I swear, it's like it's a holiday season or something, with all these books on sale. Today there's a saga that's best described as historical fiction, and more Johanna Lindsey, too.
Through a Glass Darkly by Karleen Koen is on sale for $2.99. It was originally published in 1986 and was a bestseller. While some Amazon reviews mention typos that sound like scan errors (“…On page 507 the word “be” should be “he” in the sentence “If be kisses me, she thought…and she could not finish the thought.””)
Karleen Koen's sweeping saga contains unforgettable characters consumed with passion: the extraordinarily beautiful fifteen-year-old noblewoman, Barbara Alderley; the man she adores, the wickedly handsome Roger MontGeoffry; her grandmother, the duchess, who rules the family with cunning and wit; and her mother, the ineffably cruel, self-centered and licentious Diana. Like no other work, Through a Glass Darkly is infused with intrigue, sweetened by romance and awash in the black ink of betrayal.
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Secret Fire is $1.99 digitally. And that cover is SO TOTALLY SUBTLE LIKE WHOA.
He'd caught only a glimpse of her from the window of his carriage, but the young prince knew he had to have her. Within minutes, Lady Katherine St. John was dragged from the London street and carried off to a sumptuous town house — for the pleasure of her royal admirer…
From the tempestuous passion of their first encounter, across stormy seas, to the golden splendor of palaces in Moscow, she was his prisoner — obsessed with rage toward her captor even as an all-consuming need made her his slave. Yet theirs was a fervor beyond her understanding, carrying them irrevocably toward final surrender to the power of undeniable love.
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Tender is the Storm is $1.99. Mail order brides out west? Oh, yeah.
Headstrong heiress Sharisse Hammond wants no part of the New York society marriage that has been arranged for her. So she heads west across a vast and dangerous land — with no intention of honoring her agreement to become the mail-order bride of a rugged Arizona rancher.
But Lucas Holt needs a wife — any wife — if his plan to destroy his most hated enemy is to succeed. And this gullible Eastern lady would do quite nicely. However, their separate schemes to use one another are complicated by raw, aching passion. For Lucas's beautiful, unsuspecting pawn was not supposed to be so irresistible alluring. And freedom-loving Sharisse never dreamed she could ever desire one man so much!
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A Gentle Feuding is $1.99. I never spell “feuding” right on the first try. Ever. And, if I recall, the feuding isn't very gentle all the time. I remember these two fighting like rock'em sock'em romance characters.
Duty demands that Sheena, the beautiful jewel of the Fergusson clan, wed to end the violent feud that has devastated her family. But never could she give herself completely to the handsome and dangerous laird Jamie MacKinnion – the most feared man in the Scottish highlands.
The captive prize of Jamie's sword, Sheena struggles in vain to escape the desire awakened by his touch. And though pride insists she hate her dashing enemy, Sheena's heart begs her to yield…and to surrender to Jamie's passionate love.
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Silver Angel is $1.99 -$3.99 depending on retailer. I think that, among romance readers who have read a few Johanna Lindsey novels, everyone has their favorite: a book that, despite some “No, really, I know this sounds insane but…” moments, you re-read and love every time. Silver Angel is that Lindsey novel for me. The heroine's name is Chantelle, she gets put in a harem, the pasha isn't who he says he is, and there's politics that play out in the harem bathing quarters. Even with some “OMGWAT?!” moments in the book, this is the Lindsey that makes me sigh and roll my eyes at myself at the SAME TIME every single time I read it.
Abducted and sold into slavery, Chantelle Burke has been brought to the palace of the mighty Pasha. Vowing never to bow to this ruthless master's will, the young Englishwoman weakens within the silken splendor of his chambers, and after on glance into his piercing emerald eyes.
The stunningly handsome Pasha is a powerful, muscular figure yet he caresses the lovely addition to his harem with a fond tenderness that only succeeds in driving her wild. But beneath his exotic eastern garb, the cryptic Pasha shrouds his true identity — one that he finds difficult to conceal when he wants so much to surrender his hearty and soul to the irresistible Chantelle.
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HAH @ the subtle cover!
OMG must read some of these. I have actually never read Johanna Lindsey and it sounds like serious old school wtf to me, but I am all over it. I think I will start with Secret Fire.
I can’t remember if you’ve mentioned this yet, but Samhain is offering 30% off on all its books if you use the code “holidays.” It works until midnight, 12/9. Oh, and you can get an extra 30% off the 30% new releases price. I checked. I got most of the Samhain books I wanted during their Cyber Monday sale, but I was happy to pick up some new releases at even cheaper prices.
My friend and I used to read “tender is the storm” out loud to each and laugh our butts off. We retitled the book “tender is the loin” LMAO
We did a collective recommendation list of Lindsey titles a few months back, if you’re looking for suggestions of where to start: http://bit.ly/I7nXJI
Also:
“…the cryptic Pasha shrouds his true identity—one that he finds difficult to conceal when he wants so much to surrender his hearty and soul to the irresistible Chantelle.”
HEARTY AND SOUL! HAHAHAHHA. I copied that from the book listing online, too. I must reread to look for the pasha’s hearty and soul.
Have said it before and will say it again, THROUGH A GLASS DARKLY had the best, OMG I did NOT see THAT coming in it. (Please note I was 18/19 when I read it and had never been exposed to what that was.)
Must have been a short sale at ARe, Through a Glass Darkly is $16.99 🙁
I have a rather well worn copy of ‘A Gentle Feuding’ by Johanna Lindsay (which I believe is now 28 yrs old) from my Grand Aunt’s collection, and I have to say the covers look rather different.
On the ‘84 version she’s a porcelain skinned red hair with dramatic flowing hair and he’s a lightly tanned blonde who appears to be naked, though it’s hard to tell because he’s cut off across the back so you can only see one arm his head and one leg.
Now i have to read it to see if they spend any time dramatically posing in a valley, and if so what does he wear?
There are other great romance books available for spicy good reading. “Captive Heart” by Marcy Gregg is not your usual romance, and has some spice like “Fifty Shades of Grey.” It combines historical romance with suspenseful action and interesting early American history. It is an e-book available at Amazon or Barnes and Noble for only $2.99.
I have a soft spot for “Through a Glass Darkly” because I suffered a long separation from it, and then enjoyed a prolonged short-burst reading relationship. I found it on the shelves of a family I was babysitting for when I was about 13, and started reading when the little ones were in bed. My employers nobly offered to let me take it home when they found me reading it when they came home, but I equally nobly declined. Then in high school I was thrilled to rediscover it in the school library where (lucky me) I had homeroom due to a shortage of classrooms. We had ten minute homerooms every day, during which the only thing that happened was attendance taking, so I would slip off to the stacks and read it for ten minutes at a time. (I had a friend call me in case I got too absorbed to hear the bell.) I’m not sure how such a long book would hold up to a prolonged glom, but as I recall in ten minute chunks it’s quite good, though I remember my high school brain thinking that sex seemed to make people very stupid in Olden Times. I charitably attributed the stupidity to repressed mores, positive that no adults in the present would ever be stupid about sex…..I was very young.
“I remember my high school brain thinking that sex seemed to make people very stupid in Olden Times.”
That made me laugh so hard. I had the same thought when I was in high school.
Kind of testing. but covers look nice