Smart Bitches, Trashy Books

The only Lindsey title I can remember reading is Savage Thunder. I guess I would say that I loved it even though the only thing I can remember is the hero and heroine having sex on horseback.

I’m twisted - what can I say?

JC

I love Johanna Lindsay with mad love.  Mad, mad, mad love.  I think I own almost all of her backlist.  I even love all of her recent ones, like Captiv of My Desires, even though people seem to hate them.  I’m not exactly objective here…

My favorites are probably The Devil Who Tamed Her and The Marriage Most Scandalous, and I enjoyed Defy Not The Heart, especially because it was not a Regency historical romance.  Those I reread most often.  I love the Mallory saga…  Okay, I should stop probably.

The worst book…  Oy.  A Gentle Feuding.  I hate Scottish/Highlander Romance.  I hate faux Scottish accent.  I hated the heroine.  I hated the hero.  It took me three damn hours to read this book, because I hated it so much and had to take my time to groan and attempt to spork myself in the eye in an effort to stop the pain, but it is a Lindsey and I finished it, and I only reread it once after that.  Not one of her best :(. 

As to Lindsey’s style, I’ve done a blog post on it a while back.  It went like this:

5 Signs you’ve been reading too much Johanna Lindsey
On surviving kidnapping:

1. When a man kidnaps you, try to feebly pound his chest. If that fails, seduce him.

2. If the man who kidnaps you is a sea captain, entice him into compromising situation, hit him on the head, chain him in his own cabin, and then try to seduce him.

3. If the man who kidnaps you is a Highlander, pretend to be very scared of him - Scotts are gentle with their wimmenfolk, and he might take you back where he found you. (At the very least, he might offer.) If that fails, seduce him.

4. If the man who kidnaps you is a bastard son of a Norman lord, try to bribe him into marriage with your castle. Normans are a pragmatic lot, and you can always seduce him after you are married.

5. If all of the above doesn’t apply, and you are still kidnapped, check the nearest stable - there might be an English Duke in disguise in there. The men of the ton are chivalrous and he will probably rescue you.

:happy sigh:  I lurve those books

Ok, I only recently (like a couple of months ago) did a vast lets-read-anything-by of her books, which should tell you that I, for the most part, enjoyed her books.  I can not single out a single one that I thought was best, but I can, most definitly, single out two that I thought were the worst.  Thoes two were “Warrior’s Woman” and “Keeper of the Heart”. 

I started off listening to them on audio book cause most of the time even the worst book makes cleaning the house more bearable.  I had to switch to reading them, cause I am one of those people who has to know the ending, and I figured that I could get to it faster reading then listening.  But I really, really, really, really hated those two books.  They were so bad, I wish I could barf all knowledge that I had of those books out of my brain. 

They are supposedly futuristic/sci-fi/whatever, but the ......I don’t even want to think about them enough to describe.

And I like most of her stuff, even if what ilona andrews says is like so totally true, but they are FUN, so who cares?

Man, I can only think of one or two JL books I read.  There was one I really enjoyed, but it’s been ages since I read it.  Prisoner of My Desire is the title.

I’m with the librarian, in that I know very little about Johanna Lindsey.  In fact… I’ve never actually read anything by her.  //hangs head in shame

I do have “You Belong to Me” in my TBR pile.  Is that any good?

Angel is the only Lindsay on my keeper shelf. Go figure, Westerns generally aren’t a fave of mine, but I really love these two characters together.

Pippy said:

And I like most of her stuff, even if what ilona andrews says is like so totally true, but they are FUN, so who cares?

I know!  They are so, so fun.  I’m somewhat strict in my reading habits, which is not to say that I will automatically toss the book out the window if there is kidnapping and forceful kisses in it, but 99% of the time I really don’t go for it.  She is one of those rare authors for me that doesn’t trigger the throwing.  Normally, I would be like, “Why that woman said, “No!” and he kissed her anyway.  Shoot that bastard.  Get the torch, let’s roast the book over the slow fire.”

With Lindsey, it’s “OMG, he just drugged her and stuffed her into a trunk and is kidnapping her.  Keep going!  Don’t forget the air holes!”  To be fair, Lindsey’s heroines are usually likely to give as good as they get. 

I don’t know why, but JR Ward does it for me too: so let’s see, he grabs some woman he never met before, puts her against the wall, and is rubbing against her, why she is saying, “No!  Let me go!”  By all rights, I should drop the book, but no, I reread the damn thing so much, I think it’s falling apart.  Perhaps I have issues.

Word: wrong39.  LOL!

Since Lindsey is known for her heroes who won’t take no for answer from the heroine and forces them to their will, I would look for those authors who have the same such as Catherine Coulter historicals, Dawn Thompson, Karen Robards old historicals,  Elizabeth Lowell’s old historicals, Stephanie Laurens, Diana Palmer and Jude Jude Deveraux.

Prisoner of my Desire is considered a classic by Lindsey, perhaps because the heroine turns the tables on the heroes and forces him to have sex with her?  By the end I wanted to throw this book against the wall because of the non-stop forced seductions or rape both the hero and heroine go through.

I have only read one, and it was so dreadful and contrived that it put me off.  It was called The Present, or perhaps The Christmas Present, and was one of the Malory series books.

A mysterious journal belonging to an ancestor is found at Christmas timed, and it - oh so amazingly - parallels the situation that the protagonists are in.  Very twee.

I also love the Mallory books. Some of the first romances I ever read and they’ve stayed with me.

Oh I love me some Lindsey, and have read all, except her latest book.  I must say that while some I’ve read till the pages fell out: GENTLE ROUGE, HEARTS AFLAME, DEFY NOT MY HEART, SECRET FIRE, BRAVE THE WILD WIND,  ANGEL, etc…there are a few that I will never re-read: JOINING, A PIRATES LOVE , HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS.

Note to Phillippa~ if you only read THE PRESENT-not one of her better ones,  and not really a stand alone~ you need to read some of the earlier Malorys’... they are: LOVE ONLY ONCE, TENDER REBEL, GENTLE ROUGE

dumbass - I forgot to add my author of similar appeal; Jude Deveraux. In particular The Duchess and the Velvet series.

I can’t say that I love any of JL’s titles, but I enjoyed Angel, Say You Love Me, and A Loving Scoundrel. Obviously, I’m a fan of her lighter work, but none are keepers, IMO.

I hated Captive of My Desires (and I hated even more that I paid hardcover price for it) and Love Only Once for very different reasons. CoMD was tepid at best and not in the least interesting, and I was so disappointed by her portrayal of Drew (the hero). He didn’t live up to the expectations raised in the previous Mallory books. Love Only Once was angsty, dark-ish, and I absolutely hated Nicholas. He was not punished severely enough for his distrust in the end, and that left a bad taste in my mouth.

The Mallorys made piracy fashionable, and, the series as a whole made current historical series, like Stephanie Laurens Bar Cynster series, possible.

My favorite Lindsay? Until Forever.  It was the book that made me a romance reader.  I remember saying something like ‘they can do THAT in romance’-it was an sf obsessed reader’s first encounter with Time Travel stories(which were outside what I thought romance was/could be).  *sighs*  Close second is ‘The Magic of You’, my favorite ending ever.

Stacey

From an informal poll of people I’ve chatted with recently, four out of five of my friends agree that “Gentle Rogue” was the seminal Lindsay experience and the one we all remember best.  Oh, those pirate ships.

I have to put in a personal vote for “Say You Love Me,” which also has wonderful elements of Lindsay over-the-topness (have debts?  no problem! just auction off your handy-dandy heroine.  all movable parts included).  So much fun.

As for worst… oh heavens, I can’t even remember the name.  I think I’ve blotted it out.  “Prisoner of My Desire”?  It involved some sort of medieval castle and the heroine, er, forcing her attentions on the hero.

On the other hand, I love Warrior’s Woman. I still re-read it from time to time. But I know there are a lot of people who object to both his “punishment” of her and the faux-world building. But regardless, I’m always fascinated by both the characters and the surroundings she constructed in the book, and I love the interactions between the hero/heroine. I guess I’m one of those readers who secretly thrills to the idea of a strong hero dominating a strong heroine. I think it’s an illness.

My favorites are Angel, A Man to Call My Own, and Love me Forever.  Her books are like crack for me.  I buy whatever she writes and I usually finish it off within an hour or two.

Jude Deveraux (the older books) and Julie Garwood (historicals) are the closest I can find to her.

As a fellow librarian, I *must* contribute.

Favorite new school Lindsey (even though it’s over 10 years old):
Say You Love Me - it seemed to be the first of her “softer” books

Favorite old school Lindseys:
Secret Fire - and, hoo damn, the scene where she’s begging to be released because she’s sick and he tells her, “nope, got to have the sexoring ‘cause my idiot manservant gave you an aphrodisiac and my staff of love is the only cure” really walked the line of forced seduction.

Warrior’s Woman - Tedra could dish out exactly what she was given.

Angel and You Belong To Me remain my favorite Lindsays.

I also enjoy a good Amanda Quick novel due to the similarities in plucky heroines.

While the Mallory family series is probably her longest running and most well-known series, it was never my favorite.  That honor goes to 2 books, Secret Fire and Captive Bride.  I loved both, and still read them. 

But oh, got to agree with KellyMaher, Warrior’s Woman was awesome too!

Thanks for all the great suggestions and so fast!  Sounds like I’ll need to read at least one Mallory book and now I’m going to check my local library and see which others I can get right off for some weekend reading. 

thanks!
Librarian Jessica

Johanna Lindsey and Virginia Henley were probably the two authors that really got me into romance as a young teen (I know, I know, not the best stuff for a 13 year old to be reading), and while I loved every single Johanna Lindsey I read, it wasn’t until Say You Love Me that I fell in love with a hero of a romance novel. I guess even back then I loved beta heroes, long before I was even aware of alpha and beta heroes.

While I gobbled up anything and everything by Lindsey while I was in my teens, I haven’t read anything by her in at least eight years. I remember her books being fun, but after a while all the forced sex got to be a little too much.

Angela James, you hit it right on the nail -the whole “punishment” thing sets me off way more then the forced seductions/rapes.  I am not sure why, and I am normally not a big fan of them, but I can deal.  However, “punishment” almost always makes me want to throw the book across the room, which is not a great idea if I am reading on the computer or one of my electronic devices (it does ten to shorten the lifespan of the thing). 

I was also driven nuts by the faux mangled English that the natives talked in, though I probably would not have minded if I was not listening to an audio book instead of reading.

I believe I own the entire JL backlist, and intend to keep them all. (Except, maybe the newer ones will get dumped if/when space becomes an issue.)

I roughly categorize them into ‘old skool’, ‘the good and the great’ and ‘new meh’.

Favorites (alphabetically):
Angel
Defy Not the Heart
Gentle Rogue
Hearts Aflame (incidentally, my first JL)
Keeper of the Heart
Love Me Forever
The Magic of You
Man of My Dreams
Savage Thunder
Say You Love Me
Tender Rebel
Warrior’s Woman

Hated:
Fires of Winter
Glorious Angel
Paradise Wild

I can’t really remember why I hated them (since I’ve been avoiding them after the first reading) but I think I expected one thing from them and got something totally different. This is mostly due to having read the sequels first, making untrue assumptions from them and being disappointed by my expectations. Seriously, in the sequels these are old-married-in-love couples and in their own books they’re… not. (Also, these are all old skool.)

Was disappointed in:
Captive of My Desires
The Devil Who Tamed Her
A Loving Scoundrel
A Man To Call My Own
Marriage Most Scandalous

I don’t know if a) I’ve changed or b) JL has changed or c) both but I wasn’t satisfied by these books. New meh.

I have only read one, and it was so dreadful and contrived that it put me off.  It was called The Present, or perhaps The Christmas Present, and was one of the Malory series books.

Lindsey jumped the shark for me with PRISONER OF MY DESIRE, where the H/H spent most of the book chaining each other to the bed—and not in a fun way. I really do think I threw that book against the wall. I understand that a lot of readers love the Lindsey, but I just could not reconcile that the H/H could love each other after what they did to each other in that book.

Prisoner of my Desire is considered a classic by Lindsey, perhaps because the heroine turns the tables on the heroes and forces him to have sex with her?  By the end I wanted to throw this book against the wall because of the non-stop forced seductions or rape both the hero and heroine go through.

Exactly! Sorry, I should have read all of the comments before chiming in. Don’t forget that he then captured her, chained her to the bed and raped her.

Well, I’ve said that JL was my favorite romance author for a couple years, though not the last couple of her’s that I’ve read.

My favorite of all time was Hearts Aflame (I was so happy to see it on this post before I even read a single thing).  It has the elements that I’ve liked in JL’s work - she tends to have very strong female characters, and in that one she kicks ass and takes names and even saves the hero.  You go girl.  :)

I’ve also noticed she’s had a tendency to have her females pretend to be or are mistaken to be males - the above mentioned, Gentle Rogue (my first JL), Fires of Winter, A Loving Scoundral, Defy Not the Heart (for a tiny bit at least), and possibly some I haven’t read.  I like that, and I’m not completely sure why.

Of the Mallory series, I like A Loving Scoundral the most, followed by Say You Love Me, but I haven’t yet read No Choice but Seduction and thought Captive of My Desires was awful.  I agree with the other person who mentioned it - it didn’t go with Drew’s character at all and I couldn’t help thinking about what an ass he was.

I do like that although she seems to have a lot of series that you can read a book in the middle and not realize that you are in the middle of the series.  For example, I read Gentle Rogue and Hearts Aflame without knowing they were part of a series at all.  I don’t know if the later Malory novels are like that or not though, since now I know the whole story and all.

As for ones I didn’t like, I thought A Man to Call My Own was horrific.  The characters acted beyond stupid and weren’t realistic at all.  I know it’s a romance and all, but honestly, the one sister going from being dumpy to realizing that she might be horny and then having sex in the stable all of three seconds later?  Please.  The guy didn’t even have to try to seduce her or anything.  I also really didn’t like A Pirate’s Love.  Oh, I am a little French flower, be nice to me you mean pirate.  Ooh, you tricked me into not fighting you while you have your way with me, let me stomp my little foot and be stupid some more.  Ooh, you did it again and I fell for it again too!  Stomp stomp.  Uck.

I think I didn’t like those two because they didn’t have the strong female character, which is why I like Lindsay so much to begin with.  I think the problem I also had with Captive of My Desires is she failed in being the strong female though she had potential.  I like how usually she balances the damsel in distress moment without making me feel like sitting the female leads down and making them take feminism (or intellegence, or both) 101. 

And there’s my mouthful.  :)

I remember Prisoner/Captive of My Desire, and while I’m pretty sure I read some of the other ones, I have zero memory of them.  That says something about that particular book.

With one caveat—I also remember the Warrior’s Woman trilogy because they’re on my “Worst Books Ever” list near the top. The tropes and the illogic made me too angry to enjoy the campiness.

Ack, I’m straining to remember my first ever Lindsey title…but I can’t! The heroine was out west (I don’t remember why, but she was very stubborn about staying) and came across this set of twins, and of course one was sweet, and the other was rather alpha. Fast forward a bunch of stuff, and it turned out the twins were the same guy, and he was playing both roles. Why? I don’t remember, but at the time, he/they made my heart go pitter pat, so I assume it was a good reason. Oh, I have to find that book and see if it stood the test of time. Title, anyone?

I like most of the malory series, but I’m not crazy about the younger generation.

My first Lindsey was A Pirate’s Love which was chock full of “forced seduction” (aka “rape her til she falls in love with you.”  Hello, Stockholm Syndrome?!).  After that I avoided her books like the plague. 

After hearing raves about her Malory series, I picked up A Gentle Rogue, and couldn’t bear it either.  The way the manipulative, dismissive way hero treats the heroine is just stomach-churning, as is the fact that all he has to do is initiate sex and she forgets all the reasons she has to be furious with her situation and with him. He doesn’t respect her, and she doesn’t either. 

So much for “everybody loves a Lindsey.”

I haven’t read her in years, but still have delicious JL backlist in a box in my closet (because my shelves are too filled with other lovely things right now) that I’ll never throw away. JL was my first, great romance novel love (along with Kathleen Woodiweiss’ Shanna).

While my perspective has drastically changed, I still think fondly of the early Viking books (I think it was Fires of Winter) and the Russian Secret Fire (because it was hot, even as she’s beaten as a serf and drugged into being complicit with her own rape - er, maybe hot was the wrong word) among others. The best above all are the early Malory books, mainly Nicholas, Anthony, and the pirate brother (too many years to remember all the names). Not overly fond of the westerns, though I read them so much growing up that bits and pieces of dialogue still pop into my head from time to time.

I too would compare her to early Jude Devereux and Catherine Coulter historicals, mostly for the rape as love similarities (why, why do I love these books?)

It’s been 20 years since I read a Lindsay, and I’m not sure I remember them correctly.

I recall one, right after the Civil War, where the heroine is a plucky little Reb who disguises herself as a boy till she’s found out by the hero; they wind up together, they have a kid; they’re imprisoned by the bad guy and she’s breastfeeding the baby and even locked up and in fear for all of their lives, he can’t quit staring at her boobies.  I recall thinking that was just silly.

And then there’s a pirate abduction book where the heroine discovers her long lost father is an old sea buddy of the pirate hero, and she goes into labor while tied up (I think she’s standing, with her hands bound above her head) by the bad guy and the baby daddy shows up just in time to rescue her and get the baby out.  That one wierded me out too.

I may be misremembering either or both of these books.  Are they Lindsays?  I know ya’ll would know.

Ooh ooh!  Did she do the one with the heroine who’s father was actually a Viking who raped her mom while on a business trip, and when he returns years later almost rapes her - till a villager recognizes him and says nope, that one’s your daughter - so he takes her back to Norway or wherever and she falls in love with a Viking dude?  I liked that one - kickass heroine who knew how to wield a sward.

I ate up Lindsay novels when I was younger.  Those fabulous Fabio covers with the strategically placed heroine.  The righteous indignation of the heroine as she is drawn ever closer to the unself-conscious Alpha hero.  The sexual tension like taffy pulled out to a sweet sex scene which you are left to savor without too many details to overwhelm the palate.

I couldn’t tell you which ones I loved and which ones I hated, but obviously they left an aura that I can still tap into.

Holly - don’t know about the first one, but the second one is A Pirate’s Love, which is one of the ones that I strongly dislike.  Funny how the female goes from so insanely weak to being mighty enough to stand there and bite her lip in labor so she doesn’t make a peep so the guy can fight the bad guy without being distracted.

I, too, read all of these when I was REALLY young.  I think I started reading Zebra’s at about 10 (and these were the 80’s historicals—-probably not real healthy for me!) and I LOVED JL. 

I don’t remember my favorites (although I agree that old Jude Devereaux is similar and I know my favorite JD is A Knight in Shining Armor) but I do remember that I like Angel and the book that preceded it—and I usually HATE American historical romances.

(Another librarian who feels the need to chime in)

JL isn’t a favorite of mine; I’ve only read (or, in some cases tried to read) a couple of those. I finished both A Gentle Rogue and Her Loving Scoundrel, but both left me feeling somewhat ambivalent. I liked certain plot elements (the cross-dressing “plucky” heroine, funny arguments), but I never quite managed to care over much about what happened to any of her characters and something about the books felt paint-by-number to me. My DNFs were Love Only Once (like Corrine, Nicholas really pissed me off; plus I hate it when the “hero” and heroine are separated for large parts of the book) and Tender Rebel (usually, if I can’t finish a book, I skim to the end, but I didn’t care enough here to do even that!).

I agree with those who mentioned Catherine Coulter, Jude Deveraux, and Julie Garwood as possible readalikes (though there are Deveraux and Garwood books that I LOVE). I also think something about the dynamic between the H/h is similar to some Jo Beverly and Brenda Joyce books.

My favorite JL book would be “Love Me Forever” or “Gentle Rogue”. I haven’t really hated any of her books, but I definitely didn’t like “A Man to Call My Own”.

Granted, I wasn’t very particular about my reading material in my teens -as long as there was at least romance in it and it was there for me to read-, but I never really had a problem (that I recall) with the forced seductions in JLs. I mean: Sex! Hawt! At least somebody was getting some (and I was getting my thrills reading about it) and everyone was enjoying themselves eventually. Anyway, except for Prisoner of My Desire I don’t recall there being any malice about it, or meanness, cruelty or evil. Misunderstandings, yes. Desire, lust, affection, love etc., yes. Johanna Lindseys are FUN!

I agree with early Jude Deveraux -and did someone mention Julie Garwood?- as having same sorts of reading appeal. Also Heather Graham. She wrote some Viking stories, one of which I bought and read at the same time as Hearts Aflame (two Viking stories at once: heaven!) and I have to say that while I liked HG I gave her up eventually because she told the same story over and over again. That’s something you can’t say about JL. (That I remember.)

I totally disagree about Catherine Coulter. Her books have humor and recurring characters in them but I gave them up because I realized that reading them made me feel violated. In CC we do have outright rapes, forced consummations, evil, meanness, cruelty, malice, misogyny and ASSHATS. Also really twisted thinking and fixations/obsessions, not only by villains but by heroes, which all increase the suffering of the heroine. Seriously, the “hero” of one of her medieval books was a rapist in a previous one! Graelam de Moreton, as I recall, a “hero” in one of the Song trilogy books (Earth/Fire/Secret). (Ugh, I’ll shut up now and try to figure out a way to bleach my brain of these memories.)

You’re making me want to go home and read!  Ilona is so on the money.  The Mallorys were good, especially Say You Love Me, Gentle Rogue, and The Magic of You.  I’m embarrased to admit, but So Speaks the Heart might just be my favorite - I can still cry, so angsty when the hero gives up winning her hand and starts to leave her.  Didn’t love the westerns, but the vikings were good.  I liked the futuristic as well - they definitely don’t hold up to the urban fantasy you can buy today, but at the time I thought they were good.  Despite the criticisms above, I also adored Man of My Dreams - where but in a romance can you be bitchy and entirely self-involved, and still have a duke in disguise fall in love with you?  I think A Pirate’s Love was my least favorite.  Coulter, Devereaux, and Garwood are definitely good picks.  Maybe McNaught as well - I read them at the same time.  And Elizabeth Lowell’s historicals.

I don’t remember the Jude Devereaux and Julie Garwood books having the “forced seduction” theme so prevalent in Lindsey books.

Can someone please point me to the Ilona Andrews comments on this issue?

Call me crazy, but my favorite Lindsey book is not one of her classics.  I loved The Heir because the relationship between the hero and heroine was so different.  He was handsome, but incredibly shy, and they started out as good friends instead of adversaries.

I agree with everyone who has recommended Jude Devereaux, Julie Garwood, and Stephanie Laurens.  Those people who like family series might like Kasey Michael’s series about the Becketts of Romney Marsh, though I got bored with them about halfway through.

Ooh ooh!  Did she do the one with the heroine who’s father was actually a Viking who raped her mom while on a business trip, and when he returns years later almost rapes her - till a villager recognizes him and says nope, that one’s your daughter - so he takes her back to Norway or wherever and she falls in love with a Viking dude?  I liked that one - kickass heroine who knew how to wield a sward.

That scenario happens in Avalon, by Anya Seton.  For all I know it happens in many other books too, but I read this one when I was, like, eleven, and it made quite an impression.  It has skanky villainness sex and everything.

The Viking daddy is sweet, in a weird way.

Johanna Lindsey is one of my all time favorites, right up there with Jude Devereaux and Kathleen Woodiwiss… Speaking of, I’m POSITIVE that holly is thinking of “Ashes in the Wind” with that post-civil war story.

I love the Mallory series, particularly James and Tony’s stories, but my all-time, hands down winner is “Magic of You”, because I just adore Amy, the heroine. Warren didn’t sound particularly lovable for my own taste, but she knew what she wanted, and boy did she pursue it! The dialogue is witty, the action is fast-paced, and they are just FUN!

definitely “Angel”. One of the faves.

HEARTS AFLAME was my first romance novel. For years I would only buy Lindsays because I knew I was going to get a “satisfactory” read from them (whereas I’d tried to read others and failed). Then I branched out ot amanda Quick and the rest is history.

HA remains one of my favorites, but my very favorite is ONCE A PRINCESS. My critique partner and I both have a hidden obsession with scarred (literally) characters that we can trace to this book. Oh, and secret identifying tattoos! And made up russian mountain countries. And Louisiana exotic dancers.

“Love Me Forever” has a special place in my heart because the heroine looks and acts like me (tall and awkward).  I also love the scene where she’s holding his hair while he pukes after getting hammered the previous night - I have a thing for hard-drinking punk rocker guys, and I’ve babysat a few wasted, chunk-blowing hotties in my time.  Nothing says “lurve” like tender ministrations whilst he’s bent over the chamber pot, lemme tell ya.

As soon as the first person said it was Woodiwiss, I remembered that Ashes was in the title.  I remember a few other Woodiwisses - I don’t think I could read her today.

Ok, I remember more about the Viking book now - I want to say the heroine has a sword on the cover - not holding it, more like it’s stuck in the ground and she’s got the hilt, maybe? - and there’s a bitch who’s always had the hots for the hero, and she says something that freaks out the heroine, who runs away crying - and the hero finds out and is all “hmm..she never cries.  She swears she never cries.  Why…it must be lurve!  she lurrves me!” or something like that - AND I think there’s a trusted retainer who goes to the Land O Vikings with the heroine and ends up marrying the daddy or some other older Viking, and the hero and heroine are married in a pagan wedding but she just knows they’ll have a Christian one someday.

Isn’t it amazing the stuff you can recall from these books when you get to thinking on it?  We’re talking 20 years at least, cause I read this stuff in high school and (maybe) college.  Wish I remembered other stuff that well.

Okay, after all the great suggestions this morning I went to my public library and raided the paperback romance collection.  I now have 8 JL books for this weekend and 8 coming from other libraries that will be next weekend’s reading. 

I’m particularly excited to read the Warrior one and Captive of my Desires since there seems to be an equal split between lovers and haters. 

Thanks so much for all your suggestions for JL titles to read and authors who write like her.  I’ve gotten some great ideas and now I’m all inspired to write my article.  If the editors will let me I’ll thank the Bitches and let you all know when its available.

“america loves lindsay” and so do i!

hands down my favourite is “man of my dreams”,  and then “prisoner of my desire.”

My favorite Lindsey is A Heart So Wild. It was my first and will always hold a special place on my bookshelf. Second place goes to Gentle Rogue just because it made me laugh out loud (in a good way) so many times. My least favorites include A Pirate’s Love and Secret Fire. Both of which, made my skin crawl at the time. The whole forced seduction *coughcoughrape* and kidnapping thing just doesn’t do it for me. Oh, and any of her books that feature the “secret baby twins.”

Speaking of secret baby twins: Nat, I think the book you are looking for is Tender is the Storm.

Ooh ooh!  Did she do the one with the heroine who’s father was actually a Viking who raped her mom while on a business trip, and when he returns years later almost rapes her - till a villager recognizes him and says nope, that one’s your daughter - so he takes her back to Norway or wherever and she falls in love with a Viking dude?  I liked that one - kickass heroine who knew how to wield a sward.
That scenario happens in Avalon, by Anya Seton.

Actually that must be a popular scenario because the same thing happens in the Johanna Lindsey novel - Fires of Winter.

My first JL novel was Prisoner of Desire.  I was in the 8th grade and my entire class read the book because we wanted to see a woman “rape” a man.  Several years back I got a whole bunch of JL novels from a friend and happily took them. 

I can’t think of any I loved.  However, there a few that I really detested-  such as Fires of Winter.  I hated that book with a passion that I thought could not be surpassed until I foolishly read another JL novel: A Pirate’s Love.  I tried to give JL a last chance with Paradise Wild however by then I’d had my fill of manipulative conniving heroines and truly mean-spiritied cruel rapists er…heroes.

Lindsey’s Malory series is awesome: the new and the old.

ding ding ding ding din!  Fires of Winter…that’s the one - and I’m obviously conflating it with another, less well remembered Viking novel b/c the heroine in FOW is intended as a bride for the hero, she’s not a Viking marauder’s daughter.

Oh well.  I don’t think I’m going to reread them.  I just never developed a taste for the super-dramatic, multi-multi plotline windswept sagas of the 80s romance novels; now I pretty much stick to paranormals and Regencies, with the occasional contemporary.  Lately I’ve had a hankering to try Linda Howard and maybe one of the new, anti-hero/anti-heroine novels the Bitches have favorably reviewed. 

I’m writing a paranormal.  Bet you anything that by the time I finish it, no one will be reading paranormals anymore.

Angel is my favorite.  I’ve read it so many times.  It’s the only Lindsey I’ve kept, but I’ve read all but the two newest ones, I think.

I’ve only read two Lindsey’s, Savage Thunder (that’s the one with ‘insolvent’ Hank Chavez, right?) and Gentle Rogue.  I didn’t care much Gentle Rogue even though everybody seems to love it and considers it one of her best.  It took me a while to read it, and her brothers annoyed me so much.  I also found James a bit too hard to take at some points, too.  I did love Savage Thunder.  Samantha was awesome, especially after she shot that guy in the beginning.  Plus, I love when the couple has a kid during the story.  (I may be the only one, lol.)

I’ve mostly read Lindsey’s Malory series.  I don’t really like Lindsey’s books…but if I have to pick a favorite…..My favorite used to be Gentle Rogue (James’s story), however when I read it recently, I was disappointed to find out that I dislike now.  Now I just find him overbearing and condescending and I think Georgina could be a bit more resistant.  Now my ‘favorite’ is Love Only Once (Regina’s book)- Nicholas is a moron and a jerk- but I can bear that better than a guy who is overbearing and act like a know-it-all.  And Regina is a kick-ass heroine who didn’t mope around when Nick was being a jerk- she just went ‘well that sucks’ and got on with life.

All of the other Lindsey books I read were sort of forgettable.

Stef: Savage Thunder is about Jocelyn Fleming and Colt Thunder. You’re thinking of Heart of Thunder.

I really love the Mallory series except for the newer titles. The Magic of You is my favorite of those books. I really loved Amy because she goes for what she wants.
I did not like A Pirate’s Love at all, I actually hated it and barely made it through.

Heart of Thunder!  Thanks rm!  That explains the heart on the cover I of the copy I read.

Johanna Lindsey and Kathleen Woodiwiss were among the first romance novels I ever read and I loved them. But since I read them such a long time ago (and mostly in German) I cannot add any titles to the list (or recognise any you guys mention, for that matter). I only remember that I especially liked the one playing on a foreign planet, with a heroine called Tedra.

What I would like to know (since I get confused between the german and the original titles) is, how many books has Johanna Lindsey actually written (meaning how many have I missed out on?) - Amazon.uk lists 425 entries for her, but there are a lot of titles listed more then once.

Once a Princess was my first and favourite JL. It was one of my first historicals, read it at about 13. Something about the fantasy of being rescued from a dreary life and becoming a princess appealed to my teenage self. Go figure.

Didn’t like the Viking ones, too violent and too much rape.

Try here for a list of titles.

http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/l/johanna-lindsey/

I used to LOVE Johanna Lindsey. I bet if I re-read those books today I’d be offended but when I was a young girl I devoured them. My favorites were:

Warrior’s Woman
Hearts Aflame
Secret Fire
Fires of Winter

Warrior’s Woman was my absolute favorite because it was sci-fi and romance all mixed together. I know some people detest the book but I loved the unusual world in which she created her love story. Plus the sassy talking computer made me laugh.

It’s funny to me how many people stated they loved the book when they were young but now they’d be offended by it. You know, it speaks highly of women in general that many of us read the rape/kidnapping/forced love stories and still went on to be functioning members of society, with healthy relationships and a complete understanding that sex and violence don’t have to go together. It’s almost like we were smart enough to handle books that push boundaries about sex and love (and even decency), that we absorbed a love of romance and intrigue and passion and we disregarded the ideas of submission and rape as the only outlets for our frustrated libidos.  It makes me rethink my hatred of the Twilight books. I viewed them as offensive and bad for teen girls, but then I think about my own experiences with romance novels and… well I came out alright.

My all time fave, and I don’t think I saw it listed here, is Man on My Dreams.  I bought it for 2 reasons. It was a Lindsey, and I have a thing for HAVING to have all the books by authors I like (thanks for putting me in the poorhouse, Nora!).  I also had sweaty dreams for the Fabio-likeness on the cover.  I never thought much of the blonde Fabios, but that black-haired one was the cat’s ass!

(Spoiler Ahead, if you are interested)

That said, I really haven’t felt the love with her newer novels…about the last 10 years worth.  I dislike having them come out in hardcover when they (IMHO…I realize that not everyone feels this way…) have scarcely seemed worth the price of paperback.  It seems to me as though she has a book due to the publisher in, say, October, and quick pumps something out on September 20th, and says, “Here ya go, guys!”  Her late 70’s books really don’t read well today, either.  Paradise Wild is idiotic, and I hate the sheroe in it.  Same goes for Captive Bride.  Naming the kid Philip Junior and then telling Philip (the dad) that the child isn’t his???  How many guys named Philip did you swap DNA with?

I was very disappointed in Johanna Lindsey’s Keeper of the Heart. It was horribly sexist. How the men talked to and the treated the women was barbaric. Why do her novels have to have rape and beatings and abusive men? That is NOT sexy!