Rosemary Rogers (1)Reviews

This was almost a 4 star, but it ended up dragging on far longer than it needed to. It was mostly good. But some parts were too drawn out and too repetitious. I just didn't care for the ending. It was too nicely tied up in an almost unrealistic way.

This one was a winner! I was never a fan of Rosemary Rogers' earlier novels (too crude and graphic) but her later ones have come a long way from that. This story, set in the start of the Civil War, is not your typical romance where the southern belle is shouting "Damn the Yankees" every five seconds. In fact, she's on their side, as she's devoted to her "servants" and wishes to free them all, in accordance with her late father's wishes. Cameron Campbell is a likeable leading lady, as she's a bit more mature (twenty three, rather than the usual late teens), independent, and headstrong, but not in an overbearing way, and has a kind, unselfish nature. But the story is not just focused on Cameron and her thoughts and feelings, it takes others into consideration, and not just the leading man, Jackson Logan, a captain and blockade runner, who is a lot more than he seems. The story also focuses on Taye, a biracial freed slave, whose mother, Sukey, had a lifetime love for Cameron's father. There's also Grant, Cameron's jealous, vengeful brother, whose dark side compels him to commit a horrible crime, Naomi, a young slave woman who uses her beauty and charm to her advantage, and Thomas, a young lawyer who falls for Taye. The author makes you aware of their thoughts and feelings, which gives the book more of a well rounded perspective, instead of being continually focused on the romantic couple.

In this book, you get plenty of sparks, fire and passion between Cameron and Jackson, but there's also adventure, suspense, and some history thrown into the bargain. It's a real page turner, and you'll find yourself turning pages until you finish, and then be glad that there's a sequel (which I plan to read ASAP).

You can tell this book was written in the 70's, when so much trash was published. Rosemary Rogers books were much better in the 80's, which is true of a lot of authors in the genre. I'm guessing what happened is that, with the new freedom to write scenes and storylines that would have been banned just a decade before, they tended to go overboard, "forbidden fruit syndrome", like young people escaping from strict parents. Thankfully, they grew up.

1.2 stars

For this month's #TBRChallenge, the prompt was Old School, which to me, means bodice rippers. This is not an area for some to enter but my first entry to romance was rippers and I maintain a complicated relationship with them today, and still they remain on my tbr. I can't say when this exactly was put on there but I'd say I've been meaning to read it for over 20yrs.

As I've called this a bodice ripper, I'm not sure it needs to be said but trigger warnings abound (racism, rape), especially sexual assault trauma. I also rushed to read this in two days, so if I sound a wee bit punchy in the review, please excuse.

This starts us off in 1862, first in France with 16yr old Virginia Brandon where her coming into womanhood has her cousin getting afflicted with guilty confused dick syndrome. We get ground work on Ginny learning to flirt and control men with her looks, which are so beautiful that lust abounds around her. We also learn that her father is a US senator of California and when the US Civil War is over, he promises to send for her. Her mother was French and brought them back to France after feeling abandoned by her husband but then dies, leaving Ginny in the care of her uncle.

The next introduction then moves to 24yr old Union Captain Steve Morgan guarding the senator's new wife in New Orleans. Sonya is tantalizingly scared of Steve and a southern belle resentful of the Union soldiers but when they get stuck in a cabin in a storm, “animalistic” urges take over. That's right our hero is now banging our heroine's stepmother. Which, yeah, I know, but after reading the whole book, sounds a little more bodice ripper whackadoodle than it turned out be; Ginny didn't grow-up with Sonya in mother-daughter relationship and then only knows her for a couple weeks and then Sonya is out of the story for the vast majority. Sonya really seems to just be an introduction to Steve's nonconsenual and consensual bangboi persona. And what a bangboi persona it was. If you're a woman who appears on page, you getting Steve. Not even godmother's are safe, but more on that later. Steve ends up killing a superior officer in a duel over his mistress and gets recruited by a man named Bishop to be a spy in a ring he has set-up. It's orchestrated to look like he escaped and off to spy and bang he goes.

Part two moves us forward four years and has Ginny in America. She first sees Steve from her hotel window as he shoots a man in the street, more of that tantalizingly scared attraction. We've moved on from the US Civil War and now are dealing with the second intervention Franco-Mexican War. Ginny's senator father supports France and has a plan to supply them with gold and guns, which he brilliantly decides to have Ginny and step-mother Sonya deliver under guise of traveling to California. Him being safe in D.C. I'm sure doesn't factor. Ginny is excited for the adventure until she sees one of their scouts is the guy she saw kill a man in the street. Steve Morgan and his spy ring, still working for the US, side with Mexico and they know all about the senator's gold. His mission is to ride with the wagon train and then steal the gold for their side. Now, you'd think this would be a great a time for some ripper wildness but Sonya just mainly wants Steve to keep his mouth shut about their affair in the past and they don't really talk with each other. I actually enjoyed how Ginny and Sonya had a good relationship. Steve first meets Ginny when he mistakes her for a prostitute. They cat fight and the groundwork for their enemies-to-lovers relationship is set.

“I should hope not, for men in love get far too sloppy,” Ginny retorted. “And then, they become too, too boring.”

In their wagon train, there is a man named Carl that Ginny practices more of her “womanly wiles” on and she gets some taste of adversity as trail life is rough. There's some of that doing tstl moments from her that have her coming off as a brat and allow for Steve to show his manly alphaness that is common in this era and ripper type and then Ginny's body betraying her mind as she asks Steve to take her virginity. Their first sex scene (and the vast majority of sex scenes to follow) starts off with non consensual vibes as we all know women have to be pressured into sex because wanting it would make her a slut, or so the messaging goes from this era. Again, with the sex scenes in this book, after the first initiating, it's fade to black and after the clothes come off, they're laying satisfied.

“Sometimes I feel that being a woman is worse than being a child—we have the intelligence and the feelings of adults, but we aren’t permitted to show them.”

There's a fight with Apaches and then Steve and his merry men are stealing the gold, Ginny manages to rip his face covering off, exposing him and Steve is taking her captive. This is where the story got really slow for me and kind of boring as they seemed to move around but we don't really get any setting and god help me, I'm going to be forced to say it, Ginny is nothing but shrill personality and Steve is a wooden alpha bangboi. Steve rapes her, he takes her to brothel to hide out for awhile, he sleeps with another woman then after climbs into bed with Ginny, Ginny knifes him and then they have sex with his blood getting on them both, some Stockholm Syndrome, and then he takes her to his home in Mexico. We're about 45% in.

Steve Morgan, the man she had so contemptuously called a half-breed—the man she’d believed to be nothing more than a professional gunfighter and a thief—he was the grandson of a Spanish grandee, the heir to millions?

Part three and four gives us more on Steve's background, he's half America from his father's side and half Mexican from his mother's. He's an heir and while both his parents are dead, his grandfather still tries to control him. This part was, again, slower for me as Steve's mainly out of the picture and it's all Ginny learning Steve has a sixteen year old fiance, growing close with Steve's cousin, and then being introduced to his grandfather. Learning a little bit about Ginny, the grandfather decides that Steve must marry her. Wedding preparations and waiting on Steve but also, never fear, we get a scene of Steve sleeping with a servant. Steve eventually comes back and is totes angry that Ginny has orchestrated him being engaged to her. There's some “gypsy dancing” that Ginny is just a siren at, a childhood friend appearance (you guessed it, Steve bangs her!, but also one of the few consensual sex to happen), and a marriage. Yep, Steve decides that he'll marry Ginny but it must be immediately and happen Right Now. Steve wanting this wedding completely comes out of left field and I'm not sure I fully understand why he decided this because he then leaves without saying goodbye to Ginny that night.

My God, he thought suddenly, I was in danger of falling in love with the woman, and I didn’t even know it. What a trap!

Enter a wily French soldier who has Steve and all his spy personas figured out and decides to take Ginny prisoner to flush Steve out. Banging his childhood friend has given Steve the clarity he needed to decide he loves Ginny and even though he knows it's a trap he decides to give himself up to save Ginny. But not so fast, when he is lead to the French soldier's room, he see's Ginny in only her robe and smiling at the French guy, Ginny set him up! Steve, doesn't know the French guy is wily. Steve then drowns in his feels. Meanwhile, Ginny will do anything to save Steve (she loves him too now. How? Why? Don't ask me). Ginny says she will sleep with the French guy and become his mistress if he spares Steve. They make the bargain but the next day as the soldiers are moving out a guy named Tom, a baddie you sort of meet earlier in the story, comes to take Ginny and makes her watch as the prisoners are shot and she thinks Steve is dead.

The ending of part four and then as we move onto Part five is where most of you are going to want to bow out, trigger warnings for rape and sexual trauma are grossly abundant. As I said, Ginny made a deal with the French guy, but it's a rape scene and then the next day Tom comes to take her as the French guy thinks he'll transport her to him but Tom decides to keep her and Ginny is then gang raped and made a camp follower where she daily is assaulted and sometimes sold by Tom to other men. Look, can rape and the trauma from it be done well in romance stories? Yes. Is it done well here? No. Ginny just isn't a well enough developed character for the gravity of this to work. It doesn't come off salacious, which, thank goodness, but the way her character has been a pretty empty vessel up to this point, makes this very cringing to read in a romance genre story that I'm mostly reading for emotional love (and some historical adventure). In a mental breakdown, Ginny ends up killing Tom and winds up in the arms of Michel, a previous French soldier admiring of hers. Anyway, if you wanted to skip part five all together, I wouldn't blame you.

Part six has Ginny being labeled a French courtesan and Michel's mistress. We get some real historical names and told Ginny parades around with them and brief mentions of the war. Another solider enters the picture, Miguel, and while Ginny is now Michel's mistress, he's off fighting the war, and Miguel thinks he must have Ginny. Miguel was actually a character I would have liked to know more about, about the only character that intrigued me. Ginny doesn't really care because she loved Steve and now that he's dead, she doesn't care what happens to her (I'd say it's all the trauma but what do I know?). Miguel is the one to finally reveal a secret to Ginny.

Steve Morgan was alive only because his body insisted upon survival. It was as simple as that.

What a reveal! The pov then shifts to Steve and we get to learn all about his trauma now. What fun! This is also where my Kindle decided to stop saving my notes, so it's going to be fast and probably vague from here on out. Instead of being killed, Steve was taken to the mines (the French guy might be wily but he's no liar!) to work where he endured horrific physical and mental torture and almost endured his own rape. His identity gets revealed and they decide to move him from the mines to building railroads. He goes from horrific conditions to awful. He also serendipitously sees Ginny riding by and smiling with Michel, he's all in with his theory that she set him up and his hatred is white hot. Miguel somehow learns where he is and while he's telling Ginny Steve is alive, he's having Steve and a couple other prisoners moved to a home to help rebuild a wall. Stay with me. There Steve has his own mental breakdown and kills a guard while the other prisoners kill the other guards. The woman who owns the home turns out to be his godmother and she recognizes his blue eyes and spares his life. He ends up banging his godmother (thought I forgot abut that, didn't you?) because bangboi. We then go back to Ginny and how she's Miguel's mistress now so she can get info on Steve. She ends up meeting Bishop, the one who recruited Steve for the spy ring and blackmailing him to send her to Steve. Part seven has her showing up at the house Steve has been staying at and while he's not there, his childhood friend is and Ginny loses her mind over the other woman.

Here is finally where Ginny's character got interesting and she took action and instead of being an empty vessel for things to happen to, she shows emotion and autonomy. She knife fights for her man, as one does, and kicks the other woman out. Steve shows up and still thinking she betrayed him, strangles her, but stops before he kills her and you guessed it, they have sex. There's a, umm, interesting scene, I guess you'd call it, where Ginny holds a knife to Steve's throat and makes him undress because she thinks to break through his anger and show him she loves and didn't betray him by having sex with him. Steve then precedes to blame her for all the men that raped her, leaves, has a trauma inducing return to the mines he was a prisoner at that also gives him a clarity breakthrough and he decides that while he's still angry that so many men had Ginny, he also can kind of see how it wasn't her fault and he loves her. Stand-up guy, I tell ya.

Most of this book only takes place over a year, which is wild to think about because so much happens to Ginny and Steve but so much is just meandering on the pages. There's historical names and the occasional events listed but the vast majority is to the side and for all the traveling these two do, I thought the setting and places were underused, never really felt their destinations. Same with the “epic adventure” that this and bodice rippers are supposed to have, we get a lot of mentions of Steve on his back but for being an adrenaline junkie, we sure miss out on all his spy missions and guerrillas activities. The ending, last 20-10%% gave me more of what I was looking for and Ginny's character came alive and we got some action but it didn't make up for the wandering and meandering that was the middle. Ginny is 21 and Steve 29 when this book ends and I know their story continues on, so maybe some of the growing they did here would be paid off in the next but I probably won't be continuing on. At no point did I believe in their love, Steve wants her in the beginning because of her beauty and he's a bangboi, Ginny is young and anger intrigued by him and ready to lose her virginity, sort of. He kidnaps her, she has to depend on him for survival, then trauma for everyone, then it's decided that they both love each other. Not enough history or love for me in this one.

I remember reading The Wanton as an early teen (13 maybe). I found it hidden in a bedside drawer and once I started reading I realized why. I thought it was crazy hot then and, at 37 I still think the same thing. I mean c'mon look at that cover. What early 90's teenager could resist reading this when their parents weren't home?

When it comes to stupid, there are times the main character, Trista, takes the cake, especially when it involves her stepbrother, Fernando. In her defense (and at the beginning), she was 16 years old and it was the 1800s. And, she'd been shit on a lot by her mother. She was a definite masochist and unreliable narrator. I couldn't tell if she enjoyed the non-consensual BDSM thing every guy in the book had going on for her, but I sure as hell thought it was hot.
Except for the whole brother thing. And, the whole "I will rule you" thing. I can't believe the father and aunt never realized what was going on with Trista and her brother, Fernando and I've never been able to understand her fascination with him.

The writing was difficult to follow most of the time. I often wondered if the characters and the writer was tripping on acid, that's how far out there the plot and writing seems. I've read other books by Rosemary Rogers, such as Love Play and Sweet, Savage Love, but none were quite as disjointed and just plain weird as The Wanton.

But, hot damn, Blaise Devenant!

1978 - my 1st grown-up Romance! she and Woodiwiss and Johanna Lindsey set me on a lifelong path of hunting down great romance novels!

I didn't like the hero. I found him far too cruel to the heroine at times. He also bedded everything that moved along the way, and the love between the hero and heroine was not reciprocated till the last page. Thumbs down.

Ok, so it's classic 70's smut; free love, casual sex and all things disco. From the days when sex wasn't deadly and drug possession didn't carry a life sentence. Set in a time when "I'll try anything for KICKS", was a national slogan. The story is tinted with every 70's taboo...kids from good homes with low self esteem who look for love in all the wrong places, over-indulgence, greed, lust, self degradation and ultimate ruin...It's all there.

So if your wondering why this young generation is so messed up, just read this book and remember how trashed things really were back in the "Good Old Day?" of sex, drugs & DISCO
...SMILE*

BRIDE FOR A NIGHT by Rosemary Rogers is an exciting historical romance with a twist set in Regency England. A wonderful story of love,romance,trust,sweet sensuality,forgiveness,spies,misunderstanding, intrigue,espionage,secrets,betrayal,danger,passion,hidden goals,finding happiness and peace.I enjoyed this story of Talia Dobson and Gabriel, the Earl of Ashcombe as they learn each other,and find their happiness together. Although,forced together by Talia’s father,who is dying,and a rich merchant,Talia and Gabriel learn to deal well together as they navigate the marriage waters and the dangers around them. Gabriel learns a truth about his brother,who was supposed to marry Talia,but instead Gabriel was forced to marry in his stead. A wonderful story of how two people can grow to love each other. “Bride For A Night” is a must for any historical,romance,espionage,readers. It is a fast paced,action paced story that will have you turning pages from beginning to end as you love some characters you will want to through some off a cliff.Received for review from Net Galley and the publisher. Details can be found at HQN and My Book Addiction Reviews.

Requested from NetGalley
Overall Rating 3.75
Story Rating 4.00
Character Rating 3.50

NOTE: This was a fantastic historical romance. I was able to escape into the story for a few hours and that is always a good thing.

What I Loved: This is one of the few times that the leading man was not whom I was rooting for---it was his bride. Talia was pretty much treated like property by her dad and then married off to Gabriel who immediately shipped her off to the country. However, she had a spirit and perseverance that made you want to root for her HEA. I am glad that Gabriel ended up proving to be a good match for her and more importantly, that he worked for it! It was a fun match to see!

What I Liked: Hugo! He is Gabriel's best friend and total source of humor the whole entire story. I am kind of disappointed that Hugo's HEA won't be told in a story (not that I can see) because that would be fun to read.

Complaints: None

Why I Gave it a 3.75: I found the story delightful to read!

Olivia is the shy & timid daughter of a very wealthy & very pushy merchant determined to see her married into the nobility. He arranges for her to marry, against her will, Jack, the younger brother of the Earl of Ashcombe but Jack takes her marriage settlement & runs off, leaving her at the altar & his older brother, Andrew to pick up the pieces. Andrew salvages the family honor by reluctantly marrying Olivia himself, all the while thinking she is every bit as mercenary as her father. The day after the wedding he has her sent off to his estate so he can forget she exists. But he can’t forget her. Before he can get to the estate, to try to get to know her better, Olivia is abducted by French spies. By the time Andrew catches up with her, Olivia is no longer quite so timid, or willing to be ordered around. She is done with being dragged hither and yon at the will of men and is standing up for herself.
It’s a good plot, full or treason, spies, rescues that go awry and even the bad guys are not all that bad at heart. I enjoyed it a good deal.
* disclaimer – I was given this book free from NetGalley in return for this review

This romance story tells the story of Talia Dobson who was forced to marry Earl of Ascombe; thereafter being despatched off to the countryside soon after their night of passion. Talia who has a timid personality changed with her newfound courage, was kidnapped by a vicar to France and Gabriel found himself surprised with her transformation. Through their journey to to escape from the kidnapper, both Talia and Gabriel learned the meaning of companionship and it was then that Gabriel admitted his feeling to Talia.

Reading this book bought tears to me as it was rather sad to see how both of them struggle to understand each other's feeling and at the same time, the mixed feeling that they have for each other has threaten the newly found relationship. I like seeing how both of them readily sacrificed their life for each other and it never failed to give me the warmth feeling knowing that their love is sufficient to overcome all the odds obstacles that they are facing ;)

Talia is into her third season when her father informs her he has found her a husband. He is a self made man who wants his daughter to marry someone with a title. Talia finds herself awkward around the ton, and much to her father's disappointment, hasn't snatched up a husband. He takes it upon himself to find one for her. Not the greatest father, he picks the worst type of fellow – a gambler. But on her wedding day this man disappears, leaving Talia embarrassed on the alter. Her father blackmails the runaway groom's older brother into taking his place and marrying Talia.

Gabriel is an earl, and very pissed he is being forced into this marriage. He decides he will banish her to one of his country estates. Even though they end up having a passion filled wedding night together, he still sends her away from London. Talia finds herself flourishing in the country away from her overbearing father and cold husband. Her quiet life in the country is interrupted when she accidentally over hears the plans of some french spies. They discover her and she is kidnapped to France. When Gabriel discovers this, he takes it upon himself to rescue her.

It doesn't take Gabriel long to realize he cares for Talia. Actually I was surprised how quickly his feelings turned. It took Talia longer to trust Gabriel and to express her feelings for him. But she isn't annoying about her stubbornness to trust him. It would also take me a while to trust someone who treated me the way Gabriel first treated Talia.

I don't know how probable this story is with the French spies and all, but it was fun and not so over the top to be ridiculous. Overall – good characters, pleasant romance, and exciting plot. Not bad read at all.

ARC provided by NetGalley.

I thourghly enjoyed this book.
Talia's father Silas Dobson's a selfmade rich man who wants to be someone in high society. Silas has spent a lot of money on his daughter to make a marriage but the ton does not accept her or her father.
Harry is a gambler and heavy in debt the second son and Silas makes him an offer to marry his daughter and he will give him enough money for a house and small allowance for his daughter.
Harry is a no show at his fancy wedding, he took the money and disappeared. Silas blackmails his older brother Lord Ashcombe to marry her. Gabriel marrys her in a quiet ceremony than after one night sends her to one of his homes in the country.
Talia blossoms away from her overbearing father and husband. She cares about his servants and tenets. Tries to make life better for them. The vicar jack cares for her too and when she over hears about treason. Jack kidnapps her to france before she can tell anyone.
The servants and tenets all look for her because they care and her husband back in London finds out she has been kidnapped and goes to rescue her.
Thier is a lot of rescuing each other and by others kidnapping plots and more treason. It is a good story.
I was given this ebook in exchange for honest review.

SCOUNDREL'S HONOR by Rosemary Harris is an exciting historical romance/suspense set in nineteenth century Russia, London and Egypt.It is well written with depth,details,twists,turns,page turning and a keeper.It has romance,adventure,suspense,excitement,intrigue,quest for justice,power,redemption,kidnapping, white slave trade, and the
promise of love and passion.The hero,Dimitri,is handsome,hard,sexy,wealthy,scoundrel, the seducer of women,criminal of the underworld in Russia,the czar of the underworld,the bastard son of a wealthy,evil nobleman and a protector of women.The heroine, Emma, is beautiful, homely,stubborn, strong-willed,enchanting, is responsible for her younger sister and on quest to find her. Emma is on a quest of find her kidnapped sister from Russian white slaver. Dimitri, is willing to help her, but is on his own quest to bring
his father to justice for all the evil he has done.Together, sparks fly, passion ignites,love begins, and a quest begun. This is a faced paced, action adventure which includes Russia, London, and Egypt. I would highly recommend this book especially if you enjoy betrayal, treachery, traveling through society's underworld during this time period and adventure. This book was received from Net Galley and details can be found at HQN and My Book Addiction and More.

This book came to mind, after a friend of mine remembered a book he had read long ago, in the same genre. I remember venturing into this novel out of curiousity....at the time, it was a major best seller. And the author paved the way for many other female authors. These books are now called "Bodice Rippers", Female erotic romance novels or just plain "CHICK LIT ". This title started a series of books with the same characters....I never was interested in reading any of the sequels. I guess my curiousity was fulfilled...and then some.½

The Wildest Heart
Rosemary Rogers
Sourcebooks
November 2009
978-1-4022-2274-0
748 pages

The back cover summary:

Lady Rowena Dangerfield travels from the exotic palaces of India to the splendor or the Royal Court of London to the savage New Mexico frontier to lay claim to her inheritence and live freely as only she would dare. In the violent, untamed American Southwest, she finally meets a man as strong as she is: Lucas Cord, a dark dangerously handsome, half-Apache outlaw. Fighting scandal, treachery, and murder, Luke is determined to have Rowena for his own,, and as their all-consuming passion mounts, no one is going to stop him...

My evaluation:

Rosemary Rogers romance is so absorbing you will lose track of hours at a time. Rowena will turn your head as she takes on Todd Shannon when she insinuates herself on the SD Ranch. Her obdurate behavior is lovable, especially as she stands out in this time period of 1872-1876. She is the rightful heiress to half the ranch, but Todd has other plans. After all, he has been working this ranch all along. What Todd doesn’t realize is he will be dealing with a viper and a beautiful one at that. The setting taking place in the New Mexico desert provides picturesque images of expansive land and sky. The ever increasingly entangled plot has been carefully knitted together and cleverly revealed by the author.

I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough and with this book being 748 pages, that is a good thing. Honestly you will not want the story of Rowena and Luke to end. The story takes on so many twists, you will often become frustrated, eager for a resolution. The tension is not bad, it makes the story what it is. Romance, lust and love on every level fill this story but the passion of the two main characters will make you want to shake Rowena, and Luke and have you wondering until the very last page.

Rowena is an independent woman. When her grandfather passes away, she finds herself being handed the duties of her grandfather. She reads a diary that belonged to her father and figures out that she is supposed to smooth things over with her family's rivals. Rowena is hot tempered, especially when conversing with the opposite sex. Will she be able to do what she is destined to or will her pride stand in her way?

I loved the dialogue in this book! Rowena reminds me a lot of myself and I was able to picture everything that was happening to her as though it was happening to me.

A sweeping, beautiful epic historical romance, "The Wildest Heart" by Rosemary Rogers kept me entranced throughout 739 pages. Yes, 739 pages. Beginning in 1872 with Rowena in India, onto 1873 when upon her grandfather's death she is sent to her mother's (whom she has never met) in London, and off to America upon her finding out her father is dying and has left her his ranch in New Mexico and a very wealthy woman. These pages take you through her life to 1878 without disappointing and no obnoxious down time. When I first saw this book, I was overwhelmed. A romance THIS long? How much can the author write about? Obviously plenty and without disappointing the reader. This is a TRUE romance in my book. Lady Rowena is beautiful, fierce, independent and strong. Her life was never easy, she is The Wildest Heart. I felt so much of a connection with Lady Rowena, dislike towards Todd Shannon, unsure about Lucas Cord and of course, I eventually fell in love with him, and all the players. I love when an author can build other characters without losing her key players. The late 1800s was a time of wild, raucous and outlaws, especially in the west. The author has woven the time period in beautifully.

Just beautiful. I say this book is worth each and every page you read. I wasn't disappointed and I am sure other readers won't be either. I will even say this, this is definitely going into my re-read pile for another round. Be prepared to be captivated through the entire book

Thank you to Sourcebooks for providing this copy for my review. Acceptance of a review copy does not affect my ability to remain unbiased and provide a truthful, honest review. I am not paid for my reviews.

This book gives women a bad name... I didn't like how the male main character treated the female main character throughout the book. He treats her like she is a piece of trash and not a human being. Overall I found this book horrible... I am usually really good about finishing a book even if I didn't like it... except for this one... I only made it to Chapter 21 and finally couldn't take it anymore. I don't recommend this book to anyone.

I rarely read romance, but Rogers is the one I tend to go to when I do. This was beautifully written with believable characters, and just what I needed as a bit of non-thinking pleasure reading. I admit that at a few points in this one I found some actions/assurances hard to believe, but overall the book was exactly what it should be. Enjoyable, fun, well-written, and easy to escape into.½

I'm not much for romance, but this one was a nice brief escape. I didn't enjoy it as much as Rogers' other works though, which was something of a disappointment since I'd picked it as I searched out more of her work. Here, the characters and situations just fell a bit flatter, as if she were more rushed in the writing. It's certainly a stronger story and work than much of the mass marketed paperbacks that are turned out by the week, but just not quite up to what I saw from her before.

Despite her privileged life in the sultry paradise of Marinique, the beautiful and daring Sapphire Fabergine will never be satisfied until she claims the honor and legitimacy that has been denied her. Sapphire sails to London to confront the aristocratic family who had disowned her before she was even born - only to find that her father is dead and that his title has passed to Blake Thixton, an attractive yet loathsome distant American cousin.

Convinced Sapphire is determined to bring about his ruin, Blake kidnaps her and sails back to America, where he presents her with a choice: become his mistress or serve him as a maid in his waterfront mansion. Without means in this unfamiliar land, Sapphire is trapped. But she will not compromise her quest for honor so easily - not even for the man she has come to desire.

The original bodice-ripper. It is a good one, if you like this sort of thing. I guess.

Gorgeous, captivating, the object of every man's desire, Eve Mason's dreams of super model stardom have lured her into the California world of glamour and the media--where pleasure is an addictive drug...and beauty is a commodity to be bought, sold and degraded. But the whirlpool of lies and betrayals will not drag her under--even as it pulls her into the web of a dangerous lover. Because Eve is determined to taste the one fruit sweeter than wealth and fame: tender, uninhibited love.