Bitchin' Blog Posts
The Lion’s Lady by Julie Garwood: A Guest Review by RedHeadedGirl
by SB Sarah | by SB Sarah | August 23, 2011 | Tuesday at 10:43 am | 50 CommentsTitle: Lion's Lady
Author: Julie Garwood
Publication Info: Pocket 1991
ISBN: 9780671737832
Genre: Historical: European
Okay, so, this is a classic, right? I hadn’t read it before.
I KNOW.
I snagged it from a free book pile AGES ago, thinking it was another book I had read back in my misspent youth, but figured out pretty quite that this was NOT The Black Lion by Jude Devereaux, given that we started out in the Black Hills, not in Medieval England.
You can’t put anything past me.
Okay, so this book. THIS BOOK.
This is everything I adore about the historical genre. It’s SO ridonkulous. Irritatingly perfect heroine? Damaged, brooding hero? A whole mess of plot involving a will, possibly crazy people, an evil king (or whatever) and, just for fun, Native Americans?
FUCK YES.
So we open in the Black Hills of South Dakota in 1795 with a Sioux shaman having a dream about a lioness in the middle of buffalo- just as his…granddaughter? Comes home from being captured by an enemy tribe with a very blonde, very loud toddler in tow. Merry, the woman (go with it), explains that the girl’s name is Christina, and she had promised Christina’s mother that she (Merry) would raise Christina until Christina is able to go back to England. Merry’s husband already hates the whites, but grudgingly agrees to raise the kid when Merry says that “her daughter bellows like a lioness.”
We then cut to 9 years later where Lyon, our hero, is watching his wife die in childbirth. While she is doing this, she accidently spills the beans that she had been cheating on Lyon with his brother James, the kid is actually James’, and Lyon closes off his heart forever when she dies.
Then we jump to 1803 or thereabouts- Lyon is a semi-retired spy/assassin who is all haunted by his past- he has nightmare where the people he killed come back to haunt him accusingly (even though we are assured that he only killed the really bad people, according to the War Office. I think it’s the War Office, or I might be getting things confused with the Pink Carnation. MOVING ON) and he sees Christina making a huge stir among the ton (mystery princess! Moths, flames, something shiny and new! You get the idea) and is instantly like “WANT” and immediately moves towards the “Take. Have!” part of the equation. She, on the other hand, while convinced that he is her destiny (he’s a lion, she’s a lioness, lets call the whole thing off), is not so inclined to tolerate the taking and the having without discussing it first.
So a whole bunch of shit happens which I’m not going to recap in the entirety, but the basic plot is that Christina is the daughter of a now-deposed king of one of those tiny little European countries no one can keep track of (and, presumably Eastern European? Who knows). Her mother married him and then found out he was an Evil Bad Dictator and stole the treasury (converted to gemstones for easy travel) and ran off and discovered that she was pregnant. Christina’s mother ran off to the Black Hills to escape from her husband, she ran into the Dakota and died and left Christina in their care.
I’ve been sitting on this review for WEEKS now because the summary is just so daunting. There’s so much that happens, but it doesn’t feel overstuffed. So the nickel version: Christina needs a husband so she can get control over her inheritance before she turns 19, otherwise it goes to her father’s control. Lyon will do nicely for her purposes, and he’s all about that. Her father is an evil despot and her aunt also wants control of the money, but knows she can’t do that with Lyon as the husband in question. To add to that, Christina is mostly able to pass as a lady who did not grow up in a Dakota village, unless you look carefully and notice her penchant for going barefoot, throwing knives, and eating shrubs. Hilarity ensues!
So… things I really liked about this book. The story structure is basically flawless. Before each chapter is an excerpt from Christina’s mother’s journal about “How we all got into this mess in the first place” and I liked the kind of in media res feel of it. You don’t really find out WHY Jessica ran away from Christina’s father until near the middle of the book, and it helped pulled the story along.
I like Lyon, even though he’s kind of a dick. He, at least, has some awareness of his dickishness, so there’s that. He also has reasons for his dickishness, he’s not a dick without a cause (HEYOO), and he’s trying to be better, so there’s that, as well. Also, when he pulls out his dickishness at Christina and yells at her, she hollers back at him, much to the stock and awe of everyone around them.
Christina…. I really didn’t like the way she was written. And it’s taken me a while to sort through and figure out what it was I didn’t like. I think that she comes off kind of Mary Sue-ish, as being able to pass herself off as being a great lady with only a year of study at it in Boston, along with being the best at being a Dakota, but that’s not my biggest problem. My biggest problem is that whenever she’s not playing her role as a lady of society, she’s either bellowing (at Lyon usually) or whispering in fear. She never just talks.
This seems nitpicky, and maybe I’m not explaining it well, but in private, she comes of as terrified and weak and needing Lyon to protect her, when that’s just not true. She can take care of herself, and needing support is not the same as needing a caretaker and I’m not pleased with how she came off. She is a strong character who is an HBIC and capable of getting shit done, why make her only super weak or super strong in private? She’s not tea, for fuck’s sake.
(Also I got really annoyed at the number of times “God help me/him/her” was used. I feel like a drinking game is inevitable.)
Really, what I loved about this is the total and utter ridonkulousness of it all. I mean, there weren’t white settlers heading out to the Black Hills in the 1790s. There just weren’t. And it’s just not feasible that a white girl raised in a Dakota tribe would be able to successfully pull off being a great lady with one year of study. But the banter is pretty good, and I never got the point of wanting to knock Christina and Lyon’s heads together- sure neither of them were telling the other one to complete truth about each other, but they each had their reasons.
I found this to be a fine example of the old school genre without bullshit sexual politics. Loads of fun, even for my complaints.
This book is available from Amazon | Kindle | BN & nook | Kobo | WORD Brooklyn
Filed: General Bitching, Reviews, Guest Bitch Reviews, Grade A, Authors, D-G
Tagged: redheadedgirl, julie garwood, historical, classic romance, awesomesauce
Sandy said on 08.23.11 at 12:28 PM • [link]
One of my favorite books!! I love Garwood’s historicals, and I felt so betrayed with her recent Shadow Music because it started out SO well, then just…quit. I wish she’d return to writing them like this book or Ransom or The Bride.
Sigh.
Joanne said on 08.23.11 at 02:10 PM • [link]
It’s the ‘whole’ of it, the comedy and the tragedy, that worked so well for readers at a time when romance books where one big clusterfuck of angst and emo heroes and heroines. I’m glad it stood the test of time and worked for you.
I rather like her recent writings.
The time for the type of story like Garwood’s The Lyon’s Lady has probably passed forever - but when it came out it was a great deal of fun.
Oh! And that Christina cut her hair every time they had a difficulty in their relationship. I felt that she would be bald by the time the book ended.
I’ll have to do a re-read some cold winter night. Thanks for the review Sarah.
MIreya said on 08.23.11 at 02:17 PM • [link]
Me thinks I’ll be looking for a copy of this one.
SB Sarah said on 08.23.11 at 02:44 PM • [link]
I love this book. I think you’re right, Joanne, that this was such a departure from so many other angst-filled, love-is-a-battlefield romances at the time. And Christina was happy! Confident! Determined, with a plan of action and a pretty sharp understanding of the people around her. And she could kill you if she wanted to.
One of my favorite scenes is the one wherein Christina is talking about a relative who she thinks is so very stupid because that relative’s complaining behavior reveals her own weaknesses, which Christina could take advantage of. Christina thinks strategically, and while she lets things happen to her, she also makes things happen for herself. I loved that about her. Still do when I reread this book!
redheadedgirl said on 08.23.11 at 02:52 PM • [link]
Oh god, the scene where the “mischief makers” her aunt has hired to take her to Gretna Green and Lyon is like “NEVER FEAR LITTLE LADY I WILL TAKE CARE OF THIS” and she’s like “Whatever, dude. I GOT THIS.”
I did really like how they treated each other as equals, once Lyon picked his jaw off the ground that there’s someone who isn’t scared of him.
Lil' Deviant said on 08.23.11 at 03:20 PM • [link]
I love Julie Garwood. But this is just not ringing any bells. How did I miss this one? Can’t wait to read it. Thanks for the review.
Lisa J said on 08.23.11 at 03:20 PM • [link]
Garwood historicals ROCK!! All her heroines are perfect, but for some reason it works for me. Prince Charming is my absolute favorite.
Heidi K said on 08.23.11 at 03:24 PM • [link]
Is this the one where she keeps sleeping on the floor?
ms bookjunkie said on 08.23.11 at 03:28 PM • [link]
You have a point about the departure from the epic angst and emo of yesteryear. Garwood’s heroines are irritatingly perfect and her heroes are all alpha in that tall, broody and protective way, but there’s no rape (of the heroine by the hero). There’s no I-abuse-you-because-I-love-you, there’s no oppression. He might try to suppress her, but she won’t stand for it, and they learn to get along in blissful domesticity. These are feel-good reads.
In fact, I get a foolish grin on my face whenever I start reminiscing about plots of old skool Garwoods.
Stephanie Newton said on 08.23.11 at 03:31 PM • [link]
This! I love Julie Garwood’s old books. They are my favorite comfort read. While the plots are crazy and the writing breaks every rule, she manages to write a brilliant story.
I think The Gift is my favorite, but I’m going to have to go to my Garwood shelf and reread a few, just to be sure.
ms bookjunkie said on 08.23.11 at 03:37 PM • [link]
@Heidi K Yes. The mattresses are too soft for her. He thinks she’s fallen out of bed at first. :)
My favorite Garwood historical is THE PRIZE. And SAVING GRACE. (I now feel the need to reread some of the awesome…)
JennyD said on 08.23.11 at 03:50 PM • [link]
Love, love, LOVE this book. So much. I re-read it every couple months. As the reviewer said, it’s totally ridiculous, but I absolutely adore it. =D
Hannah said on 08.23.11 at 03:51 PM • [link]
I started reading a library copy of The Lion’s Lady last year. I picked it up when it was super-cheap in the Kindle store and still haven’t finished it. While I wasn’t compelled to finish it at the time, it still had this old-school cracktastic quality that I just can’t explain.
NerdyLutheranChick said on 08.23.11 at 03:52 PM • [link]
My favorite Garwood Historicals are the For the Roses “Series: (It starts with For the Roses, then there is The Clayborne Brides: One Pink Rose / One White Rose / One Red Rose (3 books in 1!) and it ends with Come the Spring) and The Secret (which was the third Romance Novel I ever read!)
Michelle said on 08.23.11 at 04:15 PM • [link]
Garwood historicals are my standby reads when nothing else appeals. They never let me down. I love the old skool feel of them and she manages to not make the alpha heroes total a-holes. This one totally slipped by me and I recently scored it at Half Price Books and then proceeded to devour it in a day or so. Loved it, even with all the aforementioned ridikulousness.
MarieC said on 08.23.11 at 04:31 PM • [link]
Great review! In this book, I love the scene in the ballroom, where Lyon is ‘protecting’ Christina from the ‘mischief makers’. He’s totally unaware that it was she who threw the knife. As he looks behind him to see who was there, she copies him, as if to search for the thrower as well.
While I love this book, my favorite is still “Honor’s Splendor”.
Amber said on 08.23.11 at 04:42 PM • [link]
I’m convinced that I enjoyed reading this review more than I would enjoy reading the book…. so, there’s that. :)
dick said on 08.23.11 at 04:42 PM • [link]
“Saving Grace,” “Honor’s Splendor,” “The Secret” manage, despite some rediculousness, to suggest the fairy tale which underlies all romance fiction without cloying the taste buds. And they do it while delighting.
dick said on 08.23.11 at 04:45 PM • [link]
An “i” not an “e.” Note to self: Proofread, idiot.
LEW said on 08.23.11 at 04:54 PM • [link]
I can’t even express my love of Garwood books - she’s the one who got me into the genera. A friend handed me my first romance ever, it was the THE SECRET, and I was hooked. This is not one of my absolute favorites, but still deliciously awesome. My favorite all-time Garwood (and perhaps romance) is HONOR’S SPLENDOR. And I really enjoy her contemporary thrillers - MERCY and SHADOW DANCE are my favorite (I love Noah!).
I agree with Sandy that SHADOW MUSIC was a disappointment. But I have faith that Garwood will give us another excellent historical one day, though!
Also, I’ve read an ARC of Maya Bank’s IN BED WITH A HIGHLANDER and it is very Garwood-esque. People might want to check it out when it’s published.
Jeannie said on 08.23.11 at 05:26 PM • [link]
Can I just say for the umpteenth time how much I enjoy Redheaded Girl’s reviews? There, it’s said. Even if the book is not for me, the recap is ridonkulously good! Heh.
“He also has reasons for his dickishness, he’s not a dick without a cause.” This made James Dean pop into my head, which is not necessarily a bad thing.
“Is this the one where she keeps sleeping on the floor?”
@HeidiK - I don’t know why but this made me giggle.
Joanne said on 08.23.11 at 07:36 PM • [link]
My apologies to RedHeadedGirl.
I always associate Sarah’s red headed avi with her - and since I have the retention of a gnat - I forgot who actually wrote the review.
Thank You RedHeadedGirl!
@ms bookjunkie: I forgot that Lyon thought she fell out of bed! So funny.
Pam (@iwriteinbooks) said on 08.23.11 at 09:10 PM • [link]
Haha sounds just about perfect. I haven’t come across this…ever but it sounds just super.
ShellBell said on 08.23.11 at 09:39 PM • [link]
I love Julie Garwood’s historicals and I’m glad I’m not the only one underwhelmed by Shadow Music. I think my favourite’s are Honor’s Splendor, The Prize and Ransom and I’m glad that most of them are now available as eBooks. I just wish Jude Deveraux’s The Black Lyon was available as an eBook!
Stef said on 08.23.11 at 09:39 PM • [link]
I love garwood, especially Honour’s Splendour, Saving Grace, and The Gift. I didn’t read this one but I have read the spin-offs. Lyon and Christina make an appearance in Guardian Angel, and those characters are relatives of the heroes in The Gift and Castles. I wasn’t tempted to read The Lyons Lady (probably because I’m kinda tired of all the Lyons, Ravens, and Hawkes in romance) but the others are good.
Noelinya said on 08.23.11 at 10:04 PM • [link]
I’ve just read this book last month and I liked it for the same reasons you give !
I love when she is angry with him she decided not to be married with him any longer, so she puts all his shoes outside, and the servants are all “ok, let’s put his stuff out eventhough he is the boss”.
And when she keeps cutting her hair when she’s angry or sad or in mourning, and I remeber thinking “she will have a lovely urchin cut by the end of the book” !!
beggar1015 said on 08.23.11 at 10:28 PM • [link]
This is on my keeper shelf. Although I disagree with Redhead about
I never felt that from Christina’s character. The one weakness I got from her was being too much worried about other people’s feelings, but I never thought she needed Lyon to protect her. This is just my all-important opinion. :)
I loved her old-as-dirt butler. “You got yourself a visitor, Princess.”
“Cast out, my lord, pushed aside, forgotten, dead in her heart—”
Olivia said on 08.23.11 at 10:31 PM • [link]
There are entire paragraphs of The Bride that I can still quote verbatim. I love how casual Garwood’s historical heroines are about the hero’s supposed badassery—they just pat him on the head and say, “I know, dear, you’re very frightening, but we’re going to do this my way, mmmkay?”
Rebecca said on 08.23.11 at 11:08 PM • [link]
Ok, so I should probably just get the book and read it to find out, but inquiring minds want to know….why the SIOUX in the Dakotas, at least fifty years before they’d have any contact with Europeans? Are any of Christina’s special knife-throwing super-skillz particularly Sioux in origin? Because (aside from geographical impossibility) your description of the prologue reminded me of anthropologist Mari Sandoz’ memoir These Were the Sioux:
So on the whole, a toddler who “bellows like a lion” (a mountain lion, aka cougar, I assume?) would be considered both woefully uncivilized and an active danger to the food supply, more asking to be exposed in a blizzard than adopted. Garwood might have done better with a mother who fled to Spanish California, and left a baby with the Yurok, who do indeed have shamans who have dream visions, and where ritual crying is important. Or perhaps with the Cherokee in Georgia, or the Mohawks in New York who had extensive contacts with English and Dutch colonists. Or, if she wanted logical geography and/or real lions, the Eastern European princess could have fled to the much closer Ottoman empire and from there to North Africa or Persia, where there would have been classical lions to roar like. So, why the Sioux?
Rest of the book sounds cool, though.
redheadedgirl said on 08.23.11 at 11:18 PM • [link]
it’s totally ridiculous. Utterly. This is one of the things that makes the plot, you know, ridiculous.
Dances With Wolves came out in 1990, this was published in 1991. That may be a coincidence, it may not be. But there it is.
robinjn said on 08.23.11 at 11:25 PM • [link]
Well what strikes me as…. Lion? Really? a Sioux chieftan living in South Dakota in the late 1700s was dreaming about Lions. Like, African lions. Alrighteythen.
Rebecca said on 08.23.11 at 11:40 PM • [link]
Oddly, the lion thing didn’t throw me, since I assumed it was one of those lion=mountain lion=cougar=puma word confusions. (The way “tigre” can mean both “tiger” and “jaguar” in Spanish.) But you’re right. Lions. Weird. A bit like the unexplained lion that comes bounding into (and out of) the second part of the epic poem of the Cid. Because lions are just wandering around Valencia. (I rationalized that one as “imported from Africa for a menagerie and escaped” but the poem just takes it on trust that there are lions wandering around.)
Virginia Llorca said on 08.23.11 at 11:55 PM • [link]
In North America we do call Cougars “mountain lions”, also “panthers” and “pumas”. (Everglades Panthers look just like western mountain lions.) I think it is kind of a regional dialect thing. I’m not positive but I think they are all Pantera. Don’t feel like looking it up. But you could.
TaraL said on 08.24.11 at 12:35 AM • [link]
See, I’m a happy reader most of the time because I’ve mastered the art of “just go with it.” :o)
When I read “bellows like a lioness,” I saw and heard a mountain lion in my head and just went with it (although if I had to associate a crying baby with an American animal. I’d probably say screech owl, but, I know, not as poetical as lioness). And 1795 didn’t even slow me down. I figure that’s just 9 years before the Lewis and Clark Expedition went through and there were plenty of French and Spanish wandering around before then, just go with it.
I liked the review and all the other Garwood recs enough that I think I’ll look her up next time I’m at the used bookstore. Was going to grab a few for my kindle, but $7.99 for 25 year old backlist books? I don’t think so. Couldn’t quite “just go with it” on that.
Kristina said on 08.24.11 at 12:37 AM • [link]
Well I’m just happy you liked it. Julie Garwood is one of my favs when it comes to historical. I can’t wrap my mind around her contemporary work though.
I like The Lions Lady also because it’s part of a “series” that involves many of the same characters. Lion’s brother and best friend and I believe sister are heros/heroins of subsequent books. Which are also wonderful and fun.
I personally dont like to analyze the whys and where fores of alot of books. The shaman is dreaming of lions? Okay then, it’s a plot device of a story that is interesting. I have learned to suspend disbelief in these instances. Growing up my dad and uncle were always nudging me in movies and asking “you know why that’s impossible right?” me= “No, I don’t, shut up and let me enjoy the moment.”
Virginia Llorca said on 08.24.11 at 01:20 AM • [link]
Lions in North America wouldn’t faze me at all. They shot one on the North side of the City of Chicago two years ago and one just got hit by a car in Connecticut. And if you’ve ever heard a domestic cat howling in heat in the middle of the night, it sounds just like a baby screaming. It’s like lions, and tigers, and bears, oh, my. Not in any known forest though. I don’t get the inability to suspend belief for a moment when the soulless dudes and the vampires are just fine for a whole book’s worth. But I think that thread went around the world on here once before.
Patty H. said on 08.24.11 at 02:24 AM • [link]
Garwood historicals equal delicious goodness. I own and reread them all. The Prize, The Gift, The Bride, love, love, love them! I just read her latest, Ideal Man, and although it is contemporary, the characters in it reminded me of the characters in her historicals. I love when I can laugh while reading—especially during a tense scene.
cbackson said on 08.24.11 at 03:54 AM • [link]
@Rebecca: the lion in El Cid is kind of like the “Exit, pursued by a
bear” of Spanish-language literature. You just have to sort of nod and say, “Of course, a LION.”
Rebecca said on 08.24.11 at 04:28 AM • [link]
@cbackson: Yay, another El Cid fan! It’s off-topic, but if you read Spanish and like El Cid, I cannot recommend Ricard Ibanez’ novel MIO SIDII enough. It’s a cross between El Cid and the Lord of the Rings and it is SUPERB. It clears up a lot of inconsistencies in the legend, and also offers one theory why the Basques are fair-haired, bloody-minded, and speak a language unrelated to those around them. (Hint: Basque rulers also have pointy ears like Legolas.)
Jill said on 08.24.11 at 05:57 AM • [link]
I do remember this one! I do, I do, I do remember it!
Well, at least parts, and now of course I will go have to find it to reread again.
I spent a lot of quality time with Julie Garwood’s historicals back when I first started reading romances. Then like a lot of young loves, I moved on. But I’ve rediscovered her and my love, with my deepest affections reserved for “The Bride” and “The Prize.”
Off topic, but didn’t she also have a book in which the hero lures out the heroine from the sanctuary of a convent or somesuch? Which one was that one?
capcha: list42. Yup, I bet we could all list 42 things we love about these books.
Rebecca said on 08.24.11 at 06:26 AM • [link]
Ok, I just read the beginning. The text actually SAYS “mountain lion” which is what a number of us assumed, so that’s cool. But the description of Merry and Christina runs absolutely and completely counter to everything that Sandoz’ book says about Sioux child-rearing. Every. Single. Thing. From the yelling, to the worrying that the child will feel abandoned, to the “my mama” thing. In fact, the Sioux generally placed a child of toddler age with “foster” parents so that he (or she) would NOT cling to his/her biological parents. These foster parents had a special name/form of address (which escapes me at the moment), so it would be COMPLETELY LOGICAL for Christina to call Merry foster-mama (or whatever) thus making it completely clear that she is not a biological child.
None of these are really important to the story, and the average reader can’t really be expected to know them but after the long and impassioned discussion about a similarly short scene in The Grand Sophy, I’m a little troubled about the casual “wise Shaman” “stern warrior” stereotypes being thrown around, apparently gratuitously in lieu of characterization. I won’t get started on the use of the word “squaw” in a book published in 1988, but in 1985 Ursula Le Guin notes that both the word and the idea were already becoming passe twenty years earlier. I truly don’t want to mess with what’s obviously a favorite. But with an author who (according to her wikipedia page) takes pride in triple-checking her facts and being historically accurate (much like Heyer), I think we’ve got an attitude problem here about the Sioux.
FairyKat said on 08.24.11 at 11:09 AM • [link]
@Rebecca—posts like yours are the reason I keep coming back to SBTB and obsessively read the comments. Smart Bitch indeed! Thanks for teaching me something!
Lynn M said on 08.24.11 at 02:41 PM • [link]
I think this one is buried somewhere on my keeper shelf - I’ll have to pull it down and reread it based on RedHeadedGirl’s fantastic review. I think I remember that this wasn’t my favorite Garwood because Christina was so darned perfect - a perfect English lady AND a perfect Native American warrior (even though she’s a GIRL) and just a little too perfect overall, even for a Garwood heroine. By far my two fav Garwoods are “Honour’s Splendor” (love the feet warming scene) and “The Bride.” Now I’m going to have to go find those copies…
Rebecca said on 08.24.11 at 05:24 PM • [link]
@FairyKat - Thanks! (Reddens, and rubs toe bashfully in dirt.) Thanks especially because I was afraid I came off as bitchy in a bad way because I got kind of enraged by the completely unconscious racism. (e.g. Indians are stern and remote. White people are loud and direct. Therefore baby Christina has not “learned Merry’s low voice.” Even though, you know, Merry is her mother. Who’s RAISING her. The same way she raises her son who magically knows to be quiet because he’s Indian. I just can’t see beating up on Heyer for all her “blood will tell” stuff and then giving another author a free pass because she’s “respectfully” depicting a far more powerless group.)
LEW said on 08.24.11 at 06:00 PM • [link]
@Jill, The Garwood in which the hero woos the heroine out of a convent is THE PRIZE.
Cerulean said on 08.24.11 at 06:55 PM • [link]
This was my introduction to Garwood and it remains one of my favorites of hers by far, for many of the reasons people have stated. I *loved* Christina’s self-reliance, independence, and general badassery. I have a crate of all of my old Garwoods in a closet. I do believe I’ll get them out today. I’d love to re-read The Secret, another favorite of mine.
It’s funny, because in all of the discussion of old Johanna Lindsay books (which I also own), I kept thinking of this book before I remembered that it was Julie Garwood.
Jill said on 08.25.11 at 08:20 AM • [link]
@LEW: Huh, really? Color me dumb. I just listened to “The Prize” and I don’t remember that, LOL. The one I’m thinking of has a scene where the hero lures the heroine out along a walkaway (and there may have been two H/Hs involved in the scene I remember), then says, “But you’re not longer in the convent” or somesuch and off he goes with her.
I think maybe he’s a Scots? (Which, yeah, I know, narrows it down. Not.)
Of course, I could be mixing up JG with JL, which I do a lot, I fear. Sigh. Old Timers.
capcha: wife78. Ha! With my life, I could certainly use 78 wives!
Rhea said on 09.15.11 at 07:29 PM • [link]
I absolutely love the old Julie Gardwood romances! And I do believe that I’ve read all of them with the exception of this one. Which means, to Amazon I go…
All-time favorite one, btw, Saving Grace. Loved it to pieces and still do. Loved it so much that I read it to death (and I’m always very careful with my books) with both the covers coming off and random pages falling out. Le sigh.
Wynn said on 10.07.11 at 06:30 PM • [link]
I heart the Julie Garwood historicals! Too hard to pick a favorite but Guardian Angel, The Bride, Saving Grace and For the Roses would probably be the ones I’ve reread most often.
@Jill: the scene you mentioned is from The Wedding - the story of Connor & Brenna
Michelle Kelly said on 10.10.11 at 06:05 PM • [link]
I adore Julie Garwood historicals. She is my go to and favourite historical romance. I have read many but not all. I have them on my bookshelf. See when I get down and I am reading other books and everything is just so bland, I take out a Julie Garwood that I haven’t read and I literally get butterflies and excited that I am about to start a new (old) one.
I only just discovered her last year. So I devoured The Bride, The Wedding, The Gift, Ransom, The Prize and Honor Splendour and a few others. (those are my favs) and I needed to slow down. I couldnt get enough of them but I wanted to keep on enjoying them but I was running out of her historicals. So that’s when I stopped reading them and then started saving them for special occasions.
I got into a funk and then picked up Lyon’s Lady and right away my funk was over. I will cry when I have run out of her historicals.
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