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الفدية
Beyond Ransom by Sophie Weston released on Mar 25, 1987 is available now for purchase.
- GenresHarlequin Presents
Unknown Binding
First published January 1, 1987
54 people want to read
About the author
Sophie Weston
182 books43 followersJenny Haddon was born in London, England, where she always returns after the travels that she loves. When she was small, her mother couldn't bear reading aloud, so her mother taught her to read at an appallingly precocious age. She wrote her first book with her own illustrations at the age of four but was in her 20s before she produced her first romance as Sophie Weston.
She studied English Language and Literature at university. Choosing a career was a major problem. It was not so much that she didn't know what she wanted to do, as that she wanted to do everything. So she filed and photocopied and experimented. She worked as consultant at the Bank of England and all the time she drew on her experiences to create her Mills & Boon books. She edited press releases for a Latin American embassy in London (The Latin Afffair); lectured in the Arabian Gulf (The Sheikh's Bride); waitressed in Paris (Midnight Wedding); and made herself hated by getting under people's feet asking stupid questions under the grand title of consultant all over the world (The Millionaire's Daughter). She also is an active member of the UK's Romantic Novelists' Association's Committee, and was its twenty-three Chairman (2005-2007).
Jenny has one house, three cats, and about a million books. She writes compulsively, Scottish dances poorly, grows more plants than she has room for, and makes a mean meringue.
She studied English Language and Literature at university. Choosing a career was a major problem. It was not so much that she didn't know what she wanted to do, as that she wanted to do everything. So she filed and photocopied and experimented. She worked as consultant at the Bank of England and all the time she drew on her experiences to create her Mills & Boon books. She edited press releases for a Latin American embassy in London (The Latin Afffair); lectured in the Arabian Gulf (The Sheikh's Bride); waitressed in Paris (Midnight Wedding); and made herself hated by getting under people's feet asking stupid questions under the grand title of consultant all over the world (The Millionaire's Daughter). She also is an active member of the UK's Romantic Novelists' Association's Committee, and was its twenty-three Chairman (2005-2007).
Jenny has one house, three cats, and about a million books. She writes compulsively, Scottish dances poorly, grows more plants than she has room for, and makes a mean meringue.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
June 16, 2016
Re Beyond Ransom - SW takes us to an archetypal anonymous Central American country with this one and brings us an executive lady h who is a full partner in a high tech agronomy company paired with an international lawyer turned Che Guevara but peaceful revolutionary H.
The story starts with the h trapped into a raucous nightclub excursion with her male assistant and two of the country's government ministers. She isn't having a very good time, but apparently selling canal projects for poverty level farmers requires extensive evening entertainment for the party hearty government cabinet at her company's expense. Fortunately the sheer rarity of having a lady executive as the lead on negotiations in a Central American country puts a damper on more salubrious requests from government members.
The h is thinking about leaving after the next duty dance, setting her assistant with the task of further evening excursioning with the party animals, when she is arrested by the sight of a very handsome and distinguished male staring at her table from across the room. The h gets a funny feeling, and after a floor show from a famous dancer and a dance with the handsome but somehow threatening man who is very sharp on the verbal comeback, she makes her way back to her hotel.
Only to be kidnapped by the driver of the official car she was assigned by the President of the country, (before he realized her company really was about business and not contributing to his Swiss bank account slush fund.) The h is chloroformed and when she awakens tied up in a small dingy room, no one is more surprised than her when her kidnapping appears to be on the orders of the disturbing man she met the night before.
She feels rather ill and the H appears rather mad - he seems to think that his team of kidnappers got the wrong person. Until she explains that she is the leader of the company and the male on her side of the negotiations is her assistant. The H seems to require a bit of adjustment in his admittedly sexist thinking, but the h handles her kidnapping well and manages not have hysterics and keeps her calmness.
She also advises him that as a partner in the company, she herself set the policy that the company doesn't pay ransoms for its executives. She further explains that prior to this trip, all her projects have been in Africa - this was to be her introduction to South and Central America and it doesn't appear to be a big success.
The H decides there is nothing for it, she is the executive they need to try and force the corrupt president to resign, she may as well make herself comfortable. So she is taken to a remote village in the mountains and the villagers, who are all very familiar with the H and his wealthy family and really respect him a lot, seem to think that the H brought her there to be his mistress.
The h realizes that with that impression, they aren't really going to help her escape, so after making some acquaintances of the local ladies and a bout of altitude sickness, she takes herself off for a walk and tries to hike out over the mountains.
She doesn't make it before the H hunts her down. They have been having some verbal exchanges all through this period and it doesn't really get much better. The H comes across as all macho and bossy, but the h is pretty rational and cool in her answers and it seems to hit him pretty hard when she accuses him of kidnapping and terrorism. The H and h are forced to live in the same small house, but the H is gone most of the time and the h decides to use her agronomy skills to see about the villages poor crop production.
The H finally deigns to explain that the mistress impersonation is necessary because there are several different political factions and he is trying to broker a multi-party government in a country that has been in a civil war for 20 years with multiple different government takeovers and many of the players are not nice people at all. If the other rebel groups see her as his mistress, they won't try to take her for their own attempts at forcing concessions.
The h sees the wisdom in this after meeting some of the other, more extreme rebel members of other groups, and she willingly goes along with the facade. Plus she actually likes a lot of the local villagers and really does want to help them with their farming problems.
The h is also realizing that she is wildly attracted to the H, she is the usual SW reserved h. She had a very sterile childhood after her parents died and she was forced to live with a bitter uncle who did not like her. She did manage to work her way through an agronomy degree at a Scottish university, unfortunately she became her adviser's lover when he seduced her and she was thinking marriage, until his fiancee walked in on them one afternoon when the h and he were in bed together.
The h had no idear that he was even engaged. Nonetheless, she woke up pretty quickly to the callousness of the now ex-lover, but she carried a lot hurt and pain. When he tried to continue the relationship and expected her to show her appreciation for him getting her some job offers, she blew him off and went the U.S.
She has done very well in the ten years she has been working there, and she has friends, a Manhattan apartment and travels all over the world with her agronomy projects. She has not had any other lovers since college and so the attraction to the H (who is holding her hostage no less,) really upsets her equilibrium.
Eventually all the pretending becomes reality and in a semi forced or at least suspiciously coerced seduction, she and the H become lovers. The h realizes she is falling in love, but the way the H acts makes her think that she is just a convenient outlet for sexual frustration. (The H really is in love with her and everyone but the h knows it, but you have to do a bit of reading between the lines in order to see it, cause there is no H POV in this one). The H and h manage to avoid each other during the day and only come together at night - which makes for a rather turbulently non communicative relationship.
The H seems rather shocked when he realizes just how inexperienced the h actually is, but he hides it well behind a veil of contempt and disapproval about the h and her career and her life choices. The h is getting more and more depressed as the power structure change drags on. She wants to go home and put this whole futile situation behind her, as it appears the H will never love her and is marrying some woman his rather messed up family picked out - she is also feeling pretty ill most of the time.
Then one of the really criminal rebel leaders tries to set the village up as a target for an Air Force bombing by leaving a highly marked truck really close to the village, he also attempts to rape her. As the H is beating him up, the h hears the Air Force planes approaching and jumps into the truck to get the target away from the village. The truck winds up going over the side of the very steep mountain, but the h is thrown clear at the last minute and is knocked unconscious.
When she awakens, she is in a clinic in the US and is told she had a miscarriage. The h is very sad about losing a baby she did even realize she was carrying, and even sadder when she never hears from the H. The country now has a new president, but his name is unfamiliar to her and so she throws herself back into her work in an attempt to compensate for her losses.
Until she gets invited to the big canal project contract signing at a local hotel by the H's country's new government. Apparently they want some good publicity by appearing to build bridges with the executive whom their rebels kidnapped before they bought her canal project.
The h goes, after getting a copy of the guest list to make sure the H's name isn't on it, and is somewhat surprised by the hostility that greets her by some of the other rebels who are now government ministers.
They seem to think she was trying to escape while the H was fighting off the criminal rebel, until the h explains that she was trying to move the targeted truck away from the village when the Air Force was getting set to bomb it.
Then she gets introduced to the new President and it turns out to be the H. He is using his mother's last name for the term of his presidency, as that name has more public recognition in politics in his country and his grandfather was also president using that name. The H seems to be pretty hostile to the h as well, but strangely offers her a ride to Washington DC in his private plane when the h has to leave for a meeting.
The h boards the plane and it turns out that she and the H are the only passengers. The H accuses her of callous behavior and having an abortion and not even having the courtesy to tell him she was preggers while she was in the village and they were lovers.
The h explains she did not even know she was pregnant, she thought she just had altitude sickness and maybe some Montezuma's revenge. The H then begs her to give him another chance, if she can forgive him for kidnapping her and holding her hostage, he avows eternal love and claims he has loved her at first sight.
The h cautiously asks for an explanation for all his harsh behavior and why, if he loves her, was he so angry with her all the time and the H is astounded. In his mind he loved her, she knew it and was messing with him. Plus he had kidnapped her and he realized that probably wasn't exactly the best way to win a wife.
The h doesn't make him worry too long tho, she confesses she loves him back and that she was very, very sad when she found out she had lost his child. The H decides she can postpone her career while he gets her pregnant again and he finishes his presidency term and they jump on for the lurve club ride for the HEA.
Overall this is a good story, however given the state of the world today with all the intervening years between the writing of this book and the current global political situations, it is a big leap of faith to buy into this story.
I confess I was really saddened by the realization that political hostages and kidnappings just don't seem like romantic escapades in this era, and I was also saddened by how much innocence I have lost when I compare the naivety of this book with the very harsh reality most of us experience when we turn on the news everyday.
I was much more outraged by the H's assumptions and actions on this reread than I was 30 years ago. I just can't see this type of situation as a romance subject. I also did not like the angry reactions from the H and the other rebel/government minister towards the h at the end. In fact, it really ticked me off a lot. She was the one that was caused the most harm and why would any rational person assume the h wouldn't try to escape. I still can't see why did they think they had any right to judge ANYTHING after what they did in kidnapping her to begin with?
The H's actions were entirely too close to rape and pillaging and to remove someone from her life and force her into a completely subservient and demeaning situation for his own political gain was pretty much beyond the bounds of good taste. Don't get me wrong, this book is fairly well done and a decent romance within the boundaries of the old skool HP'verse. Most probably tho, this book is only going to appeal to veterans of HPlandia and nostalgics.
In reality, if I had picked this book up for the first time today, I would never have been able to buy into the story or the HEA. I would be screaming for a skillet and a firing squad instead.
In today's world, the whole situation would end very differently, most likely not in a good way, and for certain wouldn't be in the HP lineup, you would probably only find it in the dark non-con sections of the Romance universe--if it got written at all.
The story starts with the h trapped into a raucous nightclub excursion with her male assistant and two of the country's government ministers. She isn't having a very good time, but apparently selling canal projects for poverty level farmers requires extensive evening entertainment for the party hearty government cabinet at her company's expense. Fortunately the sheer rarity of having a lady executive as the lead on negotiations in a Central American country puts a damper on more salubrious requests from government members.
The h is thinking about leaving after the next duty dance, setting her assistant with the task of further evening excursioning with the party animals, when she is arrested by the sight of a very handsome and distinguished male staring at her table from across the room. The h gets a funny feeling, and after a floor show from a famous dancer and a dance with the handsome but somehow threatening man who is very sharp on the verbal comeback, she makes her way back to her hotel.
Only to be kidnapped by the driver of the official car she was assigned by the President of the country, (before he realized her company really was about business and not contributing to his Swiss bank account slush fund.) The h is chloroformed and when she awakens tied up in a small dingy room, no one is more surprised than her when her kidnapping appears to be on the orders of the disturbing man she met the night before.
She feels rather ill and the H appears rather mad - he seems to think that his team of kidnappers got the wrong person. Until she explains that she is the leader of the company and the male on her side of the negotiations is her assistant. The H seems to require a bit of adjustment in his admittedly sexist thinking, but the h handles her kidnapping well and manages not have hysterics and keeps her calmness.
She also advises him that as a partner in the company, she herself set the policy that the company doesn't pay ransoms for its executives. She further explains that prior to this trip, all her projects have been in Africa - this was to be her introduction to South and Central America and it doesn't appear to be a big success.
The H decides there is nothing for it, she is the executive they need to try and force the corrupt president to resign, she may as well make herself comfortable. So she is taken to a remote village in the mountains and the villagers, who are all very familiar with the H and his wealthy family and really respect him a lot, seem to think that the H brought her there to be his mistress.
The h realizes that with that impression, they aren't really going to help her escape, so after making some acquaintances of the local ladies and a bout of altitude sickness, she takes herself off for a walk and tries to hike out over the mountains.
She doesn't make it before the H hunts her down. They have been having some verbal exchanges all through this period and it doesn't really get much better. The H comes across as all macho and bossy, but the h is pretty rational and cool in her answers and it seems to hit him pretty hard when she accuses him of kidnapping and terrorism. The H and h are forced to live in the same small house, but the H is gone most of the time and the h decides to use her agronomy skills to see about the villages poor crop production.
The H finally deigns to explain that the mistress impersonation is necessary because there are several different political factions and he is trying to broker a multi-party government in a country that has been in a civil war for 20 years with multiple different government takeovers and many of the players are not nice people at all. If the other rebel groups see her as his mistress, they won't try to take her for their own attempts at forcing concessions.
The h sees the wisdom in this after meeting some of the other, more extreme rebel members of other groups, and she willingly goes along with the facade. Plus she actually likes a lot of the local villagers and really does want to help them with their farming problems.
The h is also realizing that she is wildly attracted to the H, she is the usual SW reserved h. She had a very sterile childhood after her parents died and she was forced to live with a bitter uncle who did not like her. She did manage to work her way through an agronomy degree at a Scottish university, unfortunately she became her adviser's lover when he seduced her and she was thinking marriage, until his fiancee walked in on them one afternoon when the h and he were in bed together.
The h had no idear that he was even engaged. Nonetheless, she woke up pretty quickly to the callousness of the now ex-lover, but she carried a lot hurt and pain. When he tried to continue the relationship and expected her to show her appreciation for him getting her some job offers, she blew him off and went the U.S.
She has done very well in the ten years she has been working there, and she has friends, a Manhattan apartment and travels all over the world with her agronomy projects. She has not had any other lovers since college and so the attraction to the H (who is holding her hostage no less,) really upsets her equilibrium.
Eventually all the pretending becomes reality and in a semi forced or at least suspiciously coerced seduction, she and the H become lovers. The h realizes she is falling in love, but the way the H acts makes her think that she is just a convenient outlet for sexual frustration. (The H really is in love with her and everyone but the h knows it, but you have to do a bit of reading between the lines in order to see it, cause there is no H POV in this one). The H and h manage to avoid each other during the day and only come together at night - which makes for a rather turbulently non communicative relationship.
The H seems rather shocked when he realizes just how inexperienced the h actually is, but he hides it well behind a veil of contempt and disapproval about the h and her career and her life choices. The h is getting more and more depressed as the power structure change drags on. She wants to go home and put this whole futile situation behind her, as it appears the H will never love her and is marrying some woman his rather messed up family picked out - she is also feeling pretty ill most of the time.
Then one of the really criminal rebel leaders tries to set the village up as a target for an Air Force bombing by leaving a highly marked truck really close to the village, he also attempts to rape her. As the H is beating him up, the h hears the Air Force planes approaching and jumps into the truck to get the target away from the village. The truck winds up going over the side of the very steep mountain, but the h is thrown clear at the last minute and is knocked unconscious.
When she awakens, she is in a clinic in the US and is told she had a miscarriage. The h is very sad about losing a baby she did even realize she was carrying, and even sadder when she never hears from the H. The country now has a new president, but his name is unfamiliar to her and so she throws herself back into her work in an attempt to compensate for her losses.
Until she gets invited to the big canal project contract signing at a local hotel by the H's country's new government. Apparently they want some good publicity by appearing to build bridges with the executive whom their rebels kidnapped before they bought her canal project.
The h goes, after getting a copy of the guest list to make sure the H's name isn't on it, and is somewhat surprised by the hostility that greets her by some of the other rebels who are now government ministers.
They seem to think she was trying to escape while the H was fighting off the criminal rebel, until the h explains that she was trying to move the targeted truck away from the village when the Air Force was getting set to bomb it.
Then she gets introduced to the new President and it turns out to be the H. He is using his mother's last name for the term of his presidency, as that name has more public recognition in politics in his country and his grandfather was also president using that name. The H seems to be pretty hostile to the h as well, but strangely offers her a ride to Washington DC in his private plane when the h has to leave for a meeting.
The h boards the plane and it turns out that she and the H are the only passengers. The H accuses her of callous behavior and having an abortion and not even having the courtesy to tell him she was preggers while she was in the village and they were lovers.
The h explains she did not even know she was pregnant, she thought she just had altitude sickness and maybe some Montezuma's revenge. The H then begs her to give him another chance, if she can forgive him for kidnapping her and holding her hostage, he avows eternal love and claims he has loved her at first sight.
The h cautiously asks for an explanation for all his harsh behavior and why, if he loves her, was he so angry with her all the time and the H is astounded. In his mind he loved her, she knew it and was messing with him. Plus he had kidnapped her and he realized that probably wasn't exactly the best way to win a wife.
The h doesn't make him worry too long tho, she confesses she loves him back and that she was very, very sad when she found out she had lost his child. The H decides she can postpone her career while he gets her pregnant again and he finishes his presidency term and they jump on for the lurve club ride for the HEA.
Overall this is a good story, however given the state of the world today with all the intervening years between the writing of this book and the current global political situations, it is a big leap of faith to buy into this story.
I confess I was really saddened by the realization that political hostages and kidnappings just don't seem like romantic escapades in this era, and I was also saddened by how much innocence I have lost when I compare the naivety of this book with the very harsh reality most of us experience when we turn on the news everyday.
I was much more outraged by the H's assumptions and actions on this reread than I was 30 years ago. I just can't see this type of situation as a romance subject. I also did not like the angry reactions from the H and the other rebel/government minister towards the h at the end. In fact, it really ticked me off a lot. She was the one that was caused the most harm and why would any rational person assume the h wouldn't try to escape. I still can't see why did they think they had any right to judge ANYTHING after what they did in kidnapping her to begin with?
The H's actions were entirely too close to rape and pillaging and to remove someone from her life and force her into a completely subservient and demeaning situation for his own political gain was pretty much beyond the bounds of good taste. Don't get me wrong, this book is fairly well done and a decent romance within the boundaries of the old skool HP'verse. Most probably tho, this book is only going to appeal to veterans of HPlandia and nostalgics.
In reality, if I had picked this book up for the first time today, I would never have been able to buy into the story or the HEA. I would be screaming for a skillet and a firing squad instead.
In today's world, the whole situation would end very differently, most likely not in a good way, and for certain wouldn't be in the HP lineup, you would probably only find it in the dark non-con sections of the Romance universe--if it got written at all.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 23, 2021
If you think of this kidnapping story as a medieval romance (even though it takes place in Central America)the politically incorrect elements are easier to take.
All the tropes are there – kidnapping for political purposes, flamboyant dancer OW, hidden lair, primitive conditions, suspicious villagers, long horseback rides, silent sex, hero goes from outlaw to leader. I enjoyed it for what it was.
Boogehagen has all the details.
All the tropes are there – kidnapping for political purposes, flamboyant dancer OW, hidden lair, primitive conditions, suspicious villagers, long horseback rides, silent sex, hero goes from outlaw to leader. I enjoyed it for what it was.
Boogehagen has all the details.
June 16, 2021
Julia's life was full of painful rejections one after the other. When she discovered her only lover, Hugh, was also fooling around with her while he had a finance all along, she decided enough was enough and left England heading to America to be a partner in an agronomic company. Her mission to sell some of her company equipements to the president of one of the south American countries was not proceeding well, therefore, her assistant suggested intertraining some of the ministers in a nightclub! It was while entertaining them there, that she met Roberto Madariago, an international lawyer she sensed was dangerous. And she was totally right! Not only did Roberto's men kidnapped her when she left the nightclub, they took her to a village high in the mountain as a prisoner and a woman to their revolutionary leader as well, Roberto himself! Julia was a fighter, but her feelings toward Roberto were overwhelming.
A story full of events and political issues and in such a book it's hard to weave a romantic story, yet Sophie Weston managed it to a great length. An excellent story to read in a quiet place.
A story full of events and political issues and in such a book it's hard to weave a romantic story, yet Sophie Weston managed it to a great length. An excellent story to read in a quiet place.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 21, 2015
Read this way back when I was in school. Still a favourite m and b. Different from the usual story lines. The h is educated, independent. And H is lawyer/ freedom fighter and gorgeous to boot. Liked the ending. Quite a surprise
October 18, 2020
Refer to Boogenhagen’s very thorough synopsis and review...I would not be able to improve on it.
I enjoyed this book. The idea of falling in love with your kidnapper can only be enjoyable if the kidnapper is not a total despot and his reasoning is honorable. In books with themes such as these I have to remove myself from the “real” world where international kidnappings are by no means romantic! I felt bad for our H as it was obvious he was in love with our h. He had believed the h had done something at the end of the story, which caused him great pain! It was worked out!!! Love for the win!
I enjoyed this book. The idea of falling in love with your kidnapper can only be enjoyable if the kidnapper is not a total despot and his reasoning is honorable. In books with themes such as these I have to remove myself from the “real” world where international kidnappings are by no means romantic! I felt bad for our H as it was obvious he was in love with our h. He had believed the h had done something at the end of the story, which caused him great pain! It was worked out!!! Love for the win!
December 27, 2017
13 - الفدية
عبير الجديدة
عندما ذهبت جوليا لينوكس في رحلة عمل الى اوكساغن في وسط القارة الأميريكية , لم تكن تدري بما سيحصل لها .
فقد اختطفت على يد ذلك الرجل الغامض روبرتو مادريغا واقتيدت للعمل ضمن مجموعته السرية في المرتفعات العالية , وهناك صرح لها بأنها امرأته لحمايتها , حمايتها؟ ممن ؟ فقد شعرت جوليا بأن الأوان قد فات ووقعت في حب خاطفها , ولكن هل هذا ايضاً ماشعربه روبرتو ام انه كان يستعلمها كأداة ؟
عبير الجديدة
عندما ذهبت جوليا لينوكس في رحلة عمل الى اوكساغن في وسط القارة الأميريكية , لم تكن تدري بما سيحصل لها .
فقد اختطفت على يد ذلك الرجل الغامض روبرتو مادريغا واقتيدت للعمل ضمن مجموعته السرية في المرتفعات العالية , وهناك صرح لها بأنها امرأته لحمايتها , حمايتها؟ ممن ؟ فقد شعرت جوليا بأن الأوان قد فات ووقعت في حب خاطفها , ولكن هل هذا ايضاً ماشعربه روبرتو ام انه كان يستعلمها كأداة ؟
did-not-finish
January 2, 2022My first DNF of 2022! I was too bored by the political turmoil! I also thought she should have tried harder to escape! She seemed to easily pulled into the controversy.
February 10, 2026
Not a trope I like. Weston writes well but I skimmed and skipped.
April 16, 2021
Her trip had unexpected results
Agronomist Julia Lennox, partner in a high-tech company, was in a small South American country to sell them a badly needed canal system.
Her kidnapping by revolutionaries intent on deposing the president was a shock -- as was enduring the company of their leader, the enigmatic Roberto Madariago, an international lawyer trying to stabilize the country.
When for her own safety Julia had to pretend to be Roberto's woman, her own reactions frightened her. In spite of all that had happened, Julia knew it was no longer pretence -- she loved him. (le
Agronomist Julia Lennox, partner in a high-tech company, was in a small South American country to sell them a badly needed canal system.
Her kidnapping by revolutionaries intent on deposing the president was a shock -- as was enduring the company of their leader, the enigmatic Roberto Madariago, an international lawyer trying to stabilize the country.
When for her own safety Julia had to pretend to be Roberto's woman, her own reactions frightened her. In spite of all that had happened, Julia knew it was no longer pretence -- she loved him. (le
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews