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Shanna
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From New York Times bestselling author Kathleen E. Woodiwiss comes one of her most iconic and beloved romances of all time…
A pact is sealed in secret behind the foreboding walls of Newgate Prison. In return for one night of unparalleled pleasure, a dashing condemned criminal consents to wed a beautiful heiress, thereby rescuing her from an impending and abhorred arranged union.
But in the fading echoes of hollow wedding vows, a solemn promise is broken, as a sensuous free spirit takes flight to a lush Caribbean paradise, abandoning the stranger she married to face the gallows unfulfilled.
Ruark Beauchamp’s destiny is now eternally intertwined with that of the tempestuous, intoxicating Shanna. He will be free . . . and he will find her. For no iron ever forged can imprison his resolute passion. And no hangman’s noose will keep Ruark from the bride— and ecstasy—that he craves.
672 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 1, 1977
1159 people are currently reading
6306 people want to read
About the author
Kathleen E. Woodiwiss
52 books1,924 followersKathleen Erin Hogg was born on June 3, 1939, in Alexandria, Louisiana, she was the youngest of eight siblings by Gladys (Coker) and Charles Wingrove Hogg, a disabled World War I veteran. She long relished creating original narratives, and by age 6 was telling herself stories at night to help herself fall asleep. At age 16, she met U.S. Air Force Second Lieutenant Ross Eugene Woodiwiss at a dance, and they married the following year. She wrote her first book in longhand while living at a military outpost in Japan.
She is credited with the invention of the modern historical romance novel: In 1972 she released The Flame and the Flower, an instant New York Times bestseller that created a literary precedent. The novel revolutionized mainstream publishing, featuring an epic historical romance with a strong heroine and impassioned sex scenes. The Flame and the Flower was rejected by agents and hardcover publishers, who deemed it as "too long" at 600 pages. Rather than follow the advice of the rejection letters and rewrite the novel, she instead submitted it to paperback publishers. The first publisher on her list, Avon, quickly purchased the novel and arranged an initial 500,000 print run. The novel sold over 2.3 million copies in its first four years of publication.
The success of The Flame and the Flower prompted a new style of writing romance, concentrating primarily on historical fiction tracking the monogamous relationship between a helpless heroines and the hero who rescued her, even if he had been the one to place her in danger. The romance novels which followed in her example featured longer plots, more controversial situations and characters, and more intimate and steamy sex scenes.
She was an avid horse rider who at one time lived in a large home on 55 acres (220,000 m2) in Minnesota. After her husband's death in 1996, she moved back to Louisiana. She died in a hospital on July 6, 2007 in Princeton, Minnesota, aged 68, from cancer. She was survived by two sons, Sean and Heath, their wives, and numerous grandchildren. Her third son, Dorren, predeceased her.
She is credited with the invention of the modern historical romance novel: In 1972 she released The Flame and the Flower, an instant New York Times bestseller that created a literary precedent. The novel revolutionized mainstream publishing, featuring an epic historical romance with a strong heroine and impassioned sex scenes. The Flame and the Flower was rejected by agents and hardcover publishers, who deemed it as "too long" at 600 pages. Rather than follow the advice of the rejection letters and rewrite the novel, she instead submitted it to paperback publishers. The first publisher on her list, Avon, quickly purchased the novel and arranged an initial 500,000 print run. The novel sold over 2.3 million copies in its first four years of publication.
The success of The Flame and the Flower prompted a new style of writing romance, concentrating primarily on historical fiction tracking the monogamous relationship between a helpless heroines and the hero who rescued her, even if he had been the one to place her in danger. The romance novels which followed in her example featured longer plots, more controversial situations and characters, and more intimate and steamy sex scenes.
She was an avid horse rider who at one time lived in a large home on 55 acres (220,000 m2) in Minnesota. After her husband's death in 1996, she moved back to Louisiana. She died in a hospital on July 6, 2007 in Princeton, Minnesota, aged 68, from cancer. She was survived by two sons, Sean and Heath, their wives, and numerous grandchildren. Her third son, Dorren, predeceased her.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 896 reviews
did-not-finish
July 5, 2017Putting this down for... the time being? Forever?
Really put off by the love interest raping the main character, and I'm not ready to read 500+ more pages of a 'romance' between them...
Really put off by the love interest raping the main character, and I'm not ready to read 500+ more pages of a 'romance' between them...
August 15, 2010
I've just re-read this one for the first time in recent memory -- it' still my all time favourite historical romance. BUT...I can sure see why so many people don't like Shanna. She's a spoiled b**ch and I would have slapped her silly before the end of part 1. And I don't quite understand why Ruark fell so deeply in love with her - she doesn't show many redeeming qualities until the last quarter of the book.
What I love about the book I think is the sweeping saga of it all. And Woodiwiss' writing. What's that phrase - "evocative prose"? It fits. From the opening pages I could visualize everything she was describing like it was a movie - the carriage travelling over the cobblestones through the foggy, wet streets of London on the way to Newgate gaol. I was in the carriage. And when she meets Ruark for the first time in his cell, I was there too.
It remains that way for me through the entire book. I love the descriptions, the language, the detail, even the dialogue. I consider most KEW’s books more Georgian than Regency (mid to late 1700s) with powdered hair, shoes with buckles and ruffles on men’s shirts so I don’t mind the flowery turns of phrase. It’s all part of the way KEW takes you into the story.
Shanna takes you from London, across the Atlantic to Los Camellos, on a pirate ship bound for a hidden island in the Caribbean to the untamed wilderness of Virginia. The descriptions are vivid and her characters fully fleshed out and well-drawn (for me, anyway) so that by the end of the book you feel as though you know them all. You certainly get to know Shanna and Ruark – KEW shows us each of their POV so that you know how much Ruark loves Shanna (although unfortunately not why) and you can see how much Shanna struggles with recognizing and admitting her love for Ruark (that love being the only good thing about her through much of the book).
The book takes place over the course of a year or so following Shanna’s return from London to Los Camellos. It felt realistic to me – there are stretches of time where Shanna tries to stay away from him and there are other happenings on the island that keep them apart (mostly due to Shanna’s unrealistic expectations of Ruark and what she wants from him) but their arguments are realistic and their assignations very sigh-worthy. (Lots of sneaking into each other’s rooms at night). Except for Shanna’s stubbornness, which is much more apparent reading this as an adult.
I would recommend this book for anyone who loves a chunky (666 pages), historical romance. The prose is descriptive, (oh all right, PURPLE) the story is epic in scale and hero is to die for. I fell in love with Ruark Deverell Beauchamp when I was 11 years old. His book is still my all time favourite.
What I love about the book I think is the sweeping saga of it all. And Woodiwiss' writing. What's that phrase - "evocative prose"? It fits. From the opening pages I could visualize everything she was describing like it was a movie - the carriage travelling over the cobblestones through the foggy, wet streets of London on the way to Newgate gaol. I was in the carriage. And when she meets Ruark for the first time in his cell, I was there too.
It remains that way for me through the entire book. I love the descriptions, the language, the detail, even the dialogue. I consider most KEW’s books more Georgian than Regency (mid to late 1700s) with powdered hair, shoes with buckles and ruffles on men’s shirts so I don’t mind the flowery turns of phrase. It’s all part of the way KEW takes you into the story.
Shanna takes you from London, across the Atlantic to Los Camellos, on a pirate ship bound for a hidden island in the Caribbean to the untamed wilderness of Virginia. The descriptions are vivid and her characters fully fleshed out and well-drawn (for me, anyway) so that by the end of the book you feel as though you know them all. You certainly get to know Shanna and Ruark – KEW shows us each of their POV so that you know how much Ruark loves Shanna (although unfortunately not why) and you can see how much Shanna struggles with recognizing and admitting her love for Ruark (that love being the only good thing about her through much of the book).
The book takes place over the course of a year or so following Shanna’s return from London to Los Camellos. It felt realistic to me – there are stretches of time where Shanna tries to stay away from him and there are other happenings on the island that keep them apart (mostly due to Shanna’s unrealistic expectations of Ruark and what she wants from him) but their arguments are realistic and their assignations very sigh-worthy. (Lots of sneaking into each other’s rooms at night). Except for Shanna’s stubbornness, which is much more apparent reading this as an adult.
I would recommend this book for anyone who loves a chunky (666 pages), historical romance. The prose is descriptive, (oh all right, PURPLE) the story is epic in scale and hero is to die for. I fell in love with Ruark Deverell Beauchamp when I was 11 years old. His book is still my all time favourite.
January 5, 2015
One day in 2027 Shanna will officially become a true “classic” in lieu of just a “bodice-ripper” or “historical-romance”. Until then, I will just have to refrain from tagging it as such for my personal GoodReads bookshelf. But, just so you know, it is one. A classic.
It is also the only historical romance book my husband ever listened to, against his will and with strong protestations, as read by me. We were going snow skiing, back in the days when we couldn’t afford to fly, and it was a 14 hour road trip; one in which, with his manically determination, he would only stop once and only for gas. I used one hand to pack the cooler, while I kept the other hand holding the book, eyes glued on the pages of Shanna and Ruark’s incredible story. As I made it out to the car that night, I was already gripped by KEW’s tale (and half in love with Ruark) and dying to know what happened next. When it occurred to me: there I was, with a captive audience! I had to go back to the beginning so my husband would not be lost, but I didn’t mind.
True, I stopped to ski, then went on to read while he continued his marathon hot-dogging down those snowy slopes of Sun Valley, Idaho. However, he didn’t piss and moan again when I picked it back up for the ride home, to continue on from where I’d left him in the story. And I didn’t mind re-reading that part again either. :-)
Maybe it’s time for another re-read!
It is also the only historical romance book my husband ever listened to, against his will and with strong protestations, as read by me. We were going snow skiing, back in the days when we couldn’t afford to fly, and it was a 14 hour road trip; one in which, with his manically determination, he would only stop once and only for gas. I used one hand to pack the cooler, while I kept the other hand holding the book, eyes glued on the pages of Shanna and Ruark’s incredible story. As I made it out to the car that night, I was already gripped by KEW’s tale (and half in love with Ruark) and dying to know what happened next. When it occurred to me: there I was, with a captive audience! I had to go back to the beginning so my husband would not be lost, but I didn’t mind.
Midnight, November 18, 1749From that moment on, I was in that carriage, surrounded by that dark night, jolting over those cobblestones. And so was my husband. For this is not only a romance book, but a high-adventure story. My spouse has been always a sucker for swashbucklers like Sea Hawk and Captain Blood and this had all those elements: prison, the threat of the gallows, escape to an exotic island, an ingenious and dashing hero, amazing secondary characters, rat-infested dank holes, sailing ships and pirates. And with the additional scenes in the untamed backwoods of a fledging country and a nice little mystery sub-plot. Plus, Shanna is a bitch! For it is really the Taming of the Shrew - only with tons more sex - so there was a lot more he liked about it than I!
London
Night gripped the city with cold, misty darkness. The threat of winter was heavy in the air. Acrid smoke stung the nostrils and throat, for in every home fires were stirred and stoked against the seaborne chill that pierced to the bone. Low-hanging clouds dribbled fine droplets of moisture which mixed with the soot spewed forth from London’s towering chimneys before falling as a thin film that covered every surface.
The miserable night masked the passage of a carriage that careened through the narrow streets as it it fled from some terrible disaster…
True, I stopped to ski, then went on to read while he continued his marathon hot-dogging down those snowy slopes of Sun Valley, Idaho. However, he didn’t piss and moan again when I picked it back up for the ride home, to continue on from where I’d left him in the story. And I didn’t mind re-reading that part again either. :-)
Maybe it’s time for another re-read!
June 26, 2018
Update/Edit: 26/06/18
As I stated below, my mothers copy was so well loved that I couldn’t resist buying my own copy (for a whopping €27 I might add-worth every cent). I managed to get my hands on this BEAUTIFUL cover which I am sure is well known in the historical romance community so I just had to brag about it:
This was my mom's favorite book and since I was little she has always preached to me about how much I would love it and why it was brilliant.
She loved it so much that by the time it got into my hands, it was worn and tattered, broken in half, pages taped in and taped back together...but none of that took away from the magic and romance that is Shanna by Kathleen E Woodiwiss.
I found my mother's view of this book to be true...(Here is the cover-That isn't even attached to the book anymore, I wasn't joking about the condition I got the book in):
This was my second Kathleen E.Woodiwiss novel. My first being The Flame and the Flower which I loved, so I decided to tackle this 672 paged book-the largest amount of pages I had read at the time.
It quickly become one of my favorite books.
I loved Ruark Beauchamp (the hero) and couldn't understand why he fell in love with ShannaWhen he could have been with me-with her being a such a brat and only thinking about herself but somehow, he knew she could change and loved her for her good aspects instead of the bad. I liked how he could forgive so easily even with all the pain she puts him through and he never gives up on her, Striving to show her how much he loves and cares for her through out the book.
Though Shanna may be immature and self-centered in wanting to live the dream of her childhood fantasy, Rurak moves heaven and earth for her love and becomes a dream grounded in reality (of the book at least).
I think many woman want the perfect suitor and I believe Ruark is just that. He is simply perfect and so devoted to Shanna, it kills me.
My god, the way Woodiwiss writes! ‘Shanna' was written as if it was meant to be poetry! I love the dialogue, many of the scenes and have doggy eared my favorite pages.
At the beginning, all I could describe Shanna as was: selfish, naive and childish. However, as a reader I felt myself grow up and mature with Shanna. The characters notice and of course, the reader's notice-including her father who was well aware of her faults and didn't put them aside like Ruark did.
Shanna grew to be a woman: mature, grown up and radiant, having been strong-willed the whole time; nothing much changed there. She became more accepting and loving to Ruark who always deserved her love. The Love scenes are intense-the dialogue beautiful and as stated before written with poetic flare.
I will forever love this book.
I think there is much to be enjoyed in watching Shanna, a headstrong young girl become a caring young woman, as well as falling in love with the irresistible, Ruark Beauchamp.
5 STARS!!
As I stated below, my mothers copy was so well loved that I couldn’t resist buying my own copy (for a whopping €27 I might add-worth every cent). I managed to get my hands on this BEAUTIFUL cover which I am sure is well known in the historical romance community so I just had to brag about it:
This was my mom's favorite book and since I was little she has always preached to me about how much I would love it and why it was brilliant.
She loved it so much that by the time it got into my hands, it was worn and tattered, broken in half, pages taped in and taped back together...but none of that took away from the magic and romance that is Shanna by Kathleen E Woodiwiss.
I found my mother's view of this book to be true...(Here is the cover-That isn't even attached to the book anymore, I wasn't joking about the condition I got the book in):
This was my second Kathleen E.Woodiwiss novel. My first being The Flame and the Flower which I loved, so I decided to tackle this 672 paged book-the largest amount of pages I had read at the time.
It quickly become one of my favorite books.
I loved Ruark Beauchamp (the hero) and couldn't understand why he fell in love with Shanna
Though Shanna may be immature and self-centered in wanting to live the dream of her childhood fantasy, Rurak moves heaven and earth for her love and becomes a dream grounded in reality (of the book at least).
I think many woman want the perfect suitor and I believe Ruark is just that. He is simply perfect and so devoted to Shanna, it kills me.
My god, the way Woodiwiss writes! ‘Shanna' was written as if it was meant to be poetry! I love the dialogue, many of the scenes and have doggy eared my favorite pages.
At the beginning, all I could describe Shanna as was: selfish, naive and childish. However, as a reader I felt myself grow up and mature with Shanna. The characters notice and of course, the reader's notice-including her father who was well aware of her faults and didn't put them aside like Ruark did.
Shanna grew to be a woman: mature, grown up and radiant, having been strong-willed the whole time; nothing much changed there. She became more accepting and loving to Ruark who always deserved her love. The Love scenes are intense-the dialogue beautiful and as stated before written with poetic flare.
I will forever love this book.
I think there is much to be enjoyed in watching Shanna, a headstrong young girl become a caring young woman, as well as falling in love with the irresistible, Ruark Beauchamp.
5 STARS!!
February 7, 2017
DNF. While the idea behind Shanna & Ruark's saga is a good one, I can't drum up enough interest to make it through the next 400 pages. It's just plain slow. Really, really slow. Also really, really wordy. The plot was puttering along in the background -- and it should've been a plot I cared about, because the proper ingredients were there -- but my interest was obscured by the tedium of endless minutia. I don't need to hear how people step down from a carriage. Stare at each other. Walk to the inn. Open the door. Stare at each other. Close the door. Stare at each other. Meanwhile, the plot slowed to a crawl as block paragraphs were devoted to descriptions of gestures, expressions, fabrics, clothing, furniture, temperature, weather conditions...
Yup. Pretty much.
I thought I'd prepared myself for a sluggish read, but this went above & beyond expectations. Setting the stage & creating a vivid backdrop is great -- but too much detail drowns the story beneath an onslaught of typeface. It's called overwriting, & KEW's prose was a epic success in terms of padding a 350-400 page story into 650+ pages of Grand Dame romantic legend.
From pg 171:
His eyes aflame and lusting, Ruark lowered his weight upon her, parting her thighs, and pressed deep with[in] her. Shanna moved to welcome the hard thrust, her woman's body reacting instinctively to this new, indescribable, budding, splintering feeling that built with pulsing leaps and bounds deep within her. The pleasure mounted so intensely she wondered wildly if she could bear it.
It was magic, a stunning, beautiful, expanding bloom of ravaging rapture that made her arch against him with a fierce ardor matching his. The wild, soaring ecstasy burst upon them, fusing them together in the all-consuming caldron of pleasure.
I understand that romance needs to include feels, but c'mon. That blurb is out of control. There's a fine line between enjoyable purple prose & an orgy of extraneous modifiers. Why use 10 words when 80 will do?
Preach it, Shat.
Yup. Pretty much.
I thought I'd prepared myself for a sluggish read, but this went above & beyond expectations. Setting the stage & creating a vivid backdrop is great -- but too much detail drowns the story beneath an onslaught of typeface. It's called overwriting, & KEW's prose was a epic success in terms of padding a 350-400 page story into 650+ pages of Grand Dame romantic legend.
From pg 171:
His eyes aflame and lusting, Ruark lowered his weight upon her, parting her thighs, and pressed deep with[in] her. Shanna moved to welcome the hard thrust, her woman's body reacting instinctively to this new, indescribable, budding, splintering feeling that built with pulsing leaps and bounds deep within her. The pleasure mounted so intensely she wondered wildly if she could bear it.
It was magic, a stunning, beautiful, expanding bloom of ravaging rapture that made her arch against him with a fierce ardor matching his. The wild, soaring ecstasy burst upon them, fusing them together in the all-consuming caldron of pleasure.
I understand that romance needs to include feels, but c'mon. That blurb is out of control. There's a fine line between enjoyable purple prose & an orgy of extraneous modifiers. Why use 10 words when 80 will do?
Preach it, Shat.
April 25, 2021
3.5 Stars
I have such conflicting feelings about this book. I was ready to DNF this about 200 pages in because of how annoying Shanna was and how dragged out the story was. I finished because it was for a book club, though, and I thoroughly enjoyed the last two hundred pages. Ruark was honestly the best hero for how much he genuinely loved Shanna and was doing everything in his power to protect her and be with her. And he was SO PATIENT when she was being extremely annoying and flighty about her feelings with him. She made the most annoying mistakes and so many problems arose because she was insecure or upset. The ending was a lot of fun and I did genuinely laugh at some moments. That all being said, I do really appreciate this romance novel being one of the pioneers of the modern historical romance and I'm interested to check out more of Kathleen Woodiwiss's books!
I have such conflicting feelings about this book. I was ready to DNF this about 200 pages in because of how annoying Shanna was and how dragged out the story was. I finished because it was for a book club, though, and I thoroughly enjoyed the last two hundred pages. Ruark was honestly the best hero for how much he genuinely loved Shanna and was doing everything in his power to protect her and be with her. And he was SO PATIENT when she was being extremely annoying and flighty about her feelings with him. She made the most annoying mistakes and so many problems arose because she was insecure or upset. The ending was a lot of fun and I did genuinely laugh at some moments. That all being said, I do really appreciate this romance novel being one of the pioneers of the modern historical romance and I'm interested to check out more of Kathleen Woodiwiss's books!
October 4, 2015
It's hard to enjoy, much less like, a book in which I thoroughly detest one of the two main characters. It makes it even worse that the novel is named after her so I don't even have a hope that she might somehow be offed before the end and I can be rid of her. The only reason I even bothered to finish it was so that I could write a fully-informed review. Also, I try not to swear in reviews but...this one? Can't be helped.
Shanna is so unlikable. Actually, that's putting it nicely. I got so sick of hearing how pretty she is look-wise because she's such a nasty and disgusting person on the inside. She's a straight up bitch and I hated her more than I think I've ever hated a character in any book I've ever read. I was feeling bad for Ruark for a fair bit of the novel but I stopped after a while. Why? Because he's such a damned doormat. Over and over and over again Shanna treats him like shit and walks all over him and he just goes crawling back to her. She berates him continuously and he just casts it all to the wind and lays himself down before her, like the doormat that he is, to be trod upon once again. The worst thing is that the author writes him so that he knows all her faults and calls her out on them yet loves her anyway. He calls her a coddled-brat and a prudish snob (praise the lord, hallelujah, etc etc etc...to that!) but that doesn't deter him from loving her.
And that's what confuses me. I don't know why he loves her. Other than her looks (got so sick of hearing about how ~beautiful~ she is), she's a dirty, rotten, nasty person on the inside. Honestly. She's such a bitch-- such a bitch omg--to him and he loves her. They make a bargain in the beginning and he holds up his end yet she deceives him and doesn't hold up her own. Every encounter with him has her calling him all sorts of names and he just takes it. When she finds herself being reluctantly attracted to him, she responds by dressing to the nines and wanting to shame and put him in his place because of the way he dresses and his station (as a bondsman). She sleeps with him but then later turns around and says he took advantage of her ("but tossed me on the bed and once more took advantage of me" and "you crept into my chambers in the dark of night and took advantage of the slumber still clinging to my eyes"). OH and she straight up accuses him of attempted-rape (and only feels "a tiny inkling of remorse"). She knew what she was doing when she approached Pitney (after he said they'd done Ruark wrong and would not be party to his abuse any longer) and she did it anyway simply because she was angry (and didn't even give him a second to explain that he was being FALSELY ACCUSED). Then, when they're captives to the pirates and he saves her more than once from being taken advantage of (kills a man in the process, btw), her response is being a cold and teasing and taunting bitch to him. Now, I'm not saying she should up and give her body over to him because he helped her out while risking his own life, I'm just saying that her teasing and flaunting her body at him and then giving him the cold shoulder is god damned cruel.
And you know what? During the entire ordeal he suffers and never once takes advantage of her. Not once.
And then he claims to love her.
Oh, Ruark...
She's also so hot and cold to him throughout most of the novel. She sleeps with him one second, and then derides him the next. Even Ruark calls her out on it: "How quickly you chasten me, as if you're sorely set upon." Like, nine times out of ten, he doesn't even have to incite her into anger because she does it herself most of the time and for no reason what so ever! Some of the time she calls attention to her own body (he calls her beautiful and her response is: "I feel ravished every time you look at me.") and then is all HOW DARE YOU when he makes some salacious mark towards it. She knows how he is and what he's like but acts all maidenly and shocked when he makes a remark that drew attention to her body in the first place.
She also gets jealous when other women take notice of Ruark and then she gets mad at him over it. Ruark is jealous and upset when Billingsham pursues Shanna, but he never once takes it out on her. He brings it up and is angry (and that's only in response to a tirade from her), yes, but he never pulls her aside to go in on her the way she does to him and holds it against her--like she does with him. He calls her out more than once on her jealousy. He asks her what he is to her -- either a husband or not a husband. If he is her husband, then she has a claim to jealousy. But, if not, then she has no right to call him out if he decides to seek favours elsewhere since she, as his wife, denies him and their bond as husband and wife. I'm not one for cheating spouses, but honestly...he's right. What right does she have to jealousy when she turns around and calls him a rutting knave and rake and cad and denies being his wife.
I was happy with Ruark called her out on this:
But, then the author had Shanna completely ignore what he said and, instead, turned around and made it all about poor little ol' Shanna and how she's in such a difficult position and how bad she's got it etc etc etc.
Just stfu.
Later on, he calls out her high-and-mighty manner and I was ready to give him a standing ovation:
Her response? "But do you say you love me?"
Fucking hell. Are you serious? Just...
I nearly laughed out loud when she had the audacity to say:
Oh, my. She has the nerve to mention honour? Sorry sweetie, but you forfeit any and all honour the minute you made a bargain for your body with a man and then proceeded to betray him on his return after he came through for you. OH, and then lied about the actual terms of your bargain. Just want to clarify that her honour wasn't lost in bargaining with her body (gotta do what you gotta do, yeah?), it was the deceit and betrayal on her behalf that followed. On top of that, she later claims that there was no bargain and it's false. She calls him names and belittles him. Sorry, but she gets no special thanks or credit for finally making good on a promise that she should've done so from the beginning.
I didn't blame him for how he went in on her after she says she refuses to bear his bastards. She deserved it.
Anytime during the novel that Shanna feels any sort of guilt or sadness, it's a result of what she's done to Ruark. She takes his problems and what he's gone through and makes it about herself and makes herself feel bad. Rather than feeling bad for Ruark and what he has to go through as a result of her deceit, she takes what he might be going through and is sad because of the guilt she feels. I didn't feel bad for her one bit during those times because she's the one that did him wrong and now she claims hurt feelings and guilt as a result? Ugh. It's always about how she's suffered as a result of what she's done to him rather than it being about how he's suffered as a result of what she purposefully did to him. Mercy...she takes everything from him (including his name) and can't even let the man keep his pain as his own.
During the entire book, I just couldn't help but feel that she's such an emotionally abusive partner/spouse. Over and over again we see her deny him sexually. When she does exalt him with her presence, she follows every encounter with name-calling and insults, berating and degradation. She disavows their martial vows but displays jealousy and uses it to further hold things against him. Hell, she's jealous over a relationship of his from nearly a decade ago! The entire novel is her stomping all over him while he cowers before her in hopes of just a morsel of her attention and favours. She also never admits her own wrongdoing. Pitney never actually learns of what her original bargain was. She's never taken to task nor does she apologize for falsely and vindictively accusing Ruark of attempted rape and having him sold to pirates as a result.
I usually like HEAs in books...but this one? I would've been much happier with the opposite. Ruark is a nice guy and does well by others and he deserved so much more. Yeah he's a doormat but he deserved better because she's a spiteful bitch who betrayed him, betrayed him and betrayed him some more. She's so undeserving of the HEA she got. She's clearly a terrible person through and through because even the other characters point out that she needs to do right by Ruark. But does she see it for herself? No. It's only because of the author's cheesily included delirium-speak that she suddenly does a one-eighty.
When she's at the Beauchamp household, she feels she should stand up for Ruark and claim him as her husband but doesn't because:
Yeah...uh, no. The author shows time and again that Shanna is as dumb as a rock considering how she's ~so surprised~ at having not realized how badly she's mistreated Ruark. She only "realizes" it when he speaks super coherently during his fever. As such, I think it's straight up bullshit that she'd have the foresight to even consider holding her tongue for that reason. No way. Nope. Not buying it. It was just the author's way of extending the drama more and dragging it out for pages and pages more and making Shanna seem ~smart~ when she's really just an idiot and a coward.
And ugh, Ralston and Billingsham both got what they had coming to them but Shanna gets off? She was worse than Ralston (at least Ralston got him out of gaol) and she gets a rich husband and a connection to a marquess?? Fucking hell.
This entire book was such a mixture of
and
Shanna is so unlikable. Actually, that's putting it nicely. I got so sick of hearing how pretty she is look-wise because she's such a nasty and disgusting person on the inside. She's a straight up bitch and I hated her more than I think I've ever hated a character in any book I've ever read. I was feeling bad for Ruark for a fair bit of the novel but I stopped after a while. Why? Because he's such a damned doormat. Over and over and over again Shanna treats him like shit and walks all over him and he just goes crawling back to her. She berates him continuously and he just casts it all to the wind and lays himself down before her, like the doormat that he is, to be trod upon once again. The worst thing is that the author writes him so that he knows all her faults and calls her out on them yet loves her anyway. He calls her a coddled-brat and a prudish snob (praise the lord, hallelujah, etc etc etc...to that!) but that doesn't deter him from loving her.
And that's what confuses me. I don't know why he loves her. Other than her looks (got so sick of hearing about how ~beautiful~ she is), she's a dirty, rotten, nasty person on the inside. Honestly. She's such a bitch-- such a bitch omg--to him and he loves her. They make a bargain in the beginning and he holds up his end yet she deceives him and doesn't hold up her own. Every encounter with him has her calling him all sorts of names and he just takes it. When she finds herself being reluctantly attracted to him, she responds by dressing to the nines and wanting to shame and put him in his place because of the way he dresses and his station (as a bondsman). She sleeps with him but then later turns around and says he took advantage of her ("but tossed me on the bed and once more took advantage of me" and "you crept into my chambers in the dark of night and took advantage of the slumber still clinging to my eyes"). OH and she straight up accuses him of attempted-rape (and only feels "a tiny inkling of remorse"). She knew what she was doing when she approached Pitney (after he said they'd done Ruark wrong and would not be party to his abuse any longer) and she did it anyway simply because she was angry (and didn't even give him a second to explain that he was being FALSELY ACCUSED). Then, when they're captives to the pirates and he saves her more than once from being taken advantage of (kills a man in the process, btw), her response is being a cold and teasing and taunting bitch to him. Now, I'm not saying she should up and give her body over to him because he helped her out while risking his own life, I'm just saying that her teasing and flaunting her body at him and then giving him the cold shoulder is god damned cruel.
And you know what? During the entire ordeal he suffers and never once takes advantage of her. Not once.
And then he claims to love her.
Ruark got to his feet, counting himself far luckier than any man on the island, despite what they might have termed poor luck in being imprisoned for murder and sold into bondage. In truth, if he hadn't been in the gaol, he never would have married Shanna, and he counted all the abuse he had suffered there well worth the gain of such a wife.
Oh, Ruark...
She's also so hot and cold to him throughout most of the novel. She sleeps with him one second, and then derides him the next. Even Ruark calls her out on it: "How quickly you chasten me, as if you're sorely set upon." Like, nine times out of ten, he doesn't even have to incite her into anger because she does it herself most of the time and for no reason what so ever! Some of the time she calls attention to her own body (he calls her beautiful and her response is: "I feel ravished every time you look at me.") and then is all HOW DARE YOU when he makes some salacious mark towards it. She knows how he is and what he's like but acts all maidenly and shocked when he makes a remark that drew attention to her body in the first place.
She also gets jealous when other women take notice of Ruark and then she gets mad at him over it. Ruark is jealous and upset when Billingsham pursues Shanna, but he never once takes it out on her. He brings it up and is angry (and that's only in response to a tirade from her), yes, but he never pulls her aside to go in on her the way she does to him and holds it against her--like she does with him. He calls her out more than once on her jealousy. He asks her what he is to her -- either a husband or not a husband. If he is her husband, then she has a claim to jealousy. But, if not, then she has no right to call him out if he decides to seek favours elsewhere since she, as his wife, denies him and their bond as husband and wife. I'm not one for cheating spouses, but honestly...he's right. What right does she have to jealousy when she turns around and calls him a rutting knave and rake and cad and denies being his wife.
I was happy with Ruark called her out on this:
But, then the author had Shanna completely ignore what he said and, instead, turned around and made it all about poor little ol' Shanna and how she's in such a difficult position and how bad she's got it etc etc etc.
Just stfu.
Later on, he calls out her high-and-mighty manner and I was ready to give him a standing ovation:
Her response? "But do you say you love me?"
Fucking hell. Are you serious? Just...
I nearly laughed out loud when she had the audacity to say:
"You banter with my pride and toss about my honor lightly."
Oh, my. She has the nerve to mention honour? Sorry sweetie, but you forfeit any and all honour the minute you made a bargain for your body with a man and then proceeded to betray him on his return after he came through for you. OH, and then lied about the actual terms of your bargain. Just want to clarify that her honour wasn't lost in bargaining with her body (gotta do what you gotta do, yeah?), it was the deceit and betrayal on her behalf that followed. On top of that, she later claims that there was no bargain and it's false. She calls him names and belittles him. Sorry, but she gets no special thanks or credit for finally making good on a promise that she should've done so from the beginning.
I didn't blame him for how he went in on her after she says she refuses to bear his bastards. She deserved it.
Anytime during the novel that Shanna feels any sort of guilt or sadness, it's a result of what she's done to Ruark. She takes his problems and what he's gone through and makes it about herself and makes herself feel bad. Rather than feeling bad for Ruark and what he has to go through as a result of her deceit, she takes what he might be going through and is sad because of the guilt she feels. I didn't feel bad for her one bit during those times because she's the one that did him wrong and now she claims hurt feelings and guilt as a result? Ugh. It's always about how she's suffered as a result of what she's done to him rather than it being about how he's suffered as a result of what she purposefully did to him. Mercy...she takes everything from him (including his name) and can't even let the man keep his pain as his own.
During the entire book, I just couldn't help but feel that she's such an emotionally abusive partner/spouse. Over and over again we see her deny him sexually. When she does exalt him with her presence, she follows every encounter with name-calling and insults, berating and degradation. She disavows their martial vows but displays jealousy and uses it to further hold things against him. Hell, she's jealous over a relationship of his from nearly a decade ago! The entire novel is her stomping all over him while he cowers before her in hopes of just a morsel of her attention and favours. She also never admits her own wrongdoing. Pitney never actually learns of what her original bargain was. She's never taken to task nor does she apologize for falsely and vindictively accusing Ruark of attempted rape and having him sold to pirates as a result.
I usually like HEAs in books...but this one? I would've been much happier with the opposite. Ruark is a nice guy and does well by others and he deserved so much more. Yeah he's a doormat but he deserved better because she's a spiteful bitch who betrayed him, betrayed him and betrayed him some more. She's so undeserving of the HEA she got. She's clearly a terrible person through and through because even the other characters point out that she needs to do right by Ruark. But does she see it for herself? No. It's only because of the author's cheesily included delirium-speak that she suddenly does a one-eighty.
When she's at the Beauchamp household, she feels she should stand up for Ruark and claim him as her husband but doesn't because:
"The only thing that stilled her words was the fear that Gaylord would rush to his magistrate father to bear the news that a man he had condemned to hang was alive."
Yeah...uh, no. The author shows time and again that Shanna is as dumb as a rock considering how she's ~so surprised~ at having not realized how badly she's mistreated Ruark. She only "realizes" it when he speaks super coherently during his fever. As such, I think it's straight up bullshit that she'd have the foresight to even consider holding her tongue for that reason. No way. Nope. Not buying it. It was just the author's way of extending the drama more and dragging it out for pages and pages more and making Shanna seem ~smart~ when she's really just an idiot and a coward.
And ugh, Ralston and Billingsham both got what they had coming to them but Shanna gets off? She was worse than Ralston (at least Ralston got him out of gaol) and she gets a rich husband and a connection to a marquess?? Fucking hell.
This entire book was such a mixture of
and
April 2, 2018
Más de 20 días he tardado en leer esta historia, cuando devoré Una rosa en invierno. ¿La culpa? Shanna. En un libro tan extenso como éste, que no puedas soportar a la protagonista principal -por indecisa, clasista, vengativa, irreflexiva, altanera, actuar como el perro del hortelano y no sigo pero podría- hasta más de la mitad de la historia se hace muy cuesta arriba. Si no fuera por ella y el exceso de paginación, me hubiera parecido muy entretenida. No en vano, está llena de aventuras; no paran de pasar cosas; el protagonista masculino, Ruark, es un Dios entre los hombres, con una capacidad de amor y perdón infinita, y hasta salen ¡piratas!
La frase para subrayar de este libro: No sé si es peor el dolor de mi pierna o el de mi entrepierna. Ejem, muy sutil para la época.
#RetoWoodiwiss #RetoRita2
#Campañaromantica: Piratas
La frase para subrayar de este libro: No sé si es peor el dolor de mi pierna o el de mi entrepierna. Ejem, muy sutil para la época.
#RetoWoodiwiss #RetoRita2
#Campañaromantica: Piratas
September 13, 2017
The Gold Standard for Historical Romance! A Keeper!
This was my first by the queen of the modern historical romance novel, Kathleen Woodiwiss and I highly recommend it. A wonderful Georgian romance.
Set in mid 18th century London, the Caribbean and the Colony of Virginia, this is the story of the strong willed Shanna Trahern, the only daughter of a successful British merchant who has retired with his wealth to his Caribbean island, Los Cammellos. There he is both governor and owner of a thriving plantation and trade business. His much-loved wife has died by the time the story begins and he wants grandchildren from Shanna and he wants them now!
Her father gives Shanna, who has rejected all her suitors, one year to find a suitable husband or he's picking one for her, preferably one with a title. She has no interest in complying and spends that year in London enjoying herself. Nearing the end of the year, she decides that in order to avoid her father's picking a man for her, she'll take a husband from among those in Newgate Prison facing the gallows. Her goal is to be an instant widow with a good name.
She finds Ruark Beauchamp, a convicted murderer, and marries him. When she first sees him, he is dirty, bearded and unkempt, living in the prison's squalor. At the wedding, after her man has cleaned up Ruark, she discovers a handsome, intelligent and virile man who is a bit, well… overwhelming. His price for giving her his name is one night with her after they are wed--a marriage in truth, however brief. He manages to claim a bit of it just before her scheme is discovered. With hatred and anger in his voice, as they drag him away, he vows to hold her to their bargain if God grants him mercy from the hangman's noose.
Unbeknownst to Shanna, that mercy will be granted to him.
This romance is worth your money. At 666 pages of well-told, detailed, historically accurate, page turning romance, it's a keeper! The characters are brilliantly developed and the settings well described. The hero's love for his woman never varied (which I loved). He is a man I'd give up decades for. Kathleen Woodiwiss, who unfortunately is no longer with us, could write!
This is on my Top 20 list!
This was my first by the queen of the modern historical romance novel, Kathleen Woodiwiss and I highly recommend it. A wonderful Georgian romance.
Set in mid 18th century London, the Caribbean and the Colony of Virginia, this is the story of the strong willed Shanna Trahern, the only daughter of a successful British merchant who has retired with his wealth to his Caribbean island, Los Cammellos. There he is both governor and owner of a thriving plantation and trade business. His much-loved wife has died by the time the story begins and he wants grandchildren from Shanna and he wants them now!
Her father gives Shanna, who has rejected all her suitors, one year to find a suitable husband or he's picking one for her, preferably one with a title. She has no interest in complying and spends that year in London enjoying herself. Nearing the end of the year, she decides that in order to avoid her father's picking a man for her, she'll take a husband from among those in Newgate Prison facing the gallows. Her goal is to be an instant widow with a good name.
She finds Ruark Beauchamp, a convicted murderer, and marries him. When she first sees him, he is dirty, bearded and unkempt, living in the prison's squalor. At the wedding, after her man has cleaned up Ruark, she discovers a handsome, intelligent and virile man who is a bit, well… overwhelming. His price for giving her his name is one night with her after they are wed--a marriage in truth, however brief. He manages to claim a bit of it just before her scheme is discovered. With hatred and anger in his voice, as they drag him away, he vows to hold her to their bargain if God grants him mercy from the hangman's noose.
Unbeknownst to Shanna, that mercy will be granted to him.
This romance is worth your money. At 666 pages of well-told, detailed, historically accurate, page turning romance, it's a keeper! The characters are brilliantly developed and the settings well described. The hero's love for his woman never varied (which I loved). He is a man I'd give up decades for. Kathleen Woodiwiss, who unfortunately is no longer with us, could write!
This is on my Top 20 list!
April 3, 2025
Read: 4/2/25
Setting: 1749 England, Caribbean, Virginia
This is one of KEW's famous books. I've heard mixed reviews, so I was apprehensive about trying this book. Unfortunately, I had a right to be. What a disappointment!
The story starts off with Shanna marrying a condemned man. Her rich father wants her to marry a titled man, but she hates all those fortunate hunters. So she marries Ruark because of his last name. Now, she will be free and can return home to her island. Ruark isn't hanged but is sold into bondage to the man who works for her father. Ruark is determined to make the marriage true. If only he could convince Shanna that they belong together.
The whole plot is Shanna sleeping with Ruark but still refusing to acknowledge him. It was a long, boring story (600+). Nothing changes. This story would have been better with only 300 pages.
I really liked Ruark. He was fantastic! Though, I still don't know why he wanted the spoiled brat? She's not worth it! His identity was easy to guess. I don't know why the author tried to make it a mystery.
Conclusion: This is a well written story, but lack of plot ruined the book. Still, I'm glad I gave the book a try
Setting: 1749 England, Caribbean, Virginia
This is one of KEW's famous books. I've heard mixed reviews, so I was apprehensive about trying this book. Unfortunately, I had a right to be. What a disappointment!
The story starts off with Shanna marrying a condemned man. Her rich father wants her to marry a titled man, but she hates all those fortunate hunters. So she marries Ruark because of his last name. Now, she will be free and can return home to her island. Ruark isn't hanged but is sold into bondage to the man who works for her father. Ruark is determined to make the marriage true. If only he could convince Shanna that they belong together.
The whole plot is Shanna sleeping with Ruark but still refusing to acknowledge him. It was a long, boring story (600+). Nothing changes. This story would have been better with only 300 pages.
I really liked Ruark. He was fantastic! Though, I still don't know why he wanted the spoiled brat? She's not worth it! His identity was easy to guess. I don't know why the author tried to make it a mystery.
Conclusion: This is a well written story, but lack of plot ruined the book. Still, I'm glad I gave the book a try
Read
December 24, 2016I'm leaving it unrrated because I can't remember much. I read it like four years ago.
May 31, 2016
Wonderful!
This is my first foray into the brilliance that is Kathleen E. Woodiwiss's writing, even though I've had some of her books on my shelves for years. But when the publisher sent me a copy of Shanna I decided that there's no time like the present, and dove right in. And oh, how glad I am that I did because this isn't just a historical romance, it's an epic love story. There's mystery, romance, passion, sword fights, pirates, kidnapping, murder...start to finish it's one captivating, exciting adventure!
Needless to say - but I'll say it anyway - I'll be reading more of this author's writing, very soon!
My thanks to Avon Books for providing me with a copy of this story. In appreciation I'm giving them an honest review.
This is my first foray into the brilliance that is Kathleen E. Woodiwiss's writing, even though I've had some of her books on my shelves for years. But when the publisher sent me a copy of Shanna I decided that there's no time like the present, and dove right in. And oh, how glad I am that I did because this isn't just a historical romance, it's an epic love story. There's mystery, romance, passion, sword fights, pirates, kidnapping, murder...start to finish it's one captivating, exciting adventure!
Needless to say - but I'll say it anyway - I'll be reading more of this author's writing, very soon!
My thanks to Avon Books for providing me with a copy of this story. In appreciation I'm giving them an honest review.
July 14, 2021
5 antidefamation-Shanna-isnt-mean-to Ruark stars!!!
It was going to be 4 solid "coitus interruptus" stars from me, but then I read a review cuz you know guys, sometimes I read reviews just AFTER finishing a book and I have to set the record straight or more like give an alternative opinion:
Shanna, our h, is a product of her time and she's kinder to Ruark than most people at the era were supposed to be.
She doesn't insult Ruark every single minute and if she does, Ruark is so sheepish and so so in love with h , that he just doesn't care. So 5 antidefamation stars for Shanna!
So if you read a review or two saying Shanna insults Ruark at every single second don't take them too seriously. It's a matter of opinion. I actually thought he earned a few well-placed insults but whatever verbal offense she threw at him slid off smoothly like butter, like a criminal undercover (LOL sorry for the BTS reference here) the thick skin of that handsome brute. So again let me set the record straight: Shanna doesn't put Ruark down every single second, if anything they had a lot of sex!!! Whatever she said to him wasn't an insult, just the usual banter of couples in romance that an ultrapicky 1 star reviewer took as insult, but that's not a fact, that's her opinion and yours can be different and closer to mine if you give this book a chance.
I'm so so glad I did give this book a chance! Shanna is a good protagonist. Not my favorite, but definitely bad ass in her own way and although she starts being a bit of a brat she had good reason for being the way she was, but at the end of the book she became an amazing person. She was unwilling to accept the way that at the time people treated marriage, and I strongly sided with her even though she could be immature sometimes cuz guuuuuuuuuuuuuyyyyyssss think about this: That was a time when many women died ALL THE FREAKING TIME while attempting to give birth and many children didn't live past a year. And there's Shanna's father and Ruark talking nonchalantly about marriage and Shanna's having a lot of kids as though it was easy thing. No uterus no opinion!!! Go and get pregnant yourselves men!!!! Leave Shanna alone!!! I could understand why she wanted the decision be her own and nobody else's and why Ruark insistence on having a marriage to Shanna as though they had met under normal circumstances (really funny to me) must have been difficult. Shanna was the one in vulnerable position and she had to fight for whatever free will she could muster at those horrible times. If you think about it, historical romance is like dystopia...so so much oppression in those years of yore for our female protagonists and maybe that's why I enjoy these Avon historical books so so much, but whereas this book by a different author
is gory, politically incorrect and filled with injustice
this book
turned out to be too soft for those times and I wanted it to be a badass, gory historical novel. The fact that Ruark was never a slave, never endured whippings at the plantation made the stakes really low. I wanted it to be like he got whipped because of her and he still loved her, but he was paid for his labor and walked around like a free man, that's not how slavery was and it took out the punch to the emotions I wanted in this book.Despite my unmet expectations, I still enjoyed this book, I laughed so so hard at some stuff like their wedding night, their banter and I was really rooting for these two to get together. I'm not gonna lie, the book is long and overdescriptive, a lot of things felt like filler because honestly H and h could have got their HEA easily just by using their brains to figure things out, but overall this book is good and h doesn't deserve the backlash I've seen in some reviews. She developed into an amazing protagonist and what with this blaming female protagonists and giving a pass to male protagonists all the time? Ruark made his share of stupid decisions as well, it takes two to tango so if there was conflict and misunderstandings it wasn't all on Shanna.
The best books have their protagonists going from point A to point B and developing into better people along the way and this book is one of those jewels. Shanna went from brat to strong woman and I loved that. I would take Shanna 100 times over other historical heroines like Felicia from the Silver Devil.
So give a chance to this book. I won't give it my seal of approval but I will reread cuz it was enjoyable.
June 27, 2022
SHANNA by KATHLEEN WOODIWISS
In 1977 Kathleen E. Woodiwiss’ long-awaited third novel made romance history as Avon released Shanna in trade paperback edition. It had a full-stretch green cover, illustrated by H. Tom Hall and designed by Barbara Bertoli. This was one of the first true American clinches. The entire exterior was painted, displaying the couple locked passionately together in a state of undress.
Playboy Press’
by Barabara Riefe also came out in 1977 with a full-page color clinch. But Betty Maxey’s artwork doesn’t compare to Hall’s fabulous cover. Plus, Shanna had a map insert that you could unfold.
Avon heavily promoted this book, running commercial ads on daytime television and in national women’s magazines. It paid off. Shanna sold 3 million copies and was on the NY Times bestseller list for about a year.
Shanna was optioned for a film, but negotiations fell through when Woodiwiss couldn’t agree with the producers on the vision. The romance genre might be very different if this mild bodice ripper had been brought to the big screen in the 1970s or early 1980s!
I’ve long had a tenuous relationship with Woodiwiss’ romances. Shanna is the fourth of her books I’ve attempted to read. It’s the first I completed. So that’s a net positive in this bodice-ripper-lite’s column.
Now, did I love it? That is another matter entirely.
“In your madness you said you loved me,” she murmured shyly.
His humor fled, and the smile left her lips as she continued, “You said it before, too. When the storm struck, I asked you to love me, and you said you did.” Her voice was the barest of whispers.
Ruark’s gaze turned away from her, and he rubbed the bandage on his leg before he spoke. “Strange that madness should speak the truth, but truth it is.”
The Setup
Shanna Trahern is the spoiled only child of a wealthy Caribbean planter and widower, “Squire” Orlan Trahern. He’s part of the upstart merchant class and tres riche. Fortune hunters and noblemen fallen upon hard times seek her hand, but Shanna will have none of them! Why can’t a man love her for who she is, dammit: a haughty, ill-tempered, busty, aqua-eyed blonde with a flawless complexion?
Her doting father has given his beautiful and independent daughter one year in England to choose an appropriate man to marry. Otherwise, he will arrange a marriage for her. Squire Trahern wants grandbabies, dammit! Besides, his daughter could use a husband to tame her wild ways.
Determined to be ruled by no man, Shanna colludes with her servant Pitney to arrange a quickie marriage to some black-sheep gentleman doomed to the hangman’s noose. That way, she’ll have official records she was legally wed. Then she’d return home, a widow in mourning, determined never to remarry.
The man she “chooses” is a bearded wretch convicted of killing a barmaid. Despite his thin, unkempt appearance, the hero has a charm in his hazel-gold eyes.
He’s our hero Ruark Beauchamp. For some reason, Ruark gave me total Hugh Jackman vibes, so I was on board.
The Plot
Shanna promises to make the man’s last days pleasant by moving him to nicer quarters and keeping his belly fed. Instead, the prisoner arrogantly demands consummation of his marital rights because... Shanna is really hot.
She concedes to this, but any dingbat with two brain cells should know she’s full of it. But alas, our hero is besotted from the get-go over Shanna. His brains are in his balls. Ruark’s sole aim in this book is either getting into Shanna’s bed or obtaining vengeance, in the form of getting Shanna into his bed!
Ruark is cleaned up, and wouldn’t ya know it? With some food in his stomach, a haircut, shave, and wash... Ruark is really hot.
Shanna’s southern girly parts tingle. Ruark eyes Shanna’s northern girly parts making promises of a pleasurable time to come.
The ceremony is performed. Into the carriage and on their way are the newlyweds. But Ruark can’t take it anymore, his lust for her bust overwhelms him, and he takes her. For a couple of humps, he is allowed to experience paradise. Shanna is confused by the fluttering sensations she’s experiencing.
Then the coach stops, and Ruark realizes Shanna had no intention of upholding her side of the bargain. He is taken away, but not without a bitter fight, before presumably being executed. Shanna spares Ruark not another thought (okay, maybe one or two) and returns home to her father’s island of Los Camellos.
However…
Shanna’s other servant who was involved in her scheme decides to line his pockets in an even schemier scheme. He substitutes a dead man’s body for Ruark’s and takes him as a slave for Shanna’s father, of course. And wouldn’t ya know it? As Shanna sails home, Ruark is on that same ship.
Soon, to her great dismay, Shanna becomes aware of the new servant’s presence, and so does her father. Ruark never reveals he is Shanna’s legitimate husband (which would have made more sense since Ruark was so eager to get under Shanna’s petticoats).
As the new slave on the job, Ruark impresses the bossman with his engineering skills and–ahem–masterful knowledge of plantations. (It turns out Ruark’s family are wealthy colonial planters related to English nobility. What the hell was Ruark thinking, not contacting them or telling his father-in-law who he was?)
Trahern is so impressed that he gives Ruark special duties that come with special benefits. The day comes when the slave is dining at the table with the master and his wife—the slave’s wife, that is, not the master’s.
Apparently, Ruark is deep into some heavy roleplay, because this slave thing turns him on. When Shanna sees him while riding her horse, he taunts her, and she hits him with her quirt. Instead of reacting violently, as these heroes in rippers would, Ruark only smiles and vows to tame her to his will…
Funny enough, Shanna is viewed as having always gotten her way and in need of the right proper taming. She is a real itchbay, never satisfied, never content.
"Everything displeased her, and even the flawlessness of her own beauty, regally gowned in rich ivory satin and costly lace, did not change her mood of discontent."
Ruark cares not. Nothing matters, not freedom, not clearing his name for a crime he didn’t commit, and not returning home. He must have his Shanna!
The give-and-take, push-and-pull between Shanna and Ruark is highly exciting until it reaches its apex. Ruark finally gets his honeymoon!
It seems that Ruark has found his Paradise on Earth. That is until a big misunderstanding sends Shanna into a jealous rage.
Shanna demands he daddy sell Ruark off to pirates… Oh, hell, that’s where this book takes a nosedive.
Let’s just “yada, yada, yada” this okay?
Yada… Nasty stinky pirates…
Yada… Ruark reveals the truth about his identity, and the true identity of other people comes to light.
Yada… And an evil villain named Gaylord gets his in the end.
Shanna realizes that she loves Ruark and promises to stop being such a Seaward.
Shanna gives birth to twins, and her papa is happy as can be.
My Opinion
Woodiwiss and many romance writers of her age (ex. Jennifer Wilde, Rebecca Brandewyne, and Bertrice Small) wrote as if they got paid by the word, like their pulp predecessors. If Shanna had ended at the 450-page mark–or 325 pages a la Johanna Lindsey–it would have been glorious, a book I’d track down every edition of. I could have easily overlooked the flaws in favor of the positive aspects.
But it keeps going and going—so many fillers. I read a thousand romances from age 12-to 15, of all lengths, and was able to zip through a 1,000-page book per week. Today at 44, I do not have that patience. I have ADHD. I’ve said this before in a review of another book: “The paragraphs are too damn long!”
I’m no enemy of adverbs and adjectives. The world would be a dark place without modifiers. It’s that Woodiwiss didn’t believe in using one or two or three when ten or twelve would suit her better! There are innumerable adverbs, adjectives, and dependent clauses.
Let us not forget the effusive purple prose, the poem at the beginning, and the seriousness with which she takes herself. It appeared that Woodiwiss employed every grammatical trick at her disposal.
The Characters
Shanna is your typical beautiful, cossetted, foot-stamping, won’t-listen-to-reason heroine with eyes that flash in anger, the kind that was so prevalent in old-school romances. Usually, I can’t stand this type because she’s written as “too-stupid-to-live,” which is insulting to women who lived and endured hard times in the past.
I shouldn’t have liked Shanna, the character, though, for some reason, I did. She was caustic, yet she had will, she connived, and she plotted. Shanna tried to control her destiny instead of letting others do it for her.
Author Laura Kinsale wrote in her essay “The Androgynous Reader” about Shanna:
“[A] sillier and more wrongheaded heroine than Shanna would be difficult to imagine… Feminists need not tremble for the reader–she does not identify with, admire, or internalize the characteristics of either a stupidly submissive or an irksomely independent heroine. The reader thinks about what she would have done in the heroine’s place.”
Shanna would undoubtedly qualify as the irksomely independent type. I typically don’t enjoy them, but when contrasting Shanna’s attitude with Ruark’s easy-going nature, the two made for a sizzling combination. So, apologies to Kinsale, but this reader did “identify with, admire, or internalize” some of Shanna’s characteristics. I’m an outlier, as ever.
Ruark
Ruark was an enigma. He was charming, handsome, and kind. Ruark was a dreamy hero for sure, but I couldn’t grasp why he was so obsessed with Shanna. He should have been more concerned about his own hide.
First, he’s on death row, about to hang for a murder he did not commit. Then he’s sent overseas in chains to be a plantation slave.
Does he dream about getting free and plotting his revenge against those who wronged him? Not really. From the moment he sees her in the prison, his primary focus is having Shanna and putting his pee-pee into her wee-wee.
Final Analysis of Shanna
I once referred to Shanna as being the same book as Catherine Creel’s 1991 Zebra Heartfire romance
. Creel certainly ripped off Woodiwiss as the main thrusts of the books are almost identical: secret marriage where the husband is a slave on the wife’s island plantation. The two novels deviate midway and then culminate in about the same place.
To be frank, I preferred Passion’s Chains more than I did Shanna, even though I enjoyed both. Perhaps the word count might have something to do with it. Passion’s Chains was 480 pages of standard size font. Shanna had teeny-tiny type-face on 666 super-thin pages.
Plotting and pacing matter. There was too much exposition and unnecessary antics in Shanna. In addition, I didn’t OMG love it enough at the beginning to forgive any sins that cropped up in the end as I would in a fantastic epic book like Stormfire.
Ruark was the book’s high point, a charming, good-natured hero determined to have his woman. However, I did not understand his obsession with Shanna when he should have focused more on clearing his name. Shanna’s a spoiled, petulant brat, although, as I said, I didn’t really mind that. I find mean, unlikeable heroines to be more palatable than the shy, milk-and-water types or boring blank slates.
Was this a stellar old-school romance I’ll long to re-read? No, although maybe a passage or two might stay with me. However, I am glad I read Shanna. I can finally say I completed a Kathleen E. Woodiwiss romance and liked it! Now on to The Flame and the Flower!
3.74 Stars
In 1977 Kathleen E. Woodiwiss’ long-awaited third novel made romance history as Avon released Shanna in trade paperback edition. It had a full-stretch green cover, illustrated by H. Tom Hall and designed by Barbara Bertoli. This was one of the first true American clinches. The entire exterior was painted, displaying the couple locked passionately together in a state of undress.
Playboy Press’
by Barabara Riefe also came out in 1977 with a full-page color clinch. But Betty Maxey’s artwork doesn’t compare to Hall’s fabulous cover. Plus, Shanna had a map insert that you could unfold.Avon heavily promoted this book, running commercial ads on daytime television and in national women’s magazines. It paid off. Shanna sold 3 million copies and was on the NY Times bestseller list for about a year.
Shanna was optioned for a film, but negotiations fell through when Woodiwiss couldn’t agree with the producers on the vision. The romance genre might be very different if this mild bodice ripper had been brought to the big screen in the 1970s or early 1980s!
I’ve long had a tenuous relationship with Woodiwiss’ romances. Shanna is the fourth of her books I’ve attempted to read. It’s the first I completed. So that’s a net positive in this bodice-ripper-lite’s column.
Now, did I love it? That is another matter entirely.
“In your madness you said you loved me,” she murmured shyly.
His humor fled, and the smile left her lips as she continued, “You said it before, too. When the storm struck, I asked you to love me, and you said you did.” Her voice was the barest of whispers.
Ruark’s gaze turned away from her, and he rubbed the bandage on his leg before he spoke. “Strange that madness should speak the truth, but truth it is.”
The Setup
Shanna Trahern is the spoiled only child of a wealthy Caribbean planter and widower, “Squire” Orlan Trahern. He’s part of the upstart merchant class and tres riche. Fortune hunters and noblemen fallen upon hard times seek her hand, but Shanna will have none of them! Why can’t a man love her for who she is, dammit: a haughty, ill-tempered, busty, aqua-eyed blonde with a flawless complexion?
Her doting father has given his beautiful and independent daughter one year in England to choose an appropriate man to marry. Otherwise, he will arrange a marriage for her. Squire Trahern wants grandbabies, dammit! Besides, his daughter could use a husband to tame her wild ways.
Determined to be ruled by no man, Shanna colludes with her servant Pitney to arrange a quickie marriage to some black-sheep gentleman doomed to the hangman’s noose. That way, she’ll have official records she was legally wed. Then she’d return home, a widow in mourning, determined never to remarry.
The man she “chooses” is a bearded wretch convicted of killing a barmaid. Despite his thin, unkempt appearance, the hero has a charm in his hazel-gold eyes.
He’s our hero Ruark Beauchamp. For some reason, Ruark gave me total Hugh Jackman vibes, so I was on board.
The Plot
Shanna promises to make the man’s last days pleasant by moving him to nicer quarters and keeping his belly fed. Instead, the prisoner arrogantly demands consummation of his marital rights because... Shanna is really hot.
She concedes to this, but any dingbat with two brain cells should know she’s full of it. But alas, our hero is besotted from the get-go over Shanna. His brains are in his balls. Ruark’s sole aim in this book is either getting into Shanna’s bed or obtaining vengeance, in the form of getting Shanna into his bed!
Ruark is cleaned up, and wouldn’t ya know it? With some food in his stomach, a haircut, shave, and wash... Ruark is really hot.
Shanna’s southern girly parts tingle. Ruark eyes Shanna’s northern girly parts making promises of a pleasurable time to come.
The ceremony is performed. Into the carriage and on their way are the newlyweds. But Ruark can’t take it anymore, his lust for her bust overwhelms him, and he takes her. For a couple of humps, he is allowed to experience paradise. Shanna is confused by the fluttering sensations she’s experiencing.
Then the coach stops, and Ruark realizes Shanna had no intention of upholding her side of the bargain. He is taken away, but not without a bitter fight, before presumably being executed. Shanna spares Ruark not another thought (okay, maybe one or two) and returns home to her father’s island of Los Camellos.
However…
Shanna’s other servant who was involved in her scheme decides to line his pockets in an even schemier scheme. He substitutes a dead man’s body for Ruark’s and takes him as a slave for Shanna’s father, of course. And wouldn’t ya know it? As Shanna sails home, Ruark is on that same ship.
Soon, to her great dismay, Shanna becomes aware of the new servant’s presence, and so does her father. Ruark never reveals he is Shanna’s legitimate husband (which would have made more sense since Ruark was so eager to get under Shanna’s petticoats).
As the new slave on the job, Ruark impresses the bossman with his engineering skills and–ahem–masterful knowledge of plantations. (It turns out Ruark’s family are wealthy colonial planters related to English nobility. What the hell was Ruark thinking, not contacting them or telling his father-in-law who he was?)
Trahern is so impressed that he gives Ruark special duties that come with special benefits. The day comes when the slave is dining at the table with the master and his wife—the slave’s wife, that is, not the master’s.
Apparently, Ruark is deep into some heavy roleplay, because this slave thing turns him on. When Shanna sees him while riding her horse, he taunts her, and she hits him with her quirt. Instead of reacting violently, as these heroes in rippers would, Ruark only smiles and vows to tame her to his will…
Funny enough, Shanna is viewed as having always gotten her way and in need of the right proper taming. She is a real itchbay, never satisfied, never content.
"Everything displeased her, and even the flawlessness of her own beauty, regally gowned in rich ivory satin and costly lace, did not change her mood of discontent."
Ruark cares not. Nothing matters, not freedom, not clearing his name for a crime he didn’t commit, and not returning home. He must have his Shanna!
The give-and-take, push-and-pull between Shanna and Ruark is highly exciting until it reaches its apex. Ruark finally gets his honeymoon!
It seems that Ruark has found his Paradise on Earth. That is until a big misunderstanding sends Shanna into a jealous rage.
Shanna demands he daddy sell Ruark off to pirates… Oh, hell, that’s where this book takes a nosedive.
Let’s just “yada, yada, yada” this okay?
Yada… Nasty stinky pirates…
Yada… Ruark reveals the truth about his identity, and the true identity of other people comes to light.
Yada… And an evil villain named Gaylord gets his in the end.
Shanna realizes that she loves Ruark and promises to stop being such a Seaward.
Shanna gives birth to twins, and her papa is happy as can be.
My Opinion
Woodiwiss and many romance writers of her age (ex. Jennifer Wilde, Rebecca Brandewyne, and Bertrice Small) wrote as if they got paid by the word, like their pulp predecessors. If Shanna had ended at the 450-page mark–or 325 pages a la Johanna Lindsey–it would have been glorious, a book I’d track down every edition of. I could have easily overlooked the flaws in favor of the positive aspects.
But it keeps going and going—so many fillers. I read a thousand romances from age 12-to 15, of all lengths, and was able to zip through a 1,000-page book per week. Today at 44, I do not have that patience. I have ADHD. I’ve said this before in a review of another book: “The paragraphs are too damn long!”
I’m no enemy of adverbs and adjectives. The world would be a dark place without modifiers. It’s that Woodiwiss didn’t believe in using one or two or three when ten or twelve would suit her better! There are innumerable adverbs, adjectives, and dependent clauses.
Let us not forget the effusive purple prose, the poem at the beginning, and the seriousness with which she takes herself. It appeared that Woodiwiss employed every grammatical trick at her disposal.
The Characters
Shanna is your typical beautiful, cossetted, foot-stamping, won’t-listen-to-reason heroine with eyes that flash in anger, the kind that was so prevalent in old-school romances. Usually, I can’t stand this type because she’s written as “too-stupid-to-live,” which is insulting to women who lived and endured hard times in the past.
I shouldn’t have liked Shanna, the character, though, for some reason, I did. She was caustic, yet she had will, she connived, and she plotted. Shanna tried to control her destiny instead of letting others do it for her.
Author Laura Kinsale wrote in her essay “The Androgynous Reader” about Shanna:
“[A] sillier and more wrongheaded heroine than Shanna would be difficult to imagine… Feminists need not tremble for the reader–she does not identify with, admire, or internalize the characteristics of either a stupidly submissive or an irksomely independent heroine. The reader thinks about what she would have done in the heroine’s place.”
Shanna would undoubtedly qualify as the irksomely independent type. I typically don’t enjoy them, but when contrasting Shanna’s attitude with Ruark’s easy-going nature, the two made for a sizzling combination. So, apologies to Kinsale, but this reader did “identify with, admire, or internalize” some of Shanna’s characteristics. I’m an outlier, as ever.
Ruark
Ruark was an enigma. He was charming, handsome, and kind. Ruark was a dreamy hero for sure, but I couldn’t grasp why he was so obsessed with Shanna. He should have been more concerned about his own hide.
First, he’s on death row, about to hang for a murder he did not commit. Then he’s sent overseas in chains to be a plantation slave.
Does he dream about getting free and plotting his revenge against those who wronged him? Not really. From the moment he sees her in the prison, his primary focus is having Shanna and putting his pee-pee into her wee-wee.
Final Analysis of Shanna
I once referred to Shanna as being the same book as Catherine Creel’s 1991 Zebra Heartfire romance
. Creel certainly ripped off Woodiwiss as the main thrusts of the books are almost identical: secret marriage where the husband is a slave on the wife’s island plantation. The two novels deviate midway and then culminate in about the same place.To be frank, I preferred Passion’s Chains more than I did Shanna, even though I enjoyed both. Perhaps the word count might have something to do with it. Passion’s Chains was 480 pages of standard size font. Shanna had teeny-tiny type-face on 666 super-thin pages.
Plotting and pacing matter. There was too much exposition and unnecessary antics in Shanna. In addition, I didn’t OMG love it enough at the beginning to forgive any sins that cropped up in the end as I would in a fantastic epic book like Stormfire.
Ruark was the book’s high point, a charming, good-natured hero determined to have his woman. However, I did not understand his obsession with Shanna when he should have focused more on clearing his name. Shanna’s a spoiled, petulant brat, although, as I said, I didn’t really mind that. I find mean, unlikeable heroines to be more palatable than the shy, milk-and-water types or boring blank slates.
Was this a stellar old-school romance I’ll long to re-read? No, although maybe a passage or two might stay with me. However, I am glad I read Shanna. I can finally say I completed a Kathleen E. Woodiwiss romance and liked it! Now on to The Flame and the Flower!
3.74 Stars
April 10, 2024
I first read Shanna in 2004. 20 years later I enjoyed the romance more the second time around. Kathleen Woodiwiss was known for historical romance and Shanna follows the romance formula to perfection. The first third of the story was somewhat tedious with the repetitious theme of how much Shanna despised Ruark but did she? The repeated description of his "furry chest" and her "slender waist" were tiresome.
The second two thirds of the book were exciting as the story entered a favorite setting of mine in the Caribbean where the action begins and moves to Colonial America. Several mysteries are presented that don't get resolved until the end. One, the reader can see coming but the others may take you by surprise. The reader won't take away valuable life lessons from reading Shanna but can certainly engage in some pleasurable escapism.
The second two thirds of the book were exciting as the story entered a favorite setting of mine in the Caribbean where the action begins and moves to Colonial America. Several mysteries are presented that don't get resolved until the end. One, the reader can see coming but the others may take you by surprise. The reader won't take away valuable life lessons from reading Shanna but can certainly engage in some pleasurable escapism.
April 23, 2021
Ooops, I confused this one with Ashes in the Wind.
Well, this one actually was quite good, from what I remember.
It was Ashes in the Wind that made me want to prod the heroine to stand up for herself and stop allowing everyone to use and abuse her.
Oh well, as I said, I prefer heroines who are strong, know their own minds and won't stand for any BS.
Well, this one actually was quite good, from what I remember.
It was Ashes in the Wind that made me want to prod the heroine to stand up for herself and stop allowing everyone to use and abuse her.
Oh well, as I said, I prefer heroines who are strong, know their own minds and won't stand for any BS.
September 30, 2015
So I decided to do a re-read on this older gem of a book. I originally read it back in the 1978 range and I was about 13 years old when I read. No, my mother didn't know I read it. Still has the original store price sticker on it. Here is the deal, doing old re-reads can be a tricky thing. Some books don't hold up to the test of time and this one didn't for me. I am leaving my rating as it stands. But Shanna was so immature and bi-polar, I don't know how Roark stood her. I kept begging him in my head to drop kick her into the ocean and go find someone who would love him without all the drama. I felt like this for 2/3s of the book. The last 1/3 was as really as good as I remembered it. :-)
April 24, 2021
So.. I did not know how this book was going to pull it off for me.. but it really did.
The growth in the heroine. The courage, steadfastness, and passion of the hero. The loving father, the mystery, the romance.. I did get swept away at times. And I was sobbing at the epilouge. Wow.
I can't give it 5 stars, since there was a solid 250 pages that bored me to tears with its repetitive nature but I do recommend this book. As a lover of Romance, and as someone who wants to check out older titles... this was very rewarding.
4 stars from me.
The growth in the heroine. The courage, steadfastness, and passion of the hero. The loving father, the mystery, the romance.. I did get swept away at times. And I was sobbing at the epilouge. Wow.
I can't give it 5 stars, since there was a solid 250 pages that bored me to tears with its repetitive nature but I do recommend this book. As a lover of Romance, and as someone who wants to check out older titles... this was very rewarding.
4 stars from me.
October 14, 2021
Deo gratias!
Finalmente dopo due lunghe settimane sono riuscita a terminare questo libro della Woodiwiss.
Non posso assolutamente dire che è un romance scadente, nemmeno che è brutto, ma davvero troppo troppo lungo, senza una reale motivazione. Vi fossero dei nuovi eventi, una evoluzione della storia, avrei anche accettato di leggere altre cinquecento pagine, ma dopo la parte iniziale davvero intrigante, si susseguono capitoli su capitoli di nulla cosmico. Stessa ambientazione (un'isola sperduta delle colonie), ripetizioni degli stessi avvenimenti, solo che accadono in parti diverse dell'isola e chiacchiere su chiacchere pressoché inutili ai fini della storia. Veniamo poi ai personaggi: lei, Shanna, odiosa da sbattere con la testa al muro un giorno sì e l'altro pure, lui Ruark Beauchamp, innamorato a prima vista e con una pazienza che Giobbe gli fa un baffo, tanto che durante la lettura mi auguravo spesso che la lasciasse lì dove si trovava. I personaggi secondari invece mi son piaciuti, anche se la figura del padre troppo tirata per i capelli: un signore delle colonie eccessivamente buono e affabile con i suoi dipendenti e, per l'epoca lo trovo un po' inverosimile. Comunque, tirando le somme, il libro è promosso soprattutto considerando il periodo in cui è uscito, parliamo degli anni '70 signore mie, quindi sicuramente all'avanguardia per l'epoca; promosso anche per il periodo storico considerato: non avevo mai letto nulla ambientato ai tempi del colonialismo e l'ho trovato interessante e, inoltre, le ultime 200 pagine alzano di molto il tono della storia. In pratica tutti i colpi di scena e le scene più belle sono concentrate sul finale.
La Woodiwiss rimane per me un'ottima autrice, tra l'altro della stessa avevo già letto "Il lupo e la colomba" che avevo trovato davvero bello, ma prima di leggere un altro suo romance mi prenderò del tempo: non vorrei incappare in un'altra lettura così lenta.
Finalmente dopo due lunghe settimane sono riuscita a terminare questo libro della Woodiwiss.
Non posso assolutamente dire che è un romance scadente, nemmeno che è brutto, ma davvero troppo troppo lungo, senza una reale motivazione. Vi fossero dei nuovi eventi, una evoluzione della storia, avrei anche accettato di leggere altre cinquecento pagine, ma dopo la parte iniziale davvero intrigante, si susseguono capitoli su capitoli di nulla cosmico. Stessa ambientazione (un'isola sperduta delle colonie), ripetizioni degli stessi avvenimenti, solo che accadono in parti diverse dell'isola e chiacchiere su chiacchere pressoché inutili ai fini della storia. Veniamo poi ai personaggi: lei, Shanna, odiosa da sbattere con la testa al muro un giorno sì e l'altro pure, lui Ruark Beauchamp, innamorato a prima vista e con una pazienza che Giobbe gli fa un baffo, tanto che durante la lettura mi auguravo spesso che la lasciasse lì dove si trovava. I personaggi secondari invece mi son piaciuti, anche se la figura del padre troppo tirata per i capelli: un signore delle colonie eccessivamente buono e affabile con i suoi dipendenti e, per l'epoca lo trovo un po' inverosimile. Comunque, tirando le somme, il libro è promosso soprattutto considerando il periodo in cui è uscito, parliamo degli anni '70 signore mie, quindi sicuramente all'avanguardia per l'epoca; promosso anche per il periodo storico considerato: non avevo mai letto nulla ambientato ai tempi del colonialismo e l'ho trovato interessante e, inoltre, le ultime 200 pagine alzano di molto il tono della storia. In pratica tutti i colpi di scena e le scene più belle sono concentrate sul finale.
La Woodiwiss rimane per me un'ottima autrice, tra l'altro della stessa avevo già letto "Il lupo e la colomba" che avevo trovato davvero bello, ma prima di leggere un altro suo romance mi prenderò del tempo: non vorrei incappare in un'altra lettura così lenta.
August 13, 2023
I listened to the audiobook, which was about 30 hours long. The pacing is very slow, the romance just okay. The hero falls in love first but the heroine treats him awfully that it begs the question, “How can he be in love with her?”
For some reason I didn’t mind the slow pacing; normally I would but the narration was kind of relaxing. I held my patience until the 80% mark when I wanted to know how everything gets revealed so I switched to skimming the ebook.
The beginning starts off well. Shanna marries a man who’s about to be hanged. I can’t help but imagine that this book is inspiration for modern day HRs that also have this plot.
But then it gets boring when the characters arrive at an island in the Caribbean. Lots of reviewers dislike the heroine, Shanna, for her treatment of the hero, Ruark, so be prepared for that.
The second half gets a little more interesting with some action: pirates, murder, secrets/truths coming out, but the second half still suffers from being dragged out. Tons of stuff should have been cut out for a decent page count.
For some reason I didn’t mind the slow pacing; normally I would but the narration was kind of relaxing. I held my patience until the 80% mark when I wanted to know how everything gets revealed so I switched to skimming the ebook.
The beginning starts off well. Shanna marries a man who’s about to be hanged. I can’t help but imagine that this book is inspiration for modern day HRs that also have this plot.
But then it gets boring when the characters arrive at an island in the Caribbean. Lots of reviewers dislike the heroine, Shanna, for her treatment of the hero, Ruark, so be prepared for that.
The second half gets a little more interesting with some action: pirates, murder, secrets/truths coming out, but the second half still suffers from being dragged out. Tons of stuff should have been cut out for a decent page count.
September 17, 2013
<3
The ending was the only blemish on my experience with this wonderful story.
I am the perfect reader for this book though, I must admit. I loved the flowery, lavender-hued prose and the abundance of detail in this rather lighthearted, adventure tale.
That's not to say there wasn't a fair amount of conflict, but it was the good kind in which an awful, naughty villainess-type character slowly comes undone by a wily and determined heroic one. Ah, twas delightful. Where I was convinced the author was setting up a fall for the main characters, she turned it into a boon instead. How refreshing! Sorta made me realize I've got trust issues with authors, lol.
Needless to say, I was pleasantly surprised by this one and highly recommend it to those who appreciate such a trope as: "gorgeous scoundrel falls for gorgeous scroundress; shenanigans ensue".
The ending was the only blemish on my experience with this wonderful story.
I am the perfect reader for this book though, I must admit. I loved the flowery, lavender-hued prose and the abundance of detail in this rather lighthearted, adventure tale.
That's not to say there wasn't a fair amount of conflict, but it was the good kind in which an awful, naughty villainess-type character slowly comes undone by a wily and determined heroic one. Ah, twas delightful. Where I was convinced the author was setting up a fall for the main characters, she turned it into a boon instead. How refreshing! Sorta made me realize I've got trust issues with authors, lol.
Needless to say, I was pleasantly surprised by this one and highly recommend it to those who appreciate such a trope as: "gorgeous scoundrel falls for gorgeous scroundress; shenanigans ensue".
August 30, 2011
There are books full of jerk heroes who redeem themselves in the last pages and people simply love them because they are rude, arrogant, self-confident, whatever. So, I don't understand why so many people didn't like Shanna. She's that kind of person, with one difference: she's a young girl and not a 35 year old jerk hero. She's totally unexperienced and knows nothing about life. She's a scared girl who dreams with a man who's the opposite of Ruark, probably because she's not prepared for Ruark's fully committed adult love. But as the story grows, Shanna will grow up with it and she will become a real heroine.
I confess that one of the most delicious parts of the story was to watch Shanna's growth while I delighted myself with Ruark's wonderful, fearless and persevering love, which knew no barriers or sacrifices.
I confess that one of the most delicious parts of the story was to watch Shanna's growth while I delighted myself with Ruark's wonderful, fearless and persevering love, which knew no barriers or sacrifices.
March 17, 2010
This one of those books I loved for the hero, and wanted to drop the heroine off a cliff. Back in the day, that was rare. Usually the heroes were jerks with a capital J, and I just wanted the heroine to get away from the hero and give a rude gesture as she walks away. I should reread this. It's a long book, though. Probably should finally read Outlander, first.
August 14, 2020
The epitome of the harlequin era: trembling desires and quivering members a plenty 😂 but the nostalgia means I can’t give it less than ☀️☀️☀️.
April 22, 2016
Woodiwiss is my all-time favorite author. Way back in the mid 1970's, I was introduced to my first 'gothic' romance novel that contained an alpha male. It was 'The Flame and the Flower.' It was the first book that gave my stomach butterflies; that I couldn't put down. Wikipedia states that this book that was officially published by Avon in 1972 "is credited with spawning the modern romance genre." All I know is that everyone wanted a 'Brandon Birmingham' in their bed - LOL!
That of course was followed by her second book, 'The Wolf and the Dove,' where we got to meet Wulfgar (ultra-alpha male) and Aislin (a bit more backbone than Heather from TFATF).
But it was Ms. Woodiwiss's third book, 'Shanna,' that was by far my favorite.
Ruark Beauchamp is an alpha male - not in the same way as Brandon or Wulfgar, but then, Shanna was a bit more high-maintenance than either one of the heroines in the previous two books. So it took not only an alpha, but an alpha that was patient, tenacious, and who really 'got' Shanna in order to tame her. The reason is obvious - as another reviewer pointed out, Shanna was spoiled. However, Shanna was more than that. We cannot overlook the fact for that period of time, Shanna was a couple of hundred years ahead of her time; kind of like Scarlett O'Hara was for her time.
Shanna did not want a 'marriage of convenience' to please her widowed father who was hell bent on having her married off and giving him a passel of grandbabies. Shanna had plans of her own. Having essentially been raised without her mother who died when Shanna was just a baby, Shanna lived in a man's world, having seen what that was like, she wanted her own independence.
Yes - Shanna could be selfish and self-serving, until her amorous 'bond slave' taught about compassion, generosity, loving and learning. She nearly lost it all before she realized what she had. She was humbled by Ruark Beauchamp.... that was a first.
This book, out of all of Ms. Woodiwiss's novels, was actually optioned for a movie. I believe it was somewhere around 1978 or 1979. Whether it was a television movie or the big screen, I don't recall. I do remember reading articles about it and I am not sure why it fell through. I recall that several well-known actresses were vying for the part of 'Shanna Trahern,' one being the 'Charlie's Angel' star, Cheryl Ladd.
In today's reading world perhaps the "graphic" description of the hot sex Shanna and Ruark had could not hold up to the writing of authors such as E.L.James (whose work I love by the way) or others writing in the romantic-erotica-alpha male genre. But I can tell you this: about every 3-4 years I re-read this book and after all of this time, it still gives this old lady butterflies - DOWN THERE!!!!
That of course was followed by her second book, 'The Wolf and the Dove,' where we got to meet Wulfgar (ultra-alpha male) and Aislin (a bit more backbone than Heather from TFATF).
But it was Ms. Woodiwiss's third book, 'Shanna,' that was by far my favorite.
Ruark Beauchamp is an alpha male - not in the same way as Brandon or Wulfgar, but then, Shanna was a bit more high-maintenance than either one of the heroines in the previous two books. So it took not only an alpha, but an alpha that was patient, tenacious, and who really 'got' Shanna in order to tame her. The reason is obvious - as another reviewer pointed out, Shanna was spoiled. However, Shanna was more than that. We cannot overlook the fact for that period of time, Shanna was a couple of hundred years ahead of her time; kind of like Scarlett O'Hara was for her time.
Shanna did not want a 'marriage of convenience' to please her widowed father who was hell bent on having her married off and giving him a passel of grandbabies. Shanna had plans of her own. Having essentially been raised without her mother who died when Shanna was just a baby, Shanna lived in a man's world, having seen what that was like, she wanted her own independence.
Yes - Shanna could be selfish and self-serving, until her amorous 'bond slave' taught about compassion, generosity, loving and learning. She nearly lost it all before she realized what she had. She was humbled by Ruark Beauchamp.... that was a first.
This book, out of all of Ms. Woodiwiss's novels, was actually optioned for a movie. I believe it was somewhere around 1978 or 1979. Whether it was a television movie or the big screen, I don't recall. I do remember reading articles about it and I am not sure why it fell through. I recall that several well-known actresses were vying for the part of 'Shanna Trahern,' one being the 'Charlie's Angel' star, Cheryl Ladd.
In today's reading world perhaps the "graphic" description of the hot sex Shanna and Ruark had could not hold up to the writing of authors such as E.L.James (whose work I love by the way) or others writing in the romantic-erotica-alpha male genre. But I can tell you this: about every 3-4 years I re-read this book and after all of this time, it still gives this old lady butterflies - DOWN THERE!!!!
October 14, 2010
I know I am the minority but this was not a GREAT book and had a really hard time even finishing. The only reason I stuck with this book was because of all the great reviews and I kept hoping I would find the wonderment that so many others have felt while reading this book.
I found the plot kept repeating itself only in different locations. Shanna would be mean to Ruark then fall into bed with him, then swear she was done with him, then do it again and again. For me the prose was too flowery. I had to scan many paragraphs of descriptions to get to the plot. By the time I started enjoying the book there were only 100 pages left and that even dragged on. I think this would have been a wonderful story if it was half the size and involved more of his family!
Ruark was the only reason to continue reading the book and I was happy for his HEA but wonder what he found so attractive in Shanna besides her outward appearance. Yes by the end of the book (after almost a year has lapsed) she did change, but was that because she had no other choice due to the fact she was preggers? So what was there in her that kept a man like Ruark so in love with her for so long and so willing to do such demeaning things (i.e. being a bondslave)? I felt for most of the book Shanna was a selfish, spoiled brat that needed a kick in the butt! Aaargg.
I found the plot kept repeating itself only in different locations. Shanna would be mean to Ruark then fall into bed with him, then swear she was done with him, then do it again and again. For me the prose was too flowery. I had to scan many paragraphs of descriptions to get to the plot. By the time I started enjoying the book there were only 100 pages left and that even dragged on. I think this would have been a wonderful story if it was half the size and involved more of his family!
Ruark was the only reason to continue reading the book and I was happy for his HEA but wonder what he found so attractive in Shanna besides her outward appearance. Yes by the end of the book (after almost a year has lapsed) she did change, but was that because she had no other choice due to the fact she was preggers? So what was there in her that kept a man like Ruark so in love with her for so long and so willing to do such demeaning things (i.e. being a bondslave)? I felt for most of the book Shanna was a selfish, spoiled brat that needed a kick in the butt! Aaargg.
May 16, 2010
Ruark is in prison waiting to be hanged for a murder he did not commit.Shanna has to marry or her father will choose her a husband. Desperate she propositions Ruark, marry her for a night of passion before he dies, this way she becomes a widow and is free. That is the first 80 or so pages. Then we have nearly 600 pages of a fast adventure, bondsmen(slaves),revenge, colonials, pirates, kidnapping, a couple of murders and love.
The story is brilliant and Ruark is the perfect to die for Hero. Shanna!!, what the hell was wrong with her. She was a spoiled whiny bitch. While most women would kill for a man like Ruark, she was a cold cruel brat that I wanted to use as a football!!
Then KEW did the unimaginable, a small miracle even. She redeemed Shanna. The spoiled child was gone and a loving caring woman was in her place. But it was the way KEW redeemed her, it was done so slick and subtly that you hardly noticed. Over a few chapters Shanna was forgiveable, human and I loved her. Which proves what a great writer the late KEW was!
Any body that reads the older 80S Hist/Rom will know that the Hero's usually start off as being jerks, this book is different as in the Hero is great its the Heroine thats a jerk... Fantastic read and highly recommended.
The story is brilliant and Ruark is the perfect to die for Hero. Shanna!!, what the hell was wrong with her. She was a spoiled whiny bitch. While most women would kill for a man like Ruark, she was a cold cruel brat that I wanted to use as a football!!
Then KEW did the unimaginable, a small miracle even. She redeemed Shanna. The spoiled child was gone and a loving caring woman was in her place. But it was the way KEW redeemed her, it was done so slick and subtly that you hardly noticed. Over a few chapters Shanna was forgiveable, human and I loved her. Which proves what a great writer the late KEW was!
Any body that reads the older 80S Hist/Rom will know that the Hero's usually start off as being jerks, this book is different as in the Hero is great its the Heroine thats a jerk... Fantastic read and highly recommended.
May 7, 2020
Kitaplıkta senelerdir bekliyordu, Melis ile br ayağına okumuş oldum. Daha önce İhtiras Çiçeği'ni okumuştum ve beğenmemiştim, beğenmeme nedenlerim burada da var. Kadın karakterlerini en sinir bozucu, şımarık, züppe nasıl yazarım diye düşünüp öyle yazmış sanırım. Sonlara doğru Shanna düzelse de başlarda gerçekten çile gibi bir kızdı. Baya uzun hikayeydi, bir kısım var ki orası çok uzadı mesela. Sonları daha akıcıydı, biraz klişe olsa da fena değildi. Yazardan bir daha ne zaman bir kitap okurum meçhul.
June 13, 2010
Recommended to me as a romance novel classic, apparently there is a whole generation of romance novel readers that started out as pre-teens with this book as a fondly remembered introduction to the genre. Considering the ponderous length and wordy descriptions in the book I find it impressive that they were so engaged. I suppose it just goes to show, never underestimate the motivating power of a hot love scene. :)
The plot twists and turns and twists again! Ruark, the hero, is awesome. Very alpha-male while being uber patient and loving (well, from the middle on anyway). The heroine can get a little anoying, but when i found myself getting annoyed at her for not just acknowledging her feelings and going with it I remembered a couple things in her defense. 1.) In the beginning Ruark is not sweet and loving, he's angry and demanding about his deal unconsummated. And he's a convicted murderer! 2.) It's 1750. Classism as word doesn't exist, it's just accepted as the way things are. She has been raised to be a spoiled brat and her father basically told her her one goal in life is to snare a suitable husband and get with child. It's understandable that she balks at declaring herself the wife of a slave and takes some time to realize the worth of the man and the depth of her feelings. It's not entirely fair to judge by our modern egalitarianism. 3.) Most people in real life take at least a year before they pledge themselves in marriage, so I guess I can forgive a romance character for taking more than the usual 2-3 weeks to realize she's madly in love.
Anyway, I really enjoyed the epic romancy-ness of it all. And *rawr* Ruark!
PS-- I wonder (since this is considered a romance classic) if Outlander's Claire BEAUCHAMP is Diana Gabaldon's homage to Shanna? Ya ken?
The plot twists and turns and twists again! Ruark, the hero, is awesome. Very alpha-male while being uber patient and loving (well, from the middle on anyway). The heroine can get a little anoying, but when i found myself getting annoyed at her for not just acknowledging her feelings and going with it I remembered a couple things in her defense. 1.) In the beginning Ruark is not sweet and loving, he's angry and demanding about his deal unconsummated. And he's a convicted murderer! 2.) It's 1750. Classism as word doesn't exist, it's just accepted as the way things are. She has been raised to be a spoiled brat and her father basically told her her one goal in life is to snare a suitable husband and get with child. It's understandable that she balks at declaring herself the wife of a slave and takes some time to realize the worth of the man and the depth of her feelings. It's not entirely fair to judge by our modern egalitarianism. 3.) Most people in real life take at least a year before they pledge themselves in marriage, so I guess I can forgive a romance character for taking more than the usual 2-3 weeks to realize she's madly in love.
Anyway, I really enjoyed the epic romancy-ness of it all. And *rawr* Ruark!
PS-- I wonder (since this is considered a romance classic) if Outlander's Claire BEAUCHAMP is Diana Gabaldon's homage to Shanna? Ya ken?
October 4, 2016
Me ha encantado!!! Ruark es maravilloso!!! Shanna es malcriada acostumbrada a salirse con la suya,a veces le darías...
La novela tiene de todo, romance, aventura... y te lleva a muchos sitios la isla de Los Camellos, América, Londres...he disfrutado mucho. Es lo primero que leo de esta autora y no me ha decepcionado para nada.
Para mi es una de esas joyitas románticas escritas hace años, creo que cuando la relea me gustará todavía más.
La novela tiene de todo, romance, aventura... y te lleva a muchos sitios la isla de Los Camellos, América, Londres...he disfrutado mucho. Es lo primero que leo de esta autora y no me ha decepcionado para nada.
Para mi es una de esas joyitas románticas escritas hace años, creo que cuando la relea me gustará todavía más.
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