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Louisiana History #6

Southern Rapture

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Lettie Mason, a proper yet headstrong Boston schoolteacher, journeyed to a small Louisiana town after the Civil War to expose the wretched rogue who'd killed her brother. The man was known as Thorn--a man with a reputation for both murder and mercy. She was sure he had killed her brother, but she learned that he also helped save the homes and lives of many townspeople. How could she reconcile these two different images of the same man--and how could she accept the overwhelming desire, the thrilling passion, and the reckless abandon he aroused deep within her?


From the Paperback edition.

311 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1987

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429 people want to read

About the author

Jennifer Blake

177 books542 followers
A pseudonym used by Patricia Maxwell.

Jennifer Blake has been called a “pioneer of the romance genre”, and an “icon of the romance industry.” A New York Times and international best selling author since 1977, she is a charter member of Romance Writers of America, member of the RWA Hall of Fame, and recipient of the RWA Lifetime Achievement Rita. She holds numerous other honors, including two “Maggies”, two Holt Medallions, multiple Reviewer’s Choice Awards, the Career Achievement Award from Romantic Times BookReviews Magazine, and the Frank Waters Award for literary excellence. She has written over 60 books with translations in 20 languages and more than 30 million copies in print worldwide.

Jennifer and her husband reside in a lakeside Caribbean-style retreat in North Louisiana where they often entertain family and friends. Always a gardener, she spends much of her time encouraging her garden to bloom with her favorite daylilies and antique roses. She also enjoys walking her two dogs, Buffy and Lucky, and indulging in needlework, painting, and travel.

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5 stars
93 (26%)
4 stars
115 (33%)
3 stars
98 (28%)
2 stars
30 (8%)
1 star
10 (2%)
Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
Profile Image for Misfit.
1,638 reviews353 followers
November 27, 2011
***Before anyone gets their panties in a bunch and throws accusations of spoilers, this book has a dual identity storyline. That dual identity is revealed to the reader within the first pages as well as on the book jacket***

Yankee schoolteacher Lettie Mason comes to Louisiana to find her brother's murderer - the notorious Thorn (the name comes from the calling card he leaves behind after each *crime*). Lettie takes a room at Splendora, a plantation that like most in the south has seen better days. Splendora is owned by Ransom Tyler, but the head injury he suffered in the war left him in a more child-like state and the plantation is run by his Aunt Em. Lettie soon finds herself mixed up in a swirl of intrigue and passion as she's irresistibly drawn to the man she believes murdered her brother. She also finds herself very much attracted to Ransom, but also horrified at her baser nature corrupting someone with the mind of a child, not realizing that The Thorn and Ransom are one and the same person (mind you, I am not spoiling).The story continues with the usual back and forth stuff of Lettie believing The Thorn murdered her brother along with committing other dastardly crimes, along with a mystery or two as to who the evil baddies really are and who has been stealing those Yankee payrolls.

I really really like Jennifer Blake's books, and they are generally a perfect fit for when I'm in the mood for a southern romance, but for some reason this one just didn't rock my world. The Robin Hood twist on Ransom's nighttime activities didn't work well, nor the dual identity bit - or was Lettie really that thick headed not to figure it out quicker? Are you telling me she didn't notice a similarity between The Thorn's kisses and Ransom's? I do give Blake a nod to her efforts at keeping her historical settings real, including real historical events and the big thumbs up for a set of author's notes in the end (not that common in the 80's).
Profile Image for Dar.
4,540 reviews93 followers
September 19, 2022
I really liked the secret identity part of the story, though it was fairly simple to determine it from the start. There were quite a few twists and turns in the story. People were not as they seemed, and others were just trying to live their lives. Good and bad get blurred, and survival trumps morals in some cases. Our couple is in the middle of it all, fighting the good fight, keeping themselves out of harms way as best they can. A good story and entertaining characters
Profile Image for Regan Walker.
Author 32 books825 followers
July 31, 2019
A Wonderful Post Civil War Story with an Intriguing Hero and a Winning Heroine

Lettie Mason, a Boston schoolteacher, lost her brother to an outlaw’s bullet in a small Louisiana town during the Civil War. As a result, when the war is over, she travels to that same town to learn about her brother’s death. She believes he was killed by an outlaw known as the “Thorn”. She has heard tales of his many good deeds as well as the bad. And when she encounters him in the dark, he kisses her and then, later, makes love to her. She does not resist.

Meanwhile, she has begun to teach two young men at Splendora, the estate where she is staying. One, the very handsome Ransom Tharp, who returned from the war with a head injury that left him “not quite right”. Or is he?

A local hero carries on with two personalities to help his people…a disguise that keeps him from the woman he would have. But Lettie suspects all is not as it seems.

A great story, well told by a master of historical romance. It’s part of the boxed set, “The Best of Jennifer Blake. Highly recommended.
Profile Image for Chrisangel.
382 reviews11 followers
November 9, 2025
This was good, though it went over-the-top a lot and sometimes frustrating when the h doesn't put two and two together fast enough.

Despite all the melodrama, it takes a serious look at the Reconstruction period in the south and all the damage the Civil War did to everyone.

I think this might have made a good TV movie or miniseries back in the 80's (when this was written), because ones based on historical novels were pretty popular then.
Profile Image for Julie.
86 reviews30 followers
December 29, 2025
One of the reviews on the cover of my edition of this book says that Jennifer Blake is "a master at romantic fiction", and to that I say yes And no. I was NOT a fan of the romance in this book, if one could really call it that. Lust is what it was, and it made zero sense. Lettie is sexually attracted to our hero, both as the Thorn--whom she thought murdered her brother-- and as poor mentally regressed Ranny--a 12 year old in a grown man's body. Neither of those is acceptable, and I'm glad Lettie castigated herself for both, but I was always so disappointed in that she never learned from the guilt and shame. She's right, she is a morally empty hussy lol. Now Ranny/Thorn/Ransom...I could see how he fell for her, because at least he always knew with certainty who Lettie was. For probably about 85% of the book Lettie has had sex with the Thorn, the outlaw version of Ransom, while also being emotionally, and somewhat sexually (ew) attracted to Ranny, the version of Ransom who pretends to have regressed mentally to that of 12-13 year old boy. Again, Ew. She doesn't actually meet the "real" Ransom Tyler until maybe the last 95% of the book as we reach the climax. She caught glimpses of him via certain interactions with Ranny where Ransom couldn't keep up his act perfectly, and she only briefly interacted with him as his Robin Hood version the Thorn, so to say that she loves Ransom, let alone the other two identities...I just don't buy that.
And no worries, you as the reader know from the beginning who the Thorn is and that "Ranny" is really not simpleminded at all.

And yet! Folks this is what really needs to be taken away from this review: This story was absolutely, wonderfully riveting. Captivating. A little slow-going at first but man once you get into the meat of the story it becomes difficult to put down. I wouldn't argue with Blake being a master at "FICTION", that is the takeaway here. Even though I started this for the romance, was kinda grossed out and disappointed by it, I stayed wholeheartedly for the gripping story and enjoyable characters and I do not regret it. It's weird to say but although I didn't enjoy the romance I did actually enjoy Lettie and Ransom/Ranny/Thorn, just not the specific details of how they came together. Oddly enough though I do believe they were perfect for each other, and even though they're just fictional figments of one person's imagination, I can see their future together as they described it and it makes me happy and a little teary-eyed. That's how REAL these characters felt for me. It didn't feel like I was reading a novel someone made up but rather an accounting of a brief time in the life of the Tyler Family. These characters are so vivid in my mind that it almost feels like I could look them up and find their pictures in some Louisiana family database.
Okay okay, so maybe I did buy into the romance a little : )
An enthralling 4.5 star read, and a total keeper if you ask me...which, if you're reading my review you kind of did ;)
Thank you Jennifer Blake for such a phenomenal read and Happy Reading!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Michelle Connolly.
281 reviews16 followers
June 21, 2018
Okay, so Southern Rapture proves there are in fact novels worth reading from Jennifer Blake. I was starting to lose all hope. The author does have though, in my opinion, an annoying habit of rambling on. I had to skip through a lof of bits that weren't really interesting to get to the good parts, but there were in fact good parts!
I really liked the story mix between Ranny and the Thorn. It was amusing and sweet, though Blake could've squeezed a little more juice out of it.
Profile Image for Myfanwy.
496 reviews15 followers
March 27, 2022
Jennifer Blake is a talented writer. Unfortunately she spent her time peddling this racist garbage.
Read if you want an insight into the alternate reality some Americans inhabit. Or if you are an American living in an alternate reality.
The gross pro-Confederate content aside, this is just not one of her better books. Neither of the main characters feel very well developed and it never feels like they actually get to know one another.
Profile Image for Carissa.
33 reviews12 followers
June 12, 2023
This book is so hard to write a review for. On one hand, I couldn't stop cringing reading every racist remark and plotline, and there were alot. I mean, The Knights of the White Camelia are almost considered misunderstood heroes in this book. This is what Wikipedia says about the Knights: "Its members were pledged to support the supremacy of the White race,[1] to oppose the amalgamation of the races, to resist the social and political encroachment of the so-called carpetbaggers, and to restore White control of the government".[2][3] Historian Nicholas Lemann calls the Knights the leading terrorist organization in Louisiana." So, just think on that. I was practically saying, 'yikes' every few pages. Then there's also the fact that Blake's books tend to be a bit boring to me, and this was not, so I was happy about that. And I loved Ransom. He's the perfect man in my eyes, so I enjoyed reading about him. I don't know what that says about me, lol. I tend to rate romance books a bit differently, and solely rate them based upon two things-- how much I like the two protagonists, and whether I was bored out of my mind, or not- hence the 4 stars. Besides that, Blake is clearly a questionable person in real life-- you can see that when you read the afterword. 🤢
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Bona Caballero.
1,613 reviews68 followers
October 15, 2023
Para el Reto RITA 2.0 releí esta historia que andaba por casa desde los años noventa, que es cuando pasé por mi fase Jennifer Blake. Es una histórica en la que te cuentan cómo la maestra yanqui Leticia «Lettie» Mason viaja al Sur, después de la guerra, a descubrir al asesino de su hermano. Se alojará en una casa donde hay un chicote guapo pero algo bobo, llamado Ransom Tyler. El sospechoso del asesinato es un malhechor conocido por La Púa, por el que Lettie se siente atraída, a su pesar. Pero al mismo tiempo, se enternece por Ransom, a quien todos conocen como «Renny», un hombretón rubio muy atractivo que, ¡lástima!, quedó un poco tonto después de la guerra. Obviamente, se trata de una versión del tópico Pimpinela, es decir, los dos son uno solo. El guapetón Renny, tontorrón de día, es el osado La Púa de noche. No, no destripo nada, porque es algo que sale desde el principio.
Una histórica que se nota vintage en algún detalle, pero que aún se puede leer y disfrutar.
Profile Image for Avalle Rei.
1,155 reviews16 followers
April 7, 2020
Una magnifica historia que comienza fuerte y no decae. Hay descripciones amplias, sobre todo al principio, que se hacen eternas pero al final quieres más de los personajes.
Entretenida, rápida y con muchos secretos e incógnitas a desvelar que te dejarán sorprendid@.
Los personajes son increíbles y emblemáticos. Me gusta como refleja la vida del sur y los problemas sociales que se desarrollaron después de la guerra de secesión.
El final me supo a poco, pero la historia estuvo muy bien. Es el primer libro que leo de la autora y creo que repetiré...
Profile Image for TACORA MCCLUNEY.
2,521 reviews11 followers
May 20, 2021
Lettie and the Thorn

I enjoyed this book. Lettie was getting on my nerves trying to be inspector gadget but it's understandable being she was trying to find the man she thought killed her brother. I liked Ranny. Everyone thought him to be a man trapped in a boy's mind when he had more sense than all of them. Who would have guessed who he truly was and capable of. Lettie was fighting with herself because she thought she'd fell for a murderer whom portrayed himself as a simpleton. I'm glad everything was brought to the light.💚💚
Profile Image for Deborah.
197 reviews12 followers
June 20, 2017
Surprising good book! Loved the plot and the "Thorn" character!
Profile Image for min.
32 reviews
Read
July 9, 2018
I first bought this book in 1996, and I don't know how many times I have read it. It is a favourite of mine. So here I go again .......
26 reviews
February 15, 2023
Wow. Just wow.
So good. Loved the characters and how fully fledged they were. Adored Lettie and Ransom and how their relationship happened.
This is not only a romance, but a mystery. It is so good and can’t speak highly enough about it.
Profile Image for A.M..
Author 7 books57 followers
June 26, 2016
Determined to find the man who killed her brother Lettie Mason travels south and takes a room at a plantation house named Splendora. The home is run by Aunt Em as her nephew Ransom Tyler suffered a head injury in the war that has left him too child like to be in charge.
On her first night a man enters her bedroom, and after some chat, kisses her. He’s the local version of Robin Hood - the Thorn. So called because he has a calling card of a locust shell with a thorn put through it. But he is also the man accused of killing her brother.
Lettie has been kissed before, but she’s never reacted to it like this.
***
I was in bed early - it’s super cold in Australia right now. My paperback didn’t appeal so I opened this on my kindle. It’s set in the South just after the civil war and things are chaotic. The Yankees occupy and police the area with some local resistance. There is the beginning of people - strike that - white men running around in sheets, and there is a whole lot of uncertainty over who can be trusted and will things improve for all the people or just for the carpetbaggers who are buying up furniture and valuables when the taxes get too high and the family ships out to Texas.
I can’t comment on slave history and it doesn’t really either. The Splendora workers grew up with the family and are treated as such. Ranny stands with shotguns between the white sheeted mob and the cook’s son that they want to punish, and Lettie steps up next to him. Well done.
Super old - dates from 1987 - and has a lot of romance themes from that time. Women were kissed ‘properly’ and just fell apart. Usually against a well muscled chest, but you know what I mean.
It’s not a spoiler to tell you that Ransom IS the Thorn, but I really think she could have left that revelation until later when it would have had more impact. Caught in the standard romance formula where the reader must have his pov as well, and he obviously knows he is the Thorn and thus, so do the readers. Pity.
Quite how she doesn’t work this out is beyond me, but then neither does anyone else. She tries to argue that he is a master of disguise *eyes narrow* uh, huh. She ought to have got it once she started kissing Ranny, too.

3 stars
Profile Image for Gia Scott.
Author 31 books9 followers
June 6, 2013
I'm usually not a romance reader, so reading one now and again is usually a fluke. I do prefer historical romances over modern ones, and thought I'd give this one a try.

It's set in the Reconstruction era in Louisiana, and while I don't have a lot of familiarity with the area it is placed in, I've at least been there. I felt the story was at least plausible. It was a bit confusing as to the whole Ranny/Ransom/Thorn thing, and that was probably the least believable part. You have to "work" to keep the facets of this character straight with the dual identity. I felt that few people are going to be gullible enough to not recognize the same man, no matter what the disguise, especially after making love to him. Even so, there are a few people who are skilled enough actors to pull it off even for brief periods of time.

Finding out who the real villain of the story was turned out to be a bit of a surprise. The ending, like most romance novels, wasn't really a surprise. I think it must be a romance novel requirement that the hero and heroine end up together looking at a happily-ever-after story. Maybe that's why I don't like most romances much--real life has nothing in common with the happily-ever-after endings they present, so they have an inherent fatal flaw.

As for the whole story being implausible due to the dual-identity story line, I disagree. It sounded absolutely plausible, although there are times when some of the characters are probably much too sweet & "Southern" than is possible. I had a hard time believing that the aging aunt could be so friendly and forgiving of Union soldiers, etc. I don't think anyone could be, especially in that era when things were going so horribly wrong and the corruption was so rampant.

I think it's a decent historical novel. It's a pleasant read. If you are expecting total reality, this is the wrong genre and you should be reading something from the non-fiction category.
Profile Image for Cindy Woods.
1,058 reviews20 followers
January 6, 2017
Really good

I enjoy reading Jennifer Blake books. She is a good storyteller, interesting characters with original plot ideas using historical background. I always learn a little bit about the history, politics, customs of the times. This was no exception. I also loved the character Ranny. This is an easy read for the historical romance readers...a bit of mystery and suspense is added to the mix.
Profile Image for Gen.
60 reviews2 followers
June 24, 2013
It might be closer to 3.5 stars then 4 stars. I enjoyed it and I like the semi historical aspect. I loved "Ranny" though I don't know how believeable it is that people don't know who Thorn was- a bit like superman with the glasses.
Profile Image for Olivia.
28 reviews8 followers
June 28, 2010
This was a great book! Full of romance and historical information about the aftermath of the civil war.
Profile Image for Cheryl.
74 reviews5 followers
July 7, 2011
Good beach read but the Robin Hood concept was too obvious as a plot device.
Profile Image for Jacqueline Chacon.
12 reviews1 follower
November 2, 2012
Good Book. A lot of history provided about the recontruction period mixed in with a love story.
Profile Image for Sarah.
179 reviews9 followers
June 5, 2013
Review soon @ thefaeryromanticlibrarian.blogspot.com
Profile Image for Romana.
56 reviews1 follower
February 19, 2025
I loved it so much I did not want it to end. I enjoyed the mystery bit as much as the beautiful location. And the love story was great. I will read it again. Brilliant book.
Profile Image for Ladyvixen.
188 reviews11 followers
April 9, 2012
sans être mauvais c'est pas l'histoire du siècle non plus.
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