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Prisoner of Passion
P for predator,
P for passionate,
P for prey!
These words came to mind when Bella thought of Rico da Silva. The international financier was definitely a predator-hadn't he pounced when her defenses were down? Passionate? Their lovemaking had certainly been that-when Bella was inadvertantly caught up in Rico's kidnapping. And now she was Rico's prey; he was determined to seduce her once more. Bella might have been forcibly imprisoned with Rico before, but she was a free woman now-free to meet Rico on her own terms!
P for passionate,
P for prey!
These words came to mind when Bella thought of Rico da Silva. The international financier was definitely a predator-hadn't he pounced when her defenses were down? Passionate? Their lovemaking had certainly been that-when Bella was inadvertantly caught up in Rico's kidnapping. And now she was Rico's prey; he was determined to seduce her once more. Bella might have been forcibly imprisoned with Rico before, but she was a free woman now-free to meet Rico on her own terms!
187 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1996
53 people are currently reading
356 people want to read
About the author
Lynne Graham
1,763 books1,448 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
Lynne Graham was born on July 30, 1956 of Irish-Scottish parentage. She has livedin Northern Ireland all her life. She grew up in a seaside village with herbrother. She learnt to read at the age of 3, and haven't stopped since then.
Lynne first met her husband when she was 14. At 15, she wrote her firstbook, but it was rejected everywhere. Lynne married after she completed adegree at Edinburgh University. She started writing again when she was athome with her first child. It took several attempts before she sold herfirst book in 1987 and the delight of seeing that first book for sale in thelocal newsagents has never been forgotten. Now, there are over 10 million ofher books in print worldwide.
Lynne always wanted a large family and has five children. Her eldest and heronly natural child is 19 and currently at university. Her other fourchildren, who are every bit as dear to her heart, are adopted. She has two9-year-olds adopted from Sri Lanka and a 5- and a 3-year-old adopted fromGuatemala. In Lynne's home, there is a rich and diverse cultural mix, whichadds a whole extra dimension of interest and discovery to family life. Thefamily lives in a country house surrounded by a woodland garden, which iswonderfully private. The family has two pets. Thomas, a very large andaffectionate black cat, bosses the dog and hunts rabbits. The dog is Daisy,an adorable but not very bright white West Highland terrier, who loves beingchased by the cat. At night, dog and cat sleep together in front of thekitchen stove. Lynne loves gardening, cooking, collects everything from oldtoys to rock specimens and is crazy about every aspect of Christmas.
Lynne Graham was born on July 30, 1956 of Irish-Scottish parentage. She has livedin Northern Ireland all her life. She grew up in a seaside village with herbrother. She learnt to read at the age of 3, and haven't stopped since then.
Lynne first met her husband when she was 14. At 15, she wrote her firstbook, but it was rejected everywhere. Lynne married after she completed adegree at Edinburgh University. She started writing again when she was athome with her first child. It took several attempts before she sold herfirst book in 1987 and the delight of seeing that first book for sale in thelocal newsagents has never been forgotten. Now, there are over 10 million ofher books in print worldwide.
Lynne always wanted a large family and has five children. Her eldest and heronly natural child is 19 and currently at university. Her other fourchildren, who are every bit as dear to her heart, are adopted. She has two9-year-olds adopted from Sri Lanka and a 5- and a 3-year-old adopted fromGuatemala. In Lynne's home, there is a rich and diverse cultural mix, whichadds a whole extra dimension of interest and discovery to family life. Thefamily lives in a country house surrounded by a woodland garden, which iswonderfully private. The family has two pets. Thomas, a very large andaffectionate black cat, bosses the dog and hunts rabbits. The dog is Daisy,an adorable but not very bright white West Highland terrier, who loves beingchased by the cat. At night, dog and cat sleep together in front of thekitchen stove. Lynne loves gardening, cooking, collects everything from oldtoys to rock specimens and is crazy about every aspect of Christmas.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 75 reviews
October 2, 2017
I finally got around to reading this Lynne Graham that probably deserves an extra half star because it is memorable, if a little incoherent by the end. This is an opposite attracts story - a commitment phobe banker hero and a manic pixie artist heroine who wants stability after a Traveler's lifestyle with her hippie mother. She is unschooled, but is a genius and hot, hot, hot.
Some memorable scenes - they meet in the early hours of the morning when heroine turns down a one way street and hits hero's expensive car. He thinks she's a prostitute.
When the heroine realizes she didn't pay her insurance premium on time and is therefore uninsured, she goes to the bank to confess to the hero.
Hero wants compensation in bed. Heroine runs away and hero follows only to have both characters ambushed in the parking garage. They are drugged and kidnapped to a shipping container.
See? I told you it was different.
While in the shipping container the H/h succumb to their passion. Heroine is a virgin. Hero warns her he's not into commitment, but she can live with him. Heroine knows she must guard her heart, so she stays with a friend outside of London once they blunder their way out of the container.
The rest of the story falls into trope overload as the kidnappers fade from memory:
There is the added conflict of the tabloids being interested in this story. Heroine gives an interview that hurts the hero's feelings. Heroine has a cheating ex who wants to marry her and stages an proposal scene with the press invited.
The old man the heroine was living with in London is an art critic and a tightwad and there are several amusing scenes with his never-ending quest to save a penny. The old man tightwad is hospitalized for heart problems.
The heroine is pregnant, but doesn't tell the hero right away. The hero has a dead ex wife and child. The heroine tells some "white lies" to guard her heart. The heroine sells a painting her father painted to pay back the hero. The hero buys the heroine's childhood pony as proof he wasn't just marrying her for the baby.
And on it goes. It's a bit muddled by the end - but it all works out. :)
Some memorable scenes - they meet in the early hours of the morning when heroine turns down a one way street and hits hero's expensive car. He thinks she's a prostitute.
When the heroine realizes she didn't pay her insurance premium on time and is therefore uninsured, she goes to the bank to confess to the hero.
Hero wants compensation in bed. Heroine runs away and hero follows only to have both characters ambushed in the parking garage. They are drugged and kidnapped to a shipping container.
See? I told you it was different.
While in the shipping container the H/h succumb to their passion. Heroine is a virgin. Hero warns her he's not into commitment, but she can live with him. Heroine knows she must guard her heart, so she stays with a friend outside of London once they blunder their way out of the container.
The rest of the story falls into trope overload as the kidnappers fade from memory:
There is the added conflict of the tabloids being interested in this story. Heroine gives an interview that hurts the hero's feelings. Heroine has a cheating ex who wants to marry her and stages an proposal scene with the press invited.
The old man the heroine was living with in London is an art critic and a tightwad and there are several amusing scenes with his never-ending quest to save a penny. The old man tightwad is hospitalized for heart problems.
The heroine is pregnant, but doesn't tell the hero right away. The hero has a dead ex wife and child. The heroine tells some "white lies" to guard her heart. The heroine sells a painting her father painted to pay back the hero. The hero buys the heroine's childhood pony as proof he wasn't just marrying her for the baby.
And on it goes. It's a bit muddled by the end - but it all works out. :)
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 16, 2018
Re Prisoner of Passion - Lynne Graham firmly sets her unique writing style with this one. She takes the initial antagonism between two opposite people and shows how that inner intensity transforms into passionate true love with a lot of funny moments along the way.
The h in this one, Bella, is a young orphaned and struggling artist who hides her tender heart and powerful intellect behind a streetwise, tart-with-a-heart-and-quirky-with-it-facade. It isn't that Bella actually IS a tart, she is still grooming unicorns.
She is also a bit bohemian in her attitude towards life, so even tho she has a college degree and speaks four languages, she mainly works as a waitress, lives with a reclusive, crusty old miser surrogate grampa and paints a lot of really great pictures that she isn't sure enough of to display.
Nor does Bella lead men on, she just has the type of exotic full blown looks that make male HP denizens take one look at her and think she is an easy opportunity at the lady lurving sample buffet.
Fortunately Bella is a lot smarter than most of the men she meets and when the book opens, Bella is celebrating her birthday and coming to the conclusion that her boyfriend, Griff, will soon be getting an invitation to the world, as it is clear he is ditching her birthday party to sneak off with another woman.
The H, Rico, on the other hand, is the epitome of Suave, Elegant and Sophisticated Banker. LG gives the us the big contrast in Bella's breezy ways and Rico's conservative stance when Bella crashes her junker car into Rico's Bugatti- Bella was driving the wrong way on a one way road.
Rico instantly assumes Bella is a streetwalker and Bella is in shock she got the road signs wrong. So even tho the Lurve Force Mojo is choking them both, Bella isn't too keen on Mr. Suave Rico because he is really insulting when he remarks on her appearance and his assumptions.
But Bella has to pay to fix his car and so she goes to his office to see if they can work out a deal. Rico assumes this is a quid pro quo of her sleeping with him in lieu of damages. Bella is totally not down with that, she will sell one of her famous father's paintings instead, but it doesn't matter cause the two of them get kidnapped.
They get locked into a storage container in a barn and after a lot of very funny bickering and banter and trying to find a way out, they fall under the Treacherous Body Syndrome of the HP Lurve Club Extravaganza Event and Rico is shocked to find that Bella is about as far from a tart as you can get and that unicorns are really sad to lose their favorite groomer.
The two of them do manage to escape and Rico arrogantly assumes that Bella is just going to fall at his feet and become his mistress. Bella has a backbone tho and her Grampa raised her right, she isn't moving in with any guy who won't put a ring on it and declare true love.
Which is a good thing when the ex boyfriend Griff turns up and proposes to Bella in front of Rico and his latest girlfriend. In a hysterically funny scene, Bella isn't too keen on being friendly with any of them, until Rico's girlfriend meets her in the ladies room and turns over all the keys and access cards to Rico's various properties, saying that it is obvious Rico is obsessed with Bella.
Bella feels a bit sad that Rico's girlfriend is taking her dismissal from Rico's life so casually and Bella has just about had enough of Rico's arrogant bossiness. She dumps Rico's keys in his lap and tells him off as she is walking out the door. Then Bella finally loses her temper with the ex, Griff, and lets him have an earful too when she tells him what a nasty slime swiller he really is.
In the aftermath of the kidnapping, Bella is getting hounded by the press and it is bothering her elderly miserly surrogate grandfather, Hector. Hector is really rich, but he pretends he is absolutely destitute and his little economies and schemes to save money are rather entertaining.
Bella lives in Hector's London townhouse and to get rid of the persistent press and hopefully quell the rumors that she is Rico's mistress, Bella gives an interview about her recent ordeal.
The interview makes Rico sound like an utter snobbish wanker who thinks he is too good for everyone and Bella realizes that Rico really got his feelings hurt when he confronts her later at work.
Bella has figured out she loves Rico at this point, so she runs after him and tells him that she will move in with him for a month. Bella knows this is actually a big step for Rico, he never invites women to live with him and hasn't since his divorce.
Tho moving in with Rico is really against her principles, (Grampa told her to wait for a good man with a steady job who proposes, while Bella's mother was pretty much any port in a storm and whoever wants to dock, welcome aboard and Bella isn't too keen on her mother's view of men,) Bella knows that if she doesn't take the chance that Rico might come to love her she will regret it forever.
Bella and Rico move into Rico's ancient family manse and there are some funny bickery moments when Rico gets a prestigious art gallery owner to come look at Bella's paintings and when Rico just assumes Bella can't ride a horse and it turns out Bella is a better rider than he is.
Then Hector has a heart attack and Bella is driven to the hospital by her ex, Griff, when he comes to tell her about Hector. Bella ends up staying with Hector all night and when Rico finds her the next morning, he gets really rude and loud and assumes that Bella was cheating on him with Griff.
(Rico is really sensitive to women cheating. He was twenty when he married a gold digger actress tarty 22 yr old because she claimed to be pregnant with his baby. She slept with anyone who would give her a movie part and so she and Rico divorced. But she wouldn't give Rico custody of their son without a big payoff, which Rico did not have at the time.
So while waiting for the custody hearing outcome, Rico's son-he didn't know if the child was biologically his or not, but he did not care-fell into a pool and drowned due to Rico's ex's negligence.)
Then Rico learns about Hector and figures out he was wrong, but in Bella's eyes he is never going to trust her AND he called her a whore. So Bella has to find a way to dump Rico, but first she finds out she is preggers.
Bella comes up with a couple of ways to dump Rico and hide the fact that she is having his child. Because Rico was so negative about having a child earlier, Bella figures Rico will go ballistic and maybe try to force her to terminate and she isn't doing that.
Bella's attempts don't work, Rico goes to Hector and manages to use Hector's miser tendencies to get Hector to move onto Rico's estate rent free. So Bella is trapped due to Hector's expectations and now Rico knows about the baby and he tells her they are getting married.
Bella has a mopey moment, cause she doesn't want to be married unless they are both in love and Rico finally proves that he loves her. He drags Bella out in her pajamas to present her with her much missed old Shetland pony, that was sold when her grandfather died.
Then Rico promises a cat and a dog to go with it and Bella finds out that Rico's big party he has been having her plan is really their engagement party and Rico was planning to marry her as soon as she agreed to move in. This convinces Bella that Rico really loves her and they both declare their love for the big HEA.
We also get a cute little epilogue where Bella winds Rico up by telling him she wants a Porsche if she passes an advanced driving test and Rico goes out an buys one when she does. Only to come home to find Bella has gone out and bought a Volvo estate to haul around her paints and their daughter, along with their very own cat and dog menagerie.
It is very clear that the two of them are still madly in love and still bickering like crazy, but it is a bickering that leads to big Purple Passion Moments of Devoted True Love, so it is all good for a very well done LG HP HEA and a really funny, excellent HP outing.
The h in this one, Bella, is a young orphaned and struggling artist who hides her tender heart and powerful intellect behind a streetwise, tart-with-a-heart-and-quirky-with-it-facade. It isn't that Bella actually IS a tart, she is still grooming unicorns.
She is also a bit bohemian in her attitude towards life, so even tho she has a college degree and speaks four languages, she mainly works as a waitress, lives with a reclusive, crusty old miser surrogate grampa and paints a lot of really great pictures that she isn't sure enough of to display.
Nor does Bella lead men on, she just has the type of exotic full blown looks that make male HP denizens take one look at her and think she is an easy opportunity at the lady lurving sample buffet.
Fortunately Bella is a lot smarter than most of the men she meets and when the book opens, Bella is celebrating her birthday and coming to the conclusion that her boyfriend, Griff, will soon be getting an invitation to the world, as it is clear he is ditching her birthday party to sneak off with another woman.
The H, Rico, on the other hand, is the epitome of Suave, Elegant and Sophisticated Banker. LG gives the us the big contrast in Bella's breezy ways and Rico's conservative stance when Bella crashes her junker car into Rico's Bugatti- Bella was driving the wrong way on a one way road.
Rico instantly assumes Bella is a streetwalker and Bella is in shock she got the road signs wrong. So even tho the Lurve Force Mojo is choking them both, Bella isn't too keen on Mr. Suave Rico because he is really insulting when he remarks on her appearance and his assumptions.
But Bella has to pay to fix his car and so she goes to his office to see if they can work out a deal. Rico assumes this is a quid pro quo of her sleeping with him in lieu of damages. Bella is totally not down with that, she will sell one of her famous father's paintings instead, but it doesn't matter cause the two of them get kidnapped.
They get locked into a storage container in a barn and after a lot of very funny bickering and banter and trying to find a way out, they fall under the Treacherous Body Syndrome of the HP Lurve Club Extravaganza Event and Rico is shocked to find that Bella is about as far from a tart as you can get and that unicorns are really sad to lose their favorite groomer.
The two of them do manage to escape and Rico arrogantly assumes that Bella is just going to fall at his feet and become his mistress. Bella has a backbone tho and her Grampa raised her right, she isn't moving in with any guy who won't put a ring on it and declare true love.
Which is a good thing when the ex boyfriend Griff turns up and proposes to Bella in front of Rico and his latest girlfriend. In a hysterically funny scene, Bella isn't too keen on being friendly with any of them, until Rico's girlfriend meets her in the ladies room and turns over all the keys and access cards to Rico's various properties, saying that it is obvious Rico is obsessed with Bella.
Bella feels a bit sad that Rico's girlfriend is taking her dismissal from Rico's life so casually and Bella has just about had enough of Rico's arrogant bossiness. She dumps Rico's keys in his lap and tells him off as she is walking out the door. Then Bella finally loses her temper with the ex, Griff, and lets him have an earful too when she tells him what a nasty slime swiller he really is.
In the aftermath of the kidnapping, Bella is getting hounded by the press and it is bothering her elderly miserly surrogate grandfather, Hector. Hector is really rich, but he pretends he is absolutely destitute and his little economies and schemes to save money are rather entertaining.
Bella lives in Hector's London townhouse and to get rid of the persistent press and hopefully quell the rumors that she is Rico's mistress, Bella gives an interview about her recent ordeal.
The interview makes Rico sound like an utter snobbish wanker who thinks he is too good for everyone and Bella realizes that Rico really got his feelings hurt when he confronts her later at work.
Bella has figured out she loves Rico at this point, so she runs after him and tells him that she will move in with him for a month. Bella knows this is actually a big step for Rico, he never invites women to live with him and hasn't since his divorce.
Tho moving in with Rico is really against her principles, (Grampa told her to wait for a good man with a steady job who proposes, while Bella's mother was pretty much any port in a storm and whoever wants to dock, welcome aboard and Bella isn't too keen on her mother's view of men,) Bella knows that if she doesn't take the chance that Rico might come to love her she will regret it forever.
Bella and Rico move into Rico's ancient family manse and there are some funny bickery moments when Rico gets a prestigious art gallery owner to come look at Bella's paintings and when Rico just assumes Bella can't ride a horse and it turns out Bella is a better rider than he is.
Then Hector has a heart attack and Bella is driven to the hospital by her ex, Griff, when he comes to tell her about Hector. Bella ends up staying with Hector all night and when Rico finds her the next morning, he gets really rude and loud and assumes that Bella was cheating on him with Griff.
(Rico is really sensitive to women cheating. He was twenty when he married a gold digger actress tarty 22 yr old because she claimed to be pregnant with his baby. She slept with anyone who would give her a movie part and so she and Rico divorced. But she wouldn't give Rico custody of their son without a big payoff, which Rico did not have at the time.
So while waiting for the custody hearing outcome, Rico's son-he didn't know if the child was biologically his or not, but he did not care-fell into a pool and drowned due to Rico's ex's negligence.)
Then Rico learns about Hector and figures out he was wrong, but in Bella's eyes he is never going to trust her AND he called her a whore. So Bella has to find a way to dump Rico, but first she finds out she is preggers.
Bella comes up with a couple of ways to dump Rico and hide the fact that she is having his child. Because Rico was so negative about having a child earlier, Bella figures Rico will go ballistic and maybe try to force her to terminate and she isn't doing that.
Bella's attempts don't work, Rico goes to Hector and manages to use Hector's miser tendencies to get Hector to move onto Rico's estate rent free. So Bella is trapped due to Hector's expectations and now Rico knows about the baby and he tells her they are getting married.
Bella has a mopey moment, cause she doesn't want to be married unless they are both in love and Rico finally proves that he loves her. He drags Bella out in her pajamas to present her with her much missed old Shetland pony, that was sold when her grandfather died.
Then Rico promises a cat and a dog to go with it and Bella finds out that Rico's big party he has been having her plan is really their engagement party and Rico was planning to marry her as soon as she agreed to move in. This convinces Bella that Rico really loves her and they both declare their love for the big HEA.
We also get a cute little epilogue where Bella winds Rico up by telling him she wants a Porsche if she passes an advanced driving test and Rico goes out an buys one when she does. Only to come home to find Bella has gone out and bought a Volvo estate to haul around her paints and their daughter, along with their very own cat and dog menagerie.
It is very clear that the two of them are still madly in love and still bickering like crazy, but it is a bickering that leads to big Purple Passion Moments of Devoted True Love, so it is all good for a very well done LG HP HEA and a really funny, excellent HP outing.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 1, 2021
I hate going against GR friends, but I hated the hero in Prisoner of Passion(totally unrepentant asshole alert), and wasn't too impressed with the heroine (too much strident screaming).
When they meet he thinks she's a whore (his words...and he says it repeatedly) living with a sugar daddy, but she, of course, is an uneducated Mensa potential, unknown but brilliant artist living with a loving but miserly old man. She wrecks his great, big expensive car aka man car, and ...I really don't care.
She's the manic pixie girl to his stone-faced handsome and sexy priggishness.
Michelangelo’s David trapped in the clothing chains of convention. Navy pinstriped suit, boring white shirt, predictable navy tie—he probably put on a red one for Christmas and thought he was being really daring.
They get kidnapped; they have sex; he finds out she is a virgin; she gets pregnant.
More drama ensues as he asks her to move in for a month to see how things go and/or until things run their course. Go on, you charmer, you. Skillet, stat! Cast iron, please!
Never, not once, does he give her the benefit of the doubt. She's a prostitute then downgraded to a gold-digger then just stupid. Then back to greedy.
After paying him the bajillions she owes him for his penismobile he sweetly says...
‘This one time I give you the benefit of the doubt and I forgive you.’
‘What’s that supposed to mean?’
He surveyed her with cynical dark eyes.
‘Bella... I’m not a fool. I can add two and two. Less than forty-eight hours ago you handed me a cheque for a considerable sum of money. Today the article appeared. Obviously you were paid for that interview.’
She sprang back from him in consternation.
‘That money came from the sale of a painting!’
Rico elevated an ebony brow, clearly unimpressed. ‘I don’t have you on a pedestal, gatita. So you don’t need to worry about falling off one. I don’t expect perfection but I do expect honesty. Who would pay that much for the work of an unknown artist?’
‘It wasn’t one of my paintings!’ she flared back at him, both angered and hurt by his lack of trust in her. She would not even have considered accepting money for talking about him to the Press. ‘It was one Ivan did of my mother—’
No, he didn't give her the benefit of the doubt here or anywhere else, and an even bigger no, he certainly doesn't have her on a pedestal.
Even squinting, I could not read between the lines in this one.
The Spanish Groom, you are still number one with me.
When they meet he thinks she's a whore (his words...and he says it repeatedly) living with a sugar daddy, but she, of course, is an uneducated Mensa potential, unknown but brilliant artist living with a loving but miserly old man. She wrecks his great, big expensive car aka man car, and ...I really don't care.
She's the manic pixie girl to his stone-faced handsome and sexy priggishness.
Michelangelo’s David trapped in the clothing chains of convention. Navy pinstriped suit, boring white shirt, predictable navy tie—he probably put on a red one for Christmas and thought he was being really daring.
They get kidnapped; they have sex; he finds out she is a virgin; she gets pregnant.
More drama ensues as he asks her to move in for a month to see how things go and/or until things run their course. Go on, you charmer, you. Skillet, stat! Cast iron, please!
Never, not once, does he give her the benefit of the doubt. She's a prostitute then downgraded to a gold-digger then just stupid. Then back to greedy.
After paying him the bajillions she owes him for his penismobile he sweetly says...
‘This one time I give you the benefit of the doubt and I forgive you.’
‘What’s that supposed to mean?’
He surveyed her with cynical dark eyes.
‘Bella... I’m not a fool. I can add two and two. Less than forty-eight hours ago you handed me a cheque for a considerable sum of money. Today the article appeared. Obviously you were paid for that interview.’
She sprang back from him in consternation.
‘That money came from the sale of a painting!’
Rico elevated an ebony brow, clearly unimpressed. ‘I don’t have you on a pedestal, gatita. So you don’t need to worry about falling off one. I don’t expect perfection but I do expect honesty. Who would pay that much for the work of an unknown artist?’
‘It wasn’t one of my paintings!’ she flared back at him, both angered and hurt by his lack of trust in her. She would not even have considered accepting money for talking about him to the Press. ‘It was one Ivan did of my mother—’
No, he didn't give her the benefit of the doubt here or anywhere else, and an even bigger no, he certainly doesn't have her on a pedestal.
Even squinting, I could not read between the lines in this one.
The Spanish Groom, you are still number one with me.
October 21, 2021
This one is where the heroine is a basket case and the hero is a jerk.
Something very usual in LG world.
But here we have a car accident and a kidnap.
The heroine is something of an artist who lives with a dear old man of course in a very innocent ways since she's a virgin.
One evening she's out with her car and has an accident with the ultra rich hero's car.
The heroine is angry but eventually she has to admit she's wrong because she was driving in a one-way street in the wrong direction...
Isn't she cute?
Oh, and she is without insurance so the day after she goes pleading with the hero to his office, and the hero, who suffers from a severe case of insta-lust and has all his blood concentrated on his groins, forgets his bodyguards and is kidnapped with the heroine and shut in a container for days.
Of course passion explodes and they have unprotected sex, with afterward the usual recriminations of the hero that thows accusations at the heroine for being a virgin and trying to trap him.
The heroine though, is not a doormat or a sensitive soul, and she can fight back quite well.
After their rescue, the hero tries to persuade her to be his mistress but she refuses repeatedly, until he asks her to live with him and she accepts.
After some times his jealousy and mistrust scare the heroine and she decides to end their affair.
Unfortunately (or fortunately) she's pregnant and the hero wants to marry her.
It turns out he was planning to ask her to marry him, so all is well and all misunderstandings have been cleared.
The hero had a very bad experience with his ex and was afraid of commitment and couldn't trust anybody.
The heroine was uncoordinated and messy and very feisty, and it was clear that the hero was besotted with her since their first meeting.
Some scenes are really funny and worth reading (when she falls asleep in his car the first time they meet, when he finds out she's pregnant and she wants to conceal it from him)
This was a good story, usual LG, with action flowing very quickly, little introspection and characters who are not very sensitive.
Never boring, never too deep and very entertaining.
Sometimes I like to imagine one of Penny Jordan heroines, with their utter sensitivity and their low self-esteem, dealing with one of LG heroes and his callous and mean ways. I don't think she would get out alive...
Something very usual in LG world.
But here we have a car accident and a kidnap.
The heroine is something of an artist who lives with a dear old man of course in a very innocent ways since she's a virgin.
One evening she's out with her car and has an accident with the ultra rich hero's car.
The heroine is angry but eventually she has to admit she's wrong because she was driving in a one-way street in the wrong direction...
Isn't she cute?
Oh, and she is without insurance so the day after she goes pleading with the hero to his office, and the hero, who suffers from a severe case of insta-lust and has all his blood concentrated on his groins, forgets his bodyguards and is kidnapped with the heroine and shut in a container for days.
Of course passion explodes and they have unprotected sex, with afterward the usual recriminations of the hero that thows accusations at the heroine for being a virgin and trying to trap him.
The heroine though, is not a doormat or a sensitive soul, and she can fight back quite well.
After their rescue, the hero tries to persuade her to be his mistress but she refuses repeatedly, until he asks her to live with him and she accepts.
After some times his jealousy and mistrust scare the heroine and she decides to end their affair.
Unfortunately (or fortunately) she's pregnant and the hero wants to marry her.
It turns out he was planning to ask her to marry him, so all is well and all misunderstandings have been cleared.
The hero had a very bad experience with his ex and was afraid of commitment and couldn't trust anybody.
The heroine was uncoordinated and messy and very feisty, and it was clear that the hero was besotted with her since their first meeting.
Some scenes are really funny and worth reading (when she falls asleep in his car the first time they meet, when he finds out she's pregnant and she wants to conceal it from him)
This was a good story, usual LG, with action flowing very quickly, little introspection and characters who are not very sensitive.
Never boring, never too deep and very entertaining.
Sometimes I like to imagine one of Penny Jordan heroines, with their utter sensitivity and their low self-esteem, dealing with one of LG heroes and his callous and mean ways. I don't think she would get out alive...
February 10, 2018
Read it again and I loved it so much. You think the heroine is a total bimbo and she just cracks me up. She sure puts the H in a tizzy. Very cute story and there is kidnapping and a pregnancy and a total love store. The Hero fought it but she was a total hoot. She had no filters. I loved her. She led the hero a merry dance and I just totally loved that nothing about her was stereotypical. It was very cute. I did cry at one point but not sobbing just tearing up. I loved, loved loved the epilogue!! It was just a very good story and it reminded me of my favorite story from Lynne Graham, The Spanish Groom.
And the other characters in the book were funny too.
And the other characters in the book were funny too.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
no-way-jose
February 10, 2025No rating, DNF before 20%. I really wanted to like this story. Yes, the hero was a rude, abrasive jerk. Not a problem for me at all. It was all the heroine 🤯. Omg she was a mouthy idiot, non-stop childish comments being either screeched shrilly or stutteringly. (Maybe that’s typical old school Harlequin?)
December 4, 2013
I must say this one has me a bit confused as to how to rate it, so I decided to go with just three stars. Which is a bit of a disappointment since there were somethings that I really did like about the book. Here is what I liked:
1) I actually really liked the hero...though he had his totally alpha asshat moments, there was something really endearing about him: his passion for the heroine, his kindness to her in protecting her from the kidnappers, buying back her mother's portrait, etc...
2) I also really liked the story. The plot was terrific with the kidnapping and subtle ways the author weaved in the Stockholm syndrome. I found his past life and her past life to be really interesting and gave credibility to some very touching moments.
3) I loved the secondary characters..her ex boyfriend, Griff or wait was it Biff? Her friend Liz, her grandfather, and most of all the devoted relationship she had with Hector. I thought LG did a great job in displaying the range of emotions and different types of love that exist.
So here is what I didn't like:
1) The heroine was a bit too flaky for my taste. I just couldn't warm up to her. She seemed selfish, only motivated to do things when they were right for her. Though, at one point she says she is always generous to those she loves, she never really showed it. I didn't like that she conveniently lied to suit her own purposes.
2) I also didn't care for the ending. It just kind of fell flat for me and there were things thrust into the story that were brushed over.
1) I actually really liked the hero...though he had his totally alpha asshat moments, there was something really endearing about him: his passion for the heroine, his kindness to her in protecting her from the kidnappers, buying back her mother's portrait, etc...
2) I also really liked the story. The plot was terrific with the kidnapping and subtle ways the author weaved in the Stockholm syndrome. I found his past life and her past life to be really interesting and gave credibility to some very touching moments.
3) I loved the secondary characters..her ex boyfriend, Griff or wait was it Biff? Her friend Liz, her grandfather, and most of all the devoted relationship she had with Hector. I thought LG did a great job in displaying the range of emotions and different types of love that exist.
So here is what I didn't like:
1) The heroine was a bit too flaky for my taste. I just couldn't warm up to her. She seemed selfish, only motivated to do things when they were right for her. Though, at one point she says she is always generous to those she loves, she never really showed it. I didn't like that she conveniently lied to suit her own purposes.
2) I also didn't care for the ending. It just kind of fell flat for me and there were things thrust into the story that were brushed over.
December 22, 2022
Reread 2022
Still a 5 star read. Love love love.
——————-
Loved this opposite attracts rom-com. The dialog between the mc reminded me of the movie Pretty Woman. The beginning was laugh out loud hilarious. 😂
- FC: a feisty boho artist, stunningly beautiful wild, smart mouth virgin. 21 (not a doormat)
- mc: rich, Spanish clean cut, neat freak, alphaho. 32
Still a 5 star read. Love love love.
——————-
Loved this opposite attracts rom-com. The dialog between the mc reminded me of the movie Pretty Woman. The beginning was laugh out loud hilarious. 😂
- FC: a feisty boho artist, stunningly beautiful wild, smart mouth virgin. 21 (not a doormat)
- mc: rich, Spanish clean cut, neat freak, alphaho. 32
April 14, 2016
I loved the feisty crazy artist heroine and the older sexy hero. Lots of funny moments and good angst. It was a classic LG book! As from today Rico and Bella are one of my favorite Harlequin couples. I know I keep repeating that but I adore Lynne Graham!
April 20, 2022
Update
April 20th/2022
I don't remember any details of this book, another one for the reread pile 😬🙉
April 20th/2022
I don't remember any details of this book, another one for the reread pile 😬🙉
December 28, 2024
Bella has been hit with the shit stick so many times in her 21 years of life. She's the result of an affair between an eccentric artist and free-spirited model. Her mother subsequently drags her around with her traveling all over the country/continent, hopping from one man to the other, until she finally drops Bella off with her grandfather at the age of 13 because her mother's current lover doesn't want a kid around. This is actually the best thing for Bella because she is finally able to start school and get some kind of semblance of a normal life. Of course, starting school at 13 puts her incredibly behind and she has to work even harder to get where she wants to be in life-- which apparently is a successful artist. That's what she dreams of and has been living with a once famous art critic who has now turned recluse. He was a friend of her grandfather's and once her grandfather passed away, he decided to take Bella under his wing. That does not come without its own hardships too, though. Because even though he was successful, in his old age, he's afraid of losing his fortune so much that he will not even let Bella cut on lights because it will run the electricity bill up too high and he doesn't want to pay for it. He does let Bella use his car though, and that's how Bella inevitably meets our hero, Rico.
On the surface, Rico is a very successful man. At 32 years old, he has a tremendous amount of wealth and seems to rotate through an endless supply of beautiful women. What you can't see on the outside, though, is the tremendous amount of pain and loss he's suffered because of his first marriage that ended in a very publicly scandalous divorce. This all happened in a different country so it's not well known where he currently is.
As fate would have it, one night Bella would take a wrong turn down a one-way street and crash head-on into Rico's very expensive Bugatti. She begs him not to call the cops and he agrees under the condition that she first sign a written statement admitting to being at fault for the accident and then the next day she is to call his secretary with the insurance information. To Bella's horror, later she finds out that because the insurance company didn't receive the check for the renewal of the policy in time, they're choosing to cancel the policy. Essentially, she did NOT have insurance when she hit Rico's car. She's dreading having to tell him, but she knows it's the right thing to do and the sooner the better. So the next day she goes to his office and after jumping through hoops, she's finally allowed to see him and give him the dreadful news. He's upset and threatens to get the police again. He starts dragging her out the office and amidst their heated quarreling, he says that he's either taking her to the police or taking her to his home (because apparently little ole Bella has lit a fuse within Rico unlike the likes of which he's ever felt before and he would love nothing more than to have her and extinguish the excruciating need he feels for her). Once they make it to the car park, however, they're ambushed by two thugs and in a strange twist of events, they're both kidnapped and awake hours later in a metal shipping container that's been fashioned into a livable space. THUS begins the tale of how our two MC's come together and fall madly in love with one another.
This was a good one! It had several of the elements that make a story incredibly delicious for me:
- Reluctant Hero
- Virgin Heroine (complete with the "I didn't know!" moment from the Hero)
- Hero with a past of manwhoring it up because he doesn't want to settle down with one woman
- Age gap/ Hero is 32, Heroine is 21
- MC's with opposing personalities/ Hero is uptight, Heroine is carefree
The only perceived downside for me personally, is that this story was clearly written by someone that doesn't speak American English, so spellings of certain words were different to my own which through me off a bit and some of the references I couldn't necessarily follow either. There's also the matter of this being written in the 90's which largely I enjoy as a whole, but because of that, you can tell that some elements of this story are approached vastly different to how they would be by today's standards and I think I might would have enjoyed a bit of a darker twist to this tale. All in all, though, it was a very enjoyable read and I would recommend to anyone that has similar reading tastes to my own.
On the surface, Rico is a very successful man. At 32 years old, he has a tremendous amount of wealth and seems to rotate through an endless supply of beautiful women. What you can't see on the outside, though, is the tremendous amount of pain and loss he's suffered because of his first marriage that ended in a very publicly scandalous divorce. This all happened in a different country so it's not well known where he currently is.
As fate would have it, one night Bella would take a wrong turn down a one-way street and crash head-on into Rico's very expensive Bugatti. She begs him not to call the cops and he agrees under the condition that she first sign a written statement admitting to being at fault for the accident and then the next day she is to call his secretary with the insurance information. To Bella's horror, later she finds out that because the insurance company didn't receive the check for the renewal of the policy in time, they're choosing to cancel the policy. Essentially, she did NOT have insurance when she hit Rico's car. She's dreading having to tell him, but she knows it's the right thing to do and the sooner the better. So the next day she goes to his office and after jumping through hoops, she's finally allowed to see him and give him the dreadful news. He's upset and threatens to get the police again. He starts dragging her out the office and amidst their heated quarreling, he says that he's either taking her to the police or taking her to his home (because apparently little ole Bella has lit a fuse within Rico unlike the likes of which he's ever felt before and he would love nothing more than to have her and extinguish the excruciating need he feels for her). Once they make it to the car park, however, they're ambushed by two thugs and in a strange twist of events, they're both kidnapped and awake hours later in a metal shipping container that's been fashioned into a livable space. THUS begins the tale of how our two MC's come together and fall madly in love with one another.
This was a good one! It had several of the elements that make a story incredibly delicious for me:
- Reluctant Hero
- Virgin Heroine (complete with the "I didn't know!" moment from the Hero)
- Hero with a past of manwhoring it up because he doesn't want to settle down with one woman
- Age gap/ Hero is 32, Heroine is 21
- MC's with opposing personalities/ Hero is uptight, Heroine is carefree
The only perceived downside for me personally, is that this story was clearly written by someone that doesn't speak American English, so spellings of certain words were different to my own which through me off a bit and some of the references I couldn't necessarily follow either. There's also the matter of this being written in the 90's which largely I enjoy as a whole, but because of that, you can tell that some elements of this story are approached vastly different to how they would be by today's standards and I think I might would have enjoyed a bit of a darker twist to this tale. All in all, though, it was a very enjoyable read and I would recommend to anyone that has similar reading tastes to my own.
October 14, 2022
I loved this one! 4.5 stars
I loved the passionate reluctant hero. I loved the angst. I loved the surprise v card scene. I loved the unusual kidnapping and forced proximity story line. I loved how he bulldozed and manipulated and took care of her. I loved the smexx. I loved the ending.
The only thing I didn’t love was how the h was secretly amazing at every single thing. 🙄 I wouldn’t have been sad if he’d fallen for her despite being imperfect. But that only lowered it half a star. Aaaaaand I’m always up for more intense OW drama. 🤷🏼♀️😈😅
⚠️SAFETY SQUAD SPOILERS⚠️
- no cheating or sharing
- mild dubcon - he smexxes her while she’s all but comatose after she told him she won’t have sex with him again
- manhandling
- mild OW drama - she sees him out again (after they’ve been together) with the OW she saw him with before they met - the OW approaches her and lets her think that she is lovers with the H, but he hasn’t had relations with her - the angst isn’t drawn out
- OM drama - h has a beau who wants to marry her
- H is a 32 yr old divorcee - he’s a known womanizer
- h is a 21 yr old (surprise to the H) virgin
- H’s ex had a baby of unknown paternity while he was married to her… the baby died due to the Evil Cackling Whore’s neglect - off page (just retold vaguely)
- the h and H are kidnapped at gunpoint and held hostage for a couple days
I loved the passionate reluctant hero. I loved the angst. I loved the surprise v card scene. I loved the unusual kidnapping and forced proximity story line. I loved how he bulldozed and manipulated and took care of her. I loved the smexx. I loved the ending.
The only thing I didn’t love was how the h was secretly amazing at every single thing. 🙄 I wouldn’t have been sad if he’d fallen for her despite being imperfect. But that only lowered it half a star. Aaaaaand I’m always up for more intense OW drama. 🤷🏼♀️😈😅
⚠️SAFETY SQUAD SPOILERS⚠️
- no cheating or sharing
- mild dubcon - he smexxes her while she’s all but comatose after she told him she won’t have sex with him again
- manhandling
- mild OW drama - she sees him out again (after they’ve been together) with the OW she saw him with before they met - the OW approaches her and lets her think that she is lovers with the H, but he hasn’t had relations with her - the angst isn’t drawn out
- OM drama - h has a beau who wants to marry her
- H is a 32 yr old divorcee - he’s a known womanizer
- h is a 21 yr old (surprise to the H) virgin
- H’s ex had a baby of unknown paternity while he was married to her… the baby died due to the Evil Cackling Whore’s neglect - off page (just retold vaguely)
- the h and H are kidnapped at gunpoint and held hostage for a couple days
July 22, 2017
"Prisoner of Passion" is Rico the billionaire and Bella the starving artist/ waitress's story and something that will give you heartburn
You have a hero that constantly calls the heroine whore, tramp, illiterate, keeps offering her money and a heroine that is an absolute doormat to her passions and the hero.
There were some scenes (i.e. The banter) that were likable during the kidnapping but otherwise I'd have loved to smack the hero for the way he behaved with her.
I understand childhood/ ex trauma but it doesn't give you the right to be an absolute douche- bag Mr Rico.
The love making scenes were hot but it didn't distract me from the hero and his behavior which made me too angry.
Safe
2/5
You have a hero that constantly calls the heroine whore, tramp, illiterate, keeps offering her money and a heroine that is an absolute doormat to her passions and the hero.
There were some scenes (i.e. The banter) that were likable during the kidnapping but otherwise I'd have loved to smack the hero for the way he behaved with her.
I understand childhood/ ex trauma but it doesn't give you the right to be an absolute douche- bag Mr Rico.
The love making scenes were hot but it didn't distract me from the hero and his behavior which made me too angry.
Safe
2/5
November 12, 2018
I was laughing at the beginning as some parts of the book was comical at times and I shed some tears at the end. I don't know why I never read this sooner. It is up there in great books by LG and favourites of mine like bond of hatred,married to mistress and indecent deception. There was angst and the chemistry was sizzling almost burnt the pages!
One to recommend and definite keeper for sure!
One to recommend and definite keeper for sure!
November 21, 2018
Shortly after an abrupt meeting when she crashes into his megabucks car they are kidnapped and fall in love while imprisoned in a cargo container. Gotta love a hero who tracks down her long lost Shetland pony!
July 16, 2019
This was seriously a fantastic read. The storyline was so unique. I literally couldn't put my kindle down. Read in one sitting. I will definitely be rereading this one in the future.
May 11, 2020
Beyond amazing! Just the kind of bully behaviour I needed from an alpha controlling H to rearrange my soul a little.
Clearly mine isn’t popular opinion and rating. Unless you cozy up on a winter night at leisure, this book in broad daylight may most likely offend you repeatedly. The h and H are both quite crazy and embattled in constant rebuttal and neither backs off. To think that the h is a young and vibrant artist, and the H is a decade older, they both bicker like a bunch of toddlers.
The H is an uber alpha jerk saying the most deranged things to the h that would have any other female run in the other direction. Except Rico has met a match in Bella. She certainly does not shut up and says back the rudest possible stuff with the least decorum as expected of a lady.
Their love making is dreamy and Rico, despite all that he has to say, is actually the broody older H who is stunned into controlled hysterics by the incredulity of the situation he has landed himself into. All thanks to the crazy, unexpected and unprecedented tactics of Bella.
I will crazy re-read this book. I don’t care if Rico was a total controlling, uncouth, prejudiced and suspicious H. He was also just as tender and loving and caring. Oh my heart.
Clearly mine isn’t popular opinion and rating. Unless you cozy up on a winter night at leisure, this book in broad daylight may most likely offend you repeatedly. The h and H are both quite crazy and embattled in constant rebuttal and neither backs off. To think that the h is a young and vibrant artist, and the H is a decade older, they both bicker like a bunch of toddlers.
The H is an uber alpha jerk saying the most deranged things to the h that would have any other female run in the other direction. Except Rico has met a match in Bella. She certainly does not shut up and says back the rudest possible stuff with the least decorum as expected of a lady.
Their love making is dreamy and Rico, despite all that he has to say, is actually the broody older H who is stunned into controlled hysterics by the incredulity of the situation he has landed himself into. All thanks to the crazy, unexpected and unprecedented tactics of Bella.
I will crazy re-read this book. I don’t care if Rico was a total controlling, uncouth, prejudiced and suspicious H. He was also just as tender and loving and caring. Oh my heart.
April 15, 2016
If you like LG this is classic. Loved it. She was a great heroine and he turn out to be a real prince and after her more recent book where the hero is a major asshole this is a great reminder of what LG can do when she puts her heart into it. Honestly it's like she hates women sometimes the way she writes.
December 21, 2018
Not in a mood for writing a review... for your safety issue, please check- Boogenhagen's Detailed Review👇
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
August 25, 2025
Classic LG novel from 1996
Bella is a gorgeous 21-year-old woman who is the illegitimate offspring of a brilliant, famous artist and his exquisitely beautiful model. When Bella's mother became pregnant with her, her father rejected them. Her mother then spent over a decade dragging Bella along while she lived on the road with her people, Travellers AKA Gypsies, in a caravan with a series of different lovers. As a result, until she was 13 years old and her mother dumped Bella on her maternal grandfather to finish raising her, Bella had no formal education. In spite of that, because Bella has an extremely high IQ, catching up on her education was no problem for her, and she is also fluent in multiple languages. In addition, she is an accomplished painter, who is almost as talented as her illustrious father.
Rico da Silva was born into wealth and, during his 32 years, has expanded that familial fortune into billions. He is a hard-nosed banker and extremely conservative. His first meeting with Bella occurs when she gets lost, accidentally turns her car the wrong way down a one-way street, and crashes into Rico's Bugatti Supersport, causing a quarter-million dollars of damage.
Because statuesque Bella has the face and figure of a goddess, on full seductive display in a short, slinky dress, which was a gift from one of her girlfriends for her birthday celebration that very night, combined with the fact that it is 4:00 a.m., Rico makes a snap judgment that she is a prostitute. A conclusion that Bella is incandescently enraged about when he sneeringly informs her of his opinion after he gives her a ride home.
Sparks fly between these two passionate protagonists from the very first words they exchange. They are polar opposites, and both are fighting their roaring attraction as hard as they can, because each is strongly prejudiced against the other's personality, background, and lifestyle.
I absolutely adore this book. It is one of my top 10 favorite books by LG, and one of my all-time favorite contemporary romance novels. I have read it countless times. Though LG is not known for writing romantic comedy, every once in a while, as is the case in this story, the comedy just writes itself, because of the hilarious repartee between two particular protagonists. Every time I read this story I find myself laughing out loud, over and over again.
Bella is totally unique among every heroine that LG has ever written and every heroine of the HP line. She is tall and flamboyant and, without even trying, she runs circles around arrogant, entitled Rico. Their battle-of-the-sexes romance is massively entertaining!
Though this book is an absolute treasure, it has inexplicably never yet been released in audiobook format. If that ever happens, I hope Harlequin hires someone besides the usual female voice talent who narrates LG's novels. I just don't think she has what it takes to do Bella and Rico justice.
Bella is a gorgeous 21-year-old woman who is the illegitimate offspring of a brilliant, famous artist and his exquisitely beautiful model. When Bella's mother became pregnant with her, her father rejected them. Her mother then spent over a decade dragging Bella along while she lived on the road with her people, Travellers AKA Gypsies, in a caravan with a series of different lovers. As a result, until she was 13 years old and her mother dumped Bella on her maternal grandfather to finish raising her, Bella had no formal education. In spite of that, because Bella has an extremely high IQ, catching up on her education was no problem for her, and she is also fluent in multiple languages. In addition, she is an accomplished painter, who is almost as talented as her illustrious father.
Rico da Silva was born into wealth and, during his 32 years, has expanded that familial fortune into billions. He is a hard-nosed banker and extremely conservative. His first meeting with Bella occurs when she gets lost, accidentally turns her car the wrong way down a one-way street, and crashes into Rico's Bugatti Supersport, causing a quarter-million dollars of damage.
Because statuesque Bella has the face and figure of a goddess, on full seductive display in a short, slinky dress, which was a gift from one of her girlfriends for her birthday celebration that very night, combined with the fact that it is 4:00 a.m., Rico makes a snap judgment that she is a prostitute. A conclusion that Bella is incandescently enraged about when he sneeringly informs her of his opinion after he gives her a ride home.
Sparks fly between these two passionate protagonists from the very first words they exchange. They are polar opposites, and both are fighting their roaring attraction as hard as they can, because each is strongly prejudiced against the other's personality, background, and lifestyle.
I absolutely adore this book. It is one of my top 10 favorite books by LG, and one of my all-time favorite contemporary romance novels. I have read it countless times. Though LG is not known for writing romantic comedy, every once in a while, as is the case in this story, the comedy just writes itself, because of the hilarious repartee between two particular protagonists. Every time I read this story I find myself laughing out loud, over and over again.
Bella is totally unique among every heroine that LG has ever written and every heroine of the HP line. She is tall and flamboyant and, without even trying, she runs circles around arrogant, entitled Rico. Their battle-of-the-sexes romance is massively entertaining!
Though this book is an absolute treasure, it has inexplicably never yet been released in audiobook format. If that ever happens, I hope Harlequin hires someone besides the usual female voice talent who narrates LG's novels. I just don't think she has what it takes to do Bella and Rico justice.
April 1, 2019
Χρυσό 825 Αιχμάλωτη του πάθους... Απλά αν το βρείτε τε μην το χάσετε. Υπέροχη πλοκή και διάλογοι καυστικό που εξιτάρουν.... Χαρακτήρες αντιδιαμετρικα αντίθετοι που όμως αληλοσυμπληρωνονται....
July 6, 2021
Two opposites could never attract more. Great story! Almost a 5 star read but i kinda didn’t like that we didn’t have the hero’s pov.
November 9, 2018
4,5 stars but of course there is positive discrimination fo LG. :)
February 17, 2015
I guess it's because I grew up in the era of bodice rippers that I really love books with overbearing, controlling alpha males. Prisoner of Passion is just such a book. It is classic Lynne Graham goodness.
Beautiful, quirky Bella makes the mistake of driving the wrong way on a one way street and crashes into Millionaire Rico da Silva's beautiful Bugatti. Rico is an overbearing jerk and makes awful assumptions about Bella, insulting her at every turn. The following day Bella goes to Rico's office in an attempt to reason with him and gets herself kidnapped along with Rico. They are drugged and thrown together into a metal huge shipping container that was converted into semi-comfortable living quarters.
Stuck in the container for several days, they learn to get along, somewhat, and eventually give into the chemistry that has been burning between them sine they first met. To Rico's shock, he learns that Bella is a virgin and once again throws irrational accusations at her. They eventually found a way to escape to an old farm house where the relief sends them, once again, into each other's arms.
After their escape, Bella refuses to accept Rico's demand that she stay with him and goes into hiding from the press. Rico finally finds her and makes her join him at his home. Though their relationship appears to be temporary, Bella falls in love with Rico but takes his warnings; that he will not get into a relationship, get married nor does he want children, to heart.
When she finds herself pregnant, she tried to end the relationship. Rico does not accept and in spite of his warnings, he proposes. Their relationship is tumultuous and passionate. I loved Bella's sassy attitude. Rico may have thought he was all alpha male, but Bella kept him on his toes. He underestimated her and she proved her worth time and time again. My one peeve was that Bella is supposed to have an brilliant IQ, however you never really see any proof of this throughout the book. She was proven to be creative, but not a genius.
Still this was a really fun read for me, I enjoyed an old fashioned type alpha male with so much machismo you could smell it wafting off the pages. :)
Beautiful, quirky Bella makes the mistake of driving the wrong way on a one way street and crashes into Millionaire Rico da Silva's beautiful Bugatti. Rico is an overbearing jerk and makes awful assumptions about Bella, insulting her at every turn. The following day Bella goes to Rico's office in an attempt to reason with him and gets herself kidnapped along with Rico. They are drugged and thrown together into a metal huge shipping container that was converted into semi-comfortable living quarters.
Stuck in the container for several days, they learn to get along, somewhat, and eventually give into the chemistry that has been burning between them sine they first met. To Rico's shock, he learns that Bella is a virgin and once again throws irrational accusations at her. They eventually found a way to escape to an old farm house where the relief sends them, once again, into each other's arms.
After their escape, Bella refuses to accept Rico's demand that she stay with him and goes into hiding from the press. Rico finally finds her and makes her join him at his home. Though their relationship appears to be temporary, Bella falls in love with Rico but takes his warnings; that he will not get into a relationship, get married nor does he want children, to heart.
When she finds herself pregnant, she tried to end the relationship. Rico does not accept and in spite of his warnings, he proposes. Their relationship is tumultuous and passionate. I loved Bella's sassy attitude. Rico may have thought he was all alpha male, but Bella kept him on his toes. He underestimated her and she proved her worth time and time again. My one peeve was that Bella is supposed to have an brilliant IQ, however you never really see any proof of this throughout the book. She was proven to be creative, but not a genius.
Still this was a really fun read for me, I enjoyed an old fashioned type alpha male with so much machismo you could smell it wafting off the pages. :)
January 1, 2018
Classic "old school" Lynne Graham before her books became paint-by-number. If you are a fan of her earlier books like "The Spanish Groom" or "Crime of Passion" you will like this book. Though I do not rate this book as highly as I do the previous books I mentioned, it is still a good book with a unique storyline. If I had to name one issue that bothered me the most out of this book it was the hero's continuous reference to the heroine being dumb at the beginning of the book, which Lynne Graham purposely did, so that when the truth about the heroine's background came out, we could understand just how intelligent she actually was. Her intelligence could have been revealed in a better way than the hero constantly telling her how stupid she was at the beginning of the book. Overall a great read that I recommend.
April 20, 2022
I’d started this one years ago and not got very far but I persevered this time and despite all my reservations, I finished it. Parts of this were simply splendid, but other parts made me want to tear my hair out and slap the heroine much more than the hero. Then I discovered it was first published in 1996 and all became clear.
I know this writer has many, many fans but I have always struggle with her Mary Sue heroines and so this was a refreshing change. A strong minded heroine, in charge and in control. The kidnap element was very different and I liked it.
I got annoyed pretty fast with Bella’s moralising. Her prim, smug and judgemental stance really did my head in. How awful that she’d succumbed to sexual attraction. (Seriously what a prig!) I hated her for Victorian attitudes.
Rico the hero was a real jerk at the start and I wanted to slap him quite often. However, ultimately it was Bella’s temper, stubbornness and overall behaviour which ruined this for me for most of the book. She was forever attacking him verbally and insulting him, blaming him, throwing his care and concern back in his face. Frankly, I wanted him to walk away.
The book was saved by the lively and humorous dialogue which popped up throughout the story, the honest acknowledgement by Rico of how much he wanted Bella and a sweet epilogue. But Bella? Sorry she was a real pain in the neck.
I know this writer has many, many fans but I have always struggle with her Mary Sue heroines and so this was a refreshing change. A strong minded heroine, in charge and in control. The kidnap element was very different and I liked it.
I got annoyed pretty fast with Bella’s moralising. Her prim, smug and judgemental stance really did my head in. How awful that she’d succumbed to sexual attraction. (Seriously what a prig!) I hated her for Victorian attitudes.
Rico the hero was a real jerk at the start and I wanted to slap him quite often. However, ultimately it was Bella’s temper, stubbornness and overall behaviour which ruined this for me for most of the book. She was forever attacking him verbally and insulting him, blaming him, throwing his care and concern back in his face. Frankly, I wanted him to walk away.
The book was saved by the lively and humorous dialogue which popped up throughout the story, the honest acknowledgement by Rico of how much he wanted Bella and a sweet epilogue. But Bella? Sorry she was a real pain in the neck.
June 11, 2018
This was a recommendation from Boogenhagen and how lucky am I to have someone who can recommend books like this?
I started off a little shook because the H came across as a proper arrogant asshat and the h, despite her protestations of a genius IQ did some pretty dumb stuff. So I wasn't endeared to either of them to begin with.
However... it soon became clear the H could not leave the h alone he was totally smitten and didn't have a clue what do with it. She pretty much realised she had fallen in love as soon as she slept with him because she knows that she wouldn't have compromised her principles without it. He also despite being very overbearing did do very nice things for her and he had been completely crapped on by his ex-wife so it was hard for him I think to do what he did. Don't get me wrong he wasn't perfect and at the first sign of trouble he was very accusatory but still he was pretty adorable. The h was pretty sweet too. I never actually got the impression she was a genius and most of her actions were bordering on TSTL but they were really cute together and I liked them both despite their fault.
Thank you for the recommendation Boogenhagen I really enjoyed it.
I started off a little shook because the H came across as a proper arrogant asshat and the h, despite her protestations of a genius IQ did some pretty dumb stuff. So I wasn't endeared to either of them to begin with.
However... it soon became clear the H could not leave the h alone he was totally smitten and didn't have a clue what do with it. She pretty much realised she had fallen in love as soon as she slept with him because she knows that she wouldn't have compromised her principles without it. He also despite being very overbearing did do very nice things for her and he had been completely crapped on by his ex-wife so it was hard for him I think to do what he did. Don't get me wrong he wasn't perfect and at the first sign of trouble he was very accusatory but still he was pretty adorable. The h was pretty sweet too. I never actually got the impression she was a genius and most of her actions were bordering on TSTL but they were really cute together and I liked them both despite their fault.
Thank you for the recommendation Boogenhagen I really enjoyed it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 28, 2013
fun and different set up. Heroine is a bit of a ditsy artist who smashes up the hero's car and can't afford to pay for it. While they are fussing over this they are kidnapped. They fall in love while locked up together.
June 22, 2024
It was like coming alive when you thought you were dead. Every skin-cell suddenly flamed into red-hot life, a kind of frantic, feverish hunger possessing her. Her response was so intense that it swallowed her alive.
Prisoner of Passion by Lynne Graham is another explosively emotive read by the highly acclaimed author of category romances. First published in January of 1996, the story delves into two vastly different characters in terms of upbringing and outlook, rendering their coming together one that is as combustive as it can get.
The story begins when 21 year old Bella Jennings, a spirited and fiercely independent artist gets into an accident with 32 year old magnate, Rico da Silva, who misunderstands Bella’s intentions and challenges her integrity from the onset. While Rico would rather die than admit how he is drawn towards the spirited nature of Bella in a way that makes him wary, it is when they are kidnapped and thrown into forced proximity with each other that their desire comes to its heady conclusion, forging emotional ties that goes beyond mere attraction.
While Bella chafes at the very notion of giving into Rico, she carries the emotional scars of abandonment, which makes her extremely wary of relationships, especially given her mother’s history with men. When Rico misjudges her, laying blame at her door for enticing him, Bella tends to give as good as she gets, until she realizes that for the very first time in her life, she wants to succumb to the wiles of a man.
Meanwhile Rico has a more well-rounded upbringing and is not cast from the usual mold of heroes that litter most category romances. However, he is a man once bitten and extremely “shy” when it comes to the opposite sex, willing to believe that every woman wants what he can give them, both in bed and as a man who is financially affluent. When Bella pushes his buttons, the ones that do not even show up with other women, Rico being the strong character that he is, pushes back.
Their relationship is one that is an uphill battle, as it is not only their own vulnerabilities that each has to contend with, but also external forces that would rather see them go their separate ways. However, fate has a way of bringing them together which defies everything else, even be it the internal struggles that both Rico and Bella go through towards the end.
I highly enjoyed this high octane number from Ms. Graham. I am always in awe of how she can turn formulaic story lines into books that demands all my emotions to be fully invested in them. I am also quite taken in with the fact that almost every Lynne Graham novel tends to touch on the vast class difference that exists in advanced societies like the United Kingdom, and this was no exception.
How the poor struggle to make ends meet often living in cycles of abject poverty until the hero swoops in and rescues them, with generations often spending their lives in servitude, while those who have the money belong to a class of their own. While most may not hone in on such details, I believe Ms. Graham brings the struggles of especially women who assume responsibilities of single motherhood for instance to life in her novels to show this dichotomy that is still very much part of society.
I loved how passionate both Rio and Bella were in their unique individual ways, and how that passion translated into a love of the kind that both were willing to fight for when all was said and done. Ms. Graham’s vivid prose is perfect for such contrasting characters, capturing the often tumultuous emotions that defines their relationship. From heated arguments to tender moments of vulnerability, each scene is crafted to best portray the emotional nuance, drawing readers into the heart of their passionate and intense love affair.
Ultimately, it was how Bella and Rico both navigate their personal demons and external pressures to go through periods of growth and introspection, to be able to accept each other and their love which made the story stand out for me.
Definitely recommended for those who love highly passionate love stories crafted with emotional depth that Ms. Graham is famous for!
Final Verdict: Prisoner of Passion is a gripping romance with its richly drawn characters, evocative prose, and poignant exploration of love amidst adversity, attesting to Graham’s mastery of the genre!
Rating = 4.75/5
For more reviews and quotes, please visit A Maldivian's Passion for Romance
July 7, 2020
Yess!! this is 👏👏👏 I wish LG still wrote like this. Rico and Bella were such a great couple and really knew how to keep each other in check. One of my LG favorites for sure!
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