Captive of Sin
Wealthy 20yo heroine has been locked up & beat up by her greedy stepbrothers for weeks & finally escaped their clutches after threats of rape & force marriage to a man her stepbrothers owe money to. She's rescued by celebrated Hero who hides her in his secluded estate. She falls in love with him despite his inability to be bare anyone's touch & his repeated warnings about his unsuitability for romance. Her stepbrother's arrival in his estate & their threats of her well-being makes Hero propose a marriage of convenience with heroine. She accepts but later sets her mind to seduce him & help him overcome his inner demons. I loved this tortured-Hero-healed-by-heroine's-love book! Campbell did a wonderful job showing Hero's angst & how he & heroine deal with it. We see the progression of Hero & heroine with their individual issues, their r/s struggles before Hero's big secret revelation, & then their r/s struggles after Hero's revelation. It was poignant & touching to watch both characters' develop as their r/s matured. I felt like I really knew both Hero & heroine well. Both had their flaws as well as their strengths. I liked heroine's inner strength & will to survive. She didn't act like a spoiled rich heiress. She endured her own traumas & losses & this made her resilient & be able to empathize with tortured Hero. Hero also was a survivor but was plagued with disturbing mental images brought on by his survivor guilt. His healing was convincing. It seemed to happen suddenly but it was actually gradually evolving as heroine showed him she loved him no matter what horrors about himself he revealed. Sensual sexual chemistry & sex scenes except for that uncomfortable 1st one.
Definitely read this book.
