His Captive Lady by Anne Gracie

His Captive Lady by Anne Gracie is a story that weaves a sense of romance and possibility. At the end of this book, I flipped the back cover, held the book in my hands and had the near irresistible urge to sigh out an "aaaaaaaaaaaw!" - one of those sounds usually reserved for looking at cute babies cuddling kittens.

This novel is everything a classic Romance novel should be. The story is completely involved and focused on the growing relationship and really no outside bad guys to throw wrenches into the works. There are no enemies to force them into a high stress and shaky relationship. At the risk of being trite; They just fall in love.

The title actually has nothing to do with story as far as I can tell. At no time is Lady Helen Freymore kidnapped or held against her will as the title suggests. In fact because she was raped by a bad bad man previously Harry Morant goes out of his way not to take away her choices.

The first half of the book is focused on Harry winning Nell's (Helen's..yeah I don't get the nickname either) heart through 3 marriage proposals in their first 4 meetings. Nell has had a reprobate father, who gambled away her money, horses, and house. Harry wants to protect and help her in her destitution-plus he thinks she's cute =-). But Nell says no, because she is searching for her illegitimate child who is the product of her rape. She loves this little girl with every part of her being and is ferociously dedicated to finding her again. I fell in love with her when she chewed out another lady for suggesting that her daughter was the child of a rapist. Nell loves her child for being part of her and never blames her for the circumstances behind her conception. She doesn't think that Harry will accept her because he was the rejected bastard child of an Earl and is bitterly estranged from 2 of his 3 brothers.

After convincing Helena to marry him, Harry and Nell start a desperate and tragic search for her 2 month old daughter that her gambling father stole and lost just hours before dying on the side of the road. Both have feelings of being unworthy of love because of their backgrounds. So watching them find each other was fascinatingly endearing.

There were a few things that the characters did and how they behaved that were a tad bit unrealistic. But I won't elaborate because this book falls in the category of a Feel-Good book. It's fluff. There is no more reason to read it than because it will leave you with and uplifting sense of happiness. But really I have absolutely no problems with fluff...It's like religiously listening to rock and roll and underground Indy bands. But when you are cleaning your apartment you throw on stilettos and blast Kelly Clarkson while dancing like a maniac and lipsynching all the words. It's OK to enjoy things for no reason.

So if you are in the mood for a book that makes you believe that romance can happen to anyone no matter your situation, I recommend this book. Get ready for the sighs and spontaneous AWWWWW!


Anne Gracie Website
Where to find His Captive Lady

Also my favorite book by her is The Gallant Waif. It was years ago. So it's like a scavenger hunt to find available copies. But the search is worth it. I love love love love love that book.