Possessed by Desire
Years ago, a handsome stranger rescued Sherrie Hamilton from a harem and enticed her into becoming his lover before returning her safely home. Now Sherrie is a respectable young widow and mother, chaperoning her young charges through fashionable London society– until she comes face to face with her erotic dream. For there, across a crowded ballroom, stands the one man who touched the very core of her sensuality, stirring old memories, and a new unbidden desire.
Obsessed by Love
Jack PenMartyn, Earl of PenMartyn, seeks to put his past behind him, yet he’s obsessed by the one woman whose pure innocence he stole; the woman who is the mother of the child he never knew he had. He knows that with one false word, Sherrie will expose the secrets of his past. But does he dare to hope that she will give in to the temptation of their reckless passion for a future together?
First let me say that Sherrie Hamilton was not rescued from a harem as the blurb states. She had been kidnapped and taken prisoner and was “saved” by a pirate only to then make a bargain with him to be his lover for a month. The terms of the bargain are unclear and we never get to see the two discussing this so there’s no notion as to how much Sherrie is coerced…or not . Her unwillingness in the first sexual situation is definitely in question. She hated being in the bargain but I don’t think she hated being with him at all and in fact ended up staying with him for longer than a month.
Now the story begins 9 years after Sherrie and her pirate have gone their separate ways and Sherrie, who is an American, is in London with her aunt and 2 cousins to try and get the cousins married off. You know – wealthy Americans trying to buy a title. Anyway, Sherrie runs into Jack and he is dumbfounded that she is there in London. Sherrie is just sure that she’s delusional as in the past she’s believed that she’s seen Cullum and decides that Jack just looks like Cullum, the pirate that she had loved.
When Sherrie finds out that Jack is Cullum she’s not afraid to take her anger out on him. Jack is determined to stay away from her but they keep getting invited to the same social functions. On top of that Sherrie’s daughter sees Jack and “knows” that he is her daddy. She heads off to see him and he is entranced from the moment they meet. How can he stay away?
On top of that there’s a lunatic con-man who is spinning everyone’s heads with his thoughts and chanting. But the lunatic decides he wants to rule the world and he’ll use the information he has on Jack and Sherrie’s past to his own good use.
The story is told in current times with times of flashback for each character. I did get a little frustrated as I wanted to know more of the back story earlier in the book, but that was not to be. I also would have dearly loved to have known how long Sherrie actually stayed with Cullum before they parted but they never actually say how much time passed.
Sherrie’s younger self had fallen in love with Cullum and she finds that she loves Jack just as much. He’s a different person but one that she wants to spend her life with. Getting over the anger and betrayal of their past is hard for her but she decides to do it and is happy that she does. For Jack it’s a bit more difficult as he was living a lie way back when and his conscience has been eating at him. The guilt of what he forced Sherrie in to has him depressed and damn near suicidal. He believed that every time they had had sex 9 years before that it was rape, even though it wasn’t (at least not all the time) and that had to eat at him. It really takes an act of faith on Sherrie’s part to stand up to the man and make him face some hard truths. I had to admire her for finally taking the final step to talk things out.
Overall I really liked the book. The feelings of love, loss, betrayal and anger were engrossing and I found myself not being able to pull myself away from the story. While I didn’t care for the suspense plot all that much I did love the characters and that made up for it.
This was my first read by Sizemore and I don’t think it will be my last.
Rating: 4 out of 5
This book was originally released in 1999 by Avon
Hmmm. Great review Tracy, but I'm not quite sure this book is for me. Definitely sounds like there is some coercion (at least at the beginning) and potentially a case of Stockholm Syndrome? And the child just 'knows' who her father is? Sorry, I'm obviously is skeptic mode tonight 🙂
Wow – I remember reading this when it was first released. Loved pirate heroes, still do. 🙂 Good to see some of these older romances being re-released.
Orannia – IDK it's just such a grey area in the book. Later the heroine says that she wasn't EVER coerced but I just don't know if I believe it.
Leslie – I know I missed a bunch there when I stopped reading for so long when I had my kids. It's nice to see some of those being reprinted otherwise where do I start! lol