Rating: 
Summary: This Book is Awful
Review: Before this book, I had read about 10 Susan Johnson books and found them all well written and enjoyable. After I read this book, it took me about 2 years before I even picked up another S.J. book. The hero (and I use this term loosely) was sexy in the beginning, but after he's cheated on the heroine about 5 or 6 times he just becomes gross. I don't care how good looking a man is or how good he is in bed, a self-absorbed (...) is just not sexy. I do admit that Nikki is a realistic character, given the period and the fact that he is rich and spoiled, but he is not the type of man that I would base a romance book around. I just found him to be icky. The sex scenes were good though, that's why I gave it 2 stars instead of 1. S.J. has a lot of very good books with good sex scenes, so I'd skip this one and read another.
Rating: 
Summary: Susan Johnson 's #1 fan
Review: Dear readers , I love reading about bad boys, and there is no boy badder, than Nikki Kuzan! If you are softhearted and can't handle the drama that a bad boy is going to bring, then this book is not for you, but to all the others whose a little on the wild side, go an take a ride with Nikki Kuzan. It seems to me that Susan Johnson knows every women's fantasies. Nikki is not your avarage romance hero. He is the kind of hero you save for your naughty dreams. He is devastatingly sexy, hard to get, and every women wants him. Who does he want? (Alisa). He might not show it in the conventional way, but show it he does! Alisa is a wonderful and realistic heroine, because it does'nt matter what era we are living in, there will allways be women who rebels against there plight, and take a chance on something better. Put aside how wonderful Alisa, and Nikky are, the story in itself was magnifecent. Susan Johnson captivates you with her writing. I was hooked from the first page. It took me one day to finish this book. Heroes like Nikki are the very reason I started reading historical romances and not contempary. The men of that era were very dominant and so different from the men of today, but men like Nikky should be left for your fantasies, and I want to live out my fantasies in every book that I read. That is why I think Susan Johnson is such a refreshing author. She was bold enough to write a romance novel like this for all the people who wanted to read something more daring, and for that I am her biggest fan!
Rating: 
Summary: unforgettable, a keeper, a real standout
Review: I am writing this review because I see that so many people hate this old favorite of mine. I love the lush evocative description in this highly-emotional book. I think I bought this book more than ten years ago--because someone told me how sexy and memorable it was, and since then I have bought several copies--just so that I always have a copy on my shelf. And, believe me, they are all dog-earred. True--this book is erotic. True--the hero is unkind and terribly abusive to the heroine. True--I gave it to my best friend and she found the story horrifying and not her idea of romance. It's not mine either, but come on. This book is a sexual fantasy. It was written to give the reader a safe taste of the fantasy of having to tame an impossible male when even her life, soul, and body are threatened by the hero. As a feminist I would abhor such a situation in real life. But with in the safe confines of Ms Johnson's paperback novel I can enjoy these wicked activities knowing that I am safe.
Rating:
Summary: Realism, whether you like it or not...
Review: I read most anything by Susan Johnson, although I don't like everything she writes. By far, the biggest reason that I read her is her ability to meld history and sex with wit and style. Outlaw, for instance, has some genuinely good writing and well-researched history. Reading this book, however, was kind of a shock. You talk about spousal abuse... The heroine's first husband was a physically abusive demented religious zealot many decades her senior, her lover (the hero) turns out to be a psychologically abusive man who desires her (and her submission) obsessively. My initial reaction to this book was "ick." Upon reflection, though, I have truly come to appreciate this book. It is in no way a typical romance story; if you are looking for "maltreated virginal heroine finds sappy romance with adoring lover" this book is NOT for you. But Johnson's hallmark is historical realism, and let's be honest, Tzarist Russia was not exactly a hotbed of women's rights. I have hashed this out with friends who argue that romantic fiction is exatly that - not intended to be realistic. On the other hand, the "bad boy" figure in romance tends to be a neutered caricature: rake until he meets the perfect sex partner, then he's just as tame as can be. This book presents the hero as a true bad boy, atrocious ego and all. The scene where Nikki comes from a liason with a former mistress to a pregnant Alissa's bed is a perfect example of this - revolting to modern sensibilities, but probably not out of the norm for a Russian prince 250 years ago. So, thank you Ms. Johnson for injecting a true note of reality - along with some great sex scenes - into the world of romance.
Rating:
Summary: Realism, whether you like it or not...
Review: I read most anything by Susan Johnson, although I don't like everything she writes. By far, the biggest reason that I read her is her ability to meld history and sex with wit and style. Outlaw, for instance, has some genuinely good writing and well-researched history. Reading this book, however, was kind of a shock. You talk about spousal abuse... The heroine's first husband was a physically abusive demented religious zealot many decades her senior, her lover (the hero) turns out to be a psychologically abusive man who desires her (and her submission) obsessively. My initial reaction to this book was "ick." Upon reflection, though, I have truly come to appreciate this book. It is in no way a typical romance story; if you are looking for "maltreated virginal heroine finds sappy romance with adoring lover" this book is NOT for you. But Johnson's hallmark is historical realism, and let's be honest, Tzarist Russia was not exactly a hotbed of women's rights. I have hashed this out with friends who argue that romantic fiction is exatly that - not intended to be realistic. On the other hand, the "bad boy" figure in romance tends to be a neutered caricature: rake until he meets the perfect sex partner, then he's just as tame as can be. This book presents the hero as a true bad boy, atrocious ego and all. The scene where Nikki comes from a liason with a former mistress to a pregnant Alissa's bed is a perfect example of this - revolting to modern sensibilities, but probably not out of the norm for a Russian prince 250 years ago. So, thank you Ms. Johnson for injecting a true note of reality - along with some great sex scenes - into the world of romance.
Rating:
Summary: Hot
Review: I thought this was an great romance novel. For once the heroine was not a whimpering virgin. There were several heated and sensual love scenes. This is a bodice ripper but one that is definitely worth reading.
Rating: 
Summary: Appalling and revolting! Zero stars
Review: I was completely appalled and abhored reading this book. In an introductory letter to the reader, Ms. Johnson writes that this story follows the tradition of romances of the past described as "bodice-rippers". The story was originally printed in 1978. This book is incorrectly labelled a "bodice-ripper"; bodice ripping is far to mild a description for this story. The characters in this book are completely reprehensible. The hero treats the heroine wretchedly. He insults, ignores, domineers, and forces his attentions on her. At one point, he outright rapes her. The "love" scenes, if you can even call them that, are on the borderline of rapes and that is because the heroine's lust for the hero makes her capitulate to him. I tried to sympathize with the heroine because she is initially innocent in this story. However, her masochistic tendancies to put up with her abuse at the hands of the hero and to continue to love him removed any pity I had for her. The hero never reforms. Even at the end of the story when the couple inevitably acknowledge their love for one another; Nikki's declaration left me hollow. After his declaration of love following his wife's near death during the birth of their child, the heroine asks him to abandon his philandering ways and give up his mistresses. He first considers lying to her, but he doesn't want to make promises he can't keep, so he replies that he will "forswear one day at a time." This was my first Susan Johnson book and, unfortunately, it will take me some time to pick up another one of her books.
Rating:
Summary: Appalling and revolting! Zero stars
Review: I was completely appalled and abhored reading this book. In an introductory letter to the reader, Ms. Johnson writes that this story follows the tradition of romances of the past described as "bodice-rippers". The story was originally printed in 1978. This book is incorrectly labelled a "bodice-ripper"; bodice ripping is far to mild a description for this story. The characters in this book are completely reprehensible. The hero treats the heroine wretchedly. He insults, ignores, domineers, and forces his attentions on her. At one point, he outright rapes her. The "love" scenes, if you can even call them that, are on the borderline of rapes and that is because the heroine's lust for the hero makes her capitulate to him. I tried to sympathize with the heroine because she is initially innocent in this story. However, her masochistic tendancies to put up with her abuse at the hands of the hero and to continue to love him removed any pity I had for her. The hero never reforms. Even at the end of the story when the couple inevitably acknowledge their love for one another; Nikki's declaration left me hollow. After his declaration of love following his wife's near death during the birth of their child, the heroine asks him to abandon his philandering ways and give up his mistresses. He first considers lying to her, but he doesn't want to make promises he can't keep, so he replies that he will "forswear one day at a time." This was my first Susan Johnson book and, unfortunately, it will take me some time to pick up another one of her books.
Rating:
Summary: Ugh
Review: It says somethign when even I don't like a book. I can take an abusive hero as long as in the end he apologizes or somehow atones. This guy was completely undeserving of the heroines love. He was cruel and indecisive and he doesn't know the meaning of the word "fidelity." Actually, even his father who is supposedly madly in love with his wife isn't faithful to her.
Rating:
Summary: Ugh
Review: It says somethign when even I don't like a book. I can take an abusive hero as long as in the end he apologizes or somehow atones. This guy was completely undeserving of the heroines love. He was cruel and indecisive and he doesn't know the meaning of the word "fidelity." Actually, even his father who is supposedly madly in love with his wife isn't faithful to her.
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