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1.0 out of 5 stars
A nauseating book, Jun 14 2004
By A Customer
A friend strongly recommended this book to me, and I unwisely read it. I was revolted. My friend insisted that after the initial few rapes, the hero really redeems himself and all is well... yeah, right. I could not bring myself to feel any warmth for a man who rapes a woman without remorse, and then - all while taunting and mocking her tears - tells her that she will have to be his mistress and will eventually come to beg for his attention (again, telling her this while silencing her protests with threats and mocking laughter, and forcing himself on her again and again!). Then, after she escapes and he finds out that she has become pregnant, he is galled at the thought of having to marry her and swears to her tear-filled face that he'll make her life miserable. Sure, much later in the book, he becomes more affectionate, but for me, nothing could wear off the impression of his initial assaults - and his cruel, cocky remorselessness - followed by the months of temperamental fits, snarling speech and debasing treatment. The fact that the heroine fell in love with this beast is something that can be attributable only to Stockholm Syndrome. She is stuck with him and tries to make the best of it, thanking the Lord that at least he's easy on the eyes. Ooh, how romantic; my knees are knocking. Regardless of what the cultural norms of the time were, Captain Birmingham's behavior is loathsome; one need look at his brother - a man raised in the same culture and era - to see who truly should have been the hero of the novel.This has been only the second romance novel I've read; the first was Saving Grace by Julie Garwood - the hero there also likes to raise his voice and act in a gruff manner, but there's no mistaking the underlying humanity, integrity and gentleness in him, not to mention the fact that he truly respects the heroine, encourages her to be herself and does not try to squash her spirit (there, despite a nearly equal gap in ages to the one in The Flame and the Flower, I could understand why the two fell in love). So unlike the emotional and mental abuse heaped on the heroine of this novel, who is sufficiently broken and resigned to her lot to desire her repugnant husband's love! Before the inevitable declarations of mutual love, she is so starved of comfort that she snatches up any little kindess he occasionally offers when the whim strikes him. He's disgusting and distinguishable from the villains of the novel only by his good looks, which are supposed to somehow make up for his boorish behavior.
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by K. Woodiwiss
by K Woodiwiss
by Kathleen E Woodiwiss
by K. Woodiwiss
by K. Woodiwiss
