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Early on in her career, Johansen developed the habit of following characters from book to book, sometimes introducing minor characters in one novel who then become major figures in another. She developed families, relationships, and even fictional countries in her romance novels, which "stretched the boundaries of the standard formulas," according to Barbara E. Kemp in Twentieth-Century Romance and Historical Writers. In 1991, Johansen broke out of category romance (a term for short books written to conform to the length, style and subject matter guidelines for a publisher's series) with The Wind Dancer, a romantic-suspense novel set in 16th-century Italy. She followed it with two sequels, Storm Winds and Reap the Wind, to form a trilogy, then wrote several more stand-alone romance novels before The Ugly Duckling was published in 1996.
The Ugly Duckling was her first book to be released in hardcover -- and the first to significantly broaden her readership beyond her romance fan base. Since then, Johansen's plots have gotten tighter and more suspense-driven; critics have praised her "flesh-and-blood characters, crackling dialogue and lean, suspenseful plotting" (Publishers Weekly). Some of her most popular books feature forensic sculptor Eve Duncan, who first appeared in The Face of Deception in 1998. But Johansen seems equally comfortable with male protagonists, and her books have crossed the gender division that often characterizes popular fiction. Indeed, Publishers Weekly called The Search "that rarity: a woman's novel for men."
Many of her early novels were written for the Loveswept series from Bantam Books; bestselling authors Sandra Brown and Kay Hooper also wrote for the series.
rhonda1111
Posted August 10, 2011
I now want to go read all of the delaney's stories again. I enjoyed most of the book to many sex scenes for me but love the rest of it.
Elspeth is on a stage comming to the town Hell's Bluff from Ireland. She has come to try and get Dominic Delaney to guide her to fable lost city Kantalan in south america. She knows he had a map telling how to get there, she wants to study and find greater knowledge of atlantis.
Dominic is a gun fighter, gambler and has some stake in some claims around the gold rush of Hell's Bluff. He does not believe the city is really there. He told her father he was not interested in taking them.
Elspeth follows into a cathouse to show him that she was determined. When that did not work she stood across the street till he came out and followed him till dark. Then she went into the saloon and told him she was not giving up.
Dominic kidnapped her and took her to a cabin outside of town with the idea of taking her innocense. But she got away and was badly injured. Dominic was afraid she would never come too. His cousin Sliver was brought to take care of her.
Eventually he took her back to his family home and married her and right after someone tried to kill him.
So they went to see if the lost city was really their.
Along the way they realized that they loved each other. Thier was gunfights, hanging and adventure along the way.
I have read lots of her books and real read more of them. I was given this ebook in exchange for honest review.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.I first read This Fierce Splendor when it was originally published in 1988. Sadly, it went out of print almost immediately. This is a fun, exciting adventure-romance set in 19th century Arizona. Scottish scholar Elspeth MacGregor is determined to find the lost city of Kantalan. Cynical rancher/gunslinger Dominic Delaney holds the key to its location. But he wants nothing to do with Elspeth or her mission; he has enough problems with all the bounty hunters on his trail. Naturally, they fall in love, find Kantalan and its fantastic treasure and live happily ever after -- but it's a bumpy road. Note: this is part of the Delaney series, but it is not necessary to have read any of the other novels.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted January 12, 2012
Wonderful story, believable characters, it was a wonderful read full of wonder, happiness, sadness, sensuality and so much more. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
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Posted November 29, 2011
Classic Iris Johansen with a little, and interesting twist! The characters were interesting and I loved the fact that it had a little outlandish fantasy (lost city) in it. Good read for anyone looking for a quick historical romance read!
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Posted October 23, 2011
Hopefully more Delaney stories will be republished.
10058758
Posted October 16, 2011
Definately worth reading, This romance set in the old west has nice twist, and a really good story to back-up the anticipation !
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.This Fierce Splendor by Iris Johansen e ISBN: 978-0-307-79894-7
The story starts out in Kantalan, Mexico 1517 A.D. A colony of people living there worshiped the god, Ra. Sayan was a clairana and she had angered the priest by not keeping herself pure, she had fallen in love with Dalkar. But she had seen that Kantalan was going to be destroyed so she tried to send the people away but instead they were heading towards Sun Child, a volcano, with their sacrifices. Sayan had Cadra away. He ended up with an Apache tribe and later became the medicine man. Through Cadra the story of Sayan & Dalkar was passed along.
Elspeth MacGregor has traveled across the sea from Edinburgh on a mission and only one man could help her with it, Dominic Delaney. It's now 1870 and she has arrived in Hell's Bluff, Arizona Territory. She has dreamed of finding Kantalan since she was a young girl, Dominic was suppose to know how to get there. Only he refused to help her. Dressed in black mourning clothes since her father's death, Elspeth follows Dom around until everyone is calling her his shadow. With the help of Patrick Delaney, Dom's nephew, she has entered the brothel he rents a room in, she has sat outside of it waiting for him and than following him and finally when she enters the Nugget Saloon, he has had enough.
Dominic Delaney loves his home at Killara but ever since he killed a man ten years ago he won't go live there. Even though it was a fair fight the boys father has a price on Dom's head. His father has paid for a pardon so he no longer runs from the law but he can't trust that the men out to kill him won't hurt anyone he loves. After an incident with Elspeth, he ends up bringing her to the family home and eventually to Kantalan.
Their relationship is up and down. Dominic finds himself drawn to this Scottish woman even though he don't want to. His parents use her to entice him to stay on the ranch. Many other interesting characters are in the book and other side stories as well.
**Language & sexual situations
Received through NetGalley for review.
Anonymous
Posted September 22, 2011
The setting was surprising, the characters well developed, and the storyline compelling! I couldn't put it down and enjoyed the twists turns, and surprises along the way. I felt as if I was right there and could visualize the scenes like watching a movie. I loved this one!
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Overview
In a classic historical romance from #1 New York Times bestselling author Iris Johansen, a bookish beauty and her rogue guide go in search of a city lost to the sands of time—and find a burning passion.Ever since she was a little girl, Elspeth MacGregor has dreamed of completing her father’s quest to find the legendary lost city of Kantalan. After poring over textbooks, atlases, and tribal legends, Elspath knows everything there is to know about the ancient metropolis—except how to reach it. Now she’s made the journey to Hell’s Bluff, Arizona, in search of the man who may be ...