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Royal Captive
Her name was Rosanna - daughter of a witch, poverty-stricken, but possessed of a fiery spirit and an unquenchable thirst for all life could offer. Young, innocent, with the guilelessness of a girl and the body of a woman, Rosanna was destined to climb to the dizzying heights of a 15th-century Italian court life.
Royal Captive chronicles her fabulous rise - and the degradations and indignities she would survive...the cruel man who first possessed her body, and the young duke who would finally possess her heart. The story of Rosanna is a saga of triumph, of revenge, of court intrigues and unbridled lust - and, most of all, the vivid, unforgettable romance of Rosanna and the magnificent Duke Paolo.
Royal Captive chronicles her fabulous rise - and the degradations and indignities she would survive...the cruel man who first possessed her body, and the young duke who would finally possess her heart. The story of Rosanna is a saga of triumph, of revenge, of court intrigues and unbridled lust - and, most of all, the vivid, unforgettable romance of Rosanna and the magnificent Duke Paolo.
287 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1977
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January 18, 2016
A dark Shakespearean-type story set in 1400s Italy -- highly entertaining, though not for the reader who requires a happy ending.
Rosanna begins as a wild mountain gal, but that changes when her mother & halfwit servant are raped & murdered before her eyes. Miraculously (or not...?), she's rescued by a rich & hitherto-unknown family in Lorenzo, where she's installed as body servant to her bitchy cousin. In the course of her duties she's pimped out to Duke Paulo, & presto -- lovelorn obsession begins. Rosanna might be ignorant of aristocratic social practices, but she's not stupid; she bargains her virginity to her uncle in exchange for gifts, then uses her cousin Marco to gain a foothold in Duke Paulo's circle. Various unwholesome deeds ensue as she works peripheral roles in the political schemes of creepster Miserotti -- but her conscience ceases to bother her once Paulo takes her as his official mistress. From that point she spends her days guarding against displacement by Paulo's angry wife Teresa (who has a penchant for suckling pubescent pageboys on her bountiful milk) & Paulo's equally angry brother Bernardo, who hates Rosanna with the passion of a thousand fiery suns (how dare she enter into a MOC with his gay lover?! HE MUST RETALIATE!).
Royal Captive could easily have been twice as long -- there's a lot that happens off-page, & the herky-jerky pacing sacrificed some details that the reader takes on faith. All the characters were interesting in their own right, but they didn't have much room for long-term growth because everything happens in less than 300 pages.
That said, I was totally invested -- even with the pacing issues & abundance of typos. The prose feels somewhat raw & unpolished (not necessarily a bad thing). But I liked the loose ends & open-ended moral repercussions of Rosanna's rise to power. Her mysterious parentage is never resolved -- was she a witch, albeit untrained? She's only a concubine, not a wife -- she might be the heroine, but some of Teresa's complaints are justified. Paulo loves Rosanna, yes -- but is it a noble love, or an unhealthy obsession to equal her own?
Anyway, this was a fun little ripper. I'll definitely be reading more from this author.
Squick List:
-strong violence
-rape
-Bernardo's murderous WTFery
-H/h sleep with other people (OH NOES! *clutches pearls*)
-dark ending
Rosanna begins as a wild mountain gal, but that changes when her mother & halfwit servant are raped & murdered before her eyes. Miraculously (or not...?), she's rescued by a rich & hitherto-unknown family in Lorenzo, where she's installed as body servant to her bitchy cousin. In the course of her duties she's pimped out to Duke Paulo, & presto -- lovelorn obsession begins. Rosanna might be ignorant of aristocratic social practices, but she's not stupid; she bargains her virginity to her uncle in exchange for gifts, then uses her cousin Marco to gain a foothold in Duke Paulo's circle. Various unwholesome deeds ensue as she works peripheral roles in the political schemes of creepster Miserotti -- but her conscience ceases to bother her once Paulo takes her as his official mistress. From that point she spends her days guarding against displacement by Paulo's angry wife Teresa (who has a penchant for suckling pubescent pageboys on her bountiful milk) & Paulo's equally angry brother Bernardo, who hates Rosanna with the passion of a thousand fiery suns (how dare she enter into a MOC with his gay lover?! HE MUST RETALIATE!).
Royal Captive could easily have been twice as long -- there's a lot that happens off-page, & the herky-jerky pacing sacrificed some details that the reader takes on faith. All the characters were interesting in their own right, but they didn't have much room for long-term growth because everything happens in less than 300 pages.
That said, I was totally invested -- even with the pacing issues & abundance of typos. The prose feels somewhat raw & unpolished (not necessarily a bad thing). But I liked the loose ends & open-ended moral repercussions of Rosanna's rise to power. Her mysterious parentage is never resolved -- was she a witch, albeit untrained? She's only a concubine, not a wife -- she might be the heroine, but some of Teresa's complaints are justified. Paulo loves Rosanna, yes -- but is it a noble love, or an unhealthy obsession to equal her own?
Anyway, this was a fun little ripper. I'll definitely be reading more from this author.
Squick List:
-strong violence
-rape
-Bernardo's murderous WTFery
-H/h sleep with other people (OH NOES! *clutches pearls*)
-dark ending
Displaying 1 of 1 review