This was my very first Jude Deveraux book and I fell in love. It was great seeing how Amanda changed from a paper doll into a real flesh and blood woman. I loved seeing her break away from the control of her "fiance" and her father and start to think for herself. Hank was a great character with many sides, professor, author, race car driver, lover of women, etc. The romance between Amanda and Hank is fantastic but much more is seeing the changes and truths that shape Amanda into the woman she had the potential to be all along. ( )

I run hot and cold with this one. On the one hand, the story is rather bland and uninspired. Boy meets girl, girl dislikes boy, boy convinces girl to get over herself, and they live happily ever after. There's more to it, yes, but it's really quite forgettable. On the other hand, the characters in this book are more likable than those found in much of Deveraux's other work. So while this book may be particularly exciting, it's at least not as aggravating as some. ( )

http://olvasonaplo.freeblog.hu/archives/2007/02/15/Jude_Deveraux_The_awakening/ ( )

Very bad. ( )

From BackCover:
Amanda Caulden led a sheltered life on her father's California ranch--until the day Hank Montgomery stormed into town. A hot-blooded union organizer with a taste for ladies and fine champagne, he sensed the fire smoldering beneath her prim, virtuous beauty . . . and vowed to make her his…

Hank's assault on her orderly life made Amanda furious--and all the more enticing. Slowly, he drew her into a world of sensual pleasure: of sumptuous meals and moonlit dances, carefree laughter and stolen kisses…gently stirring the sleeping embers of passion. But even as a fierce love rose between them, violent rebellion threatened to destroy the Caulden ranch--and their lives! ( )