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With Rapture Bound
From lavish plantations to plundered seas...
As once she had longed for marriage, now Caroline longed to be free...of cruelty, of shamful barter. But escape brought no freedom - only villainous ruffians, a struggle for survival on a remote island, and captivity by the proud Captian Domino who would not release her for any ransom on earth! Yet where was the love she sought, if not in the arms of Domino? And what, after all, was love...if not the wild, rapturous yearning she learned to feel for him alone?
As once she had longed for marriage, now Caroline longed to be free...of cruelty, of shamful barter. But escape brought no freedom - only villainous ruffians, a struggle for survival on a remote island, and captivity by the proud Captian Domino who would not release her for any ransom on earth! Yet where was the love she sought, if not in the arms of Domino? And what, after all, was love...if not the wild, rapturous yearning she learned to feel for him alone?
379 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1978
54 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
January 17, 2025
A great swashbuckling pirate romance in the Old Skool Tradition. As usual in these novels, the "hero" is a turd. The heroine was great though, and she was a character who evolved plausibly into a mature woman who learned from everything she went through and did not break under the hardships she suffered.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 15, 2023
I have mixed feelings about this book. While it was a fast paced, entertaining story, it had too many unnecessary flaws, and too many disappearing characters.
What it has going for it, is the time period, at least for me. My fav HR novels are those set anywhere the mid 18th century to the Regency era. This takes place in the 1760's and is partially set in Colonial Virginia, as well as the Caribbean and England, all good story locations.
The novel starts out good, with Caroline Marshall, a somewhat spoiled and flirtatious young woman from a prominent family, being duped by her father into marriage with Joshua Welles, whose financial support he needs for a business venture. (Aaron Marshall pretends to be against the match and forbids it, which only makes her more determined to see Joshua, thereby playing into his hands.)
Joshua proves to be a less than ideal husband, to say the least. (One of his quirks is to arouse a woman gently, then roughly have sex with her and enjoy her pain.) Caroline seeks to be free of her husband and gets that opportunity when their ship is attacked by pirates and she's forced aboard the pirate ship, only to be rescued from gang rape when the pirate ship is raided by a privateer known as Domino. And so, it begins!
Unfortunately, while you expect conflict, misunderstandings, separations, etc. in this case it was all so unnecessary. While stopping on one of the islands, Domino (despite Caroline's pleas) decides it's best to leave her with the governor and his wife, because he has dangerous work ahead and doesn't want to risk taking her along. After being marooned on an island for some time, and giving in to their desires, she couldn't bear to be separated from him and asked him more than once to please take her with him, but he kept refusing. Then later, when Joshua finds her (an attempt to escape aboard a ship to England failed, though she managed to help free some slaves), she has no, choice but to go back with him to Virginia, needing his name and protection, as she's pregnant with Domino's baby.
What bothered me was that, because Domino apparently abandoned her, Caroline had to sleep with Joshua, hoping he'll be convinced the baby's his, and had to endure his sadism (which included - to put it politely - raping her through the back door) and also beatings. Then, when Caroline was unconscious, after giving birth to a baby girl, knowing he wasn't the father, Joshua ordered his slave mistress, Selena to take the baby and drown it, then told Caroline she was stillborn. (Luckily, Selena didn't always follow orders.)
Then, desperate to get away from Joshua, Caroline bargains with Byrd Thorne, a business partner of Joshua's, to become his mistress if he'll help her escape. She even has sex with him twice and is ashamed that she responded, thinking herself a whore. (More likely, after Domino's abandonment and Joshua's abuse, she needed to feel cared for by someone, in spite of the circumstances.)
None of this would have happened if Domino had taken her with him. Before Caroline and Joshua sailed for the states, he caught a glimpse of them boarding the ship, and was hurt and jealous at the thought of them together and slept with a tavern barmaid to try and forget. But whose fault was it, Dummy?
I won't give away too much detail, except to mention that, since the book was from the early 80's, the author just had to throw in another rape, by a vicious pirate who had a grudge against both Caroline and Domino. What's even worse, after they're reunited, Domino's actually cold to Caroline, thinking about her and the pirate, even though it wasn't her fault! He reacted so strongly that she had to lie and say she wasn't raped! She realized there was no way she could ever tell him about Byrd, though she had wanted to be honest. If he couldn't handle her being raped, how could he ever accept her giving herself willingly to another man as part of a bargain!
meanwhile, Domino had slept with Solange, a French madam of his acquaintance, while he was searching for Caroline, and who knows how many other women, and he never mentioned this to Caroline. So, these two people who supposedly love each other so much, can't be totally honest, which is sad.
Some things are never explained, like why the slaves who Byrd arranged to help Caroline escape in a barge, left her while she was resting on shore. I'm assuming they saw it as an opportunity to make their own escape, but then you never hear anything about Byrd again. He wanted he for his mistress, so it seems strange he's just forgot about her and not try to find her. also, in the beginning of the novel, there are some scenes with her father and his mistress, Elizabeth, suggesting that she'd be part of the story (especially after she gives Caroline money before her wedding to Joshua, saying she may need it someday), but then that was that was it for her.
And why bother to make Caroline pregnant again, only to have her lose the baby? That was just stupid.
I will compliment Ms. Simmons on portraying two female pirates realistically. It's easy to believe these women were successful buccaneers, as they were tough, hard living, middle aged and came from the kind of background that made sense ft heir chosen profession These are no 18-year-olds, fresh from a night of dancing and flirting in the ballroom of their wealthy father's estate, who overnight become scourges of the sea, (while still remaining virgins or only sleeping with their true love) as too many ridiculous HR books would have us believe. I don't mind women pirates, as long as they're believable.
What was believable (sad to say) was the portrayal of slaves, and what they went through. It makes you want to be sick.
All in all, an entertaining (but very flawed) novel.
What it has going for it, is the time period, at least for me. My fav HR novels are those set anywhere the mid 18th century to the Regency era. This takes place in the 1760's and is partially set in Colonial Virginia, as well as the Caribbean and England, all good story locations.
The novel starts out good, with Caroline Marshall, a somewhat spoiled and flirtatious young woman from a prominent family, being duped by her father into marriage with Joshua Welles, whose financial support he needs for a business venture. (Aaron Marshall pretends to be against the match and forbids it, which only makes her more determined to see Joshua, thereby playing into his hands.)
Joshua proves to be a less than ideal husband, to say the least. (One of his quirks is to arouse a woman gently, then roughly have sex with her and enjoy her pain.) Caroline seeks to be free of her husband and gets that opportunity when their ship is attacked by pirates and she's forced aboard the pirate ship, only to be rescued from gang rape when the pirate ship is raided by a privateer known as Domino. And so, it begins!
Unfortunately, while you expect conflict, misunderstandings, separations, etc. in this case it was all so unnecessary. While stopping on one of the islands, Domino (despite Caroline's pleas) decides it's best to leave her with the governor and his wife, because he has dangerous work ahead and doesn't want to risk taking her along. After being marooned on an island for some time, and giving in to their desires, she couldn't bear to be separated from him and asked him more than once to please take her with him, but he kept refusing. Then later, when Joshua finds her (an attempt to escape aboard a ship to England failed, though she managed to help free some slaves), she has no, choice but to go back with him to Virginia, needing his name and protection, as she's pregnant with Domino's baby.
What bothered me was that, because Domino apparently abandoned her, Caroline had to sleep with Joshua, hoping he'll be convinced the baby's his, and had to endure his sadism (which included - to put it politely - raping her through the back door) and also beatings. Then, when Caroline was unconscious, after giving birth to a baby girl, knowing he wasn't the father, Joshua ordered his slave mistress, Selena to take the baby and drown it, then told Caroline she was stillborn. (Luckily, Selena didn't always follow orders.)
Then, desperate to get away from Joshua, Caroline bargains with Byrd Thorne, a business partner of Joshua's, to become his mistress if he'll help her escape. She even has sex with him twice and is ashamed that she responded, thinking herself a whore. (More likely, after Domino's abandonment and Joshua's abuse, she needed to feel cared for by someone, in spite of the circumstances.)
None of this would have happened if Domino had taken her with him. Before Caroline and Joshua sailed for the states, he caught a glimpse of them boarding the ship, and was hurt and jealous at the thought of them together and slept with a tavern barmaid to try and forget. But whose fault was it, Dummy?
I won't give away too much detail, except to mention that, since the book was from the early 80's, the author just had to throw in another rape, by a vicious pirate who had a grudge against both Caroline and Domino. What's even worse, after they're reunited, Domino's actually cold to Caroline, thinking about her and the pirate, even though it wasn't her fault! He reacted so strongly that she had to lie and say she wasn't raped! She realized there was no way she could ever tell him about Byrd, though she had wanted to be honest. If he couldn't handle her being raped, how could he ever accept her giving herself willingly to another man as part of a bargain!
meanwhile, Domino had slept with Solange, a French madam of his acquaintance, while he was searching for Caroline, and who knows how many other women, and he never mentioned this to Caroline. So, these two people who supposedly love each other so much, can't be totally honest, which is sad.
Some things are never explained, like why the slaves who Byrd arranged to help Caroline escape in a barge, left her while she was resting on shore. I'm assuming they saw it as an opportunity to make their own escape, but then you never hear anything about Byrd again. He wanted he for his mistress, so it seems strange he's just forgot about her and not try to find her. also, in the beginning of the novel, there are some scenes with her father and his mistress, Elizabeth, suggesting that she'd be part of the story (especially after she gives Caroline money before her wedding to Joshua, saying she may need it someday), but then that was that was it for her.
And why bother to make Caroline pregnant again, only to have her lose the baby? That was just stupid.
I will compliment Ms. Simmons on portraying two female pirates realistically. It's easy to believe these women were successful buccaneers, as they were tough, hard living, middle aged and came from the kind of background that made sense ft heir chosen profession These are no 18-year-olds, fresh from a night of dancing and flirting in the ballroom of their wealthy father's estate, who overnight become scourges of the sea, (while still remaining virgins or only sleeping with their true love) as too many ridiculous HR books would have us believe. I don't mind women pirates, as long as they're believable.
What was believable (sad to say) was the portrayal of slaves, and what they went through. It makes you want to be sick.
All in all, an entertaining (but very flawed) novel.
no-fcking-ways
May 31, 2025It seems that H slept with other woman while searching for the lost h.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews