Gentle Rogue by Johanna Lindsey (1990)
Heat Factor: It’s your standard old school fare—a couple of relatively descriptive scenes and then a bunch of interludes that fade to black.
Character Chemistry: Antagonism leads to love.
Plot: Georgie is dressed as a boy but James knows she’s a woman. So he’s seducing her. And then they’re forced to get married.
Overall: Slow. Then bonkers.
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Captured by Beverly Jenkins (2009)
Heat Factor: There’s a lot of blue balls, and then it’s just balls to the wall.
Character Chemistry: It was “NO!” Then, “YES, let’s do it.” Then, “Let’s get married!”
Plot: Dominic steals Clare away from her mistress and shows her a life of freedom, but Clare can’t rest easy until her children have also been freed from slavery.
Overall: High stakes, low tension. Very historically juicy.
The Smut Report 