eBook Heart of Thunder (Southern Series) download

I bought this book years ago and read it and was underwhelmed. I picked it back up to reread it as I forgot most of the plot line and now I'm right back to what I remember feeling so long ago...these characters don't belong together! My main problem with Samantha, our heroine, is that she hates Hank all throughout the novel, except in the beginning where she is attracted but not in love. Then once Hank kidnaps her and rapes her repeatedly she somehow falls in love. Even the sex scenes don't really show emotion, they just show Samantha giving in to her needs and then clawing or biting him and drawing blood. What would have helped the story was to have more internal struggles for Samantha where we see her feelings for Hank, or stronger inklings that maybe she really does love him. But no. Even after the "passion" when Hank takes her, she still refuses him every time and it turns into this book about him having his way with her while she is unwilling. I don't mind that plot line so much when you can tell that the heroine really does want the guy but I never got that feeling from Samantha. What's more is that when Hank forces her to marry him somewhere deep down the author should have mentioned that Samantha was somewhat happy or....something! But no, Samantha hated the fact that she was married to him, hated the thought of a baby with him, and tried to leave any chance she got. The turning point I kept waiting for never came. She hated him up until the end when she is seeing him nearly beat to death. The love between them seems a little unbelievable and forced.

Hank isn't my type of hero, but that's just my opinion. Yes, Samantha is really attractive and strong-willed but it ends there. What really draws him to her? Not his brain, not his heart, but some other member entirely, and that doesn't build the foundation for a relationship, least of all love. I find it hard to believe that people loved this book. After reading Johanna Lindsey's other novels this really falls short. In fact, I much preferred the prequel: Glorious Angel to this because at least I felt like the characters belonged together!

Bottom line, if you're looking for a page turner, keep looking. If you're looking to complete your JL book list, then go ahead and read. It's not unpleasant, I just happen to hate when I feel that I could have come up with better plots or dialogue than the author. But I did finish it, and it's certainly not the worst book. It's just average.

Where are the romance authors who write 19th century frontier/Americana? It seems that only Regency and Victorian-set romances dominate the shelves. The American Western in the nineteenth century was not as reserved and stuffy as other places in the world. They didn't call it the Wild West for no reason! And so, it gives historical romance writers more "leg room" for artistic license without going overboard with anachronisms. But if you want a good Americana, you have to search the backlists of very established authors. I'd read a few of Johanna Lindsey's novels in the past and found them enjoyable. Even though I wasn't particularly impressed with Angel, I decided to give another one of her frontier novels a whirl. Heart of Thunder features a sexy Mexican-American bandido/gunslinger -- the main appeal to me. I wasn't disappointed.

Samantha Kingsley is not like most women. She keeps a gun handy at all times, and if anyone dares to mess with her, she has no qualms about using it. And that is how Hank Chavez meets her, shooting a man who had dared to harass her. A former revolutionary soldier-turned-highwayman, Chavez wants nothing more than to use the money he stole from the wealthy to buy back his hacienda in Mexico, a family heirloom that he is not willing to lose. The problem? Hamilton Kingsley owns this land, and he does not want to give it up, for he intends to leave it to his spirited daughter. So Chavez kidnaps Hamilton's daughter to pressure the man into selling the land. But Chavez hadn't anticipated the fact that the daughter is none other than the woman who had dared to use him to make another man jealous back in Denver. He took her virtue as a payback, and she had sworn revenge. What transpires is a battle to prove one's power over the other.

Even though I said that Chavez had stolen Samantha's virtue as payback for having played him in Denver, there is no rape scene in this novel. I just wanted to point that out. (But Samantha does call it rape, minimizing the seriousness of such an accusation, since it is obvious to the reader that she is a willing participant of the act since their very first sexual encounter.) Moving on, I enjoyed reading this novel. The scenes set in Mexico are my favorite. It reminded me of a telenovela I watched some time ago called Los Plateados (The Silverados), and I was able to picture things in my head quite nicely. Also, it is nice to see that this author had actually done her research and used the Spanish words in the right context and were spelled correctly. Chavez is gorgeous, sexy AND adorable. If only I were to meet a bandido like that! What impresses me most is that Lindsey gave him features like gray eyes and a medium skin tone, and made another Mexican character blonde. Authors and people in general are under the mistaken impression that Mexicans and Hispanics in general all have dark or olive skin and not tall, which is simply not true. Latinos have a rainbow of complexions, just like everywhere else. As for Samantha, she got on my nerves in more ways than one. Yes, she is supposed to be spirited and stubborn, but she is too much! I wanted to kill her by the time I reached the end of the book. There are a lot of twists and turns throughout the novel, and a secondary but brief storyline centered on Samantha's brother is introduced toward the end. No doubt Lindsey wrote a novel with him as the hero. Heart of Thunder was written back in 1983, but the style and romance is timeless. There are novels written all those decades ago that seem outdated when read for the first time. This isn't one of them. I have purchased three other Lindsey romances -- two Westerns and one medieval -- because I enjoy her style and I look forward to a great summer of pleasant, escapist reading.

I have been reading this series for years. I thought I had read them all. This was a wonderful surprise to find out there was one more!

For anyone who has read this series and got to hate Ophelia as much as I did, it was wonderful to see her in a new light in a big sister type role.

Synopsis: woman on the husband hunt going on 3 years, feeling love was not ever going to happen for her. As young girls I guess we all think true love happens the instant we meet that perfect person. But true love comes from finding common ground and interests, and from the friendship that develops from that. This is the basis of this novel.

Wonderfully written, beautiful fleshed out characters with their own foibles. A total delight to read.

Another of her books that captures the heart ..Johanna Lindsey is an awesome writer.
She captures the reader and leads them on a wonderful journey of ups and downs,
the intrigue and suspense, She has a way of pulling you in and not letting go
she leads you to romance and always the "Happy ending "
Why else do we read these stories because we enjoy the fantasy and the thrill of knowing
Fairy tails do come true thru books and movies... :)
part of the Mallory Family series but .. so far all of her books are awesome reads..

This was a nice historical romance set in the Regency period of England. I down-rated this book from 5 stars because something about it did not sit right with me. The language was a tad stilted, the period details did not exactly ring accurate, something was off. The story however was great. I really liked the characters as well as the plot. The book could have been longer, and perhaps gone over with a fine-toothed comb, but it was very good. Recommended for historical romance lovers.