There was nothing to dislike about Captor of My Heart and to Donna Valentino’s credit, she set this story in a time that is not often encountered in a romance novel – that of Oliver Cromwell’s period as Lord Protector. The trouble was, there was nothing really exceptional about the book. It was competent enough, but suffered from blandness.

Jillian Bowen’s father was one of the Royal Physicians to King Charles I. When Charles was executed, Dr. Bowen and Jillian went to a small village where he became a very much beloved doctor to the people. Unfortunately, Dr. Bowen began suffering spells of what we would recognize as Alzheimer’s and Jillian began covering up for him as best she could – after serving as her father’s assistant, she learned quite a bit about medicine.

One night, Jillian and Dr Bowen are accosted by whom they believe is a highwayman. The man introduces himself as Cameron Smith and tells Jillian that he needs their home as a base for operations. He is the leader of a group of Royalists who are trying to help Charles Stuart escape. Dr. Bowen believes that this new man is his apprentice and Jillian is torn with fear, terror and then as time passes, love.

Cameron Smith is really Cameron Delacourte, the son of a long line of knights. He is not a war-like man; to the disgust of his father he has spent his time cultivating the land, not the art of war. When Cromwell came to power, Cameron’s lands were taken, his younger brother was killed and this man of peace dedicated his life to saving Charles Stuart and seeing him back to the throne of England.

Jillian is not very well sketched. Valentino offers tantalizing glimpses of her past and the forces that have shaped her, but nothing quite seems to jell. At one point, Valentino seems to suggest that Jillian suffers from agoraphobia, but that is dropped without ever being explored. Jillian also initially is filled with anger that she cannot practice medicine since she is a woman, but that is dropped too. In the end, Jillian remains a shadowy character.

The story is exciting enough, but there is a lack of sexual tension between Cameron and Jillian and the love scene is perfunctory and not at all exciting. I have seen more sexual tension in some Regency Romances that featured only kisses than there was in this book that did include lovemaking.

The epilogue was tender and touching, but overall, Captor of My Heart was like a fast-food meal. It filled my reading quota and I did not dislike it, but there was just nothing to get excited about.