Willow Embrace

by Allison Knight

PAPERBACK

Paperback

First published January 1, 1988

About the author

In junior high she decided she wanted to write, so in seventh grade she wrote poetry. In eighth grade she started writing prose; in high school, short stories, in college, she authored a newspaper column. After college, she continued to write. While teaching Home Economics, she even started a cookbook. Her husband claims it was a good thing it never saw the light of day.

When she started teaching, she met and fell in love with her very own hero. They married and started a family. As her children grew, she entertained them with stories, some real and some not so real. When she found a spare minute or two, she read. She still continued to teach and more than once her classroom, full of inquiring minds, had a teacher who'd had very little sleep the night before because she'd read into the wee hours of the morning. (She claims she has no self-discipline when it came to a good book!)

After she discovered historical romance, and found things missing in the current book she was reading, she decided she had to write her own romance. Full of enthusiasm, she pulled out her portable typewriter, (computers were not yet a common household item), a package of paper and began- - -

THE GREAT AMERICAN ROMANCE!

Her daughter asked what she was doing.
"I'm writing a book," Allison said.
"Oh yea, Mom! When cows fly!!!!"
When her first book sold, she came home from her teaching assignment to find a stuffed cow, with added wings sailing around the family room tied to the ceiling fan. Of course she had to dedicate the book to her children exhorting them to look up!

Today Allison has seventeen romances to her credit and she is busy working on more historical romances, including a good old-fashion gothic. She speaks at conferences, and delights in sharing her love of the romance genre with anyone interested in talking about books.

Reviews

[ANGELIA · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a pretty good story, though it did go a bit over the top with both the H and h trying to find each other, just missing each other, backtracking, one going one way, one the other, until they finally meet again, but not before a bit more time wasting. It was meant to be suspenseful ("Will they ever find each other???") and I guess entertaining, as well as making their reunion mor profound, but after a time it got to be annoying.

As a matter of fact, for one reason or another, about 1/5 of the book was about someone chasing someone. At one point the H is looking for the H at the same time her brother's looking for her, and the H was also looking for him! And they weren't' getting anywhere! Just a tad too silly!

And I'm sorry the author decided to use that old trope of the drunk H, thinking the virginal h was a lady of ill repute, making their first sexual encounter more of a rape! And Ms. Knight should also have checked historical facts. In the 19thc, well-bred young women didn't get internal exams unless it was a real emergency, and they were covered up as much as possible, with the doctor averting his eyes as much as he could. He did not come into the bedroom and have her lift up her nightgown! And it was mandatory, not optional, that a female servant or relative be present. The H's aunt would NOT have requested that she stay in the room, she would have demanded it, and the doctor would have expected it. His permission would not be required! And the h would have protested, not just lay there passively. Time had already passed since the incident, and she had never been in shock or in pain. In fact, she was able to ride a horse shortly afterward. And she wasn't pregnant, so there was no need for that exam, and back then, it never would have happened.

I liked the whole underground railroad theme (with the h being what they called a conductor), and I admit I agree with the other reviewer (though I'll be more articulate about it) that it does seem a bit ridiculous for the h to be an abolitionist and want her baby named after her late slave owning brother-in-law, who was also the one who caused her and the H so much trouble, tried to break them up and almost got the H killed because of it. (Not to mention calling her northern "trash" more than once!) Just because he said "Sorry about that" on his deathbed is no reason to honor his memory by the couple naming their firstborn after him. The h had two brothers and a late father, why not name their son after one of them? Even though the H's late father had the same name, it still seemed strange.

What I really liked about this book was the H and h (although having a few moments of doubt) not falling for the brother's machinations and still trusting each other, even when things looked bleak. I especially like the author avoiding the trope of having the h act TSTL and decide to run off because she couldn't trust in the H and their love. Not this h! In fact, when she thought for a time that the H was dead, she made a brave decision based on what he had wanted. Any "running" she did was by necessity, not some silly "escape from the H" trope. There was one time when she left, but it was because she was afraid that she would be put in prison for having attempted to help the brother's slaves escape and at the same time trying to help get them to safety at the same time trying to save herself. It led to one of those chasing stories, but at least it made sense.

It wasn't without flaws, but it's still worth reading.

[Dayse Dantas · Rating 1 out of 5]

THEY NAMED THE BABY AFTER THE ABUSIVE SLAVE OWNER VILLAIN???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? WTF??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????