Susan Johnson

Well versed in the sensual arts, Prince Nikolai Kuzan wagers that he will be able to seduce the chaste Alsia Forseus in three days and steal her from her husband, but the lark turns serious when Kuzan finds himself falling in love. Original.

Seized by Love

Lover of Romance 

This review was originally posted on Addicted To Romance

Seized By Love is a sexy well written historical romance with a Russian Prince playboy and an introvert and shy heroine...will our prince give up his life of parties, gambling, and women for love...

Seized By Love is a book I have been really looking forward to picking up ever since I saw it on the shelf at my local library. And yes I knew it would be a more older style type romance, but I have been in the mood for those lately so in some ways this story really worked for me. Seized By Love is one of the most earlier books that this author has written, orginally published in the late 70's and then this copy was a republishing in the late 90's. So it still has that old school feel, with the typical forced seduction (although I wouldn't call it rapey, it doesn't cross that line thankfully) and it does deal with some face slapping from the heroine and some angst, a sweet little girl and a emotional love story with a selfish and spoiled playboy prince who falls in love over what begins as a wager.

So Seized By Love begins when our hero is becoming bored with women, and his current mistress he is ready to cast aside soon. And then his buddies make a wager that he can't seduce any woman they pick in three days. They choose a young woman sketching in the park. Nikki is used to getting his way with women and from the moment he introduces himself to Alsia, a chaste but married woman stuck in a marriage with an abusive husband. Alsia has never really known what it feels like to feel desire and passion until she meets Nikki. They begin an affair that starts out with only sex in mind, but soon love enters the equation, and how long will Nikki wait to accept what he feels for Alsia.

There were some aspects of this story I really enjoyed and other I wasn't a huge fan of. Let me talk about what I didn't like first off. My biggest problem with this story was the angst, it felt a bit too drawn out in the story and I felt at times both Nikki and Alsia just couldn't communicate. I was rolling my eyes every time a misunderstanding got in the way of them being open and honest with each other. Another aspect I wasn't a huge fan of was the fact that the heroine was married. Now she doesn't stay married for long, but there is still some cheating involved and boy her husband is one brutal piece of work. He does make a good villain for the story however but we only see him in a few scenes but your heart just opens up more for the heroine and having to deal with such brutality as she is dealt by him.

Now what was pretty fantastic about this book: First off I really loved the heroine here for the most part. Even though she is more introverted. She liked to pain and sketch, and spend time with her young daughter. She tries to stay  out of her husbands way because he takes out his anger on her in a brutal way. At first we see how strong she is, feisty and she lets Nikki know exactly what she thinks. But she also knows when to fight and when to back down. I did like seeing her come more into herself as she discovers desire and love. I also liked the romance that develops. Now it's not an easy story to read that is for sure, but seriously all the sweet and poignant moments that erupt in the most unlikely places, makes all the angst all the worth it to read through. Seeing these two find a love worth fighting for is epic and memorable. Another delightful portion of this book was spent on the historic and cultural aspects of the time. I don't know much about European's and Russian's culture and so Johnson did a detailed job of portraying it well without taking away from the story. I felt like I was in one of those dazzling Russian ballrooms, or a beautiful country side estate. Another delightful element was Nikki's parents, his father especially. His parents have a love match and the way the father involves himself was pretty entertaining at times and added some lightheartedness to the story that has a more serious tone to it at times.

Seized By Love is a beautifully well detailed love story that brings together opposites who have to fight through some conflicts to find their happy ever after in a most satisfying ending!!





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Seized by Love

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