Rating: 3 stars

Morwyn is a Druid priestess who leaves her home to join the rebels against the Roman Legions. She’s attacked and almost raped, but rescued by a Gaul mercenary named Dunmacos, who has a reputation of being cruel and unjust.

However, Dunmacos is only a disguise, for he is really Bren, working undercover for the Briton king Caratacus—the same king Morwyn wants to join forces with.

Morwyn doesn’t trust Dunmacos, but when he makes himself her protector on her journey, she has no choice but to accept.

Guilt and loss runs through Morwyn’s body. She has lost one lover, who loved her, but whom she didn’t love; instead, Morwyn cared for an unstable Druid priest who ended up betraying her people. Although she doesn’t know what to make of Dunmacos, Morwyn is very attracted to him and decides to give into her desires and take him as her lover for the short time they are together. Bren is more than willing, and they engage in a sexual relationship that transforms into something deeper between the two.

Both are hiding secrets from one another, and through her visions, Morwyn figures out Dunmacos may have slaughtered her lover. Now she must decide whether to kill him for revenge, or let him live and leave him before she forgets everything she has planned for her enslaved people. Bren has a mission that’s close to destroying him. He’s tired and no longer wants to fight, hoping that Morwyn will accept him for he truly is and forgive him for his lies and deceit.

Captive is an erotic juicy romance set in Roman times. This is a very gritty novel about two people who feel lost in the world. Christina Phillips’s writing is flavorful and electric. The love scenes are hot and steamy and the sex speak between Morwyn and Bren is blunt and dirty.

There were a few issues I had mainly from the way Morwyn first reacts to Bren when they meet—she’s about to be raped and brutalized when Bren rescues her. We learn, prior to the attack, that she has forsaken sex and will abstain; but the moment she meets Bren, her sacrifice flies out the window. There’s no aftermath of her attack, no time to reflection, and right away she’s wondering when she and Bren can do the horizontal dance with one another.

I also found some of Morwyn’s motivations confusing and questionable. Bren was written more dimensionally and I found myself more sympathetic to his plight versus Morwyn’s. I had to re-read the ending a few times because it ended so abruptly and wasn’t very fulfilling.

Christina Phillips does write a very different setting found in historical romance and if not for some scratching my head over certain actions on the characters’ part, this would have been a recommend read. I will say that Christina’s heroines are very strong and can rise above the horrors surrounding them.

Captive is a book most historical readers will probably enjoy.
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Paperback: 336 pages
Publisher: Berkley Trade (February 1, 2011)
ISBN-13: 978-0425238820