Review: A Great Collection from a Master of Historical Romance - Bodice Rippers, Adventure and Love, oh yeah!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 08 28, 2013
I have reviewed each of these separately but wanted to give you a summary of the reviews for the boxed set here:SURRENDER IN MOONLIGHT (5 stars)I should just say at the outset that I love Jennifer Blake's historical romances. They are so well written with lots of sexual tension and wonderful heroes and heroines. Like many of her early ones, this one is written from the heroine's perspective, making the hero that much more mysterious. It's a wonderful story of the blockade runners who risked their lives to supply the Confederacy during the Civil War. And it's the story of an unlikely meeting that led to a legacy of love.The story begins in 1863, two years into the Civil War, as Lorna Forrester is forced to marry a moron to clear up her uncle's debt. But the night before the wedding she takes shelter from a thunderstorm only to fall prey to the seduction of a handsome blockade-runner named Ramon Cazenave, who is happy to take the innocence of the woman promised to the son of the man who stole his family's home. As New Orleans falls to the Federal naval forces, Ramon sweeps Lorna to safety in Nassau where she begins a new life but neither Ramon nor Lorna can forget the passion they found in that thunderstorm.It's a great story of worthy men and women in a historic time in American. I also loved the Author's Note at the end that documented the incredible amount of research Blake did for this book. I think you will like it.NOTORIOUS ANGEL (4 and  stars)A bodice ripper set in Nicaragua in Central America during the years 1855-1857, it tells the story of Eleanora Colette Villars from an aristocratic New Orleans family who, because of her brother's folly, loses her home and ends up following her brother to Nicaragua where he has joined the mercenaries serving William Walker, an American who is trying to take over the country.Colonel Grant Farrell, head of Walker's private military, using her brother as hostage, forces Eleanora, an innocent, to pose as his mistress. Then he rapes her and holds her prisoner in his home. When she has the chance to escape, she does not take it. She even begins to make excuses for the colonel (he's a half-breed Apache with a poor childhood). It is clear she is feeling more than she would admit.  When her brother wounds the colonel in a duel, she returns to the colonel's house to tend his wound. Impressed with Eleanora's medical knowledge, the local doctor invites her to tend the wounded American mercenaries. For her valiant efforts, is dubbed "the colonel's angel." But she has rivals, the mistress of William Walker, and the former mistress of Colonel Farrell, both of whom seek Eleanora's demise.In an intricately woven plot, Eleanora rises to every challenge as she is rescued from peril only to face further hardships. The scenes as they tramp from Granada to the coast through the jungles and rivers are very well done, and very realistic. The characters are richly developed, too. The writing is excellent. Blake really makes you feel like you're in the hot, dusty streets of Nicaragua in a tumultuous time.I stayed up late at night to finish this one--and it has a great ending!GOLDEN FANCY (5 stars)Set in 1893, it tells of 19-year-old Serena Walsh who has lost her parents to typhoid and is forced to travel with a Mormon wagon train heading through Colorado where her father had planned to mine for gold. But the crazed Mormon Elder Greer has eyes for Serena and decides she will become his wife whether she is willing or no. When he thinks to take her by force, she stabs him with a fork and flees to the prairie. There, she is rescued by Ward Dunbar, owner of the Eldorado saloon, who sees her safely to Colorado and thinking she is a loose woman forcibly takes her innocence (yes, indeedy, this is a bodice ripper).Ward, a lawyer turned gambler, wasn't looking too good when he took Serena's innocence and, making it worse, forced her to become his kept woman, holding her prisoner in a room above his saloon. Then, too, Ward's partner, Pearlie, is jealous of Serena and resents her presence. But all is not lost; millionaire Nathan Benedict discovers Serena and wants her for his own, offering a fortune to Ward to leave her alone. And, oh yes, someone is killing ladies of the night.Based on thorough research, Blake brings to life the gold mining town of Cripple Creek in the late 19th century with all its colorful characters and more than one villain. The story is told through the heroine's perspective so you'll be wondering what Ward is thinking much of the time, as I did, at least until he tells us what's been on his mind. This is one story that will keep you turning pages.