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A Meaty Tale: The Powells.com Interview with Julie Powell

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   $17.49 Sale Hardcover add to wish list

   Cleaving: A Story of Marriage, Meat, and Obsession

   Julie Powell

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Julie Anderson, August 31, 2008 (view all comments by Julie Anderson)
Reviewed for queuemyreview.com; book release Sep08

I can’t imagine the heartbreak of losing a child. Maybe it would be more accurate to say I don’t even want to try because it would be too painful. If there could be degrees of such pain, would it be ‘more so’ if the child were taken and disappeared? I’m not about to debate this subject, but this very moving book made me think about what I would do, and what I would be willing to do, if such a horrendous thing happened. Even so, I loved every minute of “His Captive Lady” by Anne Gracie. She is one of the few authors I think could have successfully pulled off using the above scenario in a sweet and sexy love story without minimizing or dramatizing the situation.

Lady Helen is the daughter of an earl. Her father gambled away everything and died in debt so now she’s destitute and homeless. But even worse, before he died her father stole her newborn infant in a misguided attempt to atone for not protecting Helen from the man who raped her. Now the ONLY thing that matters to Helen is finding her child and she will do whatever is necessary to get her back.

Harry is the ‘natural’ child of an earl, but he learned his lesson early in life about what being a bastard means. Harry’s looks have always provided him an entrée into the beds of the bored ladies of the ton. These highborn women are happy to sleep with him, but won’t acknowledge him in any other way. Harry’s brother and friends are the only ‘family’ Harry ever really knew and that’s fine with him. Now that it’s time for him to take a wife, Harry has decided to select a wife with the qualities he wants; just like he would in the horses he breeds. Then he meets Lady Helen, and suddenly no one else will do.

There’s so much more to the plot that I just didn’t want to give away. Why does Harry feel he needs to ‘earn’ love? Why does Nell lock herself in her room at night (and it’s not the reason you think)? And if you read the first book in this series, “The Stolen Princess”, what is going on with Ethan and Tibby?

I’m so impressed with the way this author treats Nell’s anguish. It’s what the entire story is built around, yet it doesn’t make the book too sad to read. It becomes more of a celebration of a mother’s love for her child regardless of the circumstances of conception. The secondary love story that was only hinted at in “The Stolen Princess” culminates in this book, yet this is very much a stand alone read. The characters became real to me and I wanted to help in their search for the child. I identified with Nell’s sorrow and Harry’s determination. The growth of their relationship was exactly right, not too fast, not too slow; the strengths and weaknesses of each part of the mystery of how love makes us stronger together. “His Captive Lady” by Anne Gracie made me cry, and then it made me laugh and smile. And even the ending, although at first seeming miraculous, at second glance really and truly made sense. Now I’ll wait, impatiently, for the next book in the series to be released in ‘fall 2009’. The more I read by this author, the bigger of a fan I become…how cool is that?

Til next time
JJ

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Product Details

ISBN:

9780425223246

Author:

Gracie, Anne

Publisher:

Berkley Trade Pub

Subject:

Romance - Historical

Subject:

Man-woman relationships

Subject:

England Social life and customs.

Copyright:

2008

Series:

Berkley Sensation

Publication Date:

September 2008

Binding:

Mass Market Paperbound

Grade Level:

General/trade

Language:

English

Pages:

323

Dimensions:

6.50x4.10x.90 in. .35 lbs.