The Captive (Captive Hearts, 1) Paperback – July 1, 2014

Finally, a new Burrowes book I could read and enjoy! To begin with, I was actually able to finish this book which was not the case with the couple of her "Lonely Lord" books I attempted to read. The selling (or buying) point for me was the inclusion of Devlin St. Just whose story "Soldier" was probably her best. The hero, Christian, had some very real problems to overcome and his struggle to do so is gradual, moves forward and backward at various times, and is believable. Burrowes shows some real insight into the psychology of torture. The heroine, Gilly, also had a terrible recent past to deal with but she is not as well drawn. She is strong, feisty and full of wisdom and courage and has no problem telling anyone, friend or near stranger, that she hated her now dead husband and that he was an awful jerk - this despite the fact that she at one point is suspected of killing him. That, for most people, would be a good reason to shut up about him - at least to virtual strangers. That is Gilly's character however, until Burrowes needs the hero to do some hero-ing at which point Gilly turns into the beaten, abused, terrified, traumatized, ashamed widow of a mean old man that she is. The contrasts in her character are too sharply drawn with little or no overlap but this is not a fatal flaw to the story. Lucy's fear of speaking about what she knew made sense but making her completely mute by choice at the age of eight was a bit far fetched. Also, however, not a fatal error to the story. Some reviewers appear to be surprised at who the villain is but it seemed pretty clear to me early in the book so don't read this for that element of suspense. Of greater suspense is how Burrowes turns the object of Christian's hatred and desire for revenge into a sympathetic character because we know he is the "hero" of the next book. Fleshing out his character in the third person throughout the book without him being part of it until the very end was actually very well done. If, like me, you have become completely out of patience with Burrowes fascination with and dependence on her characters eating constantly and feeding each other even when they have only just met, than take heart! She still does this for about the first third of the book (which almost had me giving up) but then depends on food in the plot much less. Of course at that point in the story the couple starts to become more physical so it may be a matter of either food or sex supporting her stories. Burrowes does try to maintain what she thinks conversational style might be for the period but every so often throws in a modern colloquialism which can be very noticeable. Sometimes her writing and dialogue get downright pretentious.As you can clearly tell, Burrowes is not my favorite author and while I enjoyed her early Windham books, the later ones and the entire Lonely Lords series were so boring and annoying that I couldn't finish a few of them and skipped most of them altogether. This book is more like the early Windham novels so it is worth your time and money despite its flaws. Really 3 1/2 stars but I'm hopeful the story will improve through the next two books and then I hope she has the discipline to stop there instead of writing a book for every character who floats through these three.

This certainly began as a five star book for me. As the book progressed toward Christian and Gilly's relationship, it was a little slow but I realize from reading many of Ms. Burrowes' books, this is the way her stories play out. The characters are interesting enough and there is so much to their lives upon which light is shed ever so slowly - I was definitely intrigued and engaged for much of the book.However, at some point - about 3/4th of the way through the book, I began to grow impatient with the same old routine of the H/h that nearly always accompanies this author's books - that would be the game of that goes like this: The hero eventually realizes he loves his gal but she is resisting, even though she may have started it by kissing him a few times square dab on the mouth - apparently it was loneliness, the need for affection, curiosity, etc. But... oh no - not marriage - never that. Of course the reasons are never really justified as was the case in this book - at least not to this reader's mind.Gillian did have her sorrows - dear me, this book was riddled with the recounting of two sorrowful lives. Both Christian and Gillian were horribly misused and abused and to Ms. Burrowes' credit, she doesn't go into all the horrid details that some writers might have done considering the subject of the storyline - torture at the hands of the French for Christian and a horrible life married to her elderly, miserly, devil of a husband for Gillian from the time she was 17 years old. Don't misunderstand, there are details aplenty and probably too many for some readers. All I'm saying is that the handling of the details might have been presented with less palpability making it more difficult for sensitive readers to digest the story - of which I consider myself one. Thankfully, Ms. Burrowes' gives us the hard facts and some details and leaves the rest to our imagination.The fact that the H/h can come together for friendship, camaraderie, solace and eventually love might have been resolved a little earlier on and the reader could have basked in the sweetness of two minds wholeheartedly enjoying one another after all they had endured. But, no - Gillian's persona would not give up her whole heart until near the end of the story. Personally, I get very weary of this same old mentality which abounds in many of Ms. Burrowes' books. The old "I'm not good enough," or "You deserve someone better than me," or "I can't get married again and have another man be in control of my life" - whatever the reason - it never makes any sense because the storyline always includes two people who belong together and will do well together. This type of reasoning on the party who won't get with the program never makes sense to me and becomes plain old boring after awhile.**Spoilers** Then the ending took the cake. I won't go into the details because to do so would give too much away but I did not care for the ending. Some people who should have paid dearly did not. So much philosophizing about what is/was just and how best to let the past be, etc. when someone - St. Just perhaps - might have lived up to his name and performed a bit of "justice" on behalf of the injured and take out the sucker. The ending was too contrived and too mealy mouthed by a long shot. For crying out loud, if you're going to give the readers agony about torture and mayhem for a good portion of the book, then at least, give us the satisfaction of seeing "all" the culprits in question come to a swift and righteous end. By the end, Christian's torturer was being presented as an "almost" hero? I didn't want to see him in that light - not at all.

Although I have read hundreds of ebooks these past few years, there have been only a mere handful which have earned 'my very favourite' status. The Captive is one such. Beautifully written, and with such engaging leading characters. I have just reread this book, and found it every bit as good as on first reading some time back. I don't know how Grace Burrows does it, but her books are so beautiful, and always her men extremely attractive in their love and understanding of her 'heroines'. A truly great story, full of pain, sadness, but ultimately a life-affirming happy ending. What more could one want of a book.

by far the best book she has written for a while. hero and heroine having both suffered terrible treatment over prolonged time, the duke from the French and the countess from the terrible man she had been made to marry by her family. grace burrowes manages to get across the mental and physical tortures they have suffered without being too maudlin and always with the view for hope for a better future. the awful truth of who was really responsible for all their traumas comes out in the end. well written and thought provoking.

Deeply satisfying read after a somewhat slow start but you grew to cheer for both Gilly and Christian to heal and be together. Wonderfully drawn and evocative scenes. Loved the sub character of St Just and found the evil Girard compelling. The twist was unexpected unexpected. Just splendid.

An excellent story line different again, and sad at times but the Duke prevailed finding love and his daughter a great read

There is a wonderfully gripping and insightful portrayal of post-traumatic stress disorder woven into the story. The twist lies in the reasons why the heroine understands the hero's feelings so well. Don't think this makes it a grim story - quite the opposite. It's a tale of hope and reconciliation. Next to Gareth, this is a favourite.