Captive Flame

by Patricia Phillips

Mistress of Hepburn Castle as fiery as her flame-hued tresses, Janet was snatched from her bridegroom's arms and driven into the bed of her most dreaded foe-Robert Gowrie. Raider, chieftain, notorious lover, he claimed her body and soul.

Not even the perfumed pleasure place of an English lord could defend her from his conquest of her heart. The heather-strewn moors of Scotland were to ring with the clash of steel, the thunder of a thousand hooves-all in the name of their love.

Genres: Medieval, Romance

384 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1980

Reviews

[Lauren · Rating 2 out of 5]

2 Stars.

This was an okay read. Not bad, but not good. The h lust for her enemy after seeing him one time. When he kidnaps her, it takes less than a day before they give in to their lust. I hated that the experienced rake whispers love words in bed with the h. Men seem to fall in love with the h pretty quickly...unbelievably quickly! I prefer a h to put up some fight of resistance to her enemies.

I was bored through most of the book. The potential was there, but the book didn't live up to it.

I should Warn you that this book is a BR, which are always either a hit or miss. This book was just okay!

[Zenei · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was my first "Kidnap the heroine and bring her to your castle and fall in love" book so I am partial to it where others that I have read after, seem like biters. I always like a heroine that has a temper. It makes her more real and different from the typical bland heroines in most romances. It tells me that the writer is confident and unafraid to go outside the box and deviate from the tried and true blueprint. Janet Hepburn kind of reminded me of me with her quick temper, impatience and a stubborn streak. Her relationship with her Dad is familiar as well. The part where she sits on his lap while he laughs and drinks with his buddies brings back such memories. She seemed to be the Daddy's girl sort, like moi :-). I really liked the way Phillips portrayed that. You got the sense that her father was a born leader. Gruff and rough, you could tell he loved his daughter but was a man of his time. He really set the standard for me on the gritty highlander type. I really liked the subtle contrast between the father and Janet's brother Duncan. Duncan was a bit more hard core, young and brass without the mellow edges that come with time and experience that the father displayed. But it was obvious (at least to me) that he loved his sister just the same.
With the introduction of Gavin her cousin and fiancé, you immediately knew that he was no match for her with her fiery hair and temper. You get the impression that she could have probably beat him up if she needed to. I'm not going to give away details here but if things did not go down the way they did, it would have made for a laughable marriage. With her passionate nature, she probably would have cheated on him. Nevertheless, a lot of people would not comprehend the tough decision her Dad, uncle and brother had to make in her behalf. However, although I didn't like it, I did grudgingly understand the why of it. At least how it relates to the time period.
Black Robert (that always tickles me when they call a Caucasian man by this description) was definitely bold, daring, demanding and man enough to be more than a match for her. Phillips does a wonderful job at bringing this character to life so that you can imagine him walking, talking, living and breathing. To me he seemed a bit rough around the edges and smooth at the same time. She manages (intentionally or not) to give him a unique kind charisma. Hard to do, I think when creating a character from your mind. Kudos to her for pulling this off.
Another thing that stood out in this book was that madman that Janet was forced to marry. The fact that he wore make-up and had the need to surround himself with beauty to cover a horrific skin condition and a depraved mind was rather a unique concept. He was unable to perform sexually without drugs provided by an Arabian sorceress. And then, he would turn into a perverted freak. The things that went on in that castle still amuse and amaze me when I think about it.
Woven into this story is a realism of the time. You get the impression that this was what it was really like then and not just what the writer wants to portray to fit her book. This is the only book by Patricia Phillips that I have, but based on this I think she is a natural. I really want to read another book by her to see if she is consistent as well.

[Maria · Rating 4 out of 5]

Goodness! A ripper of a bodice ripper! I usually shun from these - I read enough in my early teens! However, it was one sitting lonely in a box of non-fiction books, and so, took to it.
Yes, there is violence toward women, but it was set in 1386, so that was the norm. Terrible, but the norm. The young Janet falls instantly in love on first sneaky look with Black Robert, her families sworn enemey, but she was the one putting herself in danger by walking on the moors when her father was away stealing cattle back from Black Robert. I mean, seriously, did they not expect to be murdered in their beds? must have been some boring times to fill back then.

Janet and Black Robert, what can I say? Sweet and loving after one bonk. Luckily for her, her flaming red hair saves the day! Men fall instantly in love with her and bonk her as well, ok, against her will. The story goes on with twists and turns I did not see coming, and to be honest I kept wondering what WOULD happen next. I mean, it's boring old Scotland in a boring landscape, in a boring period of time and history. What excitement could there possibly be? Well, the pages turned swiftly as I became engrossed in the whole long saga.

Patricia Phillips did a wonderful job of not boring the reader too much with historical facts, and I did learn some things. I mean, who knew what a Jedart was? She didn't explain that, but I, being a modern woman, googled it. This lead me on a long and winding road to Scots history which then made the whole story far more interesting. Once knowing more of the history, I could easily understand the plot.

I quite liked this book, and although I am annoyed in part on how women were treated, this book did not shy away from the facts. If you get incensed by such things in a modern take then you won't enjoy it.

[Tapa in lovezone · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is the one of the para from the book where the hero is thinking…
Just for note, Janet is the heroine and Margaret is his mistress. This is what he is thinking while the Hh are separated and his mistress has crawled her way back to him.

Robert swallowed as she tantalizingly brushed her finger
across his cheek. He gripped her wrist, fighting his own
warring instincts: he loved Janet and he owed her loyalty,
yet it was Maggie who taunted him with her ample curves
and provocative manner. He should have sent her, from
the castle in the beginning, yet at first he had welcomed
her skillful nursing, for the arduous journey north had re¬
opened his leg wound. Once she was firmly reestablished as
a resident of Craigsmuir, Robert had found it even harder
to dismiss her. Soon, if he had no assurance Janet would
be his again, he knew he would take Maggie Kennedy to
his bed, if not out of love, then at least out of lust.

Just amazing 😒
And then when the heroine comes back to the hero he was about to have it with his mistress while still loving the heroine. Pity the heroine has a baby to take care of and she can’t go anywhere but stay with the hero. And he still hasn’t dismissed his mistress who has cause the hero heroine’s estrangement.
Waste of my time.

[Toni · Rating 4 out of 5]

Janet Hepburn is preparing to marry her cousin Gavin when she's abducted by Robert Gowrie's men. Black Robert is a border lord and supposedly he only wants Flaming Janet to exchange her for the many cattle and sheep her father's men have stolen from him over the years. Soon, however, he's not only seduced Janet but apparently fallen in love with her, and when she escapes and returns to her father, he comes after her, asking to be allowed to marry her. Her father refuses, deciding now that she's been "dishonored" to marry her to an English Lord, George Murray, instead.

New husband George is not only as handsome as an angel, he's also bisexual, impotent, and a total looney. He wants Janet for only one reason, to have an heir which he can only mange with various potions and magical incantations. George's captain of the guard, Christie, abused by his master as a child, becomes her friend and her lover and attempts in some way to protect her from her murderous husband. When Janet manages to escape the prison George has made of his castle, she goes, not home, but to Black Robert where she stays until learning her father's on his deathbed. Now carrying Robert's child, she makes peace with her father before he dies but upon her brother's return, discovers George's kin believe the child she carries is his and will be the Murray heir.

In the meantime, the Scots are fighting the English and Robert is wounded. Janet finds him and nurses him back to health only to have him abandon her (to keep her safe) and return home. When she follows, it's to find herself and her child in mortal danger, not just from her husband's relatives but also from Robert's former mistress who may just kill the woman he loves and their child in the belief she can get Robert back.

An interesting bit of history in how the border lords are charged with defending not only the borders from the English but from their own people, too. Stealing from each other as well as waylaying travelers seemed to be the accepted norm and Black Robert is one of the best at both.

The one thing about this story that didn't set well was the relative ease of infidelity of both Janet and Robert as well as their many reunions and separations. It becomes almost tedious, as well as a little unbelievable after a while.

Robert seems to have an excuse for everything, whether he's believed or not. Ostensibly, kidnapping the Hepburn heiress to get back his stolen property, he seduces her, admitting to his mistress Margaret it's not because he loves her, but because Margaret's shrewish harping drives him to it. Even when he later comes to ask for Janet's hand, he gives up the minute her father refuses.

When Janet is married to George, she doesn't find it at all difficult to start an affair with Christie, breaking it off, then starting it up again as a bribe to free Robert who's been captured. When Robert returns to his home and Janet follows, she catches him with his former mistress, asked back to tend his wounds...while he calmly denies the whole thing. Later he changes to the excuse, it "wasn't what it looked like." Margaret's presence wore down his resistance...Considering that Margaret was sent to him by her brothers in hopes they'd be wed and she's lived with him for years as his mistress (and what did her brothers think of that? Apparently nothing) and he turned her out because he "loved" Janet, it's a wonder she'd come back to him, even as a nurse. Apparently none in that family had any self-respect.

It's a good story, well-written, and with enough historical lore, as well as Scottish customs of the times and the strong loyalty to the pull of blood-kinship and that by marriage. One just has to take Janet and Robert's on-again/off-again romance with a grain of salt...or perhaps give in to that "willing suspension of disbelief."


This novel was a gift to the reviewer and no remuneration was involved in the writing of this review.