Excellent writing, though I can't say I finished it. I was too blindsided by the amount of violence. Maybe I'll read it again now I know what to expect.

I was not surprised when I found out this book first came out in the 80s. Not at all. The book starts out, young wonderful, spirited heroine is going to marry the man she's loved since she was eight. He loves her too. Very wonderful. I start to wonder how we're going to have a book here. Everyone is so happy. LOL. Then, in Chapter 5, the heroine is kidnapped by a man much, much older than she, 35--I'm not saying this is old. I'm saying this is older than she is.

He is an Earl but he is also Italian and he once loved her mother before she died giving birth to her and has been in love with her for a long time since he saw her as a child. Can anyone say yuck?

To make matters worse, he rapes her. Rapes her and basically expects her to get over it. He's mean, cruel, uncaring. He puts her through hell but okay, all is well at the end? I hated these types of books in the 80s. I usually love Coulter and I wish they wouldn't rerelease things that have themes that were disgusting when they were written and are best left in the past.

This is just my opinion. I love Coulter. Not this. Never again this.

This was the book that got me reading romance; at first I was embarraced by the content but then I became intrigued how a man much older than the heroine could induce her to love him when she loved another man. He raped her and at first she hated him but she grew to love him even though he held her captive. Eventually she became reaquainted with the man she had loved before and found he was not what she expected. There is a scene during the book when Cassie is brutally raped by some evil men but she survives and all ends well.

Romance? More like a study of Stockholm Syndrome!

A truly disgusting and twisted story. I though the so called 'hero' was the villain until I skipped to the end.

I skim read the last half of this. I wanted to read this as a fun, if problematic time, but I grew to hate the love interest. He was an old, controlling creep. I liked how snarky the main character was, but could not get on board with how rapey this book was. It was just plain uncomfortable to have the main character "give into her desire" rather than give consent. There is also a gang rape that was entirely unnecessary. I found myself not caring at all what happened in the plot and by the end was just left frustrated.

I did not read the entire book. Why? Because the hero was a delusional pscho! I like dark heroes but I do not like rape- that was when I stopped reading, when I realized that the author was going to have them end up together. I agree with all the reviewers that this is probably a study of the Stockholom Syndrome. It would have been a better book if the author had explored it from that point of view. What I don't understand is why, if the hero loved her from afar for that long, he never attempted to woo her. Age differences were not such an issue in the 18th-century. And the date the heroine and her fiancee set for the wedding was not so close that he couldn't try to change her mind during that time. His reaction was way too extreme, in my opinion. I usually base my opinions of romance on my reaction to the hero no matter how irritating a heroine might be. This hero repulsed me, ergo the book repulsed me.

I unapologetically loved this book. It reminded alot of Christine Monson's "Stormfire" (which I am obsessed with). This book, like many in its genre, is not for the faint of heart. There's kidnapping, rape, gang rape, psychological abuse, stalking, etc. In fact, the hero is a psycho stalker that, if he were to live in 2012, would be on America's Most Wanted. I found Anthony to be a kind of fun-loving stalker as opposed to Sean Culhane in Stormfire who was just a serious pyscho. I mean, after he initially beds the heroine against her will, he turns into a charmer of sorts. The plot goes quickly, I read it in two evenings. Classic 1980s bodice-ripper. Read it for the incredulous expression you'll have on your face alone. There were countless "Holy sh*t" moments for me where I just could not believe how the heroine could be so thick. "Cassie, I kidnapped you for your own good! I needed to rape you! Can't you see the sense in that?" Well, I'm paraphrasing here. Devil's Embrace is definitely entertainment.

This was a quite a read.....there are some parts that I can understand since it's historical fiction (i am not saying it is ok, i am just saying some of these things were excused at the time) but I know modern day readers will likely ban this book. I honestly don't know what the author was thinking or rather why she thought anything about this main guy is considered your romantic hero but I guess she trying to prove that no matter how messed up a guy is, somehow they are still loved.

Pretty much this book is full of grooming, kidnapping, rape, Stockholm syndrome, and pretty much everything wrong with romance.

*16-year age gap (he's 34, she's 18)~ this one might be the greatest age gap in my shelf

I had a hard time getting into this for some reason in the beginning. It may have been just because I was tired (it was past 1 am). I was just waiting for Cassandra to be abducted already, and when that happened, I was able to get into the book more. I think I enjoyed the book's second half more, though the separation towards the end  when she escapes him and flees to New York to see Edward, the man she was supposed to marry  grew a little tiresome (it was too long).

If I think about it rationally, I shouldn't even like a book where the guy abducts the woman he wants to marry and rapes her. Good thing this is only fiction. Despite that, Anthony treated Cassandra well, in my opinion. He always seemed like a gentleman. I didn't like how Catherine Coulter always mentioned his belly because it made him seem less attractive to me. Call it abs instead, lol.

Not much happens in the book besides the few OTT fuckery  gang rape, miscarriage, someone sending an assassin after Cassandra (causing her to get gang-raped and the subsequent miscarriage ) . This book is definitely NOT safe (see spoiler above), and  Cassandra even sleeps with Edward, the other man, though she doesn't enjoy it.

I still liked it, but I thought I'd enjoy the book more. I remember a few months ago I was so desperate to pick it up. I would have finished this book earlier, but I was working hard editing my story. I read this book in the Large Print font, so my copy had 729 pages.

This was one of those books that I liked and didn't like. It was not boring and I finished it pretty fast, but the amount of sex and let's be honest here, almost continuous raping of the heroine tainted my enjoyment of the story. It seemed like the author was going for a book similar to The Flame and the Flower by Kathleen E. Woodiwiss, and yet this book did not have the heart or the character of the other.

The alpha male, who purported to be in love with the heroine his whole life, proceeds to kidnap her the eve of her wedding to another man, and rape her until her passion for him convinced her she could love him too. I don't know if that says love to me, forcing her time after time.

I really like Catherine Coulter and have enjoyed many of her other books, but this one is kind of odd.

This is a true boddice ripper first published in 1982. Anthony Welles, Earl of Clare, kidnaps Cassandra Brougham on the day before her wedding. He takes her to Genoa, Italy in effort to convince her to be his wife. Soap opera adventures commence.

Why I picked up this book: It was listed on Amazon's rape and pregnancy thread.

Why I finished it: The same reason you watch a train wreck. Sheer horror!