer el resumen y ya sabemos de qué se trata, de que va y como se resolverá, pero a mí me entretiene un poco despotricar contra estas novelas tan obvias y repetitivas...quizá también reírme un poquito de mí por leer estas novelas que son tan predecibles y algo pasadas de moda, pero que me siguen gustando a pesar de todo los contra que tienen en sus tramas. Mis retos literarios siempre incluirán una o varias novelas rosas (que no es lo mismo que románticas).
Reseña completa aquí: http://perezosa69.blogspot.cl/2017/10...
Reseña completa aquí: http://perezosa69.blogspot.cl/2017/10...
August 19, 2022
What made this book for me were the secondary characters and that secondary romance. I wish there was a sequel where I got to find out what happened to that couple. The main couple was boring as hell.
Want to read
May 18, 2020Haven't read this one but it's given a mention as being read by the mother character in Exploded View by Australian author Carrie Tiffany.
February 4, 2025
Frustratingly awful.
July 8, 2016
No connection/real relationship between H & h. H dedicated to his job, and expects the h to not only give up hers, but be happy with the joke he calls a marriage. He never tries to understand her fears, bullies her, and weak Harlequin heroine that she is, she not only accepts this treatment, but welcomes anything he can give her. He cared nothing for her, caring more for his female work colleague. I got a feeling, out of sight out of mind.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews