Jean Johnson (1) (1972–)

Fun. A good story, like all the rest of Jean's, but this one had me laughing like none of the others. There's an interesting mystery, some rather convoluted plotting, lots of disguise (by Shifterai face-shifting), and quite a bit of careful consideration of behavior (is he who he seems to be or not? And if not, how does he differ?). Also some explicit sex scenes, as usual. But there's also two people talking, learning to trust one another - and sharing jokes that made me laugh too. Good show more story. I read it from the library - in one swell foop, until o-dark-hundred; now I definitely want to own and reread it. show less

I have learnt a ruthless lesson! Never procure anything that screams EROTICA while I am PMSing. It’s reminiscent of waking up next to your imbalanced ex-boyfriend after a night of drunken bliss fancying that you would have rather fucked a maggot.




Crammed with inane foreplay banter and oodles of exasperating vanilla sexual antics, it made the antiquarian Grimm brothers seem more arousing.

Oh goody, goody. In "The Storm" by Jean Johnson, Ryder gets his woman! This is book five from the 'Sons of Destiny' series. The series follows eight brothers, four sets of twins who are under a curse and were banished to an island. Each book tells the story of one of the brothers, all mages, finding love in accordance with the prophecy and the curse.

Rydan is the antisocial one. He's always known that he felt better when he was apart from other people, he just didn't know why. He's also the show more Guardian of a magic Fountain and if he's interpreting the prophecy correctly, then to get his woman he will have to give up Guardianship of his fountain...something he has absolutely no intention of doing.

Rora's magic is unusual in that she doesn't 'perform' magic, she 'carries' magic. The end result is that she and her sister were forced to flee from their homeland, chased by mages trying to steal or use Rora's power. She can also 'see' emotions as colors, and she's astonished to realize that Rydan's problem is he cannot shield himself from his own and others' emotions. With Rora's help, he is getting better and she is more attracted every day. But will he be willing to sacrifice what he treasures most to have Rora?

Another fascinating book in this series. Before I read it, I was sure I wasn't going to like Ryder as he was so cold and uncommunicative. But knowing why? Well, that changed everything. Johnson's handling of the physical and emotional issues around Ryden and Rora's relationship was really touching. And there's plenty of heat here too. If you enjoy your romances in series form, you really need to check this one out. It has a very historical feel to it, even though at least two of the 'brides' are from 'our' world. Magic, hot sex, shapeshifters, and ordinary humans. Good storyline, excellent plotting and beautiful writing. show less

Excellent end to the series (the wrapup is amusing, actually). Nice assortment of characters, and interesting culture clashes (especially in the all-species meeting). It's really funny, throughout this series, how many times the POV characters are required to _explain_, _patiently_ (or not so patiently), how things really are - from the V'Dan seeing them as children, to the other species trying to treat them as one, to the enemy needing the fact that they've lost explained. And Jacki's show more response to the method she had to use is perfect - she'd thought about it a lot, clearly! Unfortunately, it is explained clearly that all their adventures are done and there's no more stories here (explained to them, and through that explanation to the reader. That's the clever wrapup I mentioned above). When I started reading this, I was thinking I needed to go back and read the end of the previous book to get the details clearly in my mind (there's a good synopsis, but I wanted the details as well). But I'd just glance at the first few pages...and then I found myself five chapters in. I guess I didn't really need to review... Lovely. More, please! show less