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The Innocent's Surrender
Natasha Kirby had long been saddened by her family's feud with the Mandrakis men…now she's caught in its savage cross fire. The family business has fallen into the hands of merciless tycoon Alex Mandrakis. Summoned to his bedroom, Natasha is given an impossible ultimatum: sacrifice her virginity, or he will destroy her family!
Captive on Alex's luxury yacht, Natasha finds her trembling fear turns to traitorous shivers of desire. By rights she should despise him, but slowly she finds herself wishing that her bittersweet seduction could last forever….
Captive on Alex's luxury yacht, Natasha finds her trembling fear turns to traitorous shivers of desire. By rights she should despise him, but slowly she finds herself wishing that her bittersweet seduction could last forever….
192 pages, Paperback
First published December 1, 2009
37 people are currently reading
922 people want to read
About the author
Sara Craven
493 books266 followersAnne Bushell was born on October 1938 in South Devon, England, just before World War II and grew up in a house crammed with books. She was always a voracious reader, some of her all-time favorites books are: "Pride and Prejudice" by Jane Austen, "Middlemarch" by George Eliot, "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Brontë, "Gone With the Wind" by Margaret Mitchell and "The Code of the Woosters" by P. G. Wodehouse.
She worked as journalist at the Paignton Observer, but after her marriage, she moved to the north of England, where she worked as teacher. After she returned to journalism, she joined the Middlesbrough Writers' Group, where she met other romance writer Mildred Grieveson (Anne Mather). She started to wrote romance, and she had her first novel "Garden of Dreams" accepted by Mills & Boon in 1975, she published her work under the pseudonym of Sara Craven. In 2010 she became chairman of the Southern Writers' Conference, and the next year was elected the twenty-six Chairman (2011–2013) of the Romantic Novelists' Association.
Divorced twice, Annie lives in Somerset, South West England, and shares her home with a West Highland white terrier called Bertie Wooster. In her house, she had several thousand books, and an amazing video collection. When she's not writing, she enjoys watching very old films, listening to music, going to the theatre, and eating in good restaurants. She also likes to travel in Europe, to inspire her romances, especially in France, Greece and Italy where many of her novels are set. Since the birth of her twin grandchildren, she is also a regular visitor to New York City, where the little tots live. In 1997, she was the overall winner of the BBC's Mastermind, winning the last final presented by Magnus Magnusson.
She worked as journalist at the Paignton Observer, but after her marriage, she moved to the north of England, where she worked as teacher. After she returned to journalism, she joined the Middlesbrough Writers' Group, where she met other romance writer Mildred Grieveson (Anne Mather). She started to wrote romance, and she had her first novel "Garden of Dreams" accepted by Mills & Boon in 1975, she published her work under the pseudonym of Sara Craven. In 2010 she became chairman of the Southern Writers' Conference, and the next year was elected the twenty-six Chairman (2011–2013) of the Romantic Novelists' Association.
Divorced twice, Annie lives in Somerset, South West England, and shares her home with a West Highland white terrier called Bertie Wooster. In her house, she had several thousand books, and an amazing video collection. When she's not writing, she enjoys watching very old films, listening to music, going to the theatre, and eating in good restaurants. She also likes to travel in Europe, to inspire her romances, especially in France, Greece and Italy where many of her novels are set. Since the birth of her twin grandchildren, she is also a regular visitor to New York City, where the little tots live. In 1997, she was the overall winner of the BBC's Mastermind, winning the last final presented by Magnus Magnusson.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 79 reviews
March 8, 2010
Let me just get it out there in the open right here and now, if you don't like forced sex, whether it's violent or otherwise, in your romance reading, don't read this book. If you can get past that, this is a worthwhile book to read.
It's really, really complicated. I had no idea just how complicated things would be when I started this book. I am a fan of Sara Craven, and I know she pushes the boundaries with her character interactions. I am not a person who would not read a book with that theme on principle. For me, depends on the execution.
In the case of The Innocent's Surrender, I read the 'scene' and didn't like Alex for doing that. I thought it was pretty cold-blooded what he did, and it made it harder for me to accept him as the hero of this book. As things continue, I found myself wondering what would motivate him to do what he did. And the answers come, but not until the end.
Ms. Craven did a clever job of writing this. We don't see much more of what Alex is thinking than Natasha. In essence, we experience the narrative as Natasha does. What motivates this cold-blooded man, who feels such fiery passion towards Natasha? He does some very sweet things for her, but at other times, he ignores her and dismisses her. You would think that is a good thing. After all, wouldn't you want to be a neglected mistress if you had to be a mistress to a man you disliked? Well, Natasha finds herself falling in love with the man she should hate. Maybe that's not realistic, but this is a fiction book, and I can buy something if the author does a good job of writing it. I think Ms. Craven did. I had this burning desire to find out what made Alex tick, what made him so cold and angry. How he could act as though he adored Natasha, when he seemed like he hated her and what she stood for.
And at the end, you find out just how convoluted their path to love is. A vendetta that is older than both of them, is the root of hatred between Natasha's adopted family and Alex. You find out just how awful Natasha's adopted father is, and what he did to make Alex hate so much. And you also find out that Alex fell in love with Natasha years ago, but couldn't have her because of that very vendetta. When Natasha was dangled in front of him by her low-life adopted brothers, and her spiteful adopted sister, he takes advantage of the opportunity to have her. Even though she's not the sweet innocent he fell in love with, or so he thinks because of a vile letter that was supposedly written from Natasha to him. But he doesn't spare her family the vengeance that they fully deserve in his eyes.
So, I have to say that I thought this was a good book. I know it's not for everyone. What Alex did was wrong, but since Natasha was able to love and forgive him, then I can accept what he did and still enjoy the book.
It's really, really complicated. I had no idea just how complicated things would be when I started this book. I am a fan of Sara Craven, and I know she pushes the boundaries with her character interactions. I am not a person who would not read a book with that theme on principle. For me, depends on the execution.
In the case of The Innocent's Surrender, I read the 'scene' and didn't like Alex for doing that. I thought it was pretty cold-blooded what he did, and it made it harder for me to accept him as the hero of this book. As things continue, I found myself wondering what would motivate him to do what he did. And the answers come, but not until the end.
Ms. Craven did a clever job of writing this. We don't see much more of what Alex is thinking than Natasha. In essence, we experience the narrative as Natasha does. What motivates this cold-blooded man, who feels such fiery passion towards Natasha? He does some very sweet things for her, but at other times, he ignores her and dismisses her. You would think that is a good thing. After all, wouldn't you want to be a neglected mistress if you had to be a mistress to a man you disliked? Well, Natasha finds herself falling in love with the man she should hate. Maybe that's not realistic, but this is a fiction book, and I can buy something if the author does a good job of writing it. I think Ms. Craven did. I had this burning desire to find out what made Alex tick, what made him so cold and angry. How he could act as though he adored Natasha, when he seemed like he hated her and what she stood for.
And at the end, you find out just how convoluted their path to love is. A vendetta that is older than both of them, is the root of hatred between Natasha's adopted family and Alex. You find out just how awful Natasha's adopted father is, and what he did to make Alex hate so much. And you also find out that Alex fell in love with Natasha years ago, but couldn't have her because of that very vendetta. When Natasha was dangled in front of him by her low-life adopted brothers, and her spiteful adopted sister, he takes advantage of the opportunity to have her. Even though she's not the sweet innocent he fell in love with, or so he thinks because of a vile letter that was supposedly written from Natasha to him. But he doesn't spare her family the vengeance that they fully deserve in his eyes.
So, I have to say that I thought this was a good book. I know it's not for everyone. What Alex did was wrong, but since Natasha was able to love and forgive him, then I can accept what he did and still enjoy the book.
January 16, 2014
I enjoyed this for the crazy-train HP it was. I never fail to get a kick out of the outrageous things these Greek tycoons will do for revenge and to get their woman. I also never fail to wonder exactly how many private Greek islands are off the coast of Greece. There must be thousands, because every Greek tycoon hqn hero has one. Plus, with all the Greek bazillionaire tycoons, you'd think Greece would be the world's greatest financial power. Anyway... back to the story.
The h is a British girl who was orphaned as a child. Her father had a Greek tycoon friend who stepped in and swept the little girl off to Greece and raised her as his own.
Cut to the h's early twenties. Her Greek foster father had died several years before and she returned to England and has her own small business and a boyfriend she is thinking of giving her virginity to. Then her foster brothers call and the crazy train boards there.
The h is a British girl who was orphaned as a child. Her father had a Greek tycoon friend who stepped in and swept the little girl off to Greece and raised her as his own.
Cut to the h's early twenties. Her Greek foster father had died several years before and she returned to England and has her own small business and a boyfriend she is thinking of giving her virginity to. Then her foster brothers call and the crazy train boards there.
July 26, 2020
***3rd reading
Still good with the same problems. I was struck this time by how the heroine's stepmother got her happy ending by outliving her husband. I not sure she earned her HEA since her lover was crippled because of her. All of her children were horrible. And she got to keep her immaculate reputation.
***This was a re-read and I think I enjoyed it more the second time around because I knew the "forced seduction" (it was rape - I won't sugarcoat it) was coming and I wasn't reeling from it when I read on after that scene and I could see the hero's true feelings coming through.
The Stockholm syndrome part of the story - when he leaves her alone on the island - felt the most manipulative and caused the heroine more emotional anguish than the forced sex. It made sense she would run away then and only then after she got her wires crossed about who was marrying whom.
I thought S.C. handled the emotional arc very well and the complicated family feud was revealed at the right pace and at the right time. If you are a fan of old skool HP, you'll love this one.
Still good with the same problems. I was struck this time by how the heroine's stepmother got her happy ending by outliving her husband. I not sure she earned her HEA since her lover was crippled because of her. All of her children were horrible. And she got to keep her immaculate reputation.
***This was a re-read and I think I enjoyed it more the second time around because I knew the "forced seduction" (it was rape - I won't sugarcoat it) was coming and I wasn't reeling from it when I read on after that scene and I could see the hero's true feelings coming through.
The Stockholm syndrome part of the story - when he leaves her alone on the island - felt the most manipulative and caused the heroine more emotional anguish than the forced sex. It made sense she would run away then and only then after she got her wires crossed about who was marrying whom.
I thought S.C. handled the emotional arc very well and the complicated family feud was revealed at the right pace and at the right time. If you are a fan of old skool HP, you'll love this one.
February 9, 2010
If I was still a 12 years old teen, I would no doubt think a hero acting like a butthole thoughout the book and explaining at the end that he did everything he did because he fell in lurve from looking at the 17 year old heroine across the room so that makes everything all right, oh, so romantic.
However, I am no longer twelve and now realize that such jailbait-loving "heroes" belong in jail.
I may have changed but these books haven't since it's still being published in 2010.
Content warning: forced sex
P.S. The story happens a few yrs after the hero first sees the heroine so she is no longer 17.
However, I am no longer twelve and now realize that such jailbait-loving "heroes" belong in jail.
I may have changed but these books haven't since it's still being published in 2010.
Content warning: forced sex
P.S. The story happens a few yrs after the hero first sees the heroine so she is no longer 17.
December 16, 2014
At 17 Natasha attends her first grown up party, sees handsome playboy Alex and is instantly something (what is this feeling, so sudden, so new?). Alex is the son of her foster family’s bitter enemy, so the glance is all she gets. She’s still thinking about it four years later. He was so hot, and there is much attempt to articulate inarticulate yearnings.
Natasha is an orphan and her Greek millionaire foster father carried her off to Athens to grow up with his own children. She loved him and her foster mother, although their grown up children are pretty rotten. When the foster father dies Natasha is left a seat on the board and a salary (which of course she waives, because she’s good hearted and independent), but it means that she regularly has to leave her nice business in London and travel to Greece to sign Important Papers.
Her foster brothers have made a huge mess of the business and it’s about to go under. I mean, it’s a really huge mess: if they’d just swanned around rich places complaining about how damn busy they were running this big global company while doing nothing, everything probably would have been fine. Now Alex the enemy has offered to buy in, and the brothers have this crazy scheme. They’re going to the banks to say, hey, give us money, we’re attractive to big investors! And to distract Alex, Natasha is to write a letter offering to marry him.
No I bloody won’t, says Natasha, but the brothers and their wives and the evil foster sister who has always hated her say do it, do it, do it! So she does.
Months later the inevitable has happened and Alex the enemy is now actually buying the company out for some tiny pittance, and Natasha has to head back to Athens to sign some Important Papers. At the airport she’s herded into a car and taken to Alex’s lair.
So what’s going on? Ah, Alex is claiming the other thing that he purchased, which is her. Natasha says umm, no, that was marriage and it should have been fairly clear that was phony, so let me go, fiend. But Alex then whips out letter number two and says, haha minx! Explain this filthy missive!
The contents of that letter are never really explained, but it’s sex acts. Both of them will later talk about it as if it’s the most horrific thing that their eyes have ever encountered, so I’m assuming it’s not just position descriptions. It needs to be taken as given that when Alex refers her to paragraph two, it says something like ‘I want you to forcibly seduce me and no matter how hard I beg, don’t take no for an answer.’
Natasha does try to explain that this is fake, that she doesn’t want to, and that this is wrong, but we’re sticking with the paragraph two defence, so it’s on. Natasha pretends to be a block of wood, and Alex has a conversation with her hymen.
So, he says afterwards, had much sex? Oh yeah, tons, she says, all fab except for that one time just then with you. And he says, yeah no, I know a hymen when I pierce one. Let’s take a shower and maybe have chats?
The shower is all confusing tender feels, but Natasha is not up for chats. The next morning, Alex explains that she’s going to jolly well go along with his plan for them to have more sex, otherwise he’s going to take the family’s mansion in Athens and her fragile foster mother will be out on the streets, homeless!
So Important Papers are signed and except for the mother the family are awful and Alex yells at them for being awful. He explains to Natasha that her brothers can now choke on the fact that she took one for the team and it’s all their fault, but I don’t think this is particularly satisfying. The brothers, after all, wrote a creepy sex letter and pretended that it was from their sister, so I’m not convinced that knowing she’s bought their house with her innocence is going to wreck them. I’d have been better satisfied if Natasha cut them, because I’m getting to that stage in reading HP when I just want to take the heroine aside and tell her that, although I know she’s hurting, I really need her to be the slayer right now.
Alex has a flunky who will look after Natasha’s nice business while she’s busy with all the sex he’s going to do to her, and Alex and Natasha sail off around the Greek islands in his boat and eat lots of really amazing food that is lovingly described. Alex’s heart really isn’t in being a brutal seducer, and he keeps trying to be nice to her, which when she notices is awkward and difficult, because she just wants to hate him and maybe they could have hate sex? Not even a little bit?
They go to Alex’s island home and his servants all give her side-eye because they aren’t interested in any hussy sans ring. Natasha is very generous about seeing their pointless point and not cutting them. They work out the bedroom stuff, and Alex’s character is retrofit as a super nice guy … which doesn’t quite blend with his ruthless businessman image, but I appreciated the effort enough to like him, and to like them together. The ending with it’s final devastating misunderstanding is fun.
Natasha is an orphan and her Greek millionaire foster father carried her off to Athens to grow up with his own children. She loved him and her foster mother, although their grown up children are pretty rotten. When the foster father dies Natasha is left a seat on the board and a salary (which of course she waives, because she’s good hearted and independent), but it means that she regularly has to leave her nice business in London and travel to Greece to sign Important Papers.
Her foster brothers have made a huge mess of the business and it’s about to go under. I mean, it’s a really huge mess: if they’d just swanned around rich places complaining about how damn busy they were running this big global company while doing nothing, everything probably would have been fine. Now Alex the enemy has offered to buy in, and the brothers have this crazy scheme. They’re going to the banks to say, hey, give us money, we’re attractive to big investors! And to distract Alex, Natasha is to write a letter offering to marry him.
No I bloody won’t, says Natasha, but the brothers and their wives and the evil foster sister who has always hated her say do it, do it, do it! So she does.
Months later the inevitable has happened and Alex the enemy is now actually buying the company out for some tiny pittance, and Natasha has to head back to Athens to sign some Important Papers. At the airport she’s herded into a car and taken to Alex’s lair.
So what’s going on? Ah, Alex is claiming the other thing that he purchased, which is her. Natasha says umm, no, that was marriage and it should have been fairly clear that was phony, so let me go, fiend. But Alex then whips out letter number two and says, haha minx! Explain this filthy missive!
The contents of that letter are never really explained, but it’s sex acts. Both of them will later talk about it as if it’s the most horrific thing that their eyes have ever encountered, so I’m assuming it’s not just position descriptions. It needs to be taken as given that when Alex refers her to paragraph two, it says something like ‘I want you to forcibly seduce me and no matter how hard I beg, don’t take no for an answer.’
Natasha does try to explain that this is fake, that she doesn’t want to, and that this is wrong, but we’re sticking with the paragraph two defence, so it’s on. Natasha pretends to be a block of wood, and Alex has a conversation with her hymen.
So, he says afterwards, had much sex? Oh yeah, tons, she says, all fab except for that one time just then with you. And he says, yeah no, I know a hymen when I pierce one. Let’s take a shower and maybe have chats?
The shower is all confusing tender feels, but Natasha is not up for chats. The next morning, Alex explains that she’s going to jolly well go along with his plan for them to have more sex, otherwise he’s going to take the family’s mansion in Athens and her fragile foster mother will be out on the streets, homeless!
So Important Papers are signed and except for the mother the family are awful and Alex yells at them for being awful. He explains to Natasha that her brothers can now choke on the fact that she took one for the team and it’s all their fault, but I don’t think this is particularly satisfying. The brothers, after all, wrote a creepy sex letter and pretended that it was from their sister, so I’m not convinced that knowing she’s bought their house with her innocence is going to wreck them. I’d have been better satisfied if Natasha cut them, because I’m getting to that stage in reading HP when I just want to take the heroine aside and tell her that, although I know she’s hurting, I really need her to be the slayer right now.
Alex has a flunky who will look after Natasha’s nice business while she’s busy with all the sex he’s going to do to her, and Alex and Natasha sail off around the Greek islands in his boat and eat lots of really amazing food that is lovingly described. Alex’s heart really isn’t in being a brutal seducer, and he keeps trying to be nice to her, which when she notices is awkward and difficult, because she just wants to hate him and maybe they could have hate sex? Not even a little bit?
They go to Alex’s island home and his servants all give her side-eye because they aren’t interested in any hussy sans ring. Natasha is very generous about seeing their pointless point and not cutting them. They work out the bedroom stuff, and Alex’s character is retrofit as a super nice guy … which doesn’t quite blend with his ruthless businessman image, but I appreciated the effort enough to like him, and to like them together. The ending with it’s final devastating misunderstanding is fun.
March 5, 2010
I'm mildly ashamed to admit that I liked this book lol
First things first, let's get the major point of contention out of the way.
Their first sexual encounter, if not strictly "rape", was most definitely "dubious consent"... Honestly I'm leaning towards the "rape" designation, as seen in my keywords. He doesn't physically force her, but when a man tells you to get naked and get in the bed or else he'll have his men come and forcibly undress you, that's rape.
So.
Ick.
...
...
and yet..
...
...
I still liked the book *hangs head in shame*
It was nice to find out that while Alex hadn't been a saint, that a lot of his previous reputation was exaggerated, and it was plain to see that he was actually devoted to Natasha...
Of course, it earned a spot on my notorious "oh noes u saw me nekkid" shelf, which is, as some of you may know, a pet peeve of mine... I can't stand when a hero sees a heroine naked without her knowledge or consent -- drives me bonkers but it seems to be so popular in romances for some reason. Get a clue authors -- that's not sexy!
*clears throat* Er. Sorry. Soapbox issue and all that..
Anyway, Natasha earned a place on the TSTL shelf because she actually went along with her brothers' scheme to begin with *facepalm* Yeah sooooo wouldn't have happened in real life, but hey, it's an HP -- that's why we read them, true?
And yeah, I guessed what the sister's deal was waaaaaaaay back in the beginning, though I didn't have the specifics quite worked out in my head.
Yes, it was contrived. Yes, it was melodramatic, and yes, the ending was way too neat and pretty, but that's all part of being an HP. You wouldn't read them if you didn't enjoy a bit of a literary soap opera, now would you? :D
So despite all the negatives, I have to say that overall it was an enjoyable read.
4 Stars
First things first, let's get the major point of contention out of the way.
Their first sexual encounter, if not strictly "rape", was most definitely "dubious consent"... Honestly I'm leaning towards the "rape" designation, as seen in my keywords. He doesn't physically force her, but when a man tells you to get naked and get in the bed or else he'll have his men come and forcibly undress you, that's rape.
So.
Ick.
...
...
and yet..
...
...
I still liked the book *hangs head in shame*
It was nice to find out that while Alex hadn't been a saint, that a lot of his previous reputation was exaggerated, and it was plain to see that he was actually devoted to Natasha...
Of course, it earned a spot on my notorious "oh noes u saw me nekkid" shelf, which is, as some of you may know, a pet peeve of mine... I can't stand when a hero sees a heroine naked without her knowledge or consent -- drives me bonkers but it seems to be so popular in romances for some reason. Get a clue authors -- that's not sexy!
*clears throat* Er. Sorry. Soapbox issue and all that..
Anyway, Natasha earned a place on the TSTL shelf because she actually went along with her brothers' scheme to begin with *facepalm* Yeah sooooo wouldn't have happened in real life, but hey, it's an HP -- that's why we read them, true?
And yeah, I guessed what the sister's deal was waaaaaaaay back in the beginning, though I didn't have the specifics quite worked out in my head.
Yes, it was contrived. Yes, it was melodramatic, and yes, the ending was way too neat and pretty, but that's all part of being an HP. You wouldn't read them if you didn't enjoy a bit of a literary soap opera, now would you? :D
So despite all the negatives, I have to say that overall it was an enjoyable read.
4 Stars
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 26, 2011
Rape disguised as romance is distasteful. There was nothing sexy about their first encounter where he is clearly hurting her and does not care. Just because she doesn't say no during the act, does not mean she gave her consent, having said over and over in the beginning, how she did not want to have sex with him and begging him to let her go.
Now with that being said, I have no problem with forced seduction, where the partner actually wants it. But at no time during his assault did she want to. Authors need to think seriously about the messages they send in their writing (although he clearly raped her in the beginning, its okay because he loves her now).
I hope that no minor ever reads this. They could get the wrong idea.
And even more shocking, to see others actually trying to excuse what he did to an innocent woman because of what he went through with her step father... Wow, just wow.
Now with that being said, I have no problem with forced seduction, where the partner actually wants it. But at no time during his assault did she want to. Authors need to think seriously about the messages they send in their writing (although he clearly raped her in the beginning, its okay because he loves her now).
I hope that no minor ever reads this. They could get the wrong idea.
And even more shocking, to see others actually trying to excuse what he did to an innocent woman because of what he went through with her step father... Wow, just wow.
September 9, 2016
I should have taken the other reviewers at their word. Ick to the nth degree.
The so-called hero takes her straight to bed for revenge. I like a little fictional dominance as much as the next, but this was sterile and disgusting.
Take heed.
Rotten family too.
The so-called hero takes her straight to bed for revenge. I like a little fictional dominance as much as the next, but this was sterile and disgusting.
Take heed.
Rotten family too.
June 17, 2010
I'd heard a lot of negative comments about this book before reading it, but thought perhaps the people condemning it were newbies to category romance horrors and exaggerating how awful it is. No, there really is a rape by the "hero" in this one, and a particularly cold-blooded rape, at that. What can seem relatively harmless in an intense, chock-full-of-crazy book from the seventies is a lot nastier when it's presented today, in a completely passionless manner.
I'm honestly not sure why I didn't throw this at the wall, but I did find the story kind of interesting.
I'm honestly not sure why I didn't throw this at the wall, but I did find the story kind of interesting.
November 24, 2013
There's a lot of cussing here. And spoilers. I'm annoyed.
This was.. just.. shit.
I read it all because I thought, after the forced sex, he's going to be doing some epic groveling to get ole chicky back.
Nope. No groveling. And do you know why? Why, because she lurves him. And he lurves her. It happened in a glance, from across the room, years ago when she was a teenager. Granted, when he couldn't get her he "went crazy" and became a huge hormone driven slut but it's ok.. cause this is love. And nothing says I love you like forced sex. Yum yum.
And while everyone's screaming rape rape.. can we just say real quick.. err.. Wtf is up with ole girl? I mean, he has her brought into his bedroom. He's there, naked and waiting and is basically blackmailing her into sex and instead of fighting.. she's all for it. She'll do it and make his life hell later. Because giving up the v-card is no big deal to her.
What in the ever loving fuck buckets?!?!
No. no. no. You do not go.. oh it's ok.. what's a little rape among friends. You do not say I'll make his life hell eventually. No, you make his life hell right in that second. Because fuck this cocksucker! You do not make it easy for someone to hurt you. You roast his frank and beans till he can't use the fucking things then offer to stomp out the fire for him.
I'm not sure what pissed me off more about this book, the main character or that a woman wrote this with a clear conscious. Like it's perfectly all right for this kinda shit to go on and not only is it alright.. why, it's romantic. Eat my shit!
This was.. just.. shit.
I read it all because I thought, after the forced sex, he's going to be doing some epic groveling to get ole chicky back.
Nope. No groveling. And do you know why? Why, because she lurves him. And he lurves her. It happened in a glance, from across the room, years ago when she was a teenager. Granted, when he couldn't get her he "went crazy" and became a huge hormone driven slut but it's ok.. cause this is love. And nothing says I love you like forced sex. Yum yum.
And while everyone's screaming rape rape.. can we just say real quick.. err.. Wtf is up with ole girl? I mean, he has her brought into his bedroom. He's there, naked and waiting and is basically blackmailing her into sex and instead of fighting.. she's all for it. She'll do it and make his life hell later. Because giving up the v-card is no big deal to her.
What in the ever loving fuck buckets?!?!
No. no. no. You do not go.. oh it's ok.. what's a little rape among friends. You do not say I'll make his life hell eventually. No, you make his life hell right in that second. Because fuck this cocksucker! You do not make it easy for someone to hurt you. You roast his frank and beans till he can't use the fucking things then offer to stomp out the fire for him.
I'm not sure what pissed me off more about this book, the main character or that a woman wrote this with a clear conscious. Like it's perfectly all right for this kinda shit to go on and not only is it alright.. why, it's romantic. Eat my shit!
February 22, 2019
"The Innocent's Surrender" is the story of Natasha and Alex.
Set in Greek Islands and on the long standing rivalry between the Mandrakis and Papadimos clans, this book has all the drama you can want- an adopted and indebted heroine, selfish foster siblings, a sacrifice for family's convenience, hymen discoveries, blackmail, hot sex, lack of communication, jealousies, running away, old unrequited love drama and HEA.
Honestly, I wished this story would captivate me but I found myself dozing off throughout most of the heroine's tantrums and hero's attempts of seduction. Instead of a super angsty read, this was mostly drama and eyeroll moments. The reveal at the end was sweet and surprising, but by then the damage had already been done.
Ok read.
Unsafe
2/5
Set in Greek Islands and on the long standing rivalry between the Mandrakis and Papadimos clans, this book has all the drama you can want- an adopted and indebted heroine, selfish foster siblings, a sacrifice for family's convenience, hymen discoveries, blackmail, hot sex, lack of communication, jealousies, running away, old unrequited love drama and HEA.
Honestly, I wished this story would captivate me but I found myself dozing off throughout most of the heroine's tantrums and hero's attempts of seduction. Instead of a super angsty read, this was mostly drama and eyeroll moments. The reveal at the end was sweet and surprising, but by then the damage had already been done.
Ok read.
Unsafe
2/5
April 12, 2013
Melodramatic and reminded me of old school Harlequin Presents. I loved the revelation that the hero had loved the heroine for so long but was forbidden to tell her. When he finally reveals his secret yearning, heartache and longing I went from hating him to falling hard for him.
Lots of angst, emotion and passion!
Lots of angst, emotion and passion!
June 7, 2012
3.5 stars
I feel like before I start writing this review I should put a disclaimer or something... This will not be a book for everyone, that's for sure!
This is a difficult review to write because this is a difficult book to read, at times. There is something about Sara Craven's rather un-PC books that I like, she's certainly 'old school' in her style. This one, well, perhaps it went a little too far!
If you read any other review for this you will be able to ascertain that the first love scene is, er, not the best. I'll be honest, it's a little rapey...
In my opinion it would have been much better without it as the rest of the story is beautifully written and very absorbing.
The book feels very dark, so in a way the first love scene does fit the mood. Sara Craven does a great job of hinting at the real truth underneath all the horrible surface stuff, and that makes you want to keep reading.
The heroine fights her feelings at every step and as a result her character really goes on a journey of self discovery (sorry for the newage speak!). She starts off unforgivably naive yet ends up really growing as a character.
The same for the hero, even though there was no POV for him, at the start I hated him but ended up falling totally for him.
This is a very up and down book, but somehow Sara Craven waves her wand and makes this a very compelling read.
If I have one moan it is that the hero and heroine didn't meet until 15% into the book (thank you Kindle stats!) and that felt a little too long to wait, IMO.
Anyway, like I said, it's not for everyone but I actually enjoyed this book.
Originally posted at http://everyday-is-the-same.blogspot....
I feel like before I start writing this review I should put a disclaimer or something... This will not be a book for everyone, that's for sure!
This is a difficult review to write because this is a difficult book to read, at times. There is something about Sara Craven's rather un-PC books that I like, she's certainly 'old school' in her style. This one, well, perhaps it went a little too far!
If you read any other review for this you will be able to ascertain that the first love scene is, er, not the best. I'll be honest, it's a little rapey...
In my opinion it would have been much better without it as the rest of the story is beautifully written and very absorbing.
The book feels very dark, so in a way the first love scene does fit the mood. Sara Craven does a great job of hinting at the real truth underneath all the horrible surface stuff, and that makes you want to keep reading.
The heroine fights her feelings at every step and as a result her character really goes on a journey of self discovery (sorry for the newage speak!). She starts off unforgivably naive yet ends up really growing as a character.
The same for the hero, even though there was no POV for him, at the start I hated him but ended up falling totally for him.
This is a very up and down book, but somehow Sara Craven waves her wand and makes this a very compelling read.
If I have one moan it is that the hero and heroine didn't meet until 15% into the book (thank you Kindle stats!) and that felt a little too long to wait, IMO.
Anyway, like I said, it's not for everyone but I actually enjoyed this book.
Originally posted at http://everyday-is-the-same.blogspot....
August 20, 2019
3.5 stars
Horrible (foster) family is the cause of a terrible misunderstanding between the protagonists.
This is the beginning of a hate/love relationship with forced seduction, angst, pain and denied passion/love from the h's point of view, like many S. Craven's novels.
All her heroines seem to be totally oblivious of the Hs being totally besotted with them - so nice!
Horrible (foster) family is the cause of a terrible misunderstanding between the protagonists.
This is the beginning of a hate/love relationship with forced seduction, angst, pain and denied passion/love from the h's point of view, like many S. Craven's novels.
All her heroines seem to be totally oblivious of the Hs being totally besotted with them - so nice!
December 13, 2021
It's definitely a case of it's me not the author, but I don't seem to like any of this author's book.
Her heroes are somehow lacking.
Her stories are not able to keep me chained.
Channeled.
Attuned.
No way.
Here the heroine is a foster child of a rich and powerful greek family.
The hero's family and her family are at war and I don't care why. So he's the enemy.
They met once when she was 17 at a party but they were never introduced nor they ever talked.
He was there with one of his many mistresses.
Basically some year later she's sold as the hero's mistress in order to save the family business.
I can't feel any sympathy for a woman who sell herself for a business or a house or money whatsoever, if this money is not needed to save someone's life (for example for a surgery to save a relative, a child, or similar)
In this case the money is not needed to save anyone's life, so i couldn't feel any pity for her.
The hero of course is a hunk.
So the sacrifice she has to do is oh so great, that she has to have sex with a sexy and experienced lover, young, strong, kind, powerful and with a body like a god.
Help me god.
Their first night is not so great because she's a virgin and he doesn't know so not much of an experience for her and I started to wonder why a manwhore of his caliber would want a cold fish like the heroine, when he could have many sexier and more willing, or why he didn't make a little more effort in the seduction part.
Then the day after he asks her to marry but she refuses.
He refuses to let her go and wants to keep her as his mistress, to save her family's business.
And she accept.
Oh the utter sacrifice!
Yeah, right.
Ok, long story short, because I didn't really like it.
The man eventually told her he saw her and he fell in love with her immediately- without even talk to her!
He asked his father to marry her, then asked her family to marry her but was threatened by both parts because of the war betweet their families.
So his heart was so broken that he became the greatest manwhore of history in HPlandia.
Until he found the perfect excuse to have her, and to marry her.
Because he's always been so in love with her.
Ok, I have enough.
I don't believe for one second that he was so in love with her, they didn't even talk. She could have been a nasty bitch and he wanted to marry her???
Really?
The seduction part.
He didn't rape her, she surrendered willingly for the money and the house. Shabby.
She could have at least made a little effort in resisting. For me, she decided willingly to prostitute herself.
And the manwhore part?
It seems that all SC heroes can manage very well their utter despair for not having the heroine's love, and in her absence they can supply themselves with other comfort easily and with utmost pleasure.
Not great love here.
Not great hero either.
I couldn't feel the angst.
So, no, I didn't enjoy this book at all.
Her heroes are somehow lacking.
Her stories are not able to keep me chained.
Channeled.
Attuned.
No way.
Here the heroine is a foster child of a rich and powerful greek family.
The hero's family and her family are at war and I don't care why. So he's the enemy.
They met once when she was 17 at a party but they were never introduced nor they ever talked.
He was there with one of his many mistresses.
Basically some year later she's sold as the hero's mistress in order to save the family business.
I can't feel any sympathy for a woman who sell herself for a business or a house or money whatsoever, if this money is not needed to save someone's life (for example for a surgery to save a relative, a child, or similar)
In this case the money is not needed to save anyone's life, so i couldn't feel any pity for her.
The hero of course is a hunk.
So the sacrifice she has to do is oh so great, that she has to have sex with a sexy and experienced lover, young, strong, kind, powerful and with a body like a god.
Help me god.
Their first night is not so great because she's a virgin and he doesn't know so not much of an experience for her and I started to wonder why a manwhore of his caliber would want a cold fish like the heroine, when he could have many sexier and more willing, or why he didn't make a little more effort in the seduction part.
Then the day after he asks her to marry but she refuses.
He refuses to let her go and wants to keep her as his mistress, to save her family's business.
And she accept.
Oh the utter sacrifice!
Yeah, right.
Ok, long story short, because I didn't really like it.
The man eventually told her he saw her and he fell in love with her immediately- without even talk to her!
He asked his father to marry her, then asked her family to marry her but was threatened by both parts because of the war betweet their families.
So his heart was so broken that he became the greatest manwhore of history in HPlandia.
Until he found the perfect excuse to have her, and to marry her.
Because he's always been so in love with her.
Ok, I have enough.
I don't believe for one second that he was so in love with her, they didn't even talk. She could have been a nasty bitch and he wanted to marry her???
Really?
The seduction part.
He didn't rape her, she surrendered willingly for the money and the house. Shabby.
She could have at least made a little effort in resisting. For me, she decided willingly to prostitute herself.
And the manwhore part?
It seems that all SC heroes can manage very well their utter despair for not having the heroine's love, and in her absence they can supply themselves with other comfort easily and with utmost pleasure.
Not great love here.
Not great hero either.
I couldn't feel the angst.
So, no, I didn't enjoy this book at all.
April 13, 2014
Believe me, I'm not the kind of person to turn down a book because there is violence or rape in It. It could be an important part of a great story if you like a bit of angst. But this book is total nonsesnse
The male character rapes her the first night he meets her.... and It was rape, he even threatened to call his goons to assist in the rape if she didnr colaborate. When she tells him that that is a crime he shows her a letter his brother wrote in her name where she made indecent prositions... So as he says "He is going to rape her and if she goes to the police nobody would belive her becouse of the letter"
From this point on He discobers that the letter was fake because she was a virgin, but instead of letting her go and woo her, He imprisions her and makes her his sex slave using threats against her old aunt.
In other words he is a rapist, a blackmailer and when this kind of threat doesn't bring him the desired results... He uses psicological torture such as humillation and isolation. This so grave that they are traveling but she doesn't know where the yatch is going, like a pet dog you carry where you want without having give an explanation.
This ow-so-healthy relationship ends no even by her hand (Well he had promised to send the yatch to send her back London but lied, another of his sick games) The on to end the slavery was his father that one day came into the Villa and threw her out as she was a prostitute.
And now the female protaginst is back in London and has to listen to all the insults the poor BF he let behind has for her, when the jerk decides to come take her back.... And the SOB still laughs at her because his previous BF wants nothing to do with her anymore. He enters the girl apartment by force and explains to her that her stepfather had been very bad and he had fallen in love with her with only one glance when she was 17, So he had all the right to do what he did and now she had to marry him.
Well the fenale character was beyond stupid and he has zero redeeming qualities, in the book there is not a romantic loving moment. The attaction she feels for him has not fundament: they didn't know each other from before, He raped her and humillated her, not once was he loving or caring with her till she became a mindless sex toy. This story is horrible and if there is a male as Alex, He belongs in Jail without doubt (And Natasha in a mental Institution)
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 30, 2015
Awesome!!!! Books are fiction and meant to take us for a ride for days we want to step out of our own beings. This was a great ride for me.
December 19, 2020
Overall, meh seen-it-before tale of tstl h who goes to ridiculous lengths to save her rotten adopted family, a wooden cutout alpha Greek "Hero" who rapes our innocent h (let's not sugar coat it) and yet, she somehow falls for him because, well, I wasn't sure why (the exciting games of Greek-style backgammon maybe?). There's a lot of family feuding and intrigue, but I was bored and mostly skimmed it and didn't care at all if they HEA'd or just drifted apart. The train just sort of meandered and never really wrecked, so no good angst, no good heat, and one bored reader. YMMV.
March 9, 2014
Awful rape story. Skip it.
February 22, 2011
Well this book made me feel quite uncomfortable at times.
The heroine Natasha is the adopted sister in a Greek shipping magnate's family, who are involved in a family feud with the Mandrakis family, of whom the hero Alex is of course the heir. There is a take over bid by the hero and a rather convoluted plot whereby there is a suggestion that this will be stopped by offering the heroine in marriage to Alex Mendrakis, but with no intention of keeping the bargain and allowing the marriage to go ahead. The whole thing ends in a mess with natasha's brothers losing their entire wealth ( which given the general extent of wealth in Greek shipping families, I thought unlikely).
Natasha returns to Greece to sign relevant documents to wind up the company but instead finds herself brought to alex's home, where he accuses her of sending him a sexually explicit letter ( a forgery by her brothers the reason for which is never made clear) and being a whore. He indicates that he intends to have sex with her then and there. She makes it clear that she is not willing and wants to leave. She is locked in the room with him and he tells her that if she does not take her clothes off herself, he will call his men in to strip her. Natasha feels she has no choice and submits to a sexual encounter which she does not enjoy. Although it is never referred to by the author as such, there is no doubt that this is effectively a rape scene. Alex's actions are cold and deliberate and i have to admit I found it harder to take in a contemporary romance that I would have in a historical setting. Natasha was a virgin and it is made clear that Alex hurts her, that she gets no pleasure from the act. Afterwards Alex shows no remorse other than to suggest he would have prepared her body better for her initiation. WTF??
Thereafter the next day he tells her that either she submits to being his mistress or else he will make sure her foster mother does not even keep her house. He humiliates her in front of her family by outlining their bargain and making it clear that she has suffered the loss of her virginity at his hands for their sake.
He then takes her on his love yacht. The first night on board she manages to deflect 'his appetite' for her by causing s row when he asks him to marry her. The second night he takes her out to dinner and afterwards she falls into his arms. I mean - WTF?!?
The next day she realises that she loves him???
Her emotions are all over the place and her logic is shot to pieces. He takes her to his island retreat where he ignores her for days, but denies her access to a phone or her friends, whilst it emerges that her own business in London is being taken over. All she is allowed to do is sun bathe, while he deals with men's business and she must stay quietly in the background. Alex insists that he will not sleep with her again until she comes to him, and effectively begs for his attention, which she eventually does.
Alex's father arrives and there is an inevitable misunderstanding whereby Natasha believes that he is arranging a marriage for Alex with her foster sister and that because she is just a mistress/ whore she must leave quietly and so she of course runs away.
She gets back to London and starts living her own normal life. Alex arrives. He tells her that he had loved her at first sight 3/4 years ago and had sought permission to court her but her foster father had refused due to the feud. He was delighted by the offer of marriage but when he got her second explicit letter was sick to his stomach and decided to take her for revenge. Once he realised there had been a mistake and he had taken her innocence, he 'hated himself for what he had done' but could not let her go yada yada ...... She forgives him and they live hea.
This book was published in 2010 but the attitudes it expresses belong to previous centuries.
Natasha repeatedly thinks that because she is no longer a virgin she can never marry and no one will respect her and that having been alex's mistress she is used goods and must be hidden away. This was fairly incredible.
Natasha starts the book as being introduced as her own woman running a successful company in her own right but by the end she is reduced to accepting that the hero can just push her around and that business is a man's responsibility. This just did not add up at all.
At no stage does Natasha think - actually I did not want to have sex with this man and he coerced me anyway- ergo this is rape. The fact that she is willing a mere 2 nights later and then also immediately discovers her love was just unbelievable.
Overall Alex was a pretty shoddy hero. He rapes the heroine, blackmails her, humiliates her in front of her family, effectively kidnaps her and keeps her totally isolated on a yacht and then an island for weeks, whilst ignoring her and denying her any other company, treats her like a whore who must be hidden away and then gives really stupid excuses for his actions which just make no sense at all. I mean did he never just think of saying sorry, treating her with respect and acting as a decent person at the outset.....
The heroine Natasha is the adopted sister in a Greek shipping magnate's family, who are involved in a family feud with the Mandrakis family, of whom the hero Alex is of course the heir. There is a take over bid by the hero and a rather convoluted plot whereby there is a suggestion that this will be stopped by offering the heroine in marriage to Alex Mendrakis, but with no intention of keeping the bargain and allowing the marriage to go ahead. The whole thing ends in a mess with natasha's brothers losing their entire wealth ( which given the general extent of wealth in Greek shipping families, I thought unlikely).
Natasha returns to Greece to sign relevant documents to wind up the company but instead finds herself brought to alex's home, where he accuses her of sending him a sexually explicit letter ( a forgery by her brothers the reason for which is never made clear) and being a whore. He indicates that he intends to have sex with her then and there. She makes it clear that she is not willing and wants to leave. She is locked in the room with him and he tells her that if she does not take her clothes off herself, he will call his men in to strip her. Natasha feels she has no choice and submits to a sexual encounter which she does not enjoy. Although it is never referred to by the author as such, there is no doubt that this is effectively a rape scene. Alex's actions are cold and deliberate and i have to admit I found it harder to take in a contemporary romance that I would have in a historical setting. Natasha was a virgin and it is made clear that Alex hurts her, that she gets no pleasure from the act. Afterwards Alex shows no remorse other than to suggest he would have prepared her body better for her initiation. WTF??
Thereafter the next day he tells her that either she submits to being his mistress or else he will make sure her foster mother does not even keep her house. He humiliates her in front of her family by outlining their bargain and making it clear that she has suffered the loss of her virginity at his hands for their sake.
He then takes her on his love yacht. The first night on board she manages to deflect 'his appetite' for her by causing s row when he asks him to marry her. The second night he takes her out to dinner and afterwards she falls into his arms. I mean - WTF?!?
The next day she realises that she loves him???
Her emotions are all over the place and her logic is shot to pieces. He takes her to his island retreat where he ignores her for days, but denies her access to a phone or her friends, whilst it emerges that her own business in London is being taken over. All she is allowed to do is sun bathe, while he deals with men's business and she must stay quietly in the background. Alex insists that he will not sleep with her again until she comes to him, and effectively begs for his attention, which she eventually does.
Alex's father arrives and there is an inevitable misunderstanding whereby Natasha believes that he is arranging a marriage for Alex with her foster sister and that because she is just a mistress/ whore she must leave quietly and so she of course runs away.
She gets back to London and starts living her own normal life. Alex arrives. He tells her that he had loved her at first sight 3/4 years ago and had sought permission to court her but her foster father had refused due to the feud. He was delighted by the offer of marriage but when he got her second explicit letter was sick to his stomach and decided to take her for revenge. Once he realised there had been a mistake and he had taken her innocence, he 'hated himself for what he had done' but could not let her go yada yada ...... She forgives him and they live hea.
This book was published in 2010 but the attitudes it expresses belong to previous centuries.
Natasha repeatedly thinks that because she is no longer a virgin she can never marry and no one will respect her and that having been alex's mistress she is used goods and must be hidden away. This was fairly incredible.
Natasha starts the book as being introduced as her own woman running a successful company in her own right but by the end she is reduced to accepting that the hero can just push her around and that business is a man's responsibility. This just did not add up at all.
At no stage does Natasha think - actually I did not want to have sex with this man and he coerced me anyway- ergo this is rape. The fact that she is willing a mere 2 nights later and then also immediately discovers her love was just unbelievable.
Overall Alex was a pretty shoddy hero. He rapes the heroine, blackmails her, humiliates her in front of her family, effectively kidnaps her and keeps her totally isolated on a yacht and then an island for weeks, whilst ignoring her and denying her any other company, treats her like a whore who must be hidden away and then gives really stupid excuses for his actions which just make no sense at all. I mean did he never just think of saying sorry, treating her with respect and acting as a decent person at the outset.....
March 11, 2018
A few sceens I didn't enjoy in relation to their initially getting together.
January 6, 2024
OK, I re-read this all the way through after seeing it on some Top-Whatever lists. It is actually quite a good story albeit with some serious awfulness. I changed my rating from 1 star to 3.
The initial rape scene is still awful, but even worse is that the next day he offers to let her go OR she can stay with him and in return he'll let her horrible family keep their home. Girl, if you are not a prostitute then you don't sell yourself. Period.
Let's not get into the whole idea of rape as revenge. I understand that he wanted to rub her brothers' faces in the whole family humiliation thing, but that is miles away from raping anyone, even their foster sister.
She should tell him to get lost, tell her brothers, the lawyers and him that he raped her but that she is not going to the police because she was going to stop this insane feud now. Then tell her brothers she's no longer seeing them as family and will not have anything to do with them after they wrote that vile letter. Then tell him where to stick his offer of a home in exchange for her and offer her foster mom a home, then left.
I guess anytime that I want to rewrite a few scenes the book is a pretty good read even if I wanted to smack our heroine upside the head a few times.
Old review:
Awful. Rape scene is horrid as is the prelude when he accuses her of all sorts of iniquities. Plus how could she be so dopey as to sign documents without reading when she knows her adopted family is not very kind.
Did not finish, jumped to end which was OK but insufficient groveling.
The initial rape scene is still awful, but even worse is that the next day he offers to let her go OR she can stay with him and in return he'll let her horrible family keep their home. Girl, if you are not a prostitute then you don't sell yourself. Period.
Let's not get into the whole idea of rape as revenge. I understand that he wanted to rub her brothers' faces in the whole family humiliation thing, but that is miles away from raping anyone, even their foster sister.
She should tell him to get lost, tell her brothers, the lawyers and him that he raped her but that she is not going to the police because she was going to stop this insane feud now. Then tell her brothers she's no longer seeing them as family and will not have anything to do with them after they wrote that vile letter. Then tell him where to stick his offer of a home in exchange for her and offer her foster mom a home, then left.
I guess anytime that I want to rewrite a few scenes the book is a pretty good read even if I wanted to smack our heroine upside the head a few times.
Old review:
Awful. Rape scene is horrid as is the prelude when he accuses her of all sorts of iniquities. Plus how could she be so dopey as to sign documents without reading when she knows her adopted family is not very kind.
Did not finish, jumped to end which was OK but insufficient groveling.
May 30, 2014
Not a good book, the characters were just awful. The main guy pretty much rapes the main girl in like chapter 3 of the book, after that the book just goes down hill. He never apologizes, which really doesn't matter because its not like you can say "hey, sorry I forced you to sleep with me". Then the main girl basically develops like Stockholm syndrome and spends all her time saying how much she loves him, even though most of the book he is just a jerk that leaves her on a private island.
The only reason I gave the book 2 stars is because of the feuding started of by the main guys dad and the main girls adoptive mom. That was the only dramatically engaging event in the book. Other than that this book tanked, this story might have worked in a different decade when views were extremely skewed, and note I used "might" because honestly I doubt it would have ever worked.
Side note the main characters are Natasha and Alex, didn't bother using their names in the rest of the review because they are not memorable characters.
The only reason I gave the book 2 stars is because of the feuding started of by the main guys dad and the main girls adoptive mom. That was the only dramatically engaging event in the book. Other than that this book tanked, this story might have worked in a different decade when views were extremely skewed, and note I used "might" because honestly I doubt it would have ever worked.
Side note the main characters are Natasha and Alex, didn't bother using their names in the rest of the review because they are not memorable characters.
May 11, 2012
You know what I have a bigger problem with than the forced sex scene? The idea that a 21 year old girl would have such a successful business. I'm not saying that it doesn't happen but it's very rare and shouldn't be a throwaway element in a book. I'm weird, I know. Okay on with the review. Sara Craven is an author who rarely works for me. This one was pretty par for the course. The heroine was weak and needed to take a stand at several different points in the book. The hero just rollercoastered right over her. I couldn't really get behind either the heroine nor the hero. Just okay.
January 26, 2012
One of the hits among a whole bunch of misses. There's a particular part that is different, an aspect that hasn't been really told just romanticized which is what a romance book is all about. So what if the hero didn't make her swoon with his kisses? She places a stress on emotional involvement in higher plane. The reason behind the intimacy. It took a while for her to comprehend his devotion. But don't worry all is forgiven when he names his boat after her. Who could resist? I couldn't.
September 18, 2014
I really want to like this book, but it really wasn't my cup of tea. Although I like my tall, dark and silent types and I'm not opposed to plots where the h is tricked into marriage and whisked off to an island or yacht, this story was just off. It seemed to me this whole story was a serious case of Stockholm syndrome. I only enjoyed the last 20 pages or so where she stopped whining and he started acting human.
November 20, 2014
Predictable but entertaining.
These silly Harlequin heroes! Why don't they ever just think to ask their heroines out on a date?
It'd save them the trouble of blackmailing, seducing, kidnapping, etc.
Although, they always get away with it because the heroines (lucky for them) fall in love with their crazy asses.
These silly Harlequin heroes! Why don't they ever just think to ask their heroines out on a date?
It'd save them the trouble of blackmailing, seducing, kidnapping, etc.
Although, they always get away with it because the heroines (lucky for them) fall in love with their crazy asses.
June 18, 2010
This one ends up with 3 stars. It had 2 star parts and 4 star parts with some skimming thrown in. It just seemed long...not a good thing! All that averages out to a bland 3 stars.
January 23, 2015
Instant love, bare conversation, mistakes, WAY too many thoughts, self-degradation, rape disguised as romance and everything else you don't want in a book.
February 21, 2012
Couldn't get past the fact that the initial sexual encounter was out and out rape.
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