Learning that there was a way to escape the rebel prison that Captain John David Howe had been in, led him to a house that he thought would be a safe haven. Finding Amanda Lee Douglas home alone and realizing that it was not the house that he was suppose to be at, left him with few options, especially when her Reverend father caught them in a compromising position. Leaving town with an escaped prisoner and a Union Officer left her reputation in complete ruins just as the reverend had always expected. Supporting each other through the trip out of the area was the only way either of them would make it, giving Amanda several opportunities to leave him (since he had threatened her life), but she was unable to leave his side after he had been so nice. It was quite possible that they had both escaped prison on that cold night in January.

This one had a lot of emotional ups and downs for the characters. First showing the strength of John, then the strength of Amanda, the balance of strength and weaknesses played back and forth for the whole book. There were a couple of sections that seemed unclear as to what was happening, but in the end it all works. I seem to be drawn to some of the Civil War time romances that come out of Harlequin Historicals. This one shows one of the reasons with the authors note in the back, explaining how this is a romance writers theory of some historically accurate accounts of some of the final days of the Civil War in the town of Salisbury, North Carolina. ( )

http://grerp.blog-city.com/the_prisoner_by_cheryl_reavis.htm ( )