Wild Roses

by Hannah Howell

In this captivating romance from New York Times bestselling author Hannah Howell, set against the backdrop of frontier-day Wyoming, two lovers discover a passion as vast and wild as the land itself…

Harrigan Mahoney’s assignment was clear: travel to Wyoming, find runaway Ella Carson, and escort her to Philadelphia—by force if necessary. A simple task, made devilishly complicated by Ella’s wit, beauty, and spirited determination to outfox him at every turn.

Ella is no stranger to bad luck, but it seems wholly unfair that the man hired to drag her back to her greedy relatives should be the most intriguing male she ever set eyes on. The tall, dashing Irishman takes no pains to hide his attraction to Ella, but it is her overpowering desire for him that presents the greatest danger…

Now, journeying together through an unyielding land, their battle of wills becomes an adventure in seduction. One kiss is all it takes to unleash a hunger both fierce and foolhardy, for Ella’s very life depends upon her escape from the man who could capture her heart forever…

Genres: Romance, Historical Romance, Historical, Ebooks, M F Romance, Fiction, Western Romance

320 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published June 1, 1997

About the author

Hannah Dustin Howell is a best-selling American author of over 40 historical romance novels. Many of her novels are set in medieval Scotland. She also writes under the names Sarah Dustin, Sandra Dustin, and Anna Jennet (see below).

She has also used the following pseudonyms:
Anna Jennet, Sarah Dustin and Sandra Dustin

Reviews

[Anna Marie · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book... was irritating to the Nth. Just so you know.

First there's Harrigan - who has been hired by dispicable people to kidnap a girl and bring her to a man she's told him is going to murder her. He absolutely refuses to believe her, even though his entire family was destroyed by the guy he plans to get paid from. What. Is. That?

Then there's Ella, who spends half the trip mooning over Harrigan and making love to him, and the other half smashing him in the face with various objects in order to half-heartedly try to get away. It's just one debacle to another, the whole book, and with nary a scrap of honorable behavior or logic. It was annoyingly long and drawn out, and wasn't even fun in the telling.

Oh, and jerk-ball gets dipweed in the end. Like you didn't see THAT coming. Bah... they deserve each other.

[Jill · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was terrible! What kind of woman actually falls in love with a man who kidnaps her and hands her over to a man who wants to kill her? And has sex with him? Repeatedly! Not to mention that they make a pact not to talk about the situation as Harrigan is taking Ella from Wyoming back to her guardian in Philadelphia. Even if for some weird reason you could manage to fall in love with your kidnapper, wouldn't you at least still try to convince him of your situation? Plus, she was always promising not to try to escapse, if that's not the stupidest thing ever.

[Monique Takens · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ik heb de Nederlands talige uitgave gelezen : Onwillige erfgename - Candlelight Historische roman 179 .
Hoe is het mogelijk ? dit is het 2e boek op rij van H.H. die ik maar zozo vond .
De eerste helft was ronduit saai en de tweede helft kon mijn gevoel over het verhaal niet voldoende opkrikken om het drie sterren te geven .

[Suzy Vero · Rating 2 out of 5]

My apologies in advance if you like this book as I did not.

The heroine, Ella has fled Philadelphia to escape an evil uncle she believes wants to kill her for the money she has inherited. Ella’s been hiding away in Wyoming for three years with her aunt when a man her uncle hired to bring her home arrives. Harrigan, forcibly hauls her back East and on their journey they are immediately attracted to each other and have sex repeatedly while he doesn’t believe her story. Finally, after the uncle has Ella in his clutches and tries to kill her, Harrigan realizes he’s wrong and he should have believed Ella.

The writing is on a very basic level… a simple plot, long repetitive descriptions, basic dialog, a weak jerk for a hero and historical inaccuracies all doom the story. Overall, a flat read. Best part? The title, Wild Roses.

[Carla · Rating 1 out of 5]

I usually love Hannah Howell's books but this one was a total flop for me. While I was slightly mollified by the happy ending, quite frankly it wasn't enough to overcome the annoyance brought on by the first 23 chapters. The characters in this book are pathetic. Her for falling into bed with him like a ninny with a bad case of Stockholm syndrome, and him for being a lecherous cad. Normally I emotionally side with one of the main characters but I couldn't bring myself to like either one in this case. Watching someone with Ella's sharp wit and strength turn into a pathetic, mopey sad sack was disgusting. And he was such a pathetic, stupid, unfeeling excuse of a man that I'm surprised I made it to the end of the book. If I had read it not knowing who the author was there is no way I would have guessed it was a Hannah Howell book. Immensely disappointing.

[Maggie Shanley · Rating 1 out of 5]

I think this was on older Hannah Howell, but it was sorely lacking in her usual humor. Chapter five has the male lead saying "I'm not sure I really care what you want right now. That's wrong I know, but I can't be right and honorable all the time. Right now I intend to steal something I have been thinking about far too much." Blech and the dumb female lead loves him even though he never listens to her and doesn't do anything she asks and leads her into danger.

[Shannon · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book fell pretty flat for me, which is unusual for Hannah Howell. I just couldn't get into how fast the romance started, etc. Some parts were really good, but the two main characters often seemed very unrealistic.

[Carol · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was OK

I had a very hard time believing someone would have sex and fall in love with someone who was delivering you to what you believe to be certain death. Started out good but I lost interest half way through the book.

[Shan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Took me 5 months to finish this book. This said all. Poorly written. Poor character. Far fetched plot. It goes to my recycle bin today. I will never read this authors book again

[TinaMarie · Rating 4 out of 5]

He was paid to retrieve her and bring her back to her uncle, she knows her uncle wants her dead for her money and thwarts him at every turn. It was an ok read.

[Mys NikiB]

I'm so disappointed in Hannah for this. I had hoped it was her very first attempt. The characters, the plot, the idea would bave been better if abandoned at the moment of conception.

[Pauline · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome book, somewhat predictable, but great read. I love this time in history, the romance, and the little bit of mystery thrown in too.

[Maliha · Rating 1 out of 5]

Senseless plot,spineless heroine and brainless hero

[Jerry Jares · Rating 3 out of 5]

Harrigan Mahoney was hired by Ella Carson’s uncle to return her to Philadelphia (from her 3-year stay in Wyoming). Although he was told Ella would not be happy about it, Harrigan had no idea of the trouble he would have in completing this task.

From the first, Ella warns Harrigan that she is returning to her death (her uncle plans to kill her for her inheritance); Harrigan is a man of honor and doesn’t accept her theory. Harrigan doesn’t really hear Ella’s explanation because he has family problems of his own. He is the last chance for his family to recoup a portion of their fortune. Harrigan lost it while engaged to Ella’s cousin.

It seems that 2 of Ella’s cousins repeatedly become engaged to young men of promise; when the young men lose their fortunes, the women drop them. Ella explains that the young women find out enough about their fiancée’s business to help their own family (quietly) undercut and overtake those businesses. Why no one in Philadelphia has figured this out yet is beyond me; combined, the 2 cousins have executed this scheme more than 10 times!

Aunt Louise, with whom Ella has been living those 3 years, is determined to get Ella back. Ella helps by always looking for a way to escape. Aunt Louise and her helpers add a touch of humor to the book.

The explanation of the 2 cousins sort of ruined this story for me. The end was overly contrived too. However, most of the story was interesting and entertaining. 3.5 stars

[Jessica Wimberly · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ella Carson has run away from her guardian her uncle so excape death. Until she marries or turn the legal age of 21 all off her inheitence belongs to him and he intends to make it stay that way. He hires Harrigan Mahoney to captue Ella and bring her back. Even after fallen for her her and making love to her he stills do the unthinkable and hands her over to her uncle.

I hated the way Harrigan treated Ella he just hands her over to her uncle all for some stupid money. Then tries to save her and win her back. He didn't even believe a world that said about her uncle. If I was Ella I would have told him off. The fact that she actully fell in love with him and took him back after everything that happened made me sick.

I found Ella's aunt Louise very funny and witty.

Quote

Quiet, Women. I'm determined to be a hero. You should be encouraging me instead of trying to dampen my pretensions.

[Teresa · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was so frustrating! Harrigan was so absurdly stubborn in his refusal to believe Ella, even though he later realizes that he believed her all along and just was scared to admit it! His reasoning is absurd. The fact that he rescues her in the end does not make up for the fact that he turned her over to the bad guys in the first place! And Ella and her aunt were essentially the exact same character. They spoke and acted way too much alike. I get that they are family, but it was just taken a bit too far. Also, there were some glaring typos throughout the novel that just bugged me. The one that stuck with me the most was, to paraphrase, 'he had never wanted anyone as bad as he wanted her.' I hope that was just a typo and that the author and editors know that adverbs, not adjectives, modify verbs. Anyway, the errors were nothing compared to the problems with the plot and characters.

[Sherry · Rating 3 out of 5]

This wasn't a favorite book as I got so tired of the hero not believing the heroine; she had done nothing to not be believed. The story was a fun, good read toher than that.

[Danette · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was okay. Hey, at least I finished it! 1874 America. Howell should just stick to her Highlander plots.

[Mio · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well it started out really great, and I was looking forward to the story, but the hero was pretty annoying, but all in all it was allright

[Sara May · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was the first Hannah Howell book I ever read. It was okay... not the best but it was a good winter read. I heard her highlander books were better, so I'll give those a try.

[Teresa · Rating 1 out of 5]

I might be bias but I like Hannah Howell Highland books better. And I read this one after I read those.

[Ashley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book, great story and was exciting to see how it all played out. As for most books I wish they came full circle ....would of liked the book to keep going a bit lol

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

so funny loved it

[Donna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Harrigan was an ass.

[Brenda · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book was a little slow,list interest a couple of times,but did finish. A standard boy meets girl,during a really bad time, to stupid to acknowledge each other story