Owning Arabella

Eighteen-year-old Arabella Ormonde is roughly roused out of her bed by her cruel stepfather, Victor Crom, and told that she is to be used as security on his bet in a game of cards. Crom has forged a set of ownership papers stating that she is his bond-maid – his to do with as he pleases. Arabella agrees, but only because Crom is holding a knife to her 10-year-old brother’s throat. Crom forces her to accompany him downstairs, clad only in her nightgown, to meet Darth, Lord Peregrine, the man against whom he is betting. When the cards are revealed, Peregrine has won, and is given Arabella’s false papers confirming that she is a bond-maid.

Peregrine is a man who is feared by most of the people who see him. He is disfigured by a sword cut across his face, which makes most women faint at the sight of him. While he is not a libertine, nor generally a cruel man, he is sorely tempted by Arabella’s beauty and innocence. In an unthinking moment, he accepts the “ownership” of the woman. Will the gentleness and essential goodness radiated by Arabella soothe Peregrine’s sore heart?

This is a story of how a man who is tormented by his past can be saved by the love of a good woman. I found the character of Peregrine to be the most interesting. Initially, he is shown as a man who has no love in his life. This allows the character to grow and develop until, by the end of the story, we see him become the honourable man he is capable of being. In contrast, the character of Arabella was less complex and, therefore, less colorful than Peregrine. The plot was handled well, and the pace of the story was fairly even throughout. This is an erotic Regency novella, so there are several very explicit sex scenes between a male/female couple. While she tames Peregrine, Arabella is introduced to the pleasures of the body in many different ways. I recommend this book to fans of the Regency genre who like a little spice in their reading material.

Reviewed by: Jean