Wild Desire

Rating:
Summary: An action packed Reconstruction Era romance
Review: In 1870, though on his way to California to start over since his wife and son died two years ago from a fever, Jonathan Blair detours south from the Oklahoma Territory to Fort Worth because he feels his best friend Lawrence Bendalin needs him. Jonathan knows he will probably run into Lawrence's brother Lamar whom he detests for cowardice during the recent war. While fighting for the Confederacy, Lamar fled the battlefield leaving behind his severely wounded sibling whom Jonathan rescued.

Welcomed by the extended Bendalin family except for Lamar, Jonathan is shocked to find he is attracted to the coward's intrepid daughter Eliza Kate. Used to her independence having run the ranch while her father and uncle were at war, Eliza Kate reciprocates Jonathan's feelings including the fact that they want to reject the attraction. Everyone expects her to marry her father's whiskey selling business partner Fletcher Monroe but Eliza Kate and Jonathan fall in love though family ties make it seem impossible for anything to come of this.

WILD DESIRE is an action packed Reconstruction Era romance filled with complex post American Civil War problems and traumas contained in different subplots that ultimately tie together through the relationship of the lead couple. Though Phoebe Conn is a highly regarded, deservedly so, experienced author, the novel tries to handle too many issues so that the cast never fully develops beyond a superficial level. Still Ms. Conn packs quite a wallop with her panoramic look at family, individual, and community problems.

Harriet Klausner


Rating:
Summary: Totally disagree with first review.
Review: Isn't it amazing how people see things so differently? Wild Desire is not the best book I've ever read but it certainly was a multifaceted story with great characters. Jonathon, our strong, virile hero is not only tormented by his experience in the civil war but also the untimely death of his wife and son. He decides to go to california to start anew on his incredible horse "Red Warrior". But his 6th sense tells him to stop at Trinity Ranch to see his confederate war buddy, lawrence. Jonathon had saved Lawrence's life during the war (as his friend's brother Lamar turned coward and ran) but never explained the circumstances to Lawrence. Trinity Ranch was held by Lawrence and Lamar, so going there for a visit was going to be difficult. Jon found his friend in poor health and depressed but also found his niece Eliza Kate incredibly tempting. (The title of wild desire doesn't fit this book at all for while there is romance and lovemaking it isn't graphic. Anyone looking for great sexual scenes will be disappointed.)The story line deals with Jon's concern for his friend, his interest in Eliza, his dislike for Lamar, Lamar's shame and dislike at seeing Jon again and the entire family dynamic. Eliza is engaged to a jerk and slowly realizes that she loves jon and must get out of her engagement but of course that will be difficult. And then there is Red Warrior's race and win against eliza's fiance....and bets, debts and attempted murder. The various elements interweave quite well and you really grow fond of the characters. Although the book is not at all depressing, it is very difficult for jon to risk loving again and it is difficult for these post war individuals to leave that trauma behind too.
All in all a wonderful book. You'll probably love red warrior as much as we love our hero jonathon when you're done.

Rating:
Summary: Great at first, then got slow
Review: Overall, this book was OK. I became interested in the characters right away; the beginning caught me. I was expecting more passion than it presented, but I thought it would be toward the end. As I kept reading, I felt more and more like skipping pages to get to the parts I wanted to read. That's how much the story started lagging. There are also parts that, to me, seem a bit unbelievable. This book is seperated into 3 parts. I thought this would mean that this would be some sort of epic story that spanned a significant period of time. Instead, it seems the storyline lasted for about 2-3 weeks. There were so many different story lines packed into such a short timeline that I just felt there wasn't enough devotion to any specific part, making the whole book very weak reading.