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Captive Angel
Left penniless and abandoned by her wayward sea captain husband, lovely Caroline Gillard found herself suddenly responsible for the biggest tobacco plantation in Colleton County, South Carolina. But the voluptuous, headstrong Caroline swore to make Hunter Gillard pay for his shortcomings!
511 pages, Paperback
First published December 1, 1988
4 people are currently reading
230 people want to read
About the author
Deana James
22 books23 followersDeana James was a pen name for Mona Dean Sizer.
As Deana James, she wrote 20 books, all but 1 were historical romances for Zebra.
A proud, lifelong Texas native, she passed away on February 17, 2022.
aka Mona_D_Sizer and Rachel Davis.
As Deana James, she wrote 20 books, all but 1 were historical romances for Zebra.
A proud, lifelong Texas native, she passed away on February 17, 2022.
aka Mona_D_Sizer and Rachel Davis.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
May 9, 2023
EARLY 1800'S
Caroline and her husband Hunter had been married for ten years. They had a son but lost an infant daughter two years earlier. She was left unable to bare more children.
Caroline suffered what we call today postnatal depression.
She'd been down in the dumps, neglected the husband and herself.
Hunter did not recognise her as the woman he'd married any more.
He was unhappy. He could not deal with his wife's depression. She'd gained a few extra kilos the last couple of years but that did not stop him from desiring her.
Hunter was a captain, he loved the sea and was not crazy about working the land of his wife's plantation.
He'd started an affair with a married woman who had left her husband.
One day Hunter told Caroline that he couldn't bare her misery guts any more.
He called her fat and said he was leaving her. He was to sail off on his ship taking his son with him.
No begging or pleating from Caroline would change his mind.
His desertion jolted her out of her slumper.
Later on Caroline found out that he had taken his mistress along. The final insult came with the knowledge that he'd taken all their money and left her penniless. He needed the money for his new sea business.
Caroline was left angry, devastated and destitute.
The plantation got destroyed after a fierce hurricane.
When Hunter got word of the fact he returned back. He did not know if his wife was dead or alive.
They ended up in bed but when Caroline found out he had the mistress in tow she'd left for Madagascar where she knew her grandfather buried a treasure.
Hunter dumped the mistress and furious went after Caroline on his ship.
He wanted to save her from misadventure.
They ended up having an adventure and in the midst of it got back together.
Caroline had found her old self again and Hunter couldn't stay away from her.
She was once again the woman he fell in love with.
The mistress was pregnant with Hunter's baby. As Caroline was no longer able to have children she accepted the baby as her own to raise and the mistress went back to her husband.
This is a book of over 500 pages and a lot had happened in the story. It can be many things but boring is not one of them.
There is a great character development on the heroine's part and some for the Hero.
Believe it or not there is a HEA.
Caroline and her husband Hunter had been married for ten years. They had a son but lost an infant daughter two years earlier. She was left unable to bare more children.
Caroline suffered what we call today postnatal depression.
She'd been down in the dumps, neglected the husband and herself.
Hunter did not recognise her as the woman he'd married any more.
He was unhappy. He could not deal with his wife's depression. She'd gained a few extra kilos the last couple of years but that did not stop him from desiring her.
Hunter was a captain, he loved the sea and was not crazy about working the land of his wife's plantation.
He'd started an affair with a married woman who had left her husband.
One day Hunter told Caroline that he couldn't bare her misery guts any more.
He called her fat and said he was leaving her. He was to sail off on his ship taking his son with him.
No begging or pleating from Caroline would change his mind.
His desertion jolted her out of her slumper.
Later on Caroline found out that he had taken his mistress along. The final insult came with the knowledge that he'd taken all their money and left her penniless. He needed the money for his new sea business.
Caroline was left angry, devastated and destitute.
The plantation got destroyed after a fierce hurricane.
When Hunter got word of the fact he returned back. He did not know if his wife was dead or alive.
They ended up in bed but when Caroline found out he had the mistress in tow she'd left for Madagascar where she knew her grandfather buried a treasure.
Hunter dumped the mistress and furious went after Caroline on his ship.
He wanted to save her from misadventure.
They ended up having an adventure and in the midst of it got back together.
Caroline had found her old self again and Hunter couldn't stay away from her.
She was once again the woman he fell in love with.
The mistress was pregnant with Hunter's baby. As Caroline was no longer able to have children she accepted the baby as her own to raise and the mistress went back to her husband.
This is a book of over 500 pages and a lot had happened in the story. It can be many things but boring is not one of them.
There is a great character development on the heroine's part and some for the Hero.
Believe it or not there is a HEA.
avoid
May 1, 2023Self note avoid
Cheating H/hub.
He left the h/wife after 10yrs of marriage - because she had gotten too fat for him 😂- to be with his mistress, took their son as well.
The h chased him around the world to get the H back, one review said.
(Just read another review that said she actually toured the world to find some treasure and H went to save her, and that’s how they reconciled).
HEA - with the h raising the new baby the H had with the mistress a year later🙄
Cheating H/hub.
He left the h/wife after 10yrs of marriage - because she had gotten too fat for him 😂- to be with his mistress, took their son as well.
The h chased him around the world to get the H back, one review said.
(Just read another review that said she actually toured the world to find some treasure and H went to save her, and that’s how they reconciled).
HEA - with the h raising the new baby the H had with the mistress a year later🙄
February 16, 2023
MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD
How do I begin to review this amazing, conflicting journey through a woman's incredible 19th-century life? I have to tell it all, so this review is pure spoilers.
By all rights Captive Angel is the kind of romance I should have tossed into a blazing fire and gleefully cheered, “Burn, book, burn! Bad, bad book!”
Perhaps it helped that I knew exactly what I was getting into before I started. After reading a few of Deana James’s books, I knew it couldn’t be that horrible. The cover even had a quote from Johanna Lindsey, stating: “Delightfully different, emotionally involving, and impossible to put down,” which is 100% true.
Captive Angel surpassed my expectations with probably one of the greatest romance heroines ever, paired with one of the most piggish, most oblivious POS heroes I’ve ever come across in an old-school historical other than Regan Van Der Rhys from Fern Michaels' Captive Series. Hunter Gillard's not a Sean Culhane or Duke Domenico because he's not super-obsessed over his woman (until the middle end); he's just a selfish prick. It’s all about him.
If you take a gander at my bookshelf for Captive Angel , it's filled with a ton of tags. On the one hand, we have a heroine whom I've placed in my "greatest hall of fame," while the hero is relegated to the "jerky pig hall of fame," reserved for the most porcine of leading men I've encountered in Romancelandia.
Caroline, or Fancy as she prefers to be called, is incredible in her character transformation. She starts down in the dumps: "Woe is me, I'm depressed and in mourning for my dead child. I’m fat, and my husband doesn’t love me anymore. Sure, he’ll bang me something fierce, but it’s not just me who’s getting his love, is it?"
Caroline and Hunter Gillard have been married for ten years, and their baby daughter had died a couple of years earlier. They do have a young son, but Caroline's fallen into a deep depression about her baby’s death, as it seems she cannot have any more children.
So naturally, she's let herself go a bit. She has gained a few (or more than a few pounds), although her lusty husband still doesn’t mind giving her a good porking. But he does hate her crying, her wallowing in self-pity, and, oh yeah, her refusal to worship and adore him and treat him like the king he thinks he is.
Hunter has other things on his mind. He's a seaman by nature and hates being tied to his wife’s plantation, England's Fancy, and the responsibilities it entails. He hates how mopey Fancy is and often leaves for long instances. She's no longer the same beautiful woman who caught Hunter's eye at a ball; she's dumpy and fat now, although, as I said, that doesn't stop Hunter from giving the old girl a bit of loving.
Life for Fancy isn’t great and it’s about to get worse. Her plantation is not producing as it should, and her husband...is a piece of excrement.
Because a horrible truth comes to light:
Hunter has many mistresses, but there is one special young lady he's currently particularly keen on. And now the unthinkable has occurred: she's pregnant!
Hunter decides he’s had enough of Fancy and takes his young, “virginal” (prior to Hunter, anyway) mistress aboard his ship to travel to Europe. Even worse, he brings along his and Fancy’s son, Alex. As for Caroline, well, kiddo, it's been fun, but it's over.
There is more pain to come. Hunter leaves Fancy penniless, their bank accounts emptied.
Her plantation is run-down; if not for Holy Dulcibella, her servant who raised her from infancy, she would be all alone in the world. Well, there’s also her overseer, a man Fancy should have had a fling with, but she wasn’t thinking of men, just saving her property. After months of hard, back-breaking work and with the help of her overseer, Caroline does her best to keep her plantation up and running.
And just when it seems her grueling labor will bring a good harvest, a terrible storm wipes out her crop, ruining her.
Does Caroline give up? No. She's determined to make her way somehow.
Told of her grandfather’s secret treasure hidden off the coast of Africa, Caroline decides to travel all away across the world to find it. She gets a ship, captain, and crew who will sail with her and search for gold.
For the first time in her life, she has nothing and just like Janis Joplin sang (or was it Kris Kristofferson) "Freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose." She is free.
Holy Dulcibella is not a slave but a free servant. She reveals to Fancy that she was the lover of Fancy's grandfather and a princess of Madagascar who gave up her life to live with her man. This shocks Fancy to her core.
It sounds weird, but seeing the heroine uncomfortable with this truth was refreshing. Even though Holy Dulcibella is the only person who's had her back from day #1 and stuck with her through the worst, Caroline still sees Dulcibella as an "other," an "inferior" because of her race and station. It made Caroline seem like a real person of her time.
Eventually, Caroline does get over it, not seeing Dulcibella as a slave or servant but as family, calling her “grandmother.”
It takes time, and their relationship is one of true, selfless love. The deepest, truest relationship Caroline has in this book is not with her husband but with this great woman.
Eventually, Hunter hears what Caroline is doing: risking her life for a foolish idea of an impossible treasure. So he abandons his mistress and comes to save his wife. Caroline doesn't need saving; in fact, he’s the one that gets captured, and she must rescue him. In the end, she lets Hunter think he saves her, too, to please his ego. She understands her husband's nature now.
Hunter has never seen Caroline like this before, so confident. It excites him to see this new woman of adventure. The other woman he summarily dumped before he came to save Caroline. So… Caroline and Hunter reunite for some steamy sex.
And as for the treasure? Why, it was just an old legend, silly!
Hunter’s cast-off mistress gives birth and leaves Hunter's baby to be raised by him and Caroline.
Does Hunter deserve Caroline? No freaking way.
Be happy that the heroine is happy. She loves her husband, and he's on his best behavior when the book ends. He still will go out to sea once every so often while she raises her son and her husband's lovechild as her own and tends to their plantation, but he’ll be a good boy. He enjoys plowing Fancy’s fields now a lot more than he ever did before.
However, Fancy's no dummy. Once that trust is lost, it can never wholly be regained, no matter how much love exists. Fancy is determined her love will last a lifetime. Nevertheless, she'll keep some secrets to herself…namely, that the treasure wasn't a legend. She just hid it from Hunter. Maybe she’ll let him know about it. Maybe not. In the end, Caroline gets it all.
Why did I love this book? It is not really a romance, or more correctly; it's more than just romance. It's women's fiction, an action-adventure saga, historical fiction, and a character study. You may read it and hate it, and I wouldn't blame anyone for that. This is a romance novel, so one expects certain rules in romance. Here, the rules were broken.
I'm usually a stickler for them, but Deana James turned the tables on me and created a story I was drawn to, like a cat to a crinkly toy ball covered in catnip.
This was such an emotional, turbulent read with a heroine whose identity was forged in fire. Maybe her love story is not an all-time great. But her life story was.
5 stars
How do I begin to review this amazing, conflicting journey through a woman's incredible 19th-century life? I have to tell it all, so this review is pure spoilers.
By all rights Captive Angel is the kind of romance I should have tossed into a blazing fire and gleefully cheered, “Burn, book, burn! Bad, bad book!”
Perhaps it helped that I knew exactly what I was getting into before I started. After reading a few of Deana James’s books, I knew it couldn’t be that horrible. The cover even had a quote from Johanna Lindsey, stating: “Delightfully different, emotionally involving, and impossible to put down,” which is 100% true.
Captive Angel surpassed my expectations with probably one of the greatest romance heroines ever, paired with one of the most piggish, most oblivious POS heroes I’ve ever come across in an old-school historical other than Regan Van Der Rhys from Fern Michaels' Captive Series. Hunter Gillard's not a Sean Culhane or Duke Domenico because he's not super-obsessed over his woman (until the middle end); he's just a selfish prick. It’s all about him.
If you take a gander at my bookshelf for Captive Angel , it's filled with a ton of tags. On the one hand, we have a heroine whom I've placed in my "greatest hall of fame," while the hero is relegated to the "jerky pig hall of fame," reserved for the most porcine of leading men I've encountered in Romancelandia.
Caroline, or Fancy as she prefers to be called, is incredible in her character transformation. She starts down in the dumps: "Woe is me, I'm depressed and in mourning for my dead child. I’m fat, and my husband doesn’t love me anymore. Sure, he’ll bang me something fierce, but it’s not just me who’s getting his love, is it?"
Caroline and Hunter Gillard have been married for ten years, and their baby daughter had died a couple of years earlier. They do have a young son, but Caroline's fallen into a deep depression about her baby’s death, as it seems she cannot have any more children.
So naturally, she's let herself go a bit. She has gained a few (or more than a few pounds), although her lusty husband still doesn’t mind giving her a good porking. But he does hate her crying, her wallowing in self-pity, and, oh yeah, her refusal to worship and adore him and treat him like the king he thinks he is.
Hunter has other things on his mind. He's a seaman by nature and hates being tied to his wife’s plantation, England's Fancy, and the responsibilities it entails. He hates how mopey Fancy is and often leaves for long instances. She's no longer the same beautiful woman who caught Hunter's eye at a ball; she's dumpy and fat now, although, as I said, that doesn't stop Hunter from giving the old girl a bit of loving.
Life for Fancy isn’t great and it’s about to get worse. Her plantation is not producing as it should, and her husband...is a piece of excrement.
Because a horrible truth comes to light:
Hunter has many mistresses, but there is one special young lady he's currently particularly keen on. And now the unthinkable has occurred: she's pregnant!
Hunter decides he’s had enough of Fancy and takes his young, “virginal” (prior to Hunter, anyway) mistress aboard his ship to travel to Europe. Even worse, he brings along his and Fancy’s son, Alex. As for Caroline, well, kiddo, it's been fun, but it's over.
There is more pain to come. Hunter leaves Fancy penniless, their bank accounts emptied.
Her plantation is run-down; if not for Holy Dulcibella, her servant who raised her from infancy, she would be all alone in the world. Well, there’s also her overseer, a man Fancy should have had a fling with, but she wasn’t thinking of men, just saving her property. After months of hard, back-breaking work and with the help of her overseer, Caroline does her best to keep her plantation up and running.
And just when it seems her grueling labor will bring a good harvest, a terrible storm wipes out her crop, ruining her.
Does Caroline give up? No. She's determined to make her way somehow.
Told of her grandfather’s secret treasure hidden off the coast of Africa, Caroline decides to travel all away across the world to find it. She gets a ship, captain, and crew who will sail with her and search for gold.
For the first time in her life, she has nothing and just like Janis Joplin sang (or was it Kris Kristofferson) "Freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose." She is free.
Holy Dulcibella is not a slave but a free servant. She reveals to Fancy that she was the lover of Fancy's grandfather and a princess of Madagascar who gave up her life to live with her man. This shocks Fancy to her core.
It sounds weird, but seeing the heroine uncomfortable with this truth was refreshing. Even though Holy Dulcibella is the only person who's had her back from day #1 and stuck with her through the worst, Caroline still sees Dulcibella as an "other," an "inferior" because of her race and station. It made Caroline seem like a real person of her time.
Eventually, Caroline does get over it, not seeing Dulcibella as a slave or servant but as family, calling her “grandmother.”
It takes time, and their relationship is one of true, selfless love. The deepest, truest relationship Caroline has in this book is not with her husband but with this great woman.
Eventually, Hunter hears what Caroline is doing: risking her life for a foolish idea of an impossible treasure. So he abandons his mistress and comes to save his wife. Caroline doesn't need saving; in fact, he’s the one that gets captured, and she must rescue him. In the end, she lets Hunter think he saves her, too, to please his ego. She understands her husband's nature now.
Hunter has never seen Caroline like this before, so confident. It excites him to see this new woman of adventure. The other woman he summarily dumped before he came to save Caroline. So… Caroline and Hunter reunite for some steamy sex.
And as for the treasure? Why, it was just an old legend, silly!
Hunter’s cast-off mistress gives birth and leaves Hunter's baby to be raised by him and Caroline.
Does Hunter deserve Caroline? No freaking way.
Be happy that the heroine is happy. She loves her husband, and he's on his best behavior when the book ends. He still will go out to sea once every so often while she raises her son and her husband's lovechild as her own and tends to their plantation, but he’ll be a good boy. He enjoys plowing Fancy’s fields now a lot more than he ever did before.
However, Fancy's no dummy. Once that trust is lost, it can never wholly be regained, no matter how much love exists. Fancy is determined her love will last a lifetime. Nevertheless, she'll keep some secrets to herself…namely, that the treasure wasn't a legend. She just hid it from Hunter. Maybe she’ll let him know about it. Maybe not. In the end, Caroline gets it all.
Why did I love this book? It is not really a romance, or more correctly; it's more than just romance. It's women's fiction, an action-adventure saga, historical fiction, and a character study. You may read it and hate it, and I wouldn't blame anyone for that. This is a romance novel, so one expects certain rules in romance. Here, the rules were broken.
I'm usually a stickler for them, but Deana James turned the tables on me and created a story I was drawn to, like a cat to a crinkly toy ball covered in catnip.
This was such an emotional, turbulent read with a heroine whose identity was forged in fire. Maybe her love story is not an all-time great. But her life story was.
5 stars
May 1, 2021
This review is of “Captive Angel”, #5 in the “Texas” series by Deana James (Although this is book #5 in the series, “Captive Angel” was actually published before book #4, “Angel’s Caress”. Go figure).
Part I: England’s Fancy, 1815.
The book begins on the tobacco plantation “England’s Fancy” in South Carolina. There, Caroline Gillard and her husband, Hunter, the lead characters in the book, are having sex. Caroline thinks she has the perfect marriage. (Caroline and Hunter have been married for 10 years). The next morning will put paid to that fantasy.
Hunter tells Caroline that he’s leaving her, and taking their son, Alex, 10, with him on a sailing trip (Hunter is a ship’s captain whose first love is the sea). Caroline tries to prevent this from happening, going through the five stages of grief, as well as begging, pleading and vowing to change. None of this moves Hunter at all. Caroline then tries to obtain assistance from the shipping manager of the company that Hunter is getting his ship from (that company is owned by Caroline’s stepfather, Josiah Sheppington), and an attorney. These efforts also fail, and Hunter and Alex sail away. To make matters worse, Hunter’s mistress, Jessica Rutledge, is also on the ship. (Alex calls her “Aunt Jessica”).
Unable to stop Hunter and Alex leaving, Caroline goes back to England’s Fancy. Tragedy soon occurs when a hurricane wipes out the tobacco crop and many of the slaves on the plantation are killed. Once again, Caroline asks for help. Once again, she is rejected, this time by a local banker, who also informs her that Hunter took almost all their money to invest in his shipping venture.
Part II: Boston, 1815.
Angry, desperate and hurt, Caroline-now using her middle and maiden names, Fancy England-has gone to Boston to try to get the money Hunter took from their bank account from her ice queen mother, Blanche Stoddart England Shepperton, and her stepfather, Josiah Shepperton, the penurious owner of the Shepperton Shipping Lines. For the third time, Fancy is rejected in her request for assistance. The situation doesn't improve when Hunter shows up in Boston, with plans that are diametrically opposite to those Fancy has. After a final night having sex, Fancy-with the assistance of her mammy Holy Dulcibella-hijacks one of Shepperton Shipping’s ships-say that three times-and with the help of a crew sails to Madagascar to find a treasure her grandfather, Edward Fitzjohn, Lord England, a pirate, buried there.
Part III: Madagascar, 1816.
As their ship makes its way to Madagascar, Fancy learns a secret about Holy Dulcibella that will change the dynamics of their relationship. Meanwhile, Hunter, angered over Fancy’s leaving him, decides to pursue her to Africa. Back in Boston, Jessica tells Blanche that she’s pregnant with Hunter’s baby.
Back in Madagascar, Fancy gets closer to the treasure. She’s not the only one pursuing it, however, Fernando del Cabo, a Portuguese pirate, hears about the treasure and goes after it as well. But first, he captures Hunter and holds him hostage. Fernando gives Fancy an ultimatum: give up her treasure to save Hunter or he will be killed. Fancy agrees to surrender the treasure and gets Hunter back. Later, a violent battle erupts when Hunter goes to rescue his crew and ship; del Cabo is taken captive.
In the end, Caroline/Fancy and Hunter reconcile, she accepts Hunter’s baby with Jessica-a son-as hers (Jessica reunites with her husband in England), and they are happy. What Hunter doesn’t know is Caroline/Fancy is keeping a big secret from him…
Upside: First off, I want to give Ms. James credit for writing “Captive Angel”. It is a very different book than virtually everything Zebra/Kensington published during the time it came out (December, 1988). Today, if “Captive Angel” were published, it would be classified as women’s fiction, rather than the historical romance it is classified as here.
The biggest strength, by far, in the book is Caroline/Fancy, who caterpillars into a butterfly by the end of the book. She starts out as Hunter Gillard’s wife; she ends it as Caroline Fancy England Gillard, her own person with her own identity and strength that she didn’t know she had early on. Caroline/Fancy has to go through many challenges and she comes out on top, despite an almost total lack of support from those who purport to love her, namely Hunter, Blanche and Josiah.
I also have to praise Ms. James' writing style here, as she brings her characters to vivid life. I’ve read many of Ms. James’ books and this is, by far, her best-written book. It is very rare in the romance field to find a book where the primary couple are already married and dealing with marital difficulties, as is the case here with Caroline and Hunter.
Downside: Without question, the biggest downside to “Captive Angel” is Hunter, who is, to put it simply, a true piece of human garbage. He is an arrogant, self-centered, uncaring, unfeeling, cruel, lying bastard. Frankly, I wish Caroline/Fancy had let del Cabo kill him, rather than rescuing him. Ms. James tries to rehabilitate Hunter toward the end of the book; whether or not one buys this depends on one’s point of view. (I didn’t buy it. 10% of good doesn’t wipe away 90% of bad for me).
Hunter, Josiah and several others are the poster children of white male privilege (yes, I’m going there). They do what they do because they know that the macro and micro societies they live in won’t hold them accountable for their actions or disapprove of them in any way; in fact, the society approves of their behavior. When someone does object-Caroline/Fancy and to a much smaller extent, Jessica-they are belittled, condescended to, demeaned, dismissed and “othered”. The only time Hunter realizes he’s not the god he thinks he is, occurs when Josiah mildly rebukes him; Hunter doesn’t know how to handle this, which is the reaction of most people when they are held responsible for their actions for the first time.
To me, I wonder why Caroline and Hunter got married in the first place. The only thing they have in common is that they’re horny for each other. Their views are disparte: she loves her plantation; he wants to be a ship’s captain. Other than sexually, it’s hard for me to see their compatibility.
Sex: The sex scenes are pretty good for a mainstream romance novel, with a little more variation than usual, including some light BDSM.
Violence: Most of the violence takes place in the latter part of the book, in Madagascar. Assault, battery, stabbing and killing all take place during this part of the book. The violence is mildly graphic.
Bottom Line: It is not possible for me to classify “Captive Angel” as a good or bad book; those labels are insufficient. It may not even be as good as my review implies; however, it is a compelling, interesting and thought-provoking book, which allows me to get beyond any issues that came up during reading it.
Part I: England’s Fancy, 1815.
The book begins on the tobacco plantation “England’s Fancy” in South Carolina. There, Caroline Gillard and her husband, Hunter, the lead characters in the book, are having sex. Caroline thinks she has the perfect marriage. (Caroline and Hunter have been married for 10 years). The next morning will put paid to that fantasy.
Hunter tells Caroline that he’s leaving her, and taking their son, Alex, 10, with him on a sailing trip (Hunter is a ship’s captain whose first love is the sea). Caroline tries to prevent this from happening, going through the five stages of grief, as well as begging, pleading and vowing to change. None of this moves Hunter at all. Caroline then tries to obtain assistance from the shipping manager of the company that Hunter is getting his ship from (that company is owned by Caroline’s stepfather, Josiah Sheppington), and an attorney. These efforts also fail, and Hunter and Alex sail away. To make matters worse, Hunter’s mistress, Jessica Rutledge, is also on the ship. (Alex calls her “Aunt Jessica”).
Unable to stop Hunter and Alex leaving, Caroline goes back to England’s Fancy. Tragedy soon occurs when a hurricane wipes out the tobacco crop and many of the slaves on the plantation are killed. Once again, Caroline asks for help. Once again, she is rejected, this time by a local banker, who also informs her that Hunter took almost all their money to invest in his shipping venture.
Part II: Boston, 1815.
Angry, desperate and hurt, Caroline-now using her middle and maiden names, Fancy England-has gone to Boston to try to get the money Hunter took from their bank account from her ice queen mother, Blanche Stoddart England Shepperton, and her stepfather, Josiah Shepperton, the penurious owner of the Shepperton Shipping Lines. For the third time, Fancy is rejected in her request for assistance. The situation doesn't improve when Hunter shows up in Boston, with plans that are diametrically opposite to those Fancy has. After a final night having sex, Fancy-with the assistance of her mammy Holy Dulcibella-hijacks one of Shepperton Shipping’s ships-say that three times-and with the help of a crew sails to Madagascar to find a treasure her grandfather, Edward Fitzjohn, Lord England, a pirate, buried there.
Part III: Madagascar, 1816.
As their ship makes its way to Madagascar, Fancy learns a secret about Holy Dulcibella that will change the dynamics of their relationship. Meanwhile, Hunter, angered over Fancy’s leaving him, decides to pursue her to Africa. Back in Boston, Jessica tells Blanche that she’s pregnant with Hunter’s baby.
Back in Madagascar, Fancy gets closer to the treasure. She’s not the only one pursuing it, however, Fernando del Cabo, a Portuguese pirate, hears about the treasure and goes after it as well. But first, he captures Hunter and holds him hostage. Fernando gives Fancy an ultimatum: give up her treasure to save Hunter or he will be killed. Fancy agrees to surrender the treasure and gets Hunter back. Later, a violent battle erupts when Hunter goes to rescue his crew and ship; del Cabo is taken captive.
In the end, Caroline/Fancy and Hunter reconcile, she accepts Hunter’s baby with Jessica-a son-as hers (Jessica reunites with her husband in England), and they are happy. What Hunter doesn’t know is Caroline/Fancy is keeping a big secret from him…
Upside: First off, I want to give Ms. James credit for writing “Captive Angel”. It is a very different book than virtually everything Zebra/Kensington published during the time it came out (December, 1988). Today, if “Captive Angel” were published, it would be classified as women’s fiction, rather than the historical romance it is classified as here.
The biggest strength, by far, in the book is Caroline/Fancy, who caterpillars into a butterfly by the end of the book. She starts out as Hunter Gillard’s wife; she ends it as Caroline Fancy England Gillard, her own person with her own identity and strength that she didn’t know she had early on. Caroline/Fancy has to go through many challenges and she comes out on top, despite an almost total lack of support from those who purport to love her, namely Hunter, Blanche and Josiah.
I also have to praise Ms. James' writing style here, as she brings her characters to vivid life. I’ve read many of Ms. James’ books and this is, by far, her best-written book. It is very rare in the romance field to find a book where the primary couple are already married and dealing with marital difficulties, as is the case here with Caroline and Hunter.
Downside: Without question, the biggest downside to “Captive Angel” is Hunter, who is, to put it simply, a true piece of human garbage. He is an arrogant, self-centered, uncaring, unfeeling, cruel, lying bastard. Frankly, I wish Caroline/Fancy had let del Cabo kill him, rather than rescuing him. Ms. James tries to rehabilitate Hunter toward the end of the book; whether or not one buys this depends on one’s point of view. (I didn’t buy it. 10% of good doesn’t wipe away 90% of bad for me).
Hunter, Josiah and several others are the poster children of white male privilege (yes, I’m going there). They do what they do because they know that the macro and micro societies they live in won’t hold them accountable for their actions or disapprove of them in any way; in fact, the society approves of their behavior. When someone does object-Caroline/Fancy and to a much smaller extent, Jessica-they are belittled, condescended to, demeaned, dismissed and “othered”. The only time Hunter realizes he’s not the god he thinks he is, occurs when Josiah mildly rebukes him; Hunter doesn’t know how to handle this, which is the reaction of most people when they are held responsible for their actions for the first time.
To me, I wonder why Caroline and Hunter got married in the first place. The only thing they have in common is that they’re horny for each other. Their views are disparte: she loves her plantation; he wants to be a ship’s captain. Other than sexually, it’s hard for me to see their compatibility.
Sex: The sex scenes are pretty good for a mainstream romance novel, with a little more variation than usual, including some light BDSM.
Violence: Most of the violence takes place in the latter part of the book, in Madagascar. Assault, battery, stabbing and killing all take place during this part of the book. The violence is mildly graphic.
Bottom Line: It is not possible for me to classify “Captive Angel” as a good or bad book; those labels are insufficient. It may not even be as good as my review implies; however, it is a compelling, interesting and thought-provoking book, which allows me to get beyond any issues that came up during reading it.
March 21, 2015
He was a real son of the bit.h!!!even for me who love cruel and cold and jerk heroes.He didn't deserve the heroine.
August 25, 2023
2 or 2,5⭐
I don't know how to rate this book, it's not really a classic historical romance .
It's more about the heroine's journey than a love story, the two stars are based solely on that and the strength of her character.
As for the hero :
A brief summary of his actions over the course of the book:
◾ The heroine has been depressed for two years following the death of their second child, so the hero decides to abandon her, as she is not cheerful enough and has become too fat.
◾ He decides to spend a year at sea with their son, and the heroine, who is still madly in love with her husband, joins him to try to persuade him to take her back. That's when she discovers that he has a mistress, one whom he buys beautiful dresses for, while she hasn't changed her wardrobe in 10 years.
◾Despite all this, the heroine begs the hero to take her back.
The hero agrees to spend the night with her (because why not?!) but leaves her again the next day.
◾The heroine tries everything she can to stop him taking her son away, but discovers that the hero has conspired with her family to make her look crazy, and that she has no power in the matter.
◾ The heroine ends up having to manage their tobacco plantation herself, but unfortunately for her everything is destroyed by a hurricane.
It is at this point that the hero decides to return because he is worried about her. 🤡
◾ The heroine takes refuge at her mother's house to find help in maintaining her plantation and feeding her employees. The hero then decides to return to his wife because after all she is no longer depressed and has lost weight…If she agrees to be conciliatory, to let him have a mistress and go to sea when he needs to, she's not such a bad match 🥰.
◾The heroine steals a boat and sets off in search of treasure, and the hero decides to pursue her to bring it back. He is kidnapped and it is she who must save him.
After that, there are some great declarations of love, as the hero has become obsessed with his wife following her change.
➡ After their return, the MMCS realise that the hero's mistress has given birth to his child while he was away, so he and the heroine decide to adopt it as if nothing had happened.
The end. 🤡
I love angsty romance and unredeemable heroes but I'm really not sure I can buy their HEA.
Safety/ Spoilers
- No sharing
- Cheating Hero - H has a mistress
- No info on the sexual past of the MMCS. They've been married for ten years.
- No OM drama.
- OW drama : The hero has a mistress, who ends up pregnant with his child.
TW
- Attempt of SA/rape on the heroine by OM
- Scene of rape (one child who is a slave is raped by a pirate)
- Mention of depression after the loss of a child.
I don't know how to rate this book, it's not really a classic historical romance .
It's more about the heroine's journey than a love story, the two stars are based solely on that and the strength of her character.
As for the hero :
A brief summary of his actions over the course of the book:
◾ The heroine has been depressed for two years following the death of their second child, so the hero decides to abandon her, as she is not cheerful enough and has become too fat.
◾ He decides to spend a year at sea with their son, and the heroine, who is still madly in love with her husband, joins him to try to persuade him to take her back. That's when she discovers that he has a mistress, one whom he buys beautiful dresses for, while she hasn't changed her wardrobe in 10 years.
◾Despite all this, the heroine begs the hero to take her back.
The hero agrees to spend the night with her (because why not?!) but leaves her again the next day.
◾The heroine tries everything she can to stop him taking her son away, but discovers that the hero has conspired with her family to make her look crazy, and that she has no power in the matter.
◾ The heroine ends up having to manage their tobacco plantation herself, but unfortunately for her everything is destroyed by a hurricane.
It is at this point that the hero decides to return because he is worried about her. 🤡
◾ The heroine takes refuge at her mother's house to find help in maintaining her plantation and feeding her employees. The hero then decides to return to his wife because after all she is no longer depressed and has lost weight…If she agrees to be conciliatory, to let him have a mistress and go to sea when he needs to, she's not such a bad match 🥰.
◾The heroine steals a boat and sets off in search of treasure, and the hero decides to pursue her to bring it back. He is kidnapped and it is she who must save him.
After that, there are some great declarations of love, as the hero has become obsessed with his wife following her change.
➡ After their return, the MMCS realise that the hero's mistress has given birth to his child while he was away, so he and the heroine decide to adopt it as if nothing had happened.
The end. 🤡
I love angsty romance and unredeemable heroes but I'm really not sure I can buy their HEA.
Safety/ Spoilers
- No sharing
- Cheating Hero - H has a mistress
- No info on the sexual past of the MMCS. They've been married for ten years.
- No OM drama.
- OW drama : The hero has a mistress, who ends up pregnant with his child.
TW
- Attempt of SA/rape on the heroine by OM
- Scene of rape (one child who is a slave is raped by a pirate)
- Mention of depression after the loss of a child.
May 31, 2011
I enjoyed the book. I found it very different from any romance I've read. It started off with sex and ended with sex for one. Secondly, the main characters were already married, for ten years, when the book started and he leaves her. That's was the biggest difference. Also, it was the first book I've read that I didn't like the main male character. It also made me made that he basically told his wife she had gotten too fat, and as readers of these books we know good and well she wasn't fat at all (at least in todays standards). I guess being a full-figured/heavy-set person myself that accusation rankled my nerves the worse. But, the one thing about this book is the relationship was more realistic. It's rare to read a book where the main characters fight/seperate and have "real" marital problems like in this book. Overall great book, very captivating, held my attention from page 1. I didn't want to put it down.
May 29, 2016
I would give this book 2.5 because the theme and lack of historically accurate. For some odd reason, when I read this book it remind me of the movie "gone with the wind". Probably the time period it is set too.
It was interesting book, very different from other historical romance I have read. But a lot of details are not actually accurate as to call historical. As we know until 1920, 19th amendment to guarantee women's right, women do not own property. So when Caroline married her husband her beloved plantation is no longer hers as the authors have led us to believe. Her husband has right to do whatever he wishes as he tried in this book as well as a black woman who was treated not like slave no matter the situation, especially in south.
I always have problem with a book when one partner betray the other, especially when husband cheats, it is usually glossed over and it didn't signify much despite that is main storyline the author took us.
He has bit, just little bit, of justification of his leaving her since he loved sea and he is settled in land against his wishes, he only did that because he loved her. When she lost her baby and she became depressed and lost interest in living or his comport, he turned to other woman. I don't believe he meant to leave her permanently, it was way of shock treatment. Give breathing room to each other and for him to enjoy other woman's company. Taking her son was insurance, using it to force her to see his way.
In this particular situation, the end turned out to be alright for both side cause they have found each other again and gained a child that could give her relief from not being able to have another child. I don't believe in such situation because that baby would be always living proof of the husband's sin and it would always remind what happened.
Overall I recommend this book for brave hearts, not for normal girl meets a boy, fall in love, and leave happily ever types
It was interesting book, very different from other historical romance I have read. But a lot of details are not actually accurate as to call historical. As we know until 1920, 19th amendment to guarantee women's right, women do not own property. So when Caroline married her husband her beloved plantation is no longer hers as the authors have led us to believe. Her husband has right to do whatever he wishes as he tried in this book as well as a black woman who was treated not like slave no matter the situation, especially in south.
I always have problem with a book when one partner betray the other, especially when husband cheats, it is usually glossed over and it didn't signify much despite that is main storyline the author took us.
He has bit, just little bit, of justification of his leaving her since he loved sea and he is settled in land against his wishes, he only did that because he loved her. When she lost her baby and she became depressed and lost interest in living or his comport, he turned to other woman. I don't believe he meant to leave her permanently, it was way of shock treatment. Give breathing room to each other and for him to enjoy other woman's company. Taking her son was insurance, using it to force her to see his way.
In this particular situation, the end turned out to be alright for both side cause they have found each other again and gained a child that could give her relief from not being able to have another child. I don't believe in such situation because that baby would be always living proof of the husband's sin and it would always remind what happened.
Overall I recommend this book for brave hearts, not for normal girl meets a boy, fall in love, and leave happily ever types
August 27, 2013
I LOVE THIS BOOK! Yes, it's cheesy in the extreme, and it's got a few flaws....
But it's got EVERYTHING! It's got a great heroine who at first just makes you cringe, but then it's so satisfying when she finally starts to come around and grow into herself. The husband you just love to hate (and I still kind of wish she'd just kicked him to the curb permanently, but for the time period, she was pretty tough)
It's got plantations and ships and pirates and treasure and storms and treachery and far off lands......... *sigh*
There was a time in my life when I devoured romance novels of this sort all summer long. This one remains as the lone standout - the pinnacle of what makes these books appealing - while at the same time offering me something more.
This is one I will keep and reread every so often just because it's so cool.
But it's got EVERYTHING! It's got a great heroine who at first just makes you cringe, but then it's so satisfying when she finally starts to come around and grow into herself. The husband you just love to hate (and I still kind of wish she'd just kicked him to the curb permanently, but for the time period, she was pretty tough)
It's got plantations and ships and pirates and treasure and storms and treachery and far off lands......... *sigh*
There was a time in my life when I devoured romance novels of this sort all summer long. This one remains as the lone standout - the pinnacle of what makes these books appealing - while at the same time offering me something more.
This is one I will keep and reread every so often just because it's so cool.
September 19, 2025
For full transparency, I skimmed this whole book. I got sucked into the first chapter...first 2 chapters, either way, but then I just started skimming. I'm glad I skimmed but I probably missed a lot but I don't really care to read the entire book.
This was a little difficult to rate. The romance sucked, the heroine was great (except for a few instances), the hero was a douche canoe on so many levels, the side characters of Fancy's chosen family were great, the adventure she goes on was great, Fancy's son was annoying.
First off, the romance....ugh, negative stars. It does end on a HEA technically, the hero and heroine are together but I didn't want her with him. At all. She should have dumped his ass and gotten with Otis. Hunter and Fancy have been married for 10 years, they have a son, they had a baby girl before the story began but she died. Apparently Fancy didn't bounce back from giving birth and the death of her child soon enough for him and he leaves her because she's gotten heavier and doesn't do anything, taking their kid, and sailing around with his mistress. All while telling his wife that it's nothing, nothing is happening, she has it "all wrong", just ugh.
Now, if this had happened in that first chunk but then Hunter realized he messed up big time and put his effort into reuniting with his wife, I could have dealt with that and believed their romance, or at least I would have had a better chance of that. Hunter is with his mistress for the entire book. The only reason he was not still with her when he and Fancy returned was because she left before he got back. I have no doubt he would have continued their arrangement once he got back at some point.
He would lie to both Fancy and Jessica (the mistress), first he would say to his wife oh no she's means nothing...blah blah blah. Then to Jessica he would say yes I'll still take care of you, we'll still do what I promised, blah blah blah. He was just scum. He didn't care how much Fancy loved her home and land. After the hurricane that destroyed a lot of the plantation and Hunter finds Fancy at her parents house, and is seemingly trying to win her back, sort of, he still brings his mistress with him and keeps her at a hotel. To which he does see her at least once and take her dinner and be with her. I wish Fancy would have left him to fate when he was being held hostage. Take your treasure girl and leave his ass.
Not only that, he ends up getting Jessica pregnant, by the way his wife can't have any more kids, so now she has to raise her husband's mistress's kid. She instantly bonds with the child but it just feels cruel.
As for Fancy, I did like her for the most part. There were times when she got on my nerves but she also had a back bone and she sassed Hunter quite a lot. Even when he didn't realize she was sassing him.
Overall, I would not recommend this is you're looking for a great romance, if you don't care about the romance and just want to see Fancy go on an adventure and her dealing with the constraints of the time period maybe pick it up.
This was a little difficult to rate. The romance sucked, the heroine was great (except for a few instances), the hero was a douche canoe on so many levels, the side characters of Fancy's chosen family were great, the adventure she goes on was great, Fancy's son was annoying.
First off, the romance....ugh, negative stars. It does end on a HEA technically, the hero and heroine are together but I didn't want her with him. At all. She should have dumped his ass and gotten with Otis. Hunter and Fancy have been married for 10 years, they have a son, they had a baby girl before the story began but she died. Apparently Fancy didn't bounce back from giving birth and the death of her child soon enough for him and he leaves her because she's gotten heavier and doesn't do anything, taking their kid, and sailing around with his mistress. All while telling his wife that it's nothing, nothing is happening, she has it "all wrong", just ugh.
Now, if this had happened in that first chunk but then Hunter realized he messed up big time and put his effort into reuniting with his wife, I could have dealt with that and believed their romance, or at least I would have had a better chance of that. Hunter is with his mistress for the entire book. The only reason he was not still with her when he and Fancy returned was because she left before he got back. I have no doubt he would have continued their arrangement once he got back at some point.
He would lie to both Fancy and Jessica (the mistress), first he would say to his wife oh no she's means nothing...blah blah blah. Then to Jessica he would say yes I'll still take care of you, we'll still do what I promised, blah blah blah. He was just scum. He didn't care how much Fancy loved her home and land. After the hurricane that destroyed a lot of the plantation and Hunter finds Fancy at her parents house, and is seemingly trying to win her back, sort of, he still brings his mistress with him and keeps her at a hotel. To which he does see her at least once and take her dinner and be with her. I wish Fancy would have left him to fate when he was being held hostage. Take your treasure girl and leave his ass.
Not only that, he ends up getting Jessica pregnant, by the way his wife can't have any more kids, so now she has to raise her husband's mistress's kid. She instantly bonds with the child but it just feels cruel.
As for Fancy, I did like her for the most part. There were times when she got on my nerves but she also had a back bone and she sassed Hunter quite a lot. Even when he didn't realize she was sassing him.
Overall, I would not recommend this is you're looking for a great romance, if you don't care about the romance and just want to see Fancy go on an adventure and her dealing with the constraints of the time period maybe pick it up.
July 10, 2025
Purchased a copy at the Salvation Army on my trip in Riverside, CA in February this year. The read was a long, slow one. The story plot was slow in the first quarter pages, and the husband leaving his wife because she had gotten fat?!! Though, some men have done it, but what a petty man! And then, took his mistress on a sail and got her pregnant, and left the child with Hunter. I just find that part absurd but I realized it happens. If I were Hunter's wife, I would have left him a long time ago. This part was upsetting to me. The sailing to Madagascar and a surprise with Dulcibella was a little fascinating. Overall, despite getting bored in between reads, it's quite a good story. Still didn't like and am definitely not fond of Hunter.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 16, 2022
Call me a prude, but when a book starts with a couple having sex, it just doesn't seem right to me. In fact, nothing was right about this book. There seemed to be no beginning to it, like you flipped to the middle, which leaves you without the right perspective. And I didn't care for the H, Hunter or the h, Angel/Caroline/Fancy, or whatever the heck her name was. The book just kept getting more ridiculous, so I stopped reading halfway.
I suggest you don't even bother going that far, best decision you'll make.
I suggest you don't even bother going that far, best decision you'll make.
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June 12, 2023Does anyone know where to find this book, can't find it Anywhere.
no-fcking-ways
October 8, 2024The most ridiculous plot for a romance book.
November 12, 2024
I would have given it 4 stars, but the ending ruined it for me.
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