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Legend of Morgan #1-2-3
Rosemary Rogers Three Volume Boxed Set: Dark Fires/Lost Love, Last Love/Sweet Savage Love
Not even love could stop her . . . Despite her privileged life in the sultry paradise of Martinique, the beautiful and daring Sapphire Fabergine will never be satisfied until she claims the honor and legitimacy that has been denied her. Sapphire sails to London to confront the aristocratic family who had disowned her before she was even born -- only to find that her father is dead and that his title has passed to Blake Thixton, an attractive yet loathsome distant American cousin. Convinced Sapphire is determined to bring about his ruin, Blake kidnaps her and sails back to America, where he presents her with a become his mistress or serve him as a maid in his waterfront mansion. Without means in this unfamiliar land, Sapphire is trapped. But she will not compromise her quest for honor so easily -- not even for the man she has come to desire.
Paperback
First published September 1, 1982
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About the author
Rosemary Rogers
111 books421 followersThere is more than one author with this name
Rosemary Jansz Navaratnam Rogers Kadison
Rosemary Jansz was born on 7 December 1932 in Panadura, British Ceylon (now known as Sri Lanka), she was the oldest child of Dutch-Portuguese settlers, Barbara "Allan" and Cyril Jansz. Her father was a wealthy educator who owned three posh private schools. She was raised in colonial splendor: dozens of servants, no work, summers at European spas, a chaperone everywhere she went. A dreamy child, she wrote her first novel at eight, and all through her teens scribbled madly romantic epics in imitation of her favorite writers: Sir Walter Scott, Alexandre Dumas and Rafael Sabatini.
At 17, Rosemary rebelled against a feudal upbringing and went to the University of Ceylon, where she studied three years. She horrified her family by taking a job as a reporter, and two years later marrying with Summa Navaratnam, a Ceylonese track star known as "the fastest man in Asia." The marriage had two daughters. Unhappily, he often sprinted after other women. Disappointed with her husband, in 1960, she moved with her two daughters and took off for London.
In Europe she met her future second husband, Leroy Rogers, an african-american. "He was the first man," she recalls, "who made me feel like a real woman." After getting a divorce from her first husband, she married Rogers in his home town, St. Louis, Missouri. They moved with her family to California, where she had two sons. Six years later, when that marriage broke up, Rosemary was left with four children to support on her $4,200 salary as a typist for the Solano County Parks Department. In 1969, in the face of a socialist takeover of Ceylon, her parents fled the island with only ?100, giving Rosemary two more dependents. At 37, the rich girl from Ceylon was on her uppers in Fairfield.
Every night for a year, Rogers worked to perfect a manuscript that she had written as a child, rewriting it 24 times. When she was satisfied with her work, she sent the manuscript to Avon, which quickly purchased the novel. That novel, ''Sweet Savage Love'', skyrocketed to the top of bestseller lists, and became one of the most popular historical romances of all time. Her second novel, ''Dark Fires'', sold two million copies in its first three months of release. Her first three novels sold a combined 10 million copies. The fourth, ''Wicked Loving Lies'' sold 3 million copies in its first month of publication. Rosemary Rogers became one of the legendaries "Avon Queens of Historical Romance". The difference between she and most of others romance writers is not the violence of her stories, it is the intensity. She says: "My heroines are me", and certainly her life could be one of her novels.
In September of 1984, Rosemary married a third time with Christopher Kadison, but it was a very brief marriage and they soon began to live apart. "I'd like to live with a man," she admits, "but I find men in real life don't come up to my fantasies. I want culture, spirit and sex all rolled up together."
Today single, Rosemary lives quietly in a small dramatic villa perched on a crag above the Pacific near Carmel. Her four children are now away from home and she continues to write.
Rosemary passed away at the age of 87 on November 12, 2019 in Carmel, California where she called home since the early 1970s.
Rosemary Jansz Navaratnam Rogers Kadison
Rosemary Jansz was born on 7 December 1932 in Panadura, British Ceylon (now known as Sri Lanka), she was the oldest child of Dutch-Portuguese settlers, Barbara "Allan" and Cyril Jansz. Her father was a wealthy educator who owned three posh private schools. She was raised in colonial splendor: dozens of servants, no work, summers at European spas, a chaperone everywhere she went. A dreamy child, she wrote her first novel at eight, and all through her teens scribbled madly romantic epics in imitation of her favorite writers: Sir Walter Scott, Alexandre Dumas and Rafael Sabatini.
At 17, Rosemary rebelled against a feudal upbringing and went to the University of Ceylon, where she studied three years. She horrified her family by taking a job as a reporter, and two years later marrying with Summa Navaratnam, a Ceylonese track star known as "the fastest man in Asia." The marriage had two daughters. Unhappily, he often sprinted after other women. Disappointed with her husband, in 1960, she moved with her two daughters and took off for London.
In Europe she met her future second husband, Leroy Rogers, an african-american. "He was the first man," she recalls, "who made me feel like a real woman." After getting a divorce from her first husband, she married Rogers in his home town, St. Louis, Missouri. They moved with her family to California, where she had two sons. Six years later, when that marriage broke up, Rosemary was left with four children to support on her $4,200 salary as a typist for the Solano County Parks Department. In 1969, in the face of a socialist takeover of Ceylon, her parents fled the island with only ?100, giving Rosemary two more dependents. At 37, the rich girl from Ceylon was on her uppers in Fairfield.
Every night for a year, Rogers worked to perfect a manuscript that she had written as a child, rewriting it 24 times. When she was satisfied with her work, she sent the manuscript to Avon, which quickly purchased the novel. That novel, ''Sweet Savage Love'', skyrocketed to the top of bestseller lists, and became one of the most popular historical romances of all time. Her second novel, ''Dark Fires'', sold two million copies in its first three months of release. Her first three novels sold a combined 10 million copies. The fourth, ''Wicked Loving Lies'' sold 3 million copies in its first month of publication. Rosemary Rogers became one of the legendaries "Avon Queens of Historical Romance". The difference between she and most of others romance writers is not the violence of her stories, it is the intensity. She says: "My heroines are me", and certainly her life could be one of her novels.
In September of 1984, Rosemary married a third time with Christopher Kadison, but it was a very brief marriage and they soon began to live apart. "I'd like to live with a man," she admits, "but I find men in real life don't come up to my fantasies. I want culture, spirit and sex all rolled up together."
Today single, Rosemary lives quietly in a small dramatic villa perched on a crag above the Pacific near Carmel. Her four children are now away from home and she continues to write.
Rosemary passed away at the age of 87 on November 12, 2019 in Carmel, California where she called home since the early 1970s.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
December 18, 2012
Readers and reviewers should keep in mind the book publication time frame and the originality of a novel at that time - as well as the historical time frame of the fiction - when rating it!
My 5 star rating for Sweet Savage Love is based upon the fact that this was a ground breaking novel when it was published back in the early 1980's - and is not a rating based upon today’s standards.
I loved this story! I probably read it at least three times (especially the romantic scenes) when I first read it - over 30 years ago.
It was a shocking and very welcomed departure from the Regency etc. romances of the time! Rosemary Rogers was one of the first to write much more explicit sex scenes. She also departed from the stereotypical heroes and heroines by making them much more flawed and all too human.
I of course found it very romantic that the hero couldn't resist the heroine and feels driven to kidnap her and then can't give her up - even for his own good.
I do not like books with a hero who rapes the heroine. It is important to note that the sex is initially very concessional and it is only later in his jealousy that Steve behaves badly - in addition - he always makes an effort and almost always succeeds in getting Ginny’s cooperation and satisfaction. Ginny even "rapes" Steve later at knife point - but again she manages to get his willing cooperation before things go too far.
Definitely, not a typical romance and definitely an atypical relationship!
Some parts of the story were painful, as both the hero Steve Morgan and the heroine Ginny Brandon go through horrific experiences and sexual abuse and degradation in the course of the story - still shocking - even by today’s standards. This is of course a clear delineation between Steve's former forceful approach while he is jealous and also traveling in close proximity to Ginny - whom he can't resist vs. what these other brutes do to Ginny.
Both hero and heroine have to forgive each other for what they have done to each other and also what has been done to them and start anew. Pretty unique for the time - when all the books had the heroine as a virgin who is only touched and romanced by the hero.
I wish the author, Rosemary Rogers, had left well enough alone and not done more follow up novels featuring this pair. The stories became drawn out cases of abuse, misunderstandings, and just plain abysmal behavior. I believe there ended up being 2 to 3 follow up novels. Most were painful too painful to fully read. The final one wasn't too bad - the fans had complained so much that Rosemary Rogers FINALLY gave them another happy ending - but by then I didn't really care...
My 5 star rating for Sweet Savage Love is based upon the fact that this was a ground breaking novel when it was published back in the early 1980's - and is not a rating based upon today’s standards.
I loved this story! I probably read it at least three times (especially the romantic scenes) when I first read it - over 30 years ago.
It was a shocking and very welcomed departure from the Regency etc. romances of the time! Rosemary Rogers was one of the first to write much more explicit sex scenes. She also departed from the stereotypical heroes and heroines by making them much more flawed and all too human.
I of course found it very romantic that the hero couldn't resist the heroine and feels driven to kidnap her and then can't give her up - even for his own good.
I do not like books with a hero who rapes the heroine. It is important to note that the sex is initially very concessional and it is only later in his jealousy that Steve behaves badly - in addition - he always makes an effort and almost always succeeds in getting Ginny’s cooperation and satisfaction. Ginny even "rapes" Steve later at knife point - but again she manages to get his willing cooperation before things go too far.
Definitely, not a typical romance and definitely an atypical relationship!
Some parts of the story were painful, as both the hero Steve Morgan and the heroine Ginny Brandon go through horrific experiences and sexual abuse and degradation in the course of the story - still shocking - even by today’s standards. This is of course a clear delineation between Steve's former forceful approach while he is jealous and also traveling in close proximity to Ginny - whom he can't resist vs. what these other brutes do to Ginny.
Both hero and heroine have to forgive each other for what they have done to each other and also what has been done to them and start anew. Pretty unique for the time - when all the books had the heroine as a virgin who is only touched and romanced by the hero.
I wish the author, Rosemary Rogers, had left well enough alone and not done more follow up novels featuring this pair. The stories became drawn out cases of abuse, misunderstandings, and just plain abysmal behavior. I believe there ended up being 2 to 3 follow up novels. Most were painful too painful to fully read. The final one wasn't too bad - the fans had complained so much that Rosemary Rogers FINALLY gave them another happy ending - but by then I didn't really care...
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February 21, 2010Sweet Savage Love by Rosemary Rogers (1974)
May 28, 2012
These were my first romance books and I will never forget Ginny and Steve.
August 1, 2014
loved the series, could really get into the books and characters. Read them many years ago, several times
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews