Force of Nature

Rating:
Summary: Did I Miss Something??
Review: I am all for love at first sight, But give me a break, Jo and Ito went from at first sight to elicit over the top sex no courtship, no establishment of who's woman or man I am. Does having sex make you now belong to someone?
IT WAS SUPER QUICK THIS SEX AFFAIR.
Then was there a rape scene or just a volation of sorts?
This is what happens to a person Male or female who puts themself in a situation because of being a so called "strong willed" woman and what made her strong? I felt she was a hard-headed brat, insensitive, stupid and a hot tail girl not a woman.To me she was way worst then her mama Lucy.
Books bring out the best and the worst in us doesn't it?
This book left me thinking, did I miss something. Oh and how does MR.ITO JUST LEAVE what HE HAD BEEN fighting for for years because you CLAIM YOU love the country,. You throw it all away for a peice of tail, excuse me female booty. yeah right. then you all get married and live a life of riches, and parental bliss. excuse me while I gag. where was the story? it was all all about sex, money and revenge, Hip Hoppers would love this book. I agree with the person who stated that she is not a romance writer.

Rating:
Summary: Did I Miss Something??
Review: I am all for love at first sight, But give me a break, Jo and Ito went from at first sight to elicit over the top sex no courtship, no establishment of who's woman or man I am. Does having sex make you now belong to someone?
IT WAS SUPER QUICK THIS SEX AFFAIR.
Then was there a rape scene or just a volation of sorts?
This is what happens to a person Male or female who puts themself in a situation because of being a so called "strong willed" woman and what made her strong? I felt she was a hard-headed brat, insensitive, stupid and a hot tail girl not a woman.To me she was way worst then her mama Lucy.
Books bring out the best and the worst in us doesn't it?
This book left me thinking, did I miss something. Oh and how does MR.ITO JUST LEAVE what HE HAD BEEN fighting for for years because you CLAIM YOU love the country,. You throw it all away for a peice of tail, excuse me female booty. yeah right. then you all get married and live a life of riches, and parental bliss. excuse me while I gag. where was the story? it was all all about sex, money and revenge, Hip Hoppers would love this book. I agree with the person who stated that she is not a romance writer.

Rating:
Summary: Save your money and don't bother
Review: I have to agree that this is more in line with Ms Johnson's earlier works. The plot is fairly believable, although I'm not sure that either Flynn or Hazard would have sent Jo back to Helena on a stage. That leaves to great an opportunity for one of their enemies to get to her.

I will also warn the faint of heart that there is a brutal scene between Jo and the men of the Empire Cattle Company. This is graphically written so use caution.

If you want hot love scenes and a great romance then this is your book. I will also caution to keep the kleenex handy.

Rating:
Summary: ONE OF MS JOHNSON BETTER BOOKS
Review: I have to agree that this is more in line with Ms Johnson's earlier works. The plot is fairly believable, although I'm not sure that either Flynn or Hazard would have sent Jo back to Helena on a stage. That leaves to great an opportunity for one of their enemies to get to her.

I will also warn the faint of heart that there is a brutal scene between Jo and the men of the Empire Cattle Company. This is graphically written so use caution.

If you want hot love scenes and a great romance then this is your book. I will also caution to keep the kleenex handy.

Rating:
Summary: Save your money and don't bother
Review: I think I was especially appalled by this book because I used to be a fan of Ms. Johnson's work. I have enjoyed the Braddock / Black series in the past and although the love scenes have been intense, I still feel her books could be called a romance. Not so with this book. Flynn Ito, the 'hero' is a misogynist bastard. When the heroine, Jo is brutally raped, he can't quite bring himself to touch her. When she asks him to hold her in comfort, he turns her down. He needs time, you see, to assimilate all this, and can't bring himself not to blame her 'just a bit' for the rape. To add further insult to our intelligence, when he comes to his senses and tracks her down, Jo takes him back and forgives him. I personally was infuriated by this storyline. I found it sick, and I think Ms. Johnson has forgotten why women read romances. They are an escape. If I want to read about women being raped and further abused by the system, I will pick up a newspaper. To be fair, I have loved some of her other books. "The Outlaw" is on my keeper shelf. Ms. Johnson, a former art historian, is in many ways a brilliant writer. She should write a courtroom thriller, and leave the romance genre to those who understand it. If you want an intense sexy romance, read Lori Foster or Lisa Kleypas. The negative message toward women in "Forces of Nature" was so disturbing, I myself have bought my last Susan Johnson book.

Rating:
Summary: delightfully blistering western romance
Review: In 1888, Lucy Attenborough, accompanied by her daughter engineer Guiseppina better known as Jo, returns to Helena, Montana for the firs time in twenty-three years. For Jo this is her first trip to Big Sky Country having been raised in Florence. Her father, Native American Jon Hazard Black never knew he sired a daughter until he and his wife Blaze see Jo, who is clearly his child. Jon knows that Lucy is here for one thing only, money and tries to buy her off with a too generous yearly stipend. Lucy accepts, but her avaricious mind sees more cash flowing because Jon wants to know his daughter better.

At the Stuart Warner dinner party that Jo attends, cattle ranch owner Flynn Ito arrives. Flynn and Jo are immediately attracted to one another and go off together for a night of boiling lovemaking. As they become better acquainted in and out of bed, their original lure turns into love, but his enemies, including an English aristocrat, use her as a pawn to try to kill him.

Known for her pair of asbestos gloves requirement, Susan Johnson heats up the sheets with her latest historical romance. The story line engages the audience when Lucy arrives in town, but picks up action and momentum the moment that Jo and Flynn meet. Blisteringly passionate as the lead characters only come up for air when his enemies assault them, FORCE OF NATURE wraps the sex scenes inside a delightful western romance.

Harriet Klausner

Rating:
Summary: delightfully blistering western romance
Review: In 1888, Lucy Attenborough, accompanied by her daughter engineer Guiseppina better known as Jo, returns to Helena, Montana for the firs time in twenty-three years. For Jo this is her first trip to Big Sky Country having been raised in Florence. Her father, Native American Jon Hazard Black never knew he sired a daughter until he and his wife Blaze see Jo, who is clearly his child. Jon knows that Lucy is here for one thing only, money and tries to buy her off with a too generous yearly stipend. Lucy accepts, but her avaricious mind sees more cash flowing because Jon wants to know his daughter better.

At the Stuart Warner dinner party that Jo attends, cattle ranch owner Flynn Ito arrives. Flynn and Jo are immediately attracted to one another and go off together for a night of boiling lovemaking. As they become better acquainted in and out of bed, their original lure turns into love, but his enemies, including an English aristocrat, use her as a pawn to try to kill him.

Known for her pair of asbestos gloves requirement, Susan Johnson heats up the sheets with her latest historical romance. The story line engages the audience when Lucy arrives in town, but picks up action and momentum the moment that Jo and Flynn meet. Blisteringly passionate as the lead characters only come up for air when his enemies assault them, FORCE OF NATURE wraps the sex scenes inside a delightful western romance.

Harriet Klausner

Rating:
Summary: A force to be reckoned with
Review: Sensual mistress Susan Johnson's third solo release with Brava sees her reverting to an unadorned romance casted with sharp characters. She subjugates her vulgar style to render poignancy in this sentimental ode to the power of love. Force of Nature summons back Hazard and Blaze from her popular Braddock-Black series along with Trey and Daisy as memorable side characters in this simple romance between Jo Attenburgh and Flynn Ito.

Jo is conceived between Hazard and former mistress Lucy. After squandering her coffers on a lover-boy, Lucy brings her reluctant daughter to exploit on Hazard's wealth. Jo is surprised by her honorable father and his magnanimous wife Blaze who treats her like their own despite her money-grubbing mom. It is Montana she meets the enigmatic rancher Flynn Ito of Japanese-Irish blood and the meeting converges into a lusty amorous interlude. The halcyon days are threatened by repeated sabotages from rival Empire Ranch run by profligate sons of London peerage, who resorts despicably to kidnapping Jo and outraging her modesty.

Readers will flinch at the graphic rape scene and Flynn's lack of tact and possessive rage. Yet all is forgiven under Johnson's careful sculpting of Jo as a graceful survivor and the confused Flynn humbled by the magnitude of his love towards Jo. She achingly lets readers into the bloodshed and solitude endured by the orphaned Flynn who embraces his love for Jo as a salvation.

Flynn's samurai heritage is scrupulously researched by Johnson as she delves into the exotic Orient, ronins and the legendary Musashi. It is at once an irresistible gravitation to Force Of Nature for Johnson's masterful narration, sensuous dialogues and the sweeping emotional core of a turbulent passion.

Rating:
Summary: Susan's on her way back!
Review: This novel, IMO, signals another step in the return to good story-telling by Susan Johnson. To some extent, it is in the style of Blaze and Taboo; however, it is not quite up to the level of either. The promise of the opening is not quite fulfilled as Lucy Attenborough is the threat that never really materializes, and the Empire turns out to be a caricature of itself.

The Flynn-Jo story is a good one, and the reader can sense the temptation to reduce this romance to the common denominator that many of Susan Johnson's last few stories, bar the previous, have been. Temptation, notwithstanding, Johnson doesn't succumb, so there is actually a plot and a weaving in of this story with Blaze, Silver Flame, and the others of that set.

Force of Nature is a pleasant surprise and a good reminder that Susan Johnson still has what it takes to write a story with a plot and interesting characters that one can care about. Flynn Ito is a wonderfully reluctant and weary warrior, and that helps Force of Nature to fit into the the Braddock-Black storyline and even answers questions the reader might have about why do Flynn and Jo never appear in any of the other stories. Jo's character is consistent with that of the other women in the Braddock-Black series. She's a strong-minded career woman who is not shy about going after what she wants. Are they likeable characters? Yes, they are. Are they as memorable as previous Braddock-Black series characters? Not quite. Even though Jo and Flynn have a crisis towards the end of the novel, the distress they face as a result of the contributing circumstance could easily have been avoided. In that respect, it seems artificial.

The novel is a good one for those who like Susan Johnson, and I do. Worth the price? As proof that Susan Johnson is on the way back, it most definitely is. Buy it, read it, enjoy it.

Rating:
Summary: dreadful ghost of her former self
Review: What happened to the wonderful stories intertwined with history that Susan Johnson is known for writing? I am extremely disappointed in this book. I purchased it because several people had stated in their reviews that this was a return to her former writing. Alas, it is not. The story is disappointing and should not be connected to her former stories of Hazard, Trey and Daisy. There is a distinct lack of plot, I was not able to connect with the characters. Hazard and Blaze were not the same strong personalities as in the former books. I think that this will be the last book by Susan Johnson that I purchase. It is sad to see an author of her talent publish this book.