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Captive Ecstasy
Amanda's romance with a Native American prisoner is threatened when two men arrive from her past--her jealous ex-fiance+a7 and a man who once saved her life. By the author of Dangerous Purity. Original.
432 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1980
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109 people want to read
About the author
Elaine Barbieri
56 books51 followersAKA Elaine Rome
Elaine Barbieri wrote over thirty historical novels that have been published worldwide. She was certain young adult readers would enjoy the excitement of historical romance if given a chance, and she welcomed the opportunity to write Miranda and the Warrior for this new audience. Elaine lived in northern New Jersey with her husband and family, and with Harrison, a demanding male who she is sure would be the ultimate hero -- if he weren't a cat.
Elaine Barbieri wrote over thirty historical novels that have been published worldwide. She was certain young adult readers would enjoy the excitement of historical romance if given a chance, and she welcomed the opportunity to write Miranda and the Warrior for this new audience. Elaine lived in northern New Jersey with her husband and family, and with Harrison, a demanding male who she is sure would be the ultimate hero -- if he weren't a cat.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
July 3, 2016
This review is of “Captive Ecstasy” by Elaine Barbieri.
The Story: In 1757, during the French-Indian War, Fort William Henry is under attack by French troops. Among those in the fort is Amanda Starkweather, 16, the heroine of the book. In the course of the book, Amanda comes into contact with four men. They are: Robert Handley, an American soldier; Adam Carstairs, a trapper and soldier who rescues Amanda after she is attacked and left for dead. Adam falls in love with Amanda during their time together: Chingue, an Abnaki Indian who kidnaps her and whom she later falls in love with; and Suckahokus, another Abnaki Indian who falls in love with Amanda.
Amanda and Chingue marry and have a child; however, she comes into contact with Adam, Robert and Suckahokus at different times. As the book goes on, Amanda experiences a myriad of emotions, both good and bad, and eventually finds her Happily Ever After. Which of the four men does she find happiness with? For the answer to that question, you’ll have to read the book.
Upside: The four primary characters-Amanda, Adam, Robert and Chingue-are all written in a way that their emotions are on display. This is very unusual for a debut book and especially for an author to write male characters who display their emotions so openly. I was impressed in particular with how Ms. Barbieri allowed her male characters to display vulnerability, something a lot of authors don’t allow. The book is very well researched about the French and Indian War, and about Abnaki culture and language.
Downside: Ms. Barbieri sacrifices character development for emotion. The characters aren’t written deeply, although their emotions come through strongly. The romance between Chingue and Amanda is very “Stockholm Syndrome”. The book is 432 pages long, but contains only eight chapters; some of the chapters are 70 to 80 pages long. There are jumps in the chapters, but spacing and pacing could be improved.
Sex: A few scenes, most of which are fairly descriptive, but not really hot or erotic.
Violence: Given the fact that the book is set during the French and Indian War, there is a good deal of violence. Shootings, killings, assaults, rape. The violence is semi-graphic.
Bottom Line: “Captive Ecstasy” is a very interesting book. It is not spectacular-in addition to the “downside” comments above, the book’s tone is somber and depressing-but for the most part, the positives outweigh the negatives. I found this to be one of the books I liked by Ms. Barbieri; her later work was more hit-and-miss for me.
The Story: In 1757, during the French-Indian War, Fort William Henry is under attack by French troops. Among those in the fort is Amanda Starkweather, 16, the heroine of the book. In the course of the book, Amanda comes into contact with four men. They are: Robert Handley, an American soldier; Adam Carstairs, a trapper and soldier who rescues Amanda after she is attacked and left for dead. Adam falls in love with Amanda during their time together: Chingue, an Abnaki Indian who kidnaps her and whom she later falls in love with; and Suckahokus, another Abnaki Indian who falls in love with Amanda.
Amanda and Chingue marry and have a child; however, she comes into contact with Adam, Robert and Suckahokus at different times. As the book goes on, Amanda experiences a myriad of emotions, both good and bad, and eventually finds her Happily Ever After. Which of the four men does she find happiness with? For the answer to that question, you’ll have to read the book.
Upside: The four primary characters-Amanda, Adam, Robert and Chingue-are all written in a way that their emotions are on display. This is very unusual for a debut book and especially for an author to write male characters who display their emotions so openly. I was impressed in particular with how Ms. Barbieri allowed her male characters to display vulnerability, something a lot of authors don’t allow. The book is very well researched about the French and Indian War, and about Abnaki culture and language.
Downside: Ms. Barbieri sacrifices character development for emotion. The characters aren’t written deeply, although their emotions come through strongly. The romance between Chingue and Amanda is very “Stockholm Syndrome”. The book is 432 pages long, but contains only eight chapters; some of the chapters are 70 to 80 pages long. There are jumps in the chapters, but spacing and pacing could be improved.
Sex: A few scenes, most of which are fairly descriptive, but not really hot or erotic.
Violence: Given the fact that the book is set during the French and Indian War, there is a good deal of violence. Shootings, killings, assaults, rape. The violence is semi-graphic.
Bottom Line: “Captive Ecstasy” is a very interesting book. It is not spectacular-in addition to the “downside” comments above, the book’s tone is somber and depressing-but for the most part, the positives outweigh the negatives. I found this to be one of the books I liked by Ms. Barbieri; her later work was more hit-and-miss for me.
January 2, 2015
Fair Warning - this doesn't really have a happy ending (IMHO).
I have always preferred that there be one major love interest. Throw in another just for some jealousy factor or something, but my heroine should not be experiencing real love with any more than one hero.
Oh, and the writing is quite bad. More telling than showing.
I have always preferred that there be one major love interest. Throw in another just for some jealousy factor or something, but my heroine should not be experiencing real love with any more than one hero.
Oh, and the writing is quite bad. More telling than showing.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 2, 2019
Fun and engrossing historical romance.
A note that this book was first published in 1980 and was very much a product of its time -- the Abnaki characters are regularly referred to as "Indians," and a depiction of their actions near the beginning of the novel made me cringe. The good news is that Amanda does get to know an Abnaki community more deeply, and the author does a nice job is showing that the white characters are guilty of even more "savagery."
Also likely a product of being pub'd in 1980, Amanda's beauty enthrals all men who see her, whether English, French or Abnaki, because of her white skin and silver-blond hair. (The author goes into lots of detail about this and notes that Amanda was always unaware of the effect she has on people.)
The one thing I didn't really like was how all three men treated Amanda.
SPOILERS:
Possibly a product of its time, but all three men (even the good ones) seemed to view her more as a possession than a woman to love.
- Chingue, whom Amanda said was her one true love, kidnapped her and took her from her friends, so even though to his credit, he later gives her the free choice to stay with him or leave, the beginning of their romance felt a bit like Stockholm syndrome. That being said, this is possibly a trope of the captor-captive romance, so I'll give it a pass, especially since Chingue was the one who ultimately valued Amanda's independence most of all.
- Adam, who is her HEA and the one I felt the story was moving towards the entire time, said it's ok if she couldn't love him, as long as she let him love her. I thought that was sweet at first, like he was offering his friendship and affection, but instead he meant he wanted to have sex with her and worse, marry her so she'd be tied to him forever. This felt especially egregious after he saved her from Robert (the one baddie), as even though he wasn't as physically abusive or outright cruel, he seemed at least as selfish, so even though it turned out ok, it turned me off him.
/ END SPOILERS
Still overall, it was a fun read. I was totally hooked into the story and all the dramatic twists.
A note that this book was first published in 1980 and was very much a product of its time -- the Abnaki characters are regularly referred to as "Indians," and a depiction of their actions near the beginning of the novel made me cringe. The good news is that Amanda does get to know an Abnaki community more deeply, and the author does a nice job is showing that the white characters are guilty of even more "savagery."
Also likely a product of being pub'd in 1980, Amanda's beauty enthrals all men who see her, whether English, French or Abnaki, because of her white skin and silver-blond hair. (The author goes into lots of detail about this and notes that Amanda was always unaware of the effect she has on people.)
The one thing I didn't really like was how all three men treated Amanda.
SPOILERS:
Possibly a product of its time, but all three men (even the good ones) seemed to view her more as a possession than a woman to love.
- Chingue, whom Amanda said was her one true love, kidnapped her and took her from her friends, so even though to his credit, he later gives her the free choice to stay with him or leave, the beginning of their romance felt a bit like Stockholm syndrome. That being said, this is possibly a trope of the captor-captive romance, so I'll give it a pass, especially since Chingue was the one who ultimately valued Amanda's independence most of all.
- Adam, who is her HEA and the one I felt the story was moving towards the entire time, said it's ok if she couldn't love him, as long as she let him love her. I thought that was sweet at first, like he was offering his friendship and affection, but instead he meant he wanted to have sex with her and worse, marry her so she'd be tied to him forever. This felt especially egregious after he saved her from Robert (the one baddie), as even though he wasn't as physically abusive or outright cruel, he seemed at least as selfish, so even though it turned out ok, it turned me off him.
/ END SPOILERS
Still overall, it was a fun read. I was totally hooked into the story and all the dramatic twists.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 20, 2019
The middle was sad. Reading other people's reviews made me afraid that something bad was going to happen at the end, but everything was okay. It would be bad for the story to not have a happy ending.
It did seem a little crazy to me how all these men fell so in love with Amanda. They were so infatuated. I get that she was beautiful and sweet and kind but I didn't know much else about her.
I had a feeling she would fall in love with Adam at the end. He seemed good for her.
It did seem a little crazy to me how all these men fell so in love with Amanda. They were so infatuated. I get that she was beautiful and sweet and kind but I didn't know much else about her.
I had a feeling she would fall in love with Adam at the end. He seemed good for her.
September 19, 2019
I loved it, Amanda finally ended up with her true love after all, but though I loved this book there were times I was afraid that more terrible things were to come for her didn't. This book is very mature and not intended for those with a weak stomach or dull in mind or experience, so if you do decide to read this know the killing scenes are very graphic, sex scenes too, and the rape scenes are the most part graphic and saddening, but all in all will keep your attention.
July 19, 2013
Excellent
April 14, 2015
Read this book back in the 80's; was my first of many Native American Historical romances to read over the years. Wasn't a happy ending but enjoyed the story all the same.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews