The Bronzed Hawk

Reluctant Lark #2

by Iris Johansen

Kelly would get her story and prove herself to her editor -- even if it meant using a bit of blackmail. She'd try anything to get dashing inventor-genius Nick O'Brien to take her along in his experimental balloon to Mexico. And though Nick saw through her ruse, he figured she'd provide a few distractions while they floated through the stratosphere... but even he never suspected the sparks their meeting would generate and the unexpected consequences of their fiery caresses. Nick had always trusted his fate to the four winds and the seven seas... until a feisty, golden-haired lady clipped his wings by losing herself in his arms.…

Genres: Romance, Loveswept, Adult Fiction, Contemporary, Audiobook, Contemporary Romance, Fiction

182 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 1983

About the author

Iris Johansen is a New York Times bestselling author. She began her writing after her children left home for college. She first achieved success in the early 1980s writing category romances. In 1991, Johansen began writing suspense historical romance novels, starting with the publication of The Wind Dancer. In 1996 Johansen switched genres, turning to crime fiction, with which she has had great success.

She lives in Georgia and is married. Her son, Roy Johansen, is an Edgar Award-winning screenwriter and novelist. Her daughter, Tamara, serves as her research assistant.

IRIS JOHANSEN is The New York Times bestselling author of Night and Day, Hide Away, Shadow Play, Your Next Breath, The Perfect Witness, Live to See Tomorrow, Silencing Eve, Hunting Eve, Taking Eve, Sleep No More, What Doesn't Kill You, Bonnie, Quinn, Eve, Chasing The Night, Eight Days to Live, Blood Game, Deadlock, Dark Summer, Pandora's Daughter, Quicksand, Killer Dreams, On The Run, and more. And with her son, Roy Johansen, she has coauthored Night Watch, The Naked Eye, Sight Unseen, Close Your Eyes, Shadow Zone, Storm Cycle, and Silent Thunder.

http://www.irisjohansen.com

Reviews

[*CJ* · Rating 4 out of 5]

“The Bronzed Hawk” is the story of Nick and Kelly.
When the elusive genius Nick refuses to give an interview to anyone for many years, reporter Kelly uses blackmail to convince him for an exclusive.
What follows is
-Attraction at first sight
-A hot air balloon ride
-Sizzling attraction
-Crazy jealousy
-Being stranded at nowhere, escaping hooligans and “forced” wedding
-Loads and loads of toe curling passion and lovemaking
-Some angst and running away
-How a temporary marriage turned into a permanent one
Entertaining read with a sweet ending.
Safe with exceptions h blackmails the H by showing him pictures of his mistress but he was unaware of her. He’s described as a “tomcat” . Safe after they get together.
4/5

[Zeek · Rating 4 out of 5]

The second book in this two part series, The Bronzed Hawk, went a long way in toning down the domineering ways of the first. Oh, Nick O’Brian, the hero, was still a tad overbearing, but at least the heroine, Kelly, could hold her own (Unlike the heroine in The Reluctanct Lark).

Nick and Kelly are made for each other. Adventure seekers and adrenaline junkies- from the time Kelly enters his life, and apartment, Nick’s a goner. He agrees to her request for a ride-along interview- something the inventor/genius Nick O'Brien doesn’t ever do. I suspected from the get go he’s got it all figured out on how to snag her, with his photographic memory and brilliant mind. And I was right.

He takes her with him on a balloon ride of all things, to test not only the new fuel he’s created, but to test her worthiness as well. While on the ride, the balloon catches fire and from the time she agrees to jump out of the balloon with him- sans parachute for her- he decides he’s never going to let her go.

While trying to make their way out of Mexico where they ended up- Kelly tries to hold him off as long as she can but is as helpless to their mutual heat as he is. Before she sneaks off back home, she has no doubt of her love for him- but great deal of doubt of his. Possessive and mad as hell, he follows her home to give her exactly what she wants- The love she’s always desired of course!

[Joan · Rating 2 out of 5]

What a disappointment! Johansen's usual genre is mystery - ones that I usually enjoy. This novel was published in 1983, so I can only assume that it was a first attempt and she was just learning to write. The book was a "bodice-ripping" romance; I guess Johansen must have started in this genre and advanced later to the mysteries she is known for. This highly-formulaic romance showed the stereotypical couple who meet and immediately fall in love, each believing, however, that the love is not reciprocated. They alternate between fighting scenes and torrid sex scenes while experiencimg all manner of highly-unrealistic adventures together. Eventually they come to realize that they cannot live with each other and.....

[Sheri · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm not sure what I was expecting, but it definitely wasn't what I got. This book was creepy as all-get-out. First we have the insta-love: a guy who's a player and a worldly photojournalist instantly feel drawn to each other. Then there's the control factor: Kelly keeps talking about how tender and chivalrous Nick is, but in reality he is jealous, controlling, and abusive. From his first glimpse of her, he becomes creepily possessive, he threatens to rape her more than once, he chases her down and informs her that she belongs to him... While some possessiveness is sweet, this is way beyond the pale. This book would make a good study in why people stay in abusive relationships. There's no plot, really, beyond their crazy relationship, and the only reason I kept reading is because it was like a train wreck: impossible to look away.

[Jenny · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF’d at the end of Chapter Three. This was godawful. I generally like her thrillers, and I like some of her historical romances but this was beyond bad. Our supposedly wildly attractive hero verbally compares the heroine’s nipples to “crisp taffeta”—like, aloud, while undressing her. Yeah no. Hard pass.

[Paulettew Welch · Rating 1 out of 5]

The Bronzed Hawk was written in 1983. I liked the idea of the story but Nick was too much of an alpha male for my liking. Kelly was too young and no match for Nick. It was a hard book for me to read.

[Aaron · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good read

I didn't like how she played him for a fool and the head games really
disgusted me. In the end everything turned out okay. She termed them being married not important wow.
Glad the ending is good.

[Cortney · Rating 1 out of 5]

First attempt at writing?? This was awful. Gave up on it.

[Tina Ficarella · Rating 4 out of 5]

Listened as audiobook... could not wait to listen and get to the next disc, would definitely listen again!

[Bea Raymond · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great love story

Love the adventure these two took us on and that in the end hey found each other. Enjoyed he book from the start to the finish!

[Anne Marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun and interesting characters!
A fun, romantic story with a interesting plot.

[Lucia · Rating 1 out of 5]

I can't believe I wasted my time with this book. I don't know what made me angrier, the actual writing or the story itself. First let me say that I'm not some die hard feminist. I like a little smut just like the next person. But this was really juvenile. The "heroine" lets this man bully her and threaten her. I think Nick is a classic abuser. She should have run for the hills. I can picture her years down the road, thinking about all the warning signs she missed, (which were apparent to everyone else). Not to mention the "mind blowing" sex she had the first time she has sex. I mean come on. Is this really the fantasty of women. I know I don't want to be bullyed and told what to do. This book was just ridiculous. Sorry for the rant.

[Amber Carreras · Rating 1 out of 5]

Horrible book! I don't usually leave bad reviews, but this book was just awful. I have to admit that I am not really a fan of romance novels, but I have read quite a few that I enjoyed. In most, there is an alpha male character, in this book, he was way beyond. The main character is supposed to be a strong woman, but she seemed so weak to me. I think we were supposed to see the male character as caring but overprotective, he came of as abusive to me. He threatened to smack her, break her neck and rape her among other things. If you have ever been in an emotionally abusive relationship, this book will probably seem all to familiar.

[Anne - Books of My Heart · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love most anything by Iris Johansen. I have to say I prefer her mystery suspense books. Those I can't put down and end up reading in one setting. This book disappointed me, not because it was a bad book, it was an easy, fun read, but because it wasn't as good as her other type of books. It was a straight romance, not much of a plot, ridiculous sort of love at first sight. I believe that can happen but it just seemed unreal in this book.

[Clarissa · Rating 1 out of 5]

Worst book by Iris Johansen (of whom I am a huge fan) that I have ever read. Yes it was written in 1983 and for that reason I have to give it a bit of an excuse. But the heroine was whiny and wishy washy the hero was a jerk, and the entire relationship was built on constant miscomprehensions and jumping to wrong conclusions. It was really bad.

[Kathleen · Rating 2 out of 5]

My quest to read all of Iris Johansen's books continues. I'm glad this one wasn't stalker-ish like The Reluctant Lark, the last romance I read. I love Johansen's writing and I will continue reading the love stories, as formulaic as they are meant to be. I know the rules of writing a romance novel - lol.

[Kiera Beddes · Rating 2 out of 5]

The most exciting thing about this novel was crash-landing a burning hot-air balloon. The relationship was borderline abusive and unbelievable. The hero was supposedly this super genius so if he was so smart, he wouldn't be so "virile" and "magnetic"...yes, two words that were used repeatedly to describe him.

[marie stephenson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Delightful Read!

This was a surprisingly good read! It started off a little frivolous but it quickly warmed to something much richer and enjoyable. I found Nick pushy and bossy but Kelley was quite capable of checking him when necessary. I fully enjoyed this book and found it to be a pleasant surprise. Full of charm and lots of laughs.

[Caro · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this book. It had humor, emotions, steamy scenes, and action/suspense. I would definitely read this book again. It was written well and was a good page-turner. I couldn't wait to see what scrap was gotten into next. I liked the ending too. Enjoy

[Jeri · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was labeled as a mystery on the spine, but it must have been mislabeled. It was a romance all the way through with very little suspense or mystery. An easy read, but it isn't rated terribly high on my list.

[Naomi Moore · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked the overall story but due to the jealousy issues and threats of physical violence from Nick I couldn't find the romance. If this was a true life story Kelly would have been cautioned to get away from him before he made good on one of this threats.

[Michelle Kasper hagerty · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have to agree with several of the other reviews. The over bearing and jealous ways are a bit much. I found a few inconsistency in Kate's character in the first part of the book that were disappointing. Overall a decent book.

[Maria · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was just silly and hilarious. Thirty years after it was written, it reads more like a parody of an 80s romance than an actual serious tale, showing how far our ideals have evolved when it comes to equality and expectations of romance.

[Susan Lee Thuener · Rating 5 out of 5]

Johansson is one of my favorite authors

I am more familiar with her forensic sculpture novels but I did enjoy this one also. Since she is a prolific writer I am sure I will be reading many more of them.

[Kathy Anne · Rating 1 out of 5]

i have read mostof these windswept books of Iris`s and did not like any of them that I can remember.She definitly improved after she stopped writing them

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

A quick read and thoroughly enjoyed the book!

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thought it was another of her murder mysteries, but it was a romance. Still not disappointed though!

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this back in the 90s.

[Kim]

This was okay. little predictable.

[Evelyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Didn't finish