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Coltrane #1
Love and War
Nathan Collins, the Rebel, who dreamed of making Katherine his wife, but would never accept her craving for a life of her own.
Travis Coltrane, the Yankee, who could make her wild with fury one moment, and delirious with passion the next.
And Katherine Wright was wrenched from her home, ravished at will, abducted again and again...but the real battle was raging where no one could see it - for even the turbulent tides of war couldn't extinguish the sweet-hot fire within.
Travis Coltrane, the Yankee, who could make her wild with fury one moment, and delirious with passion the next.
And Katherine Wright was wrenched from her home, ravished at will, abducted again and again...but the real battle was raging where no one could see it - for even the turbulent tides of war couldn't extinguish the sweet-hot fire within.
532 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1978
12 people are currently reading
608 people want to read
About the author
Patricia Hagan
45 books60 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
Please see: Patricia Hagan
Pat is the published author of over forty books of romantic fiction. Several of her titles have appeared on the New York Times Bestseller list. One of her books, "Ocean of Dreams", is based on her own shipboard romance when she met her former husband, a Norwegian engineer.
She is also a former Radio/TV Motorsports Journalist, covering NASCAR Grand National Stock Car Racing. Her work has won many awards by the National Motorsports Press Association.
Pat has cruised the eastern and western Caribbean extensively, as well as the Greek Islands, the fjords of Norway all the way to the North Cape, and has made several transatlantic crossings.
She prefers traveling single, because it gives her more opportunities to meet and make new friends. While she admits going solo is not for everyone, she says for her it is perfect, because she is an outgoing person, and, being a writer, enjoys meeting new "characters."
The only thing she does not like about traveling is having to leave behind her best friend and companion, Krysy, a 14-year old Wire-haired fox terrier.
The author also uses the names:
Patricia Hagan Howell
Maggie James (4 spaces)
Please see: Patricia Hagan
Pat is the published author of over forty books of romantic fiction. Several of her titles have appeared on the New York Times Bestseller list. One of her books, "Ocean of Dreams", is based on her own shipboard romance when she met her former husband, a Norwegian engineer.
She is also a former Radio/TV Motorsports Journalist, covering NASCAR Grand National Stock Car Racing. Her work has won many awards by the National Motorsports Press Association.
Pat has cruised the eastern and western Caribbean extensively, as well as the Greek Islands, the fjords of Norway all the way to the North Cape, and has made several transatlantic crossings.
She prefers traveling single, because it gives her more opportunities to meet and make new friends. While she admits going solo is not for everyone, she says for her it is perfect, because she is an outgoing person, and, being a writer, enjoys meeting new "characters."
The only thing she does not like about traveling is having to leave behind her best friend and companion, Krysy, a 14-year old Wire-haired fox terrier.
The author also uses the names:
Patricia Hagan Howell
Maggie James (4 spaces)
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Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews
August 24, 2019
As a history buff and a Civil War buff, I really like how the author mixed fiction with non fiction. As a nurse, the primitive medical procedures that were used during the war, are heartbreaking but they did the best they could, with what they had. This book is definitely for people who DO NOT have any triggers. The heroine goes through hell but a lot of it, she brought on herself, even though I understand her need to be independent and break the mold of what society thought about women and how they should behave. I do believe my most favorite character out of the whole book, is John Wright. He had his own morals and he stood by them. He didn't try to push them on others but he wouldn't be moved either.
July 17, 2021
Trigger warnings: rape, death, war, violence, trauma
Gory, bloody, and violent are all the words I can use to describe this book.
Kitty Wright is one hell of a herione and protagonist, and is the only character I loved throughout this book. She can wield a gun, stand up for her principles, and bows down to no one.
The Civil War does quite play a lot of detail in this book. Passages will describe what’s going on, and I will admit, it does get slow and detached at times.
Mostly, lots of blood and battlefields. Kitty tries to fight her feelings for Travis, and they don’t get along through the whole book. Kitty runs all over the place and is kidnapped, beaten, and still stands strong.
My girl got guts.
I liked this book. It made for a good read, and was highly entertaining. I won’t be reading the other books in this series, I loved this one as is. I also heard the other books get a bit more crazier.
Gory, bloody, and violent are all the words I can use to describe this book.
Kitty Wright is one hell of a herione and protagonist, and is the only character I loved throughout this book. She can wield a gun, stand up for her principles, and bows down to no one.
The Civil War does quite play a lot of detail in this book. Passages will describe what’s going on, and I will admit, it does get slow and detached at times.
Mostly, lots of blood and battlefields. Kitty tries to fight her feelings for Travis, and they don’t get along through the whole book. Kitty runs all over the place and is kidnapped, beaten, and still stands strong.
My girl got guts.
I liked this book. It made for a good read, and was highly entertaining. I won’t be reading the other books in this series, I loved this one as is. I also heard the other books get a bit more crazier.
March 19, 2024
This was the first historical romance I ever read. Oddly enough, I found it in a pile of paperbacks in the back of my English classroom in 7th or 8th grade. I think the teacher's name was Mr Norris. As an adult looking back, the selection of books he had was oddly uneven and sometimes (like this one) kinda inappropriate for 12 year olds! But at the time, I just loved it.
Kitty's father is a doctor, so when war breaks out, Kitty also works as a field surgeon for the south. She's hot as all hell, with violet eyes. I think she is captured, or maybe he (Travis Coltrane, Union soldier) is captured .... haha I should try to find this book and give it a re-read, see if it's really any good. Five stars is my 12 year old version of a rating.
I found another book on Mr Norris's back table, a sci fi fantasy, these guys end up in a planet that is incredibly lush with color, fragrance, sounds ... basically all the senses are erotically lavished .... the natives are so sensitive, they can see (and have words for) colors regular people cannot see. Color is used as language, and different color rooms and houses mean things. There was something about a plant with flowers that tinkled like bells and had an intoxicating pollen ... haha is this why I later became a gardener??? Naturally, the native lady is hot sexy as hell, and she's all into the guy. I so wish I could remember the title. .... Mr Norris's back table wasn't all smut, I found (and read) Verne's The Mysterious Island back there, too ... aha! the mystery has been solved! the other book was Name Of A Shadow
Kitty's father is a doctor, so when war breaks out, Kitty also works as a field surgeon for the south. She's hot as all hell, with violet eyes. I think she is captured, or maybe he (Travis Coltrane, Union soldier) is captured .... haha I should try to find this book and give it a re-read, see if it's really any good. Five stars is my 12 year old version of a rating.
I found another book on Mr Norris's back table, a sci fi fantasy, these guys end up in a planet that is incredibly lush with color, fragrance, sounds ... basically all the senses are erotically lavished .... the natives are so sensitive, they can see (and have words for) colors regular people cannot see. Color is used as language, and different color rooms and houses mean things. There was something about a plant with flowers that tinkled like bells and had an intoxicating pollen ... haha is this why I later became a gardener??? Naturally, the native lady is hot sexy as hell, and she's all into the guy. I so wish I could remember the title. .... Mr Norris's back table wasn't all smut, I found (and read) Verne's The Mysterious Island back there, too ... aha! the mystery has been solved! the other book was Name Of A Shadow
January 5, 2013
Im not usually one to write reviews but i was so disappointed. Usually i love a book with rich history- it creates a scene that sucks you in, makes you feel apart of the book, but as i was reading what was supposed to be a "romance" i was expecting at least some type of.. well.. romance (call me crazy right?) instead i got a lot of history. and i mean a LOT of history. i cant really consider this to be a romance, the story went on forever, mostly describing the civil war and in wayyy to much detail. by the time i was halfway through and had no romance in it what so ever i had to call it quits. now I'm not one to give up easily on a book, i usually have a very deep need to know what happens in the end but i just couldnt do it. not only was the book unnecessarily long, but when my "hero" starts to get lice, smells disgusting from not being able to bathe and grows a ridiculously long beard..well im sorry but thats crossed the line from historical romance to just plain historical. i would rather my heroes didnt make me want to throw up when i read about them thankyouverymuch.
September 29, 2012
I am a history buff and can be very critical of those who right historical romances. What I liked about Love and War was the authors careful consideration to history and facts. I have done research on some of the battles that she listed in the book... and this being a free book from Amazon was a great way to introduce me to the author. You are swept up in the constant troubles of Kitty Wright... who was the southern belle who wasn't like all the other girls... and the fact that she has love triangles, drama, and action... I enjoyed the book very much... so much so that I bought 2 and 3 to continue on with their story.
September 23, 2011
I absolutely loved this book. I cannot say enough about it. Ii agree with Karla that this rates right up there with Sweet Savage Love, which is my all time favorite book. SSL had it all and so did Love and War. It was a tough read as you were reading about the Civil War where so many young man bravely went into battle and lost their lives or were maimed and disfigured. Kitty was living her hell on earth with the carnage of war, being kidnapped numerous times and the rape. This was a grand book, I was sorry to see it end, but the series continues with the next phase of her life.
December 1, 2018
Gruesome, horrible and fantastic. I couldn't set it down. It held me hostage!
It is well written and takes its time setting the scene, but it doesn't bog the story down with useless details. Some parts are a little outlandish, but it is fiction, so I forgive the author.
The heroine is not a wilting flower or an idiot, thank heavens. She's not perfect, and does stupid stuff on occasion, but she wouldn't be realistic if she didn't.
The hero is just the right amount of asshole. He's a jerk enough to use the heroine, but no more than she uses him.
It is action packed and will keep the reader hanging on to see what happens next.
On a side note, it was cool to see my little home town of Murfreesboro mentioned in the book. The soldiers would have literally been camped in my old backyard. (They actually were, there are pictures of them by an old oak tree that still stands.) I thought that part of history was forgotten, but there it was!
It is well written and takes its time setting the scene, but it doesn't bog the story down with useless details. Some parts are a little outlandish, but it is fiction, so I forgive the author.
The heroine is not a wilting flower or an idiot, thank heavens. She's not perfect, and does stupid stuff on occasion, but she wouldn't be realistic if she didn't.
The hero is just the right amount of asshole. He's a jerk enough to use the heroine, but no more than she uses him.
It is action packed and will keep the reader hanging on to see what happens next.
On a side note, it was cool to see my little home town of Murfreesboro mentioned in the book. The soldiers would have literally been camped in my old backyard. (They actually were, there are pictures of them by an old oak tree that still stands.) I thought that part of history was forgotten, but there it was!
February 28, 2023
I love how kitty was a nurse/doctor. This one may be my first historical romance in the Civil War Era. Pretty enough graphic scenes just I wasn't prepared due to the war setting. This one was still an interesting read but pretty wordy. Not sure I would've been able to finish if I read physically. I listened to it text to speech. It was just so long and kitty went through a lot. And here this couple has 2 more books!! Yes a big scene ended at the end. It's just I'm not sure if I want to be in it for the long haul.
Want to read
February 17, 2019NTS: 1) Author used to publish under the name "Lorinda Hagen"; 2) Possibly altered the original text for publication of some of her tiles into eFormat.
September 9, 2023
Plantation opulence. Civil War drama. And heroine's golden-haired beauty is never tarnished. But there's too much of filth and gore - is this escpism or not? - writing is contrived, and melodrama so overheated, that all the brutality starts to feel forced and ludicrous.
July 21, 2013
This was a very well written book taking you through the ups and downs of the civil war. While I really enjoyed the love story aspect, the end was a little abrupt and slightly disappointing for me (which is why I gave it a 4 instead of a 5). Overall a great read if you enjoy civil war romance novels!
March 21, 2014
Another classic romance I read years ago when I was a teenager! I love Civil War era novels and I still remember this story. It certainly fits into the stereotypical bodice-ripper category but as I recall it was a good story and the characters go through a hellish time before the triumphant ending.
November 20, 2011
If you adored Sweet Savage Love by Rosemary Rogers or her way of telling a story, you will like this book. Personally speaking, this book and Rosemary Rogers are just too un-PC even for my taste in bodice rippers.
November 21, 2023
** Bodice Ripper Deluxe & Spoilers! **
Just finished reading the first three books in the Coltrane series by Patricia Hagan:
Love and War (1978)
The Raging Hearts (1979)
Love and Glory (1982)
Kitty Wright, stunningly beautiful Southern girl with reddish gold hair, lavender colored eyes, and a generous bosom… all the men want her .., bad enough that she gets raped repeatedly at the beginning of the story, abused, abducted and raped again throughout all the books.
Travis Coltrane, a sexy alpha handsome Union Calvary officer that brags that he never has to rape women as they all want him. He rescues Kitty and then holds her hostage.
Both are two of the most stubborn people I’ve ever encountered in a book… they hate and love each other! She’s deceitful, lies to him repeatedly.. but she endures!! He has sex thruout the books with other women but Kitty has his heart.
I’m not going to give details about the plot .., just sharing my overall thoughts about these books.
A deeply horrific, dark story full of graphic violence, the horrors of the Civil War, Reconstruction and the KKK.., including details of battles, wounded soldiers, amputations, surgery, rapes, death, discrimination, starvation etc.
The three books are interconnected and span about 10 years. They both marry others … she marries an evil depraived rich carpetbagger when she’s desperate, and he marries the sweetest woman ever, Marilee, when he thinks Kitty is dead.
Although these superbly written books are classified at HRs they read more like historical fiction to me. Why? Besides the horrors mentioned above, the long separations between Kitty and Travis… they spend more time in total with others than with each other. Minimal love scenes, passion, or words of love plus abrupt HEAs.
As HRs: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
As HF: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️+
Splendid covers by the artist Tom Hall.
Just finished reading the first three books in the Coltrane series by Patricia Hagan:
Love and War (1978)
The Raging Hearts (1979)
Love and Glory (1982)
Kitty Wright, stunningly beautiful Southern girl with reddish gold hair, lavender colored eyes, and a generous bosom… all the men want her .., bad enough that she gets raped repeatedly at the beginning of the story, abused, abducted and raped again throughout all the books.
Travis Coltrane, a sexy alpha handsome Union Calvary officer that brags that he never has to rape women as they all want him. He rescues Kitty and then holds her hostage.
Both are two of the most stubborn people I’ve ever encountered in a book… they hate and love each other! She’s deceitful, lies to him repeatedly.. but she endures!! He has sex thruout the books with other women but Kitty has his heart.
I’m not going to give details about the plot .., just sharing my overall thoughts about these books.
A deeply horrific, dark story full of graphic violence, the horrors of the Civil War, Reconstruction and the KKK.., including details of battles, wounded soldiers, amputations, surgery, rapes, death, discrimination, starvation etc.
The three books are interconnected and span about 10 years. They both marry others … she marries an evil depraived rich carpetbagger when she’s desperate, and he marries the sweetest woman ever, Marilee, when he thinks Kitty is dead.
Although these superbly written books are classified at HRs they read more like historical fiction to me. Why? Besides the horrors mentioned above, the long separations between Kitty and Travis… they spend more time in total with others than with each other. Minimal love scenes, passion, or words of love plus abrupt HEAs.
As HRs: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
As HF: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️+
Splendid covers by the artist Tom Hall.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 15, 2025
A first-gen bodice ripper answer to "Gone with the Wind," "Love and War" follows Kitty Wright through the Civil War. A tomboy from a dirt-poor North Carolina farming family who wants to be a doctor, Kitty experiences scorn after her father sets his slaves free from abolitionist sympathies. Her family's negative reputation threatens to imperil her budding romance with Nathan Collins, the golden scion of a nearby plantation—who looks down on her family but can't deny his physical attraction to Kitty. When the war breaks out, Kitty's world breaks apart violently, which leads her into explicit degradation (very triggering for today's readers) and into the path of Travis Coltrane, another Southerner who has enlisted in the Union Army because of a painful past and his hatred of slavery, as well. Over the course of the War, through various dangerous situations, Kitty will find herself oscillating between Nathan and Travis. Hagan's command of history is thorough and the novel does not avoid the hell of war. It is graphic, gory, and full of explicit sex. It also stands out from its compatriots by Kitty's dawning liberated consciousness, which makes her frequent indecisiveness and mooning after Nathan frustrating for the reader (who also gets the feeling that Hagan herself was just putting pro forma typical romantic heroine qualities on because she thought readers expected them and as devices to move the plot along). Amidst Sherman's march, Hagan wraps things up in a hurry—a bloody hurry, mind you—leaving room for two sequels. An absorbing and frustrating read, "Love and War" is nevertheless a memorable one.
September 4, 2024
Boy oh boy are you in for a wild ride with this deeply frustrating love triangle between a southern lady, a union soldier, and a confederate soldier.
The confederate boy is charming but controlling, and ultimately I spent most of the book rolling my eyes hoping she'd get over him because he never respected her all that much.
The heroine herself is caught between love of southern country and love for her union father. She seems to have it mostly worked out, working as a nurse for either side as she's captured and recaptured by each. Sometimes she makes extremely frustrating decisions or hems and haws over no-brainer decisions, but it kept me reading.
There is a pretty brutal r*pe interlude, fair warning. It becomes a minor plot point later but can be skipped without losing much.
The handsome union soldier is my favorite kind of hero -- disinterested and aloof, and even a bit cruel until he softens. EXCEPT HE DOESNT. Every time you think this man is going to show some tenderness and caring, he does something else infuriating and sets their relationship back several steps. I personally thought he was too mean to forgive as easily as she does, and I'd prefer a healthy amount of groveling for his crimes against romance, but I guess this is all we get for 1978.
Characterization 7/10
Plot 7/10
Relationship 4/10
Sexual Chemistry 5/10
The confederate boy is charming but controlling, and ultimately I spent most of the book rolling my eyes hoping she'd get over him because he never respected her all that much.
The heroine herself is caught between love of southern country and love for her union father. She seems to have it mostly worked out, working as a nurse for either side as she's captured and recaptured by each. Sometimes she makes extremely frustrating decisions or hems and haws over no-brainer decisions, but it kept me reading.
There is a pretty brutal r*pe interlude, fair warning. It becomes a minor plot point later but can be skipped without losing much.
The handsome union soldier is my favorite kind of hero -- disinterested and aloof, and even a bit cruel until he softens. EXCEPT HE DOESNT. Every time you think this man is going to show some tenderness and caring, he does something else infuriating and sets their relationship back several steps. I personally thought he was too mean to forgive as easily as she does, and I'd prefer a healthy amount of groveling for his crimes against romance, but I guess this is all we get for 1978.
Characterization 7/10
Plot 7/10
Relationship 4/10
Sexual Chemistry 5/10
January 30, 2021
I have nothing else to say about Love and War that hasn't already been covered by other reviewers. I think Hagan captured the dark, brutal helplessness of war pretty masterfully, but I hated all the main characters, (except maybe Kitty's father) and the history packed storyline didn't make up for that fact (to me).
There was every sort of trigger known to man in this tale and there was nothing so spectacular about the book itself that made up for all the bad. So it's not going on a favorites list for me.
🤷🏼♀️
There was every sort of trigger known to man in this tale and there was nothing so spectacular about the book itself that made up for all the bad. So it's not going on a favorites list for me.
🤷🏼♀️
August 30, 2019
Great love story about Kitty Nathan and Travis and the war.
December 17, 2024
Sometimes campy, sometimes uncomfortable, a lot of times gruesome. So angsty and tbh I was rooting for her the whole time. Fuck Nathan!!
This is what rosemary roger’s sweet savage love should have been!!
This is what rosemary roger’s sweet savage love should have been!!
December 23, 2013
J'ai adoré! On est très loin de la romance habituelle qui fait rêver, soupirer d'envie... Ici nous sommes plus dans une histoire, celle de Kitty au moment où la guerre de Sécession commence,où se mêlent scènes de guerre, de mutilations, de viols. Cette histoire ravira les lectrices qui aiment les vrais contextes historiques, avec des personnages forts mais où l'amour n'est pas forcément synonyme de rêve. Celles qui aiment les histoires romantiques à souhaits, passez votre chemin...
February 19, 2013
This book was okay. Based on the realities of the Civil War and all it's ugliness I was absolutely exhausted by the time I had finished reading. The thought of having to go through it all again with a 2nd book in the series ... well I just couldn't bring myself to download it. I guess I was more in the mood for a HEA.
February 20, 2013
Hated the ending. But it is a good buildup to the next book. But the rest of the book was good.
January 31, 2013
It was ok. The story seemed to run in circles.
Read
April 27, 2014Always love reading the oldies . Read this when , like alot of others while in high school. Great read
December 30, 2015
Read again, after reading many years ago. Very slow in the beginning, and gets a little repetitious at times. Good storyline
September 7, 2014
i love it
Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews