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Jennifer Blake

Author of With a Southern Touch

149+ Works 5,440 Members 49 Reviews 6 Favorited

About the Author

Best-selling romance author, Jennifer Blake was born in Louisiana in 1942. She has written over 50 titles which have been published in 18 languages. Her titles include "Arrow to the Heart," "Silver-Tongued Devil," "Bride of a Stranger," "Royal Seduction," "Garden of Scandal," and the "Southern show more Gentlemen" series. Blake also writes mysteries under the pseudonymn Patricia Ponder, gothic romances as Elizabeth Treherne, contemporary romances as Patricia Maxwell and Maxine Patrick. Blake's works have earned her numerous awards and honors. She is Writer-in-Residence for the University of Northeastern Louisiana, and is a charter, and honorary, member of Romance Writers of America. In addition to those honors, she has received a Golden Treasure Award for Lifetime Achievement from Romance Writers of America and the Frank Waters Award for Excellence in Fiction and she was inducted into the RWA and Affaire de Coeur Romance Halls of Fame. Blake currently resides in Louisiana. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Disambiguation Notice:

Patricia Anne Ponder Maxwell is a best-selling American author of over fifty novels. She has published books under five different names. Using her real name, Patricia Maxwell, she writes Gothic mystery-suspense romances; she wrote one book in collaboration that was published under Elizabeth Trehearne, under her maiden name, Patricia Ponder, she wrote a murder mystery and a romantic suspense story, as Maxine Patrick, she wrote contemporary romances and as Jennifer Blake she writes historical romances.

Image credit: jenniferblake.com

Series

Works by Jennifer Blake

With a Southern Touch (2002) — Contributor — 144 copies
Wildest Dreams (1990) 143 copies, 3 reviews
Fierce Eden (1985) 140 copies, 2 reviews
Roan (2000) 139 copies
Challenge to Honour (2004) 132 copies
Dawn Encounter (2006) 131 copies
Royal Seduction (1983) 130 copies, 1 review
Luke (1999) 129 copies, 1 review
By His Majesty's Grace (2011) 127 copies, 6 reviews
Clay (2001) 125 copies
Shameless (1994) 124 copies
Royal Passion (1985) 120 copies
Prisoner of Desire (1986) 117 copies
Kane (1998) 116 copies
Midnight Waltz (1984) 115 copies, 1 review
Louisiana Dawn (1987) 110 copies, 1 review
Wade (2002) 110 copies
Arrow to the Heart (1993) 108 copies, 2 reviews
Rogue's Salute (2007) 103 copies
Guarded Heart (2008) 101 copies
Silver-Tongued Devil (1995) 100 copies, 3 reviews
Love and Smoke (1989) 98 copies, 1 review
Embrace and Conquer (1981) 94 copies
Garden of Scandal (1997) 93 copies, 2 reviews
Southern Rapture (1987) 92 copies
Spanish Serenade (1990) 91 copies, 1 review
Surrender in Moonlight (1984) 84 copies
By Grace Possessed (The Three Graces) (2011) 83 copies, 5 reviews
Love's Wild Desire (1977) 72 copies
Tigress (1996) 72 copies
Gallant Match (2009) 72 copies
A Joyous Season (Anthology 4-in-1) (1996) — Contributor — 69 copies, 1 review
Joy & Anger (1991) 65 copies
Perfume of Paradise (1988) 64 copies
The Storm and the Splendor (1979) 63 copies
The Rent-A-Groom (2012) 61 copies, 4 reviews
Triumph in Arms (2010) 54 copies
Tender Betrayal (1979) 51 copies
Bride of a Stranger (1974) 45 copies, 1 review
Sweet Piracy (1978) 42 copies, 1 review
Golden Fancy (1980) 42 copies
The Notorious Angel (1974) 40 copies, 1 review
Pieces of Dreams (1996) 32 copies
Dark Masquerade (1974) 30 copies, 1 review
April of Enchantment (1980) 29 copies, 1 review
The Secret of Mirror House (1970) 29 copies
Out of the Dark (2011) 26 copies
The Abducted Heart (1978) 25 copies
Captive Kisses (1980) 23 copies
Bayou Bride (1978) 23 copies
Galahad in Jeans (Louisiana Knights, #2) (2016) 21 copies, 1 review
Night of the Candles (1978) 19 copies
Stranger at Plantation Inn (1970) 18 copies
A Vision of Sugarplums (2011) 18 copies, 2 reviews
The Bewitching Grace (1974) 17 copies, 1 review
The Warlock's Daughter (2011) 17 copies, 1 review
Love at Sea (1980) 16 copies
Snowbound Heart (1979) 15 copies
The Court of the Thorn Tree (1973) 15 copies, 1 review
Dream Lover (2013) 9 copies
Forbidden Lovers (A Paranormal Romance Box Set) (2013) — Contributor — 8 copies
Besieged Heart (2013) 7 copies
Queen For A Night (2014) 7 copies
Adam (2005) 6 copies
The Hired Wife (1978) 5 copies
Murder for Charity (1974) 2 copies
Haven of Fear (1974) 2 copies
Baby Dreams (1990) 2 copies
Verheißung der Nacht. (2004) 2 copies
Rendicion Bajo LA Luna (1994) 1 copy
Pirate Hearts (Box Set 3-in-1) (2013) — Author — 1 copy
Démoni szenvedély (1996) 1 copy
Tiltott vágyak (1993) 1 copy
Ámor nyila (1997) 1 copy
Királyi csábítás (1992) 1 copy
LE JARDIN DES PASSIONS (1998) 1 copy
Linda 2/A * 1 copy
Wie Feuer im Blut (2005) 1 copy
Rächer des Herzens (2006) 1 copy
Nacht über Lousiana. (2002) 1 copy
Rose 1/A * 1 copy
Ross 4/A 1 copy
Träume des Südens (1989) 1 copy
Miłość i dym (1997) 1 copy

Associated Works

How to Write a Romance and Get it Published (1983) — Contributor, some editions — 128 copies
Snow Baby (2000) — Foreword — 34 copies, 1 review
Crimes of Passion (Box Set 6-in-1) (2014) — Contributor — 4 copies
Romancing the Heart (Box Set 8-in-1) (2014) — Contributor — 2 copies

Tagged

Common Knowledge

Legal name
Ponder Maxwell, Patricia Anne
Other names
Maxwell, Patricia
Trehearne, Elizabeth
Ponder, Patricia
Patrick, Maxine
Blake, Jennifer
Birthdate
1942-03-09
Gender
female
Occupations
novelist
Organizations
Romance Writers of America
Awards and honors
Romantic Times (Historical Romance Author of the Year, 1985)
Romance Writers of America's Golden Treasure (Lifetime Achievement, 1987)
North Louisiana Romance Authors's Climbing Rose Award (1987)
Romance Writers of America (Honorary Membership, 1988)
Affaire de Coeur Magazine (Romance Hall of Fame, 1994)
Coeur de Louisiane, Inc. Writers Club (Lifetime Honorary Membership, 1995) (show all 9)
North Louisiana Romance Authors's Climbing Rose Award (1995)
Frank Waters Award for Writing Excellence (1997)
Writer- in -Residence, University of Northeastern Louisiana
Short biography
Patricia Ann Ponder was born on March 9, 1942 in a one hundred-twenty year old house constructed by her grandparents near Goldonna, Louisiana, where her family resided during seventh generation. She grep up in her parent's farm in Northern Louisiana.

At 15, Patricia married with Mr. Maxwell and they formed a happy family. At 21, she needed to be something more than a housewife and she began writing, she sold her first book at 27. She start writing gothic novels with her real name, Patricia Maxwell; she wrote one book in collaboration as Elizabeth Trehearne and she singed a murder mystery and a romantic suspense story as her maiden name, Patricia Ponder. When the gothic genre began to decay, she began to publish only romance genre, contemporany romances as Maxine Patrick and historical romances as Jennifer Blake, the only pseudonym that she uses now.

This legend of the romance genre is called the "Steel Magnolia of women's fiction" and gained New York Times Best Seller status since 1977, with "Love's wild desire". An international best seller as well, she has been published in 18 languages with worldwide sales approaching 30 million. She was honored with the position as Writer-in-Residence for the University of Northeastern Louisiana, and is a charter, and honorary, member of Romance Writers of America.

Since 1998, Patricia and her husband have resided in a lakeside Caribbean-styled retreat in North Louisiana where they often entertain friends and family.
Nationality
USA
Birthplace
Goldonna, Louisiana, USA
Places of residence
Goldonna, Louisiana, USA
Disambiguation notice
Patricia Anne Ponder Maxwell is a best-selling American author of over fifty novels. She has published books under five different names. Using her real name, Patricia Maxwell, she writes Gothic mystery-suspense romances; she wrote one book in collaboration that was published under Elizabeth Trehearne, under her maiden name, Patricia Ponder, she wrote a murder mystery and a romantic suspense story, as Maxine Patrick, she wrote contemporary romances and as Jennifer Blake she writes historical romances.
Associated Place (for map)
Goldonna, Louisiana, USA

Members

Discussions

Reviews

55 reviews
Dark Masquerade by Jennifer Blake is a 2014 Steel Magnolia Press publication.

This book was originally published in 1974- and it goes without saying that these older books are often hit or miss- that is especially true if you decide to pick up an old Gothic suspense novel published between the late sixties and mid-seventies. But, if you know what to expect, and are maybe familiar with Dorothy Daniels or maybe Victoria Holt- you'll probably enjoy this one- and the trip down memory lane, too. show more

This is a rare re-read for me. I read it back in 2014 when the author digitally formatted her Gothic collection and made them available in the Kindle store. Despite my mini collection of old Gothic paperbacks, I had no idea Jennifer Blake had ever written Gothic Suspense, having only known her as the NYT bestselling author of numerous historical romances.

Despite some legacy authors, such as those I mentioned previously, most of the Gothic suspense novels written during that brief period when they were extremely popular, were quite forgettable- and some were just plain bad, and they most definitely didn’t age well.

But now that I’ve read several of Blake’s Gothic stories, I found that her novels stood the test of time remarkably well, all things considered.

There are some dated attitudes and passages, but nothing too terrible. This one has a twofold thread of suspense, and Blake’s signature southern accent woven through it, which gave in an added layer of atmosphere.

Overall, this one is a cut above most novels published in this category -in this era- which is most likely attributed to Blake’s rapidly developing talent as a writer at the time.

I think it’s great that we can revisit these old novels now- especially as they are out of print and incredibly hard to find. It’s also fun to read an author’s very early work before they started making the bestseller lists, as well.

I had fun with this one- it was the perfect read a wet, gray and foggy day.

3.5 stars
show less
½
I thought the author did a great job of capturing the large role that court life was beginning to play and how it would or could affect a love story. I agree with other reviewers that this was more of a novel of historical fiction with swashbuckling sword fights than it was a romance, but it still had a lot of energy. Some elements were a little implausible, but overall I really enjoyed this.
½
Requested on NetGalley by me
Overall Rating 4.25
Character Rating 4.00
Historical Rating 4.50
Story Rating 4.25
Excellent Historical Romance!

Note: By His Majesty's Grace is the first in a new trilogy from Jennifer Blake. I really enjoyed the amount of historical "tidbits" that Jennifer threw in while telling the story. They made the story feel authentic. Please take time to read the author's note at the end and you can see how much time/effort she put into researching the Tudor time period!

What I show more Loved: Number 1 thing I loved about this book is that it was set in the time frame of the Tudors but pre-Henry VIII. The feel of the period through the historical tidbits, clothing, environment, and speech were well done. Rand and Isabel were lovely leads. This was a rare case where you could tell Rand was in love with Isabel, so you were rooting for her to finally "get it"! I adored how loyal, caring, and strong Rand was through out the story. Plus, *swoon*, he gave one of those (and I wished I wrote it down) I would live for you but I would die for you speeches. My heart was a flutter!

What I Liked: The introduction of the sisters and how close they were to each other. I think that means we will see all of them in each others stories, which I adore. Also the intrigue surrounding the baby was really well done with a few misdirections to keep you on your toes.

Complaints: None

Why I gave it a 4.25: This was a really well done historical that I would recommend to anyone who enjoys the Tudor years!
show less
Joletta Caresse's beloved grandmother dies, taking with her the secret to the formula of a legendary perfume that is now the most sought-after perfume on the market. Joletta tries to track down the formula through journals written by her ancestress, Violet Fossier, who in 1854 made a grand tour of Europe.
As Joletta follows Violet's itinerary across the continent, the story goes back in time, to nineteenth- century Europe and a scandalous love affair that is intimately bound up in the mystery show more of the perfume. In the present Joletta finds herself attracted to--and suspicious of--Rone Adamson, a Southern playboy whose astounding knowledge of perfume makes Joletta wary. Yet his chivalrous charms prove too much for her scruples, and Jolettta succumbs to her dubious white knight, even as danger swirls around them.... show less

Awards

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Statistics

Works
149
Also by
6
Members
5,440
Popularity
#4,574
Rating
½ 3.3
Reviews
49
ISBNs
454
Languages
8
Favorited
6

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