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Midnight Captive
MONEY WAS SUPERIOR TO MARRIAGE
After a poor, ragged girlhood with he gypsy kinfolk, Krissoula Ballardo knew that all she wanted from life was her share of riches. But there was only one way for the penniless temptress to earn a cent: to fake interest in a man, drug him, and pocket everything he had! Then the sable-haired seductress met dashing Esteban de San Martin, and a hot unquenchable passion seared her soul. The fortune-hunting beauty knew she should flee the handsome devil -- but a force more powerful made her run straight into his embrace!
RANCHING WAS BETTER THAN ROMANCE
All his life, dark, towering Esteban had been denied his father's name; now he swore nothing would keep him from his rightful inheritance. In order to regain his vast Argentine acreage, the crafty vacquero blackmailed Krissoula, the unscrupulous wench who'd once tried to fool him. But the more he involved her in his plot, the more Esteban couldn't deny her effect on him. Her luscious lips begged for his sensual kisses, her ripe curves invited his arousing caresses, and soon he was ready to sacrifice his carefully planned scheme for one searing moment in the welcoming arms of his exotic midnight captive.
After a poor, ragged girlhood with he gypsy kinfolk, Krissoula Ballardo knew that all she wanted from life was her share of riches. But there was only one way for the penniless temptress to earn a cent: to fake interest in a man, drug him, and pocket everything he had! Then the sable-haired seductress met dashing Esteban de San Martin, and a hot unquenchable passion seared her soul. The fortune-hunting beauty knew she should flee the handsome devil -- but a force more powerful made her run straight into his embrace!
RANCHING WAS BETTER THAN ROMANCE
All his life, dark, towering Esteban had been denied his father's name; now he swore nothing would keep him from his rightful inheritance. In order to regain his vast Argentine acreage, the crafty vacquero blackmailed Krissoula, the unscrupulous wench who'd once tried to fool him. But the more he involved her in his plot, the more Esteban couldn't deny her effect on him. Her luscious lips begged for his sensual kisses, her ripe curves invited his arousing caresses, and soon he was ready to sacrifice his carefully planned scheme for one searing moment in the welcoming arms of his exotic midnight captive.
512 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published March 1, 1989
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
July 6, 2021
This review is of “Midnight Captive”, a standalone from March 1989 by Penelope Neri.
The book begins ominously. A man finds a cache of gold and wishes everything he touches would turn into it. Hearing him, the Devil appears and makes the man a bargain; if the unnamed man sells his soul to the Devil, the Devil will grant his wish. The man agrees. He later realizes, however, that such a bargain has unintended consequences. This is the theme running through the book.
We later meet Krissoula Ballardo, the heroine of the book, and her business partner, Hector Corrales, in Spain. Their business: rolling rich men and stealing from them. When they see Esteban de San Martin, the hero of the book, they try to rob him. This plan fails, and, rather than have Krissoula arrested, Esteban blackmails her into helping him get revenge against his uncle, Felipe Aguilar,, in Esteban’s home country of Argentina. (Felipe is the brother of Esteban’s late father, Alejandro, and there is significant bad blood between uncle and nephew, the reasons for which are revealed). We also learn about Krissoula’s past, which involves a happy childhood and a much-less-happy young adulthood.
As part of Esteban’s plan, Krissoula is supposed to become engaged to Felipe. However, he discovers that she and Esteban are lovers, leading to major trouble for both Krissoula and Esteban. (Esteban is severely beaten by Felipe’s henchmen and Krissoula and her duenna Sofia de Alicante y Moreno are forced to flee. They end up being kidnapped by revolutionaries who want to overthrow the Argentine government). They escape their captivity, and Krissoula and Sofia make their way to the Argentine barrios, where Krissoula has to fight off the predatory intentions of Antonio Malvado, the “godfather” of the barrio they’re staying in.
Those efforts end up for naught, however, as Sofia becomes seriously ill and Krissoula has no choice but to go to Malvado for help. She also plans to kill Malvado for his contribution to the death of a friend of hers.
Esteban-now recovered from his beating-discovers that Krissoula is with Malvado, and, after a violent battle and a chase, rescues her from Malvado’s evil clutches, and kills him. Krissoula and Esteban marry, have one child, officially adopt two others and unofficially many others (Krissoula and Esteban open an orphanage for the homeless, parentless children of the barrio). Krissoula and Esteban have their Happily Ever After.
Upside: A reader might read the title “Midnight Captive” and think the book is a “Stockholm Syndrome” romance. It’s not, thankfully.
What the book really is is a story about a young woman-Krissoula is 19-who has endured major hardships and trauma in her young life, finding happiness through her own inner strength and courage. At first, I didn’t like Krissoula (She starts the book as a thief), but as I read more, I grew to like, and later love, Krissoula. Readers will watch her grow up before their eyes. She has a lot of similarities with another Penelope Neri heroine, Freya Jorgenson from Sea Jewel. (The two stories are very different in terms of setting and culture, but both are about young women experiencing hellish trauma at young ages finding happiness by tapping into strength they didn’t know they had in order to survive). Both Krissoula and Esteban are developed, fully realized characters; although neither are flawless, they are very human. They also have hot chemistry that comes from pairing a Gypsy/Spanish/Greek heroine with a Latinx hero. Esteban is my favorite Neri hero (admittedly not a high bar to climb, as most of her “heroes” are rapist bastards, but he clears the bar easily). I also liked the fact that both Krissoula and Esteban were willing to give a “hand-up” to the kids that needed a champion. Ms. Neri also ties her parable from the beginning of the book into her main story: Esteban becomes wealthy, but realizes that it's no good if he doesn't have Krissoula, who he loves very much. For Krissoula, she almost married Felipe-who is later killed "off-screen"-but comes to realize that she may gain wealth by marrying him, but she would not be loved, as only Esteban could provide her with the true love she has been seeking all of her life.
Ms. Neri is also a very good “scenic” writer. By that, I mean that she is very descriptive in her writing of scenes and takes me, as a reader, into her scenes.
Downside: Like the majority of Ms. Neri’s books, “Midnight Captive” is overlong (This is the 10th book I’ve read by Ms. Neri, and only one has come in at less than 500 pages. “Midnight Captive” checks in at 512 pages). There were way too many exclamation points at the end of paragraphs and sentences. I also felt the storyline about the overthrow of the Argentine government to be tacked on as a way to extend the page count and not really important or relevant to the book as a whole.
Sex: Ms. Neri knows how to write a sexy love scene-she did so in Sea Jewel-but here, the love scenes are fairly mild. They’re not Ms. Neri’s best love scenes.
Violence:Assault, battery, destruction of guns and killings take place in “Midnight Captive”. The violence is not graphic.
Bottom Line: “Midnight Captive” is not a flawless book, but it has more than enough good qualities-including an amazing heroine-to earn a 4.89, rounded-up 5 stars from me.
The book begins ominously. A man finds a cache of gold and wishes everything he touches would turn into it. Hearing him, the Devil appears and makes the man a bargain; if the unnamed man sells his soul to the Devil, the Devil will grant his wish. The man agrees. He later realizes, however, that such a bargain has unintended consequences. This is the theme running through the book.
We later meet Krissoula Ballardo, the heroine of the book, and her business partner, Hector Corrales, in Spain. Their business: rolling rich men and stealing from them. When they see Esteban de San Martin, the hero of the book, they try to rob him. This plan fails, and, rather than have Krissoula arrested, Esteban blackmails her into helping him get revenge against his uncle, Felipe Aguilar,, in Esteban’s home country of Argentina. (Felipe is the brother of Esteban’s late father, Alejandro, and there is significant bad blood between uncle and nephew, the reasons for which are revealed). We also learn about Krissoula’s past, which involves a happy childhood and a much-less-happy young adulthood.
As part of Esteban’s plan, Krissoula is supposed to become engaged to Felipe. However, he discovers that she and Esteban are lovers, leading to major trouble for both Krissoula and Esteban. (Esteban is severely beaten by Felipe’s henchmen and Krissoula and her duenna Sofia de Alicante y Moreno are forced to flee. They end up being kidnapped by revolutionaries who want to overthrow the Argentine government). They escape their captivity, and Krissoula and Sofia make their way to the Argentine barrios, where Krissoula has to fight off the predatory intentions of Antonio Malvado, the “godfather” of the barrio they’re staying in.
Those efforts end up for naught, however, as Sofia becomes seriously ill and Krissoula has no choice but to go to Malvado for help. She also plans to kill Malvado for his contribution to the death of a friend of hers.
Esteban-now recovered from his beating-discovers that Krissoula is with Malvado, and, after a violent battle and a chase, rescues her from Malvado’s evil clutches, and kills him. Krissoula and Esteban marry, have one child, officially adopt two others and unofficially many others (Krissoula and Esteban open an orphanage for the homeless, parentless children of the barrio). Krissoula and Esteban have their Happily Ever After.
Upside: A reader might read the title “Midnight Captive” and think the book is a “Stockholm Syndrome” romance. It’s not, thankfully.
What the book really is is a story about a young woman-Krissoula is 19-who has endured major hardships and trauma in her young life, finding happiness through her own inner strength and courage. At first, I didn’t like Krissoula (She starts the book as a thief), but as I read more, I grew to like, and later love, Krissoula. Readers will watch her grow up before their eyes. She has a lot of similarities with another Penelope Neri heroine, Freya Jorgenson from Sea Jewel. (The two stories are very different in terms of setting and culture, but both are about young women experiencing hellish trauma at young ages finding happiness by tapping into strength they didn’t know they had in order to survive). Both Krissoula and Esteban are developed, fully realized characters; although neither are flawless, they are very human. They also have hot chemistry that comes from pairing a Gypsy/Spanish/Greek heroine with a Latinx hero. Esteban is my favorite Neri hero (admittedly not a high bar to climb, as most of her “heroes” are rapist bastards, but he clears the bar easily). I also liked the fact that both Krissoula and Esteban were willing to give a “hand-up” to the kids that needed a champion. Ms. Neri also ties her parable from the beginning of the book into her main story: Esteban becomes wealthy, but realizes that it's no good if he doesn't have Krissoula, who he loves very much. For Krissoula, she almost married Felipe-who is later killed "off-screen"-but comes to realize that she may gain wealth by marrying him, but she would not be loved, as only Esteban could provide her with the true love she has been seeking all of her life.
Ms. Neri is also a very good “scenic” writer. By that, I mean that she is very descriptive in her writing of scenes and takes me, as a reader, into her scenes.
Downside: Like the majority of Ms. Neri’s books, “Midnight Captive” is overlong (This is the 10th book I’ve read by Ms. Neri, and only one has come in at less than 500 pages. “Midnight Captive” checks in at 512 pages). There were way too many exclamation points at the end of paragraphs and sentences. I also felt the storyline about the overthrow of the Argentine government to be tacked on as a way to extend the page count and not really important or relevant to the book as a whole.
Sex: Ms. Neri knows how to write a sexy love scene-she did so in Sea Jewel-but here, the love scenes are fairly mild. They’re not Ms. Neri’s best love scenes.
Violence:Assault, battery, destruction of guns and killings take place in “Midnight Captive”. The violence is not graphic.
Bottom Line: “Midnight Captive” is not a flawless book, but it has more than enough good qualities-including an amazing heroine-to earn a 4.89, rounded-up 5 stars from me.
unread
February 28, 2021NB: This cover, while not unappealing in GR format, is stunning in dead tree—there’s a dark ombre-metallic wash over the usual symbolic wild ponies & blooming flowers, so the MCs have dimensional pop, + bonus frantic-lovemaking-clinch on the back panel amidst moody blues & fuchsias. The scan doesn’t do it justice. 🖤
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July 14, 2023I have a confession. I have dozens of books like this. I’ve been collecting clinch covers from the 80’s and 90’s for the past two years. And I haven’t finished a single one. I’ve justified it because they’ve all been under $5 at my local used book store and besides, they’re romance history. But I’m on vacation and I decided to finally make use of my piles and boxes of books. I picked this one from the stack on top of my shelf.
These books are intimidating. I know I’m facing a work full of laughable-to-insidious racism and sexual violence galore. Since I was a captive audience, though, I was able to get engrossed enough in this one that the upsetting aspects were bearable. This book wasn’t as disturbing as some of the bodice rippers I’ve heard about, anyways. With that said, our main protagonist is a 19 year old Romani girl being blackmailed to fake-marry our middle aged, Argentinian villain. She has a super terrible dynamic with the hero, who assaults her for their first two love scenes. And then she spends the latter half of the book in the barrios, rubbing shoulders with ‘mullatoes’ and ‘Indians’. So you can imagine how much racism and rape fill the pages of this book.
I think the plot was just outrageous enough to be wild and attention-holding. While I didn’t like this book, I have an easier time reading long books that require investment and brain power to follow their story. Also, I do think the author has a skill for descriptive language in establishing scenes. Thought that lapses into the typical vintage romance purple prose. It’s really hard to say I bought a lot of her settings and characters because it falls into so many outlandish and exaggerated stereotypes about Argentinians and Romani people that she might have been better off writing a fantasy novel, instead.
So. I’m leaving this unstarred. I’d probably give it a low rating but I’m choosing not to. Partially because I know certain people on Goodreads are really pissy about “PC woke people” and “cancel culture”. I don’t want no smoke rn. But also because I feel like I’m not reading these books the way I read others. I use stars to denote enjoyment and how much I can recommend them to patrons. That said, I don’t think I’ll read books from my collection with that lens. See, one of my dreams to become a romance critic as a side hustle. And I feel that finally cracking into the history of romance written last century requires a more objective reading. (I’m still grouchy and critical as I read though. What on earth did she mean by calling mulatto women “sensuous demons”? Weird behavior.)
That’s all I got for now! I originally had a way longer review but Goodreads crashed as I was typing it. I moved to my Notes app and hopefully Goodreads will accept my copy-paste.
Have a great day! I’m enjoying the heck out of Florida, I hope you summer is going just as well.
These books are intimidating. I know I’m facing a work full of laughable-to-insidious racism and sexual violence galore. Since I was a captive audience, though, I was able to get engrossed enough in this one that the upsetting aspects were bearable. This book wasn’t as disturbing as some of the bodice rippers I’ve heard about, anyways. With that said, our main protagonist is a 19 year old Romani girl being blackmailed to fake-marry our middle aged, Argentinian villain. She has a super terrible dynamic with the hero, who assaults her for their first two love scenes. And then she spends the latter half of the book in the barrios, rubbing shoulders with ‘mullatoes’ and ‘Indians’. So you can imagine how much racism and rape fill the pages of this book.
I think the plot was just outrageous enough to be wild and attention-holding. While I didn’t like this book, I have an easier time reading long books that require investment and brain power to follow their story. Also, I do think the author has a skill for descriptive language in establishing scenes. Thought that lapses into the typical vintage romance purple prose. It’s really hard to say I bought a lot of her settings and characters because it falls into so many outlandish and exaggerated stereotypes about Argentinians and Romani people that she might have been better off writing a fantasy novel, instead.
So. I’m leaving this unstarred. I’d probably give it a low rating but I’m choosing not to. Partially because I know certain people on Goodreads are really pissy about “PC woke people” and “cancel culture”. I don’t want no smoke rn. But also because I feel like I’m not reading these books the way I read others. I use stars to denote enjoyment and how much I can recommend them to patrons. That said, I don’t think I’ll read books from my collection with that lens. See, one of my dreams to become a romance critic as a side hustle. And I feel that finally cracking into the history of romance written last century requires a more objective reading. (I’m still grouchy and critical as I read though. What on earth did she mean by calling mulatto women “sensuous demons”? Weird behavior.)
That’s all I got for now! I originally had a way longer review but Goodreads crashed as I was typing it. I moved to my Notes app and hopefully Goodreads will accept my copy-paste.
Have a great day! I’m enjoying the heck out of Florida, I hope you summer is going just as well.
May 16, 2019
Captivating story
October 11, 2014
enjoyable book
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews