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Dark Captor
Family loyalty had placed Stephanie in Dominic Rayburn's power...and past history had created a complex web of emotions. Dominic had insisted on marriage for reasons which had nothing to do with love, and everything to do with power. Stephanie couldn't deny his potent attraction, yet she was determined not to give in to his outrageous demands. It was time to break free - if she wanted to!
186 pages, Paperback
First published August 9, 1991
2 people are currently reading
92 people want to read
About the author
Lindsay Armstrong
317 books91 followersGillian Smith (alias Lindsay Armstrong) was born in South Africa. She grew up with three ambitions: to become a writer, to travel the world, and to be a game ranger. She didn't achieve the last one, but her fascination for wildlife and that special something about Africa and its big game still remains with her. When she went to work it was in travel, at an agency and an airline, and this started her on the road to seeing the world.
Lindsey met her New Zealand-born husband, who had been working in West Africa, when he was on his way home through Johannesburg. He did go home but in a matter of weeks he was back in South Africa, and six months later they were married. Three of their five children were born in South Africa. Then one in London and one in Australia, after they made the decision to emigrate from South Africa.
It wasn't until her youngest child started school that Lindsay sat down at the kitchen table determined to tackle her other ambition to stop dreaming about writing and do it! She hasn't stopped since. She's not happy unless she has a book under way, and she's discovered she can write through just about anything.
Lindsay and her husband have moved around a lot. They've trained racehorses,farmed, and lived on their boat for six months while they sailed it from the Gold Coast to the Torres Strait and back, an epic voyage! They currently live in Queensland, overlooking the water; they sold their farm, and they're looking around for another boat. She and her husband love to travel and have been back to Africa twice in the past few years. The highlight of one of their trips was a visit to the Serengeti, in Tanzania, where Lindsay did the one thing she swore she would never do: take a ride in a hot-air balloon. She was a nervous wreck as the balloon tottered upright, but will remember it as a unique experience to see the game spreading out on the Serengeti plain beneath her as the sun rose.
"They say you can take someone who was born in Africa out of the bush but you can't take the bush out of someone born there..."
Despite this passion for wildlife and Africa, Lindsay considers Australia her home now and loves the country. She travelled to Sydney to witness the closing weekend of the Olympic Games in September 2000; it made her proud to be an adopted Aussie!
Lindsey met her New Zealand-born husband, who had been working in West Africa, when he was on his way home through Johannesburg. He did go home but in a matter of weeks he was back in South Africa, and six months later they were married. Three of their five children were born in South Africa. Then one in London and one in Australia, after they made the decision to emigrate from South Africa.
It wasn't until her youngest child started school that Lindsay sat down at the kitchen table determined to tackle her other ambition to stop dreaming about writing and do it! She hasn't stopped since. She's not happy unless she has a book under way, and she's discovered she can write through just about anything.
Lindsay and her husband have moved around a lot. They've trained racehorses,farmed, and lived on their boat for six months while they sailed it from the Gold Coast to the Torres Strait and back, an epic voyage! They currently live in Queensland, overlooking the water; they sold their farm, and they're looking around for another boat. She and her husband love to travel and have been back to Africa twice in the past few years. The highlight of one of their trips was a visit to the Serengeti, in Tanzania, where Lindsay did the one thing she swore she would never do: take a ride in a hot-air balloon. She was a nervous wreck as the balloon tottered upright, but will remember it as a unique experience to see the game spreading out on the Serengeti plain beneath her as the sun rose.
"They say you can take someone who was born in Africa out of the bush but you can't take the bush out of someone born there..."
Despite this passion for wildlife and Africa, Lindsay considers Australia her home now and loves the country. She travelled to Sydney to witness the closing weekend of the Olympic Games in September 2000; it made her proud to be an adopted Aussie!
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January 25, 2018
Re Dark Captor - Lindsay Armstrong explores an interesting HP H blackmail subtrope- the blackmailed h who is married but treated as the H's mistress and not his wife. This one is a must read for Angst Lovers - the wrecki drama is always heightened with this plot. LA is the first in HPlandia to use this unusual trope with Enter My Jungle way back in 1983 and is revisiting it 10 years later with even more refined h angst.
(However Sharon Kendrick took the subtrope to extremes with Bought by Her Husband. So I suggest reading the three books in publication date order as a unit to get a really good idea of how tropes in HPlandia develop--be warned tho, these stories are the equivalent of the HP dark side, so stock up on cookies and adult beverages and pad your walls to save your e-reader if you start on them. All three have really unique openings and all three are guaranteed to make you break out a skillet a few times and have a few Captain Consults with a mason jar instead of a shot glass.)
In this one the book opens with the 24yr old artist h being summoned by her husband's secretary for her periodic conjugal dues payment visit. You read that right. The h is married and doesn't live with her husband, they only meet periodically in hotel rooms for sex and ignore each other rest of the time.
This all came about because of the h running into a light pole on her bike five years earlier. The h has a twin brother, a deceased mother and her father was a reclusive professor who really had no idea of how to raise kids, but did send them to a very upper class school to get the best education he could buy for them. Eventually the father remarried before he died and the h likes her very kind stepmother - however none of these characters feature very much in the story.
Unfortunately being in a much lower economic class than her classmates made the h a victim of school bullying with the added impediment of no parental support. In fact the h has to step up as the family caretaker once she is old enough. Between that and the bullying, which is mainly led by the H's sister, the h has an adult level of maturity in some things and a severely repressed mentality in others. It doesn't help that the h is a gangly, tall and sometimes a very clumsy teenager either this clumsiness reappears whenever she gets stressed.
The h meets the H for the first time when he comes to pick up his sister and he is so handsome the h loses the plot and crashes her bike into a light pole. The H picks her up and takes her, her bike and the groceries she bought on her lunch break, to her home. The H questions her about her life a little - he is 24 to her 17-but the h knows that she is in the grip of a crush and hopes to get over things eventually.
The h and H do meet again tho, the H's sister throws a party and invites the whole class. Later we find out it was the H who instigated the party, he wanted to meet the h again. The sister isn't too keen on that and when she interrupts the H and h's private conversation to be a bovine sewer swimmer, the h steps off and hears the sister berating her and the H expressing pity. The h may be poor, but she isn't a charity case and she is pretty much done with patronizing spit globules. So she walks into town from the H's big family estate to get a taxi and then goes home.
The H calls her house to make sure she got there and the h reluctantly talks to him as he apologizes for his sister's disparaging remarks. The h gets on with getting on, she wants to be an artist and she has a life plan. The first is to get a job as a town plan drafter, then go to art school at night, then become a painter. The h manages to achieve her goals and a family friend offers her the chance to tour Europe at a very low cost. The h leaps at the offer.
A few days before her trip, she is at her bon voyage party and runs into the H again. The attraction is strong and the h decides that she will never be the H's kinda girl, but she can't help taking a bite of the lurve mojo passion apple. Since both her father and brother are out of town, she and the H have a unicorn banishing ritual that is epic in its force. The h is happy she had the opportunity to gift the H the first experience of her body and release all that repressed passion that was keeping her from expressing her full self in her painting.
Things go decidedly bad when she sees the H kissing another woman the morning after their big night. When the H shows up later that day, the h blows him off as a one night stand and tells him she is leaving for Europe, but forgot to mention that as she had been drinking the night before. It makes the H furious, I guess because he was wanting a slum tart on call and her leaving was an inconvenience, but the H wanders off and the h goes to Europe and gets really going on with her life.
Four years or so after the one night of love, the h's twin gets caught embezzling from the H's company. The brother is a boat designer and the H owns the boat building company. The h's twin begs the h for help, he knows she knows the H and the h is blackmailed into marrying the H or he will let her brother go to prison instead of keeping him in his job and letting him pay the money back. (Even tho the H really needs the brother and his designs.)
The H wants revenge for the h dumping him before he could dump her and he also needs an inheritance that he can only get his hands on if he is married. So they marry and the H demands the h have sex with him whenever he wants, the h is like 'fine, but I won't live with you, I don't like you and you can make an appointment.' When we start the book, this has been going for a year.
(It is arguable that the H essentially rapes the h for the first year of their marriage. Which is pretty icky and only increases the angst because the h doesn't want to have sex with him, but he forces a response - so most of the angst and horror in this book is coercive forced sex that the h responds to and the associated shame she carries about that. If this were anyplace other than HPlandia, we would not be calling this a romance but a psychological drama, and that is really how this book plays out.)
This time when the H has the h summoned, she is determined to find a way out. Her brother seems to be stable, the h is tired, bitter and resentful of the H and his bovine sister, who have always been rich and catered to and make everyone else's lives hell because they can.
(That resentment and the h's obvious hostility are what drives the H's behavior. Like most LA books, there is NO H POV in this. We can only interpret the H's actions through the filter of the h's narration. Also like most LA's in this time period, it is a very esoteric, borderline flight of consciousness h inner monologue that relays the gist of the story.
This makes the book seem dry and somewhat inaccessible. But in this case that style is necessary to the development of the intensity of the plot. The HP reader has to decide if the h is a reliable narrator and then they have to interpret a lot of implied actions rather than a flat out statement of intent.
What it boils down to is the H is obsessed with the h, because she is the ONLY woman who has ever tried to fight him, he needs that challenge to inspire him. Yet he bitterly resents that fascination he has for her, so he goes all out to humiliate and hurt her, simply because she passively won't just roll over and do as he says.
The h recognizes this pretty early on, but her problem is that she is in love with him in a helpless compulsion. One of my many musings on this book is what would have happened if the h had actually met another guy she liked and tried a relationship with him, I think had the h ever been with anyone else, this whole book would never have happened.)
Surprisingly, the H offers the h an out. If she will go with him to Hayden Island, a private luxury resort in the Whitsunday Islands, to meet another couple whose male half wants to do a big boat order, he will let the h out of their agreement with no backlash on her brother.
The h agrees to go, gets the obligatory makeover and new clothes spree, and then it is off to Hayden we go. (Which is a REALLY nice place according to the googles.) Once there, the h and H meet the other couple and it is clear the wife is a younger tarty type, while the husband is clearly besotted. The Tarty Wife makes her play for the H and the h thinks that she is being used as cover while the H plays away.
The h is kinda disgusted, but that still doesn't stop the lurve mojo force for her and the H does tell her that he has only been with her since they married - tho he has wanted to find another woman on occasion. The h believes the H and resolves not to be walked on by the Tarty Wife, she is pretty successful in her mission.
The h and the older husband have a few bonding moments as the H gets roped into taking the Tarty Wife out on a boat. While the H is deliberately dumping the boat and getting the Tarty Wife soaked and ruining her hair, the husband is explaining how his beloved first wife died and how he only has his daughter and how she is lovely, but not liking Tarty Wife too much. The h is a good listener and when the Drenching of Tarty Wife and Accompanying Tantrum is complete, the husband has decided to divorce his Tart and order a bunch of boats from the H.
The h then confesses her real reasons for dumping the H five years earlier and how much she cares for him too, this prompts the h and H to try being married for real. The H confesses he married cause he needed his inheritance and that he never really feels much of anything. He isn't very emotionally intelligent compared to the h, as he has never really had to fight or strive for anything but her. The h knows this statement for the mushroom fertilizer it is, but she is willing to get her groove on as a place holder until the H's real true love partner arrives.
So they move into the H's family home and the h hates it, but she gets no choice. So she works on the garden instead. Life continues with them together, the bovine sister is still sewer swimming and the H still treats the h like a piece to pike instead of a wife. The h realizes that to the H, sex is all she is good for and even tho that is great, she is expected to be available and grateful for a bunch of material things she doesn't like and doesn't want and no other considerations are to be granted by the H, he doesn't care what she does as long as she is ready to bounce when he wants her.
Then the h gets preggers and the daughter of the husband with the Tarty Wife comes to visit for an extended stay. The girl is everything the H probably would prefer in a wife and the H and the girl have lots of excursions out together while the h stays at home and grows her baby. The girl is nice but she falls in love with the H and the bovine sister stirs up some more drama by implying that the H and the girl had a very emotional, lover-like parting when the girl finally goes home.
The h does her best to be pragmatic and dismiss it as a young adult crush, but really the h is a much better reader of the H than LA initially lets us believe and she is a very reliable narrator. The H is either interested or wanted to be interested in the girl, as he hates his obsession with the h -however, given the drama with the Tarty Wife, the H could be putting his big boat order at risk. So he withdraws on multiple levels from the h and all of this is compounded by the h's twelve hour really horrible childbirth ordeal that the H was fully present for. (It was a bad time and it turned the H right off the h for a while.)
Then the H has an extended business trip and the h wonders if he is going to meet the American girl, especially as the H complains that the h is too focused on her son and seems to feel his needs are being neglected. The h has her own issues tho, motherhood is hard and when the H takes off, the baby gets sick, she is a freaking out new mum and she decides to go hang with her stepmum for a few days. As she is getting ready to go, the H comes storming back and assumes that she is leaving him because she doesn't trust him enough not to go hook up with the American girl. He doesn't allow her to speak or really say anything, he just hauls her off to bed and rapes her again, while forcing a response from her too.
Then the whole traumatic situation is shelved, because the bovine sister shows up to stay. She sorta apologized to the h after the baby was born and so we get huge mopey moments and a very hostile H. Finally the bovine snot realizes she is imposing and as she is getting ready to go, she apologizes again for telling the h that the H and the American girl were having an affair. The H overhears this and it leads to his declaration of feelings for the h.
The h finally gets to explain that she was only going to her stepmother's and she tactfully points out that the American girl was really the appropriate partner for the H. He claims he doesn't want her, but he is a good liar, and then he claims that he finally felt something when he thought the h was going to leave him and so he came back and attacked the h.
The h is happy to endure anything, as long as the H keeps her around, so she declares her love, he says "Ditto" and we leave them lurving it up in a kind of dubious HEA.
I recommend this in conjunction with the two other books above. The HEA on all three is very dubious, cause while an HP's h's suffering gives her character the depth of all the universe, the respective H's involved have all the depth of a shallow mud puddle in a tarmac parking lot. This sub-trope is really hard to pull off, no matter who writes it. But if you can get past that, the angst factor payoff is enormous.
So give this trio of Enter My Jungle, Dark Captor and Bought by Her Husband a go, get your angst groove and ranty moment on and then go find a copy of Married to a Mistress by Lynne Graham to see how this trope really should be done for a great time on your next HPlandia outing.
(However Sharon Kendrick took the subtrope to extremes with Bought by Her Husband. So I suggest reading the three books in publication date order as a unit to get a really good idea of how tropes in HPlandia develop--be warned tho, these stories are the equivalent of the HP dark side, so stock up on cookies and adult beverages and pad your walls to save your e-reader if you start on them. All three have really unique openings and all three are guaranteed to make you break out a skillet a few times and have a few Captain Consults with a mason jar instead of a shot glass.)
In this one the book opens with the 24yr old artist h being summoned by her husband's secretary for her periodic conjugal dues payment visit. You read that right. The h is married and doesn't live with her husband, they only meet periodically in hotel rooms for sex and ignore each other rest of the time.
This all came about because of the h running into a light pole on her bike five years earlier. The h has a twin brother, a deceased mother and her father was a reclusive professor who really had no idea of how to raise kids, but did send them to a very upper class school to get the best education he could buy for them. Eventually the father remarried before he died and the h likes her very kind stepmother - however none of these characters feature very much in the story.
Unfortunately being in a much lower economic class than her classmates made the h a victim of school bullying with the added impediment of no parental support. In fact the h has to step up as the family caretaker once she is old enough. Between that and the bullying, which is mainly led by the H's sister, the h has an adult level of maturity in some things and a severely repressed mentality in others. It doesn't help that the h is a gangly, tall and sometimes a very clumsy teenager either this clumsiness reappears whenever she gets stressed.
The h meets the H for the first time when he comes to pick up his sister and he is so handsome the h loses the plot and crashes her bike into a light pole. The H picks her up and takes her, her bike and the groceries she bought on her lunch break, to her home. The H questions her about her life a little - he is 24 to her 17-but the h knows that she is in the grip of a crush and hopes to get over things eventually.
The h and H do meet again tho, the H's sister throws a party and invites the whole class. Later we find out it was the H who instigated the party, he wanted to meet the h again. The sister isn't too keen on that and when she interrupts the H and h's private conversation to be a bovine sewer swimmer, the h steps off and hears the sister berating her and the H expressing pity. The h may be poor, but she isn't a charity case and she is pretty much done with patronizing spit globules. So she walks into town from the H's big family estate to get a taxi and then goes home.
The H calls her house to make sure she got there and the h reluctantly talks to him as he apologizes for his sister's disparaging remarks. The h gets on with getting on, she wants to be an artist and she has a life plan. The first is to get a job as a town plan drafter, then go to art school at night, then become a painter. The h manages to achieve her goals and a family friend offers her the chance to tour Europe at a very low cost. The h leaps at the offer.
A few days before her trip, she is at her bon voyage party and runs into the H again. The attraction is strong and the h decides that she will never be the H's kinda girl, but she can't help taking a bite of the lurve mojo passion apple. Since both her father and brother are out of town, she and the H have a unicorn banishing ritual that is epic in its force. The h is happy she had the opportunity to gift the H the first experience of her body and release all that repressed passion that was keeping her from expressing her full self in her painting.
Things go decidedly bad when she sees the H kissing another woman the morning after their big night. When the H shows up later that day, the h blows him off as a one night stand and tells him she is leaving for Europe, but forgot to mention that as she had been drinking the night before. It makes the H furious, I guess because he was wanting a slum tart on call and her leaving was an inconvenience, but the H wanders off and the h goes to Europe and gets really going on with her life.
Four years or so after the one night of love, the h's twin gets caught embezzling from the H's company. The brother is a boat designer and the H owns the boat building company. The h's twin begs the h for help, he knows she knows the H and the h is blackmailed into marrying the H or he will let her brother go to prison instead of keeping him in his job and letting him pay the money back. (Even tho the H really needs the brother and his designs.)
The H wants revenge for the h dumping him before he could dump her and he also needs an inheritance that he can only get his hands on if he is married. So they marry and the H demands the h have sex with him whenever he wants, the h is like 'fine, but I won't live with you, I don't like you and you can make an appointment.' When we start the book, this has been going for a year.
(It is arguable that the H essentially rapes the h for the first year of their marriage. Which is pretty icky and only increases the angst because the h doesn't want to have sex with him, but he forces a response - so most of the angst and horror in this book is coercive forced sex that the h responds to and the associated shame she carries about that. If this were anyplace other than HPlandia, we would not be calling this a romance but a psychological drama, and that is really how this book plays out.)
This time when the H has the h summoned, she is determined to find a way out. Her brother seems to be stable, the h is tired, bitter and resentful of the H and his bovine sister, who have always been rich and catered to and make everyone else's lives hell because they can.
(That resentment and the h's obvious hostility are what drives the H's behavior. Like most LA books, there is NO H POV in this. We can only interpret the H's actions through the filter of the h's narration. Also like most LA's in this time period, it is a very esoteric, borderline flight of consciousness h inner monologue that relays the gist of the story.
This makes the book seem dry and somewhat inaccessible. But in this case that style is necessary to the development of the intensity of the plot. The HP reader has to decide if the h is a reliable narrator and then they have to interpret a lot of implied actions rather than a flat out statement of intent.
What it boils down to is the H is obsessed with the h, because she is the ONLY woman who has ever tried to fight him, he needs that challenge to inspire him. Yet he bitterly resents that fascination he has for her, so he goes all out to humiliate and hurt her, simply because she passively won't just roll over and do as he says.
The h recognizes this pretty early on, but her problem is that she is in love with him in a helpless compulsion. One of my many musings on this book is what would have happened if the h had actually met another guy she liked and tried a relationship with him, I think had the h ever been with anyone else, this whole book would never have happened.)
Surprisingly, the H offers the h an out. If she will go with him to Hayden Island, a private luxury resort in the Whitsunday Islands, to meet another couple whose male half wants to do a big boat order, he will let the h out of their agreement with no backlash on her brother.
The h agrees to go, gets the obligatory makeover and new clothes spree, and then it is off to Hayden we go. (Which is a REALLY nice place according to the googles.) Once there, the h and H meet the other couple and it is clear the wife is a younger tarty type, while the husband is clearly besotted. The Tarty Wife makes her play for the H and the h thinks that she is being used as cover while the H plays away.
The h is kinda disgusted, but that still doesn't stop the lurve mojo force for her and the H does tell her that he has only been with her since they married - tho he has wanted to find another woman on occasion. The h believes the H and resolves not to be walked on by the Tarty Wife, she is pretty successful in her mission.
The h and the older husband have a few bonding moments as the H gets roped into taking the Tarty Wife out on a boat. While the H is deliberately dumping the boat and getting the Tarty Wife soaked and ruining her hair, the husband is explaining how his beloved first wife died and how he only has his daughter and how she is lovely, but not liking Tarty Wife too much. The h is a good listener and when the Drenching of Tarty Wife and Accompanying Tantrum is complete, the husband has decided to divorce his Tart and order a bunch of boats from the H.
The h then confesses her real reasons for dumping the H five years earlier and how much she cares for him too, this prompts the h and H to try being married for real. The H confesses he married cause he needed his inheritance and that he never really feels much of anything. He isn't very emotionally intelligent compared to the h, as he has never really had to fight or strive for anything but her. The h knows this statement for the mushroom fertilizer it is, but she is willing to get her groove on as a place holder until the H's real true love partner arrives.
So they move into the H's family home and the h hates it, but she gets no choice. So she works on the garden instead. Life continues with them together, the bovine sister is still sewer swimming and the H still treats the h like a piece to pike instead of a wife. The h realizes that to the H, sex is all she is good for and even tho that is great, she is expected to be available and grateful for a bunch of material things she doesn't like and doesn't want and no other considerations are to be granted by the H, he doesn't care what she does as long as she is ready to bounce when he wants her.
Then the h gets preggers and the daughter of the husband with the Tarty Wife comes to visit for an extended stay. The girl is everything the H probably would prefer in a wife and the H and the girl have lots of excursions out together while the h stays at home and grows her baby. The girl is nice but she falls in love with the H and the bovine sister stirs up some more drama by implying that the H and the girl had a very emotional, lover-like parting when the girl finally goes home.
The h does her best to be pragmatic and dismiss it as a young adult crush, but really the h is a much better reader of the H than LA initially lets us believe and she is a very reliable narrator. The H is either interested or wanted to be interested in the girl, as he hates his obsession with the h -however, given the drama with the Tarty Wife, the H could be putting his big boat order at risk. So he withdraws on multiple levels from the h and all of this is compounded by the h's twelve hour really horrible childbirth ordeal that the H was fully present for. (It was a bad time and it turned the H right off the h for a while.)
Then the H has an extended business trip and the h wonders if he is going to meet the American girl, especially as the H complains that the h is too focused on her son and seems to feel his needs are being neglected. The h has her own issues tho, motherhood is hard and when the H takes off, the baby gets sick, she is a freaking out new mum and she decides to go hang with her stepmum for a few days. As she is getting ready to go, the H comes storming back and assumes that she is leaving him because she doesn't trust him enough not to go hook up with the American girl. He doesn't allow her to speak or really say anything, he just hauls her off to bed and rapes her again, while forcing a response from her too.
Then the whole traumatic situation is shelved, because the bovine sister shows up to stay. She sorta apologized to the h after the baby was born and so we get huge mopey moments and a very hostile H. Finally the bovine snot realizes she is imposing and as she is getting ready to go, she apologizes again for telling the h that the H and the American girl were having an affair. The H overhears this and it leads to his declaration of feelings for the h.
The h finally gets to explain that she was only going to her stepmother's and she tactfully points out that the American girl was really the appropriate partner for the H. He claims he doesn't want her, but he is a good liar, and then he claims that he finally felt something when he thought the h was going to leave him and so he came back and attacked the h.
The h is happy to endure anything, as long as the H keeps her around, so she declares her love, he says "Ditto" and we leave them lurving it up in a kind of dubious HEA.
I recommend this in conjunction with the two other books above. The HEA on all three is very dubious, cause while an HP's h's suffering gives her character the depth of all the universe, the respective H's involved have all the depth of a shallow mud puddle in a tarmac parking lot. This sub-trope is really hard to pull off, no matter who writes it. But if you can get past that, the angst factor payoff is enormous.
So give this trio of Enter My Jungle, Dark Captor and Bought by Her Husband a go, get your angst groove and ranty moment on and then go find a copy of Married to a Mistress by Lynne Graham to see how this trope really should be done for a great time on your next HPlandia outing.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 28, 2022
Very interesting plot in this one. H/h are married when the story opens. H's secretary calls to tell the h that she is to meet the H at a hotel at a certain time. This is not the first time she has been summoned for sex. They have lived apart since their honeymoon and through flashbacks we find out why their marriage is so fraught. H met h when she was still in school with his sister. She was poor and the H's family was rich. He was attracted to her from the beginning, and she had a huge crush on him, but thought him out of her reach.
Once she's of school they hook up the night before her trip to Europe, but it all goes wrong the next day when she goes to the bank to cancel her traveler's checks and sees him kiss another woman. She goes ahead with her trip and doesn't see hero again for a year. When she returns, her brother has been caught embezzling from the H's shipbuilding business and he forces her to marry him in exchange for not pressing charges. On this particular day at the hotel the H offers her a deal. If she'll play happy wife while he is trying to negotiate a business deal, he will let her go. She agrees - and even accepts new clothes and a makeover.
It's pretty obvious he's absolutely crazy about the h through the entire story. I really enjoyed watching him trying to understand our very mixed up heroine, but I didn't get his motivations in not saying how he felt later on their marriage. His grovel/explanation isn't very clear.
Once she's of school they hook up the night before her trip to Europe, but it all goes wrong the next day when she goes to the bank to cancel her traveler's checks and sees him kiss another woman. She goes ahead with her trip and doesn't see hero again for a year. When she returns, her brother has been caught embezzling from the H's shipbuilding business and he forces her to marry him in exchange for not pressing charges. On this particular day at the hotel the H offers her a deal. If she'll play happy wife while he is trying to negotiate a business deal, he will let her go. She agrees - and even accepts new clothes and a makeover.
It's pretty obvious he's absolutely crazy about the h through the entire story. I really enjoyed watching him trying to understand our very mixed up heroine, but I didn't get his motivations in not saying how he felt later on their marriage. His grovel/explanation isn't very clear.
July 8, 2020
Love in the time of COVID... my re-read of vintage romances continues apace, thanks to Open Library. I freely admit I really like the darker, dub-con old Harleys and Avons from the 80s and early 90s, so this one seemed to fit the bill.
Thought I'd like this one, but found the h pretty annoying, the H was not nearly as dark or alpha as promised, and overall, was pretty meh for me. Also, the use of ellipses and em-dashes in SO many sentences got really irritating after a while; minor point, but distracting after the 1000th time! Death by punctuation and pedestrian writing with zero chemistry that I could discern bwn our H and h. I've read a couple more by LA and she can bring the angst for sure, but you spend a LOT of time in the heroine's head and it can sometimes be a bit too much.
Thought I'd like this one, but found the h pretty annoying, the H was not nearly as dark or alpha as promised, and overall, was pretty meh for me. Also, the use of ellipses and em-dashes in SO many sentences got really irritating after a while; minor point, but distracting after the 1000th time! Death by punctuation and pedestrian writing with zero chemistry that I could discern bwn our H and h. I've read a couple more by LA and she can bring the angst for sure, but you spend a LOT of time in the heroine's head and it can sometimes be a bit too much.
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May 17, 2021I can't rate this because Lindsay Armstrong never makes sense to me.
I came for the booty-call marriage described in the blurb only to become fixated on the last quarter of the book, where the pregnant heroine becomes convinced her emotionally remote husband is falling in love with (or should fall in love with) the nubile, well-bred twenty-year-old who came for a visit and wound up staying throughout most of her pregnancy. Despite being deliciously angsty -- the heroine suffers from an inferiority complex, the hero has previously expressed that he may simply not be capable of love, the girl is idealized beyond all imagining and the heroine actually likes her, the husband takes the girl out sightseeing while the pregnant heroine remains behind feeling left out, the heroine recognizes that the girl is falling in love with her husband, the spiteful sister-in-law tells the new mother that she had seen her brother and the girl embracing at the airport when she flew home two days before the birth -- the purpose of this interlude in the context of this book isn't clear to me. Who is learning what?
I would have loved to see this played out in a romance where it makes more sense. I am reminded of the beginning of Laurey Bright's A Perfect Marriage (not the same because the blindsided heroine didn't know and befriend her husband's manic pixie dream girl) and the central conflict of Robyn Donald's Smoke in the Wind (not the same because the contrast there was between innocence and experience, virgins and whores, dickheads and amazing heroines), as well as those agonizing novels where a dying wife and mother picks out her replacement for her husband. But none of those fit the bill. I'm looking for a MoC romance built on the hero's belief that he can never/will never fall in love and can give the heroine an honorable life, but then the wife has to watch him fall in love with a perfectly decent, kind other woman.
I'm looking for torture.
In other news, Lindsay Armstrong makes a similar play -- heroine with an inferiority complex discovers that her new best friend is actually in love with her husband -- in (title cut because that's a spoiler).
I came for the booty-call marriage described in the blurb only to become fixated on the last quarter of the book, where the pregnant heroine becomes convinced her emotionally remote husband is falling in love with (or should fall in love with) the nubile, well-bred twenty-year-old who came for a visit and wound up staying throughout most of her pregnancy. Despite being deliciously angsty -- the heroine suffers from an inferiority complex, the hero has previously expressed that he may simply not be capable of love, the girl is idealized beyond all imagining and the heroine actually likes her, the husband takes the girl out sightseeing while the pregnant heroine remains behind feeling left out, the heroine recognizes that the girl is falling in love with her husband, the spiteful sister-in-law tells the new mother that she had seen her brother and the girl embracing at the airport when she flew home two days before the birth -- the purpose of this interlude in the context of this book isn't clear to me. Who is learning what?
I would have loved to see this played out in a romance where it makes more sense. I am reminded of the beginning of Laurey Bright's A Perfect Marriage (not the same because the blindsided heroine didn't know and befriend her husband's manic pixie dream girl) and the central conflict of Robyn Donald's Smoke in the Wind (not the same because the contrast there was between innocence and experience, virgins and whores, dickheads and amazing heroines), as well as those agonizing novels where a dying wife and mother picks out her replacement for her husband. But none of those fit the bill. I'm looking for a MoC romance built on the hero's belief that he can never/will never fall in love and can give the heroine an honorable life, but then the wife has to watch him fall in love with a perfectly decent, kind other woman.
I'm looking for torture.
In other news, Lindsay Armstrong makes a similar play -- heroine with an inferiority complex discovers that her new best friend is actually in love with her husband -- in (title cut because that's a spoiler).
March 17, 2022
Well, this was different. A marriage that came out of him blackmailing her, that turns into a real marriage. The book is about that process.
The h opens up about her feelings for him somewhere in the middle of the book. I was pleasantly surprised by that. Usually the h twist and turns and does everything to hide her feelings for the H.
As far as I can remember, this is the first HP that I’ve read in which the h becomes real and genuine about her feelings for the H in such an early stage.
And they talk. They talk real talk, like adults. They even communicate at times. Again, I am really surprised.
I would give it 4 stars, but because of the h being brave about her feelings for him, I’ll give it 5. Not that it’s perfect or amazing, but it’s different in a good way.
The h opens up about her feelings for him somewhere in the middle of the book. I was pleasantly surprised by that. Usually the h twist and turns and does everything to hide her feelings for the H.
As far as I can remember, this is the first HP that I’ve read in which the h becomes real and genuine about her feelings for the H in such an early stage.
And they talk. They talk real talk, like adults. They even communicate at times. Again, I am really surprised.
I would give it 4 stars, but because of the h being brave about her feelings for him, I’ll give it 5. Not that it’s perfect or amazing, but it’s different in a good way.
June 8, 2021
Stephanie's marriage to Dominic Rayburn is pure business -- a deal to keep her brother out of jail and fulfill the conditions of Dominic's inheritance. Here, business and pleasure don't mix. Her husband, however, isn't satisfied with a mere handshake.
Dominic's quarterly collection of conjugal "dues" forces her into battle with herself -- Stephanie hates him and hates herself for wanting him. But now he's offering her release, if she'll play the part of loving wife on an island holiday. But after time alone with the man she "despises," will it really be her freedom she wants?
Dominic's quarterly collection of conjugal "dues" forces her into battle with herself -- Stephanie hates him and hates herself for wanting him. But now he's offering her release, if she'll play the part of loving wife on an island holiday. But after time alone with the man she "despises," will it really be her freedom she wants?
July 3, 2018
This was a very strange romance ....there was not one moment of romance in the whole thing.
January 1, 2019
I used to really like this one but on reading it for the 4th or 5th time I have altered my opinion. The story is great and LA as an author is great but I just wasn't totally feeling the love.
At the end of the day the I don't think the h was in love with the H by choice it kind of seemed she suffered from a severe case of Stockholm syndrome and once she got preggers there was no escape for her. Some friend the - lovely friend of hers falling in love with her mates husband with friends like that who needs enemies? even if she did remove herself from their company she totally overstayed her welcome.
I don't need to do a massive review here as the lovely boogenhagen has it covered very comprehensibly.
At the end of the day the I don't think the h was in love with the H by choice it kind of seemed she suffered from a severe case of Stockholm syndrome and once she got preggers there was no escape for her. Some friend the - lovely friend of hers falling in love with her mates husband with friends like that who needs enemies? even if she did remove herself from their company she totally overstayed her welcome.
I don't need to do a massive review here as the lovely boogenhagen has it covered very comprehensibly.
December 11, 2022
There was a big queue for this and tbh I'm not sure why. It felt a bit...flat? They were already married in some quasi-business sense but there was a disconnect on every level apart from the physical. She, Stephanie, was artsy and away with the fairies, he, Dominic was essentially uncommunicative and preoccupied. There was a meddling sister(his), a touch of inferiority complex (hers) and an unthreatening older OW and besotted younger OW who moves in (literally and metaphorically)while the h is pregnant. It's about them growing into their marriage and learning to trust each other but I think others have done this trope better.
March 2, 2022
the h is the queen of lack of communication and self pity 🙄
June 28, 2025
Tagline should be “why lies are bad.” Unreadable schlock.
May 23, 2011
Dark Captor is Lindsay Armstrong’s 25th romance title. Stephanie married the powerful and attractive Dominic Rayburn to save her twin brother from prosecution. It was a marriage in name only. But there was a history between them that meant that on the few occasions when they did encounter each other, the results were passionate and explosive. Finally, Dominic offered her a chance to break free……but did she really want to? The initial premise of this story seemed a bit shaky, but the plot developed nicely and Armstrong manages to redeem the tale by the end, causing the odd lump in the throat on the way.
November 2, 2017
Brutal--This line made my day. Simply have to remember to use it on SOMEONE!!!!
'Got a sudden headache?' he queried contemptuously. 'That's another good old hidebound---'
'Well I have,' she spat at him. 'At least something in my head is suffering from a curious aversion to you, but let's call it a headache it's the same thing.'
'Got a sudden headache?' he queried contemptuously. 'That's another good old hidebound---'
'Well I have,' she spat at him. 'At least something in my head is suffering from a curious aversion to you, but let's call it a headache it's the same thing.'
June 15, 2023
As a character study, interesting and well-written. As a romance, utterly depressing -- it basically feels like the prelude to one of those domestic thrillers about married couples who want to kill each other that are so popular now.
June 6, 2013
Family loyalty places Stephanie in Dominic's powers and past history creates a complex web of emotion.
June 6, 2013
Family loyalty places Stephanie in Dominic's powers and past history creates a complex web of emotion.
December 14, 2015
An odd romance.
May 2, 2024
Not a popular one I gather, and I can see why because for most of the read I have to admit I felt a bit glum. Poor Stephanie had to put up with a lot from this asshole, and no matter how many times he sneeringly told her he wasn't raping her... he obviously was. That last rape was hard to stomach, and when he comes to ask if she's OK afterwards I was screaming 'my god leave him!'
So why five stars? Because despite my constant frisson of unease that I felt I was nonetheless hooked by the writing, the characters and the draaaaama. A lot happens, and there are plenty of screaming arguments, slammed doors and hurty fee-fees along the way to keep me entertained. I mostly rate books on how entertained I was... and damn it... I was!
So why five stars? Because despite my constant frisson of unease that I felt I was nonetheless hooked by the writing, the characters and the draaaaama. A lot happens, and there are plenty of screaming arguments, slammed doors and hurty fee-fees along the way to keep me entertained. I mostly rate books on how entertained I was... and damn it... I was!
January 3, 2021
For a book summary talking about conjugal dues, we really don’t get much of that. The book was flat. He was smitten, very confused about the heroine’s actions, trying to figure her out. I got that part. Then randomly in the middle of the book we got a weird conversation between the hero/heroine that I didn’t quite understand what they were trying to say. But I guess it was the right kind of things to say because they made up. They seem happy...I think. That was probably 50-60% in. Idk, I stopped soon after...
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 18, 2022
What a slog! Couldn’t get through this mess. It’s like 3 books in one: young girl likes bully’s brother, blackmail marriage, and rekindling a marriage. It is wild!!! I like the first part, he was rich and noticed the mousy smart younger girl, that start makes everything else that happens afterwards illogical! Skip skip skip it.
October 13, 2025
MC: I hate him because my brother has a bad gambling habit so I married the guy he stole the money from. Now I want him because someone else might be interested. I'm extremely jealous of anyone younger than me that has doe eyes for my "husband".
The name of this book really has nothing to do with the book.
The name of this book really has nothing to do with the book.
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August 30, 2019I first read Dark Captor 14 years ago. I am now 28.
September 5, 2024
Written in 1993 this is a love story with a slow beginning and predictable ending.
September 25, 2025
This couple is passionately in love, but the heroine is scared of surrender. The hero is very respectful of her inner angst and patient, although he isn't a fool and gives her space but within the boundaries of a 'marriage'.
Both leads are incredibly honest and self-aware, although the hero is a bit more trusting of the universe and finds it easier to surrender to his love for the heroine, even when he doesn't really understand it. Our heroine is a product of her early struggles and does not have the required faith, but she is, undoubtedly, in deep, passionate love with the hero.
Both leads are incredibly honest and self-aware, although the hero is a bit more trusting of the universe and finds it easier to surrender to his love for the heroine, even when he doesn't really understand it. Our heroine is a product of her early struggles and does not have the required faith, but she is, undoubtedly, in deep, passionate love with the hero.
May 22, 2016
the book had great potential but failed lamentably ! Stephanie did not know what she wanted. Dominic's behaviour was weird as well. they were not on the same wavelength and der was nothing great in the book apart the sex.
May 28, 2011
Ultraje... es leer ese libro! El argumento de fondo es bueno, pero la relación de los protagonistas es estúpida... o enfermiza. Tal vez los dos.
December 18, 2016
DNF- 68%
I found this a bit of a drag with boring h & H and a dry story.
I felt its a waste of time to continue reading this, maybe I am not in the right mood for this kind of romance.
I found this a bit of a drag with boring h & H and a dry story.
I felt its a waste of time to continue reading this, maybe I am not in the right mood for this kind of romance.
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