Love in a Stranger's Arms

Arabel wakes in a Spanish hospital with total amnesia. She is told that she is married to Cortez Ildefonso de la Dura. After being arrested in Venezuela for sheltering two arsonists, Cortez married her in order to take her away from prison and safely to Spain.

Yes, this is yet another amnesia/forced marriage story. I found it very difficult to relate to Arabel. She spends much of her time being alternating between being hysterical, childishly cruel, and terrified. She doesn't remember anything but she has a gut feeling that she hates Cortez and would never have willingly married him, so ends up being very nasty to him. For some reason, she doesn't ask him the obvious questions that I would ask, such as , "How long have we known each other?" His family hate Arabel for being a foreigner, and for not loving and revering him as they feel she ought. They end up being very nasty to her, telling lies about her and try to persuade Cortez to get rid her of. When he is sick in bed and asking for her, they confine her to her room and tell him that she doesn't want to see him although she is actually begging to be by his side. At the end, she regains her memory and everybody gets to live happily ever after. I found it quite unbelievable that Cortez's family never seem to get their comeuppance and magically accept her once she realises that she loves him. Furthermore, the return of her memory was just too convenient. It happens all in a rush and then everything is all right. It would have been more realistic if small pieces had gradually come back to her, giving tantalising hints as the story progressed. Instead, she suddenly remembers how she knew Cortez and everything is resolved. I did enjoy reading this book, but I was left feeling a little unsatisfied.

The Honey is Bitter

Domini Dane agrees to marry Paul Stephanos in return for not having her cousin Douglas jailed for stealing from him. Domini was mentioned in By Love Bewitched and I was intrigued by her story. This book opens just after Paul and Domini's wedding (and before they have consummated their marriage). Domini is bitter at being blackmailed into marriage whilst Paul is quite frank in admitting that he intended to have her since they met no matter what the cost; the opportunity to blackmail her presented itself, so he took it. I really liked this book. Paul was generally very gentle and treated Domini with respect. He really didn't act like he just wanted her for her body though she seems convinced of that. I guess I just didn't really understand Domini. It was her own choice to marry Paul yet she can't seem to accept that and keeps wanting him to let her go. Her uncle discovered what his son had done and suspected she was being blackmailed. Paul prevents Domini from speaking to her uncle until after they have consummated their marriage, and she hates him for it. Why? How could her uncle's suspicions change anything anyway? It still wouldn't change what Douglas had done or keep him from prison. Anyway, they stay together and their relationship gradually progresses in spite of Domini's objections. At the end we have two climactic events which cause Paul and Domini to reveal their love for each other and live happily ever after. I'm never fond of these sort of "forced" endings. I'd much rather something more natural, where they act like adults and just love each other. Nevertheless, this was a very enjoyable book and I recommend it for your reading list.

By Love Bewitched

Dinah has been Jason Devrel's ward since she became an orphan at nine years old. Once she finished college they ended up getting engaged but one night she overhears two women speculating on Jason's reasons for marrying her; the women believe that the only reason a rich, attractive man like Jason would marry the quiet and plain Dinah is to avoid gossip about their guardian/ward relationship. At this point I started to actively dislike Dinah. She is incredibly immature. She just goes ahead and believes what she has heard and decides to run away with a broken heart without even confronting Jason. The whole thing doesn't even make sense. If he's worried about his reputation, he could always marry someone else, or encourage Dinah to get a job and move out. Anyway, Jason finds Dinah madly packing her bags to leave and they get into an argument concluding with Jason raping her. Yes, he rapes her. This is no "forced seduction" but straight out violent rape. It was at this point that I started to actively dislike Jason. Not surprisingly, in the morning Dinah runs away. Two months later, Jason manages to track her down only to discover that she is pregnant. He persuades her to marry him and give the baby to him, after which he will give her a divorce with a healthy settlement.

This book was incredibly disturbing. Jason himself says that he has tried to be a father to Dinah, and he is constantly calling her "child" or "my girl". In fact he addresses her using those terms right before he rapes her. Dinah is naturally quite traumatised by this; bad enough to be raped, but to have it done by the man who raised her whom she loved and trusted is obviously much worse. Also, keeping in mind that this book was written in a time when girls who had illegitimate children were ostracised and you can see Dinah's turmoil and the reason why she agrees to marry Jason. Both of them are quite frank that he raped her, though Jason tries to imply at one point that he suspects she enjoyed some of it. This just made me sick. It's common for child abusers to claim the complicity of their victims. Dinah is not a child, but she is about 17 years younger than Jason and obviously sees him as an authority figure. Jason concedes that Dinah has every reason to hate him now and claims to accept it, yet he then goes on to reprimand her for her bitterness and lack of joie de vie. Gee, you think being raped and impregnated by your father figure then forced to marry and live with him might just spoil your mood? As for Dinah, she gets all caught up in "dealing" with now having to see Jason as her husband instead of her father. I found this quite odd considering they were actually planning on getting married before he raped her anyway. Surely she would already have worked through those conflicts? Apparently not. Generally speaking, I found Dinah's responses reasonable, even her conflicted emotions regarding Jason. She is simultaneously attracted to and revolted by him. She feels used and dirty and wants to feel attractive, but he's the only man around. I actually found her quite realistic, but then before you know it she's happily jumping into bed with him and declaring her love. That's about when I wanted to throw up. This relationship was sick. Don't bother reading this unless you want an interesting psychological study.