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Golden Lasso
Derek Bannon's mix of cruelty and kindness wears down Jan Warren's resistance to him as he pursues his plan to take over her small, struggling ranch--and her along with it. Reprint.
Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1981
6 people are currently reading
308 people want to read
About the author
Fern Michaels
424 books6,513 followersFern Michaels isn’t a person. I’m not sure she’s an entity either since an entity is something with separate existence. Fern Michaels® is what I DO. Me, Mary Ruth Kuczkir. Growing up in Hastings, Pennsylvania, I was called Ruth. I became Mary when I entered the business world where first names were the order of the day. To this day, family and friends call me Dink, a name my father gave me when I was born because according to him I was ‘a dinky little thing’ weighing in at four and a half pounds. However, I answer to Fern since people are more comfortable with a name they can pronounce.
As they say, the past is prologue. I grew up, got a job, got married, had five kids. When my youngest went off to Kindergarten, my husband told me to get off my ass and get a job. Those were his exact words. I didn’t know how to do anything except be a wife and mother. I was also a voracious reader having cut my teeth on The Bobbsey Twins, Nancy Drew, The Hardy Boys, Cherry Ames and the like. The library was a magical place for me. It still is to this day. Rather than face the outside world with no skills, I decided to write a book. For some reason that didn’t intimidate me. As my husband said at the time, stupid is as stupid does. Guess what, I don’t have that husband any more. Guess what else! I wrote 99 books, most of them New York Times Best Sellers.
Moving right along here . . . Several years ago I left Ballantine Books, parted company with my agent, sold my house in New Jersey that I had lived in all my married life and in 1993 moved to South Carolina. I figured if I was going to go through trauma let it be all at one time. It was a breeze. The kids were all on their own at that point. The dump was a 300 year old plantation house that is listed in the National Registry that I remodeled. Today it is beyond belief as are the gardens and the equally old Angel Oaks that drip Spanish moss. Unfortunately, I could not get my ghost to relocate. This ghost has been documented by previous owners. Mary Margaret as we call her, is “a friendly”. She is also mischievous. It took me two weeks to figure out that she didn’t like my coffee cups. They would slide off the table or counter or else they’d break in the dishwasher. I bought red checkered ones. All are intact as of this writing. She moves pillows from one room to the other and she stops all the clocks in the house at 9:10 in the a.m. at least once a week. When the Azaleas are in bloom, and only then, I find blooms on my night stand. I have this glorious front porch and during the warm months I see my swing moving early in the morning when the air is still and again late in the day. She doesn’t spook the dogs. I always know when she’s around because the five of them line up and look like they’re at a tennis match. As of this writing we’re co-habiting nicely.
Most writers love what they do and I’m no exception. I love it when I get a germ of an idea and get it down on paper. I love breathing life into my characters. I love writing about women who persevere and prevail because that’s what I had to do to get to this point in time. It’s another way of saying it doesn’t matter where you’ve been, what matters is where you’re going and how you get there. The day I finally prevailed was the day I was inducted into the New Jersey Literary Hall of Fame. For me it was an awesome day and there are no words to describe it.
I’ve been telling stories and scribbling for 37 years. I hope I can continue for another 37 years. It wasn’t easy during some of those years. As I said, I had to persevere. My old Polish grandmother said something to me when I was little that I never forgot. She said when God is good to you, you have to give back. For a while I didn’t know how to do that. When I finally figured it out I set up The Fern Michaels® Foundation.
READ FERN MICHAELS' FULL BIOGRAPHY HERE: http://www.fernmichaels.com/biography/
As they say, the past is prologue. I grew up, got a job, got married, had five kids. When my youngest went off to Kindergarten, my husband told me to get off my ass and get a job. Those were his exact words. I didn’t know how to do anything except be a wife and mother. I was also a voracious reader having cut my teeth on The Bobbsey Twins, Nancy Drew, The Hardy Boys, Cherry Ames and the like. The library was a magical place for me. It still is to this day. Rather than face the outside world with no skills, I decided to write a book. For some reason that didn’t intimidate me. As my husband said at the time, stupid is as stupid does. Guess what, I don’t have that husband any more. Guess what else! I wrote 99 books, most of them New York Times Best Sellers.
Moving right along here . . . Several years ago I left Ballantine Books, parted company with my agent, sold my house in New Jersey that I had lived in all my married life and in 1993 moved to South Carolina. I figured if I was going to go through trauma let it be all at one time. It was a breeze. The kids were all on their own at that point. The dump was a 300 year old plantation house that is listed in the National Registry that I remodeled. Today it is beyond belief as are the gardens and the equally old Angel Oaks that drip Spanish moss. Unfortunately, I could not get my ghost to relocate. This ghost has been documented by previous owners. Mary Margaret as we call her, is “a friendly”. She is also mischievous. It took me two weeks to figure out that she didn’t like my coffee cups. They would slide off the table or counter or else they’d break in the dishwasher. I bought red checkered ones. All are intact as of this writing. She moves pillows from one room to the other and she stops all the clocks in the house at 9:10 in the a.m. at least once a week. When the Azaleas are in bloom, and only then, I find blooms on my night stand. I have this glorious front porch and during the warm months I see my swing moving early in the morning when the air is still and again late in the day. She doesn’t spook the dogs. I always know when she’s around because the five of them line up and look like they’re at a tennis match. As of this writing we’re co-habiting nicely.
Most writers love what they do and I’m no exception. I love it when I get a germ of an idea and get it down on paper. I love breathing life into my characters. I love writing about women who persevere and prevail because that’s what I had to do to get to this point in time. It’s another way of saying it doesn’t matter where you’ve been, what matters is where you’re going and how you get there. The day I finally prevailed was the day I was inducted into the New Jersey Literary Hall of Fame. For me it was an awesome day and there are no words to describe it.
I’ve been telling stories and scribbling for 37 years. I hope I can continue for another 37 years. It wasn’t easy during some of those years. As I said, I had to persevere. My old Polish grandmother said something to me when I was little that I never forgot. She said when God is good to you, you have to give back. For a while I didn’t know how to do that. When I finally figured it out I set up The Fern Michaels® Foundation.
READ FERN MICHAELS' FULL BIOGRAPHY HERE: http://www.fernmichaels.com/biography/
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Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews
November 8, 2016
I've had a bad reading streak lately. This was another loss for me. I remember reading this a while back and I must have liked it because it sat on my bookshelf for years. But this re-read had me wandering what exactly I had found so interesting back than.
The story is about Jan who inherits a ranch and moves from the city with her 9 year old little brother who was badly injured in the car accident that killed her parents. The ranch is a resort for families with horse back riding, camp outs and nature trails. It's a great place to raise a family and it's close to a top medical facility that her brother can go to for his physical therapy. Everything is looking up. Until she meets Derek.
The H in the story is a big shot moneyed man who owns the flashy resort next to Jan's ranch. They instant butt heads when he offers to buy Jan out. She feels his interest in the ranch threatens the life she wants to build for her little brother and resents his highhanded methods. He reminded me so much of Diana Palmer's Hs. All arrogance, judgmental, pompous and with huge anger management issues.
This was a fail for me because the whole book is based on a misunderstanding. Jan thinks that Derek is engaged to this girl because she heard snippets of conversation and she conveniently filled in the blanks. So from that moment on, she pushes the H away, thinking he's just playing with her, all the while with a fiance on the side. She was also a big fan of weeping, she cried with she was happy, sad, angry. It was a giant cry fest for this h. When the 'I love you' moment happened it came out of left field. The H says it first, although Jan did acknowledge she loved him (right after they had a fight no less!) and there was no build up. The only interaction they've had before this declaration is a handful of encounters where they either jeered and mocked each other or they were sharing anger fueled kisses.
Both MCs suffered from borderline psycho mood swings and I don't get how or why they fell in love with each other. It made zero sense and I felt there was not real depth to the characters or their romance.
The story is about Jan who inherits a ranch and moves from the city with her 9 year old little brother who was badly injured in the car accident that killed her parents. The ranch is a resort for families with horse back riding, camp outs and nature trails. It's a great place to raise a family and it's close to a top medical facility that her brother can go to for his physical therapy. Everything is looking up. Until she meets Derek.
The H in the story is a big shot moneyed man who owns the flashy resort next to Jan's ranch. They instant butt heads when he offers to buy Jan out. She feels his interest in the ranch threatens the life she wants to build for her little brother and resents his highhanded methods. He reminded me so much of Diana Palmer's Hs. All arrogance, judgmental, pompous and with huge anger management issues.
This was a fail for me because the whole book is based on a misunderstanding. Jan thinks that Derek is engaged to this girl because she heard snippets of conversation and she conveniently filled in the blanks. So from that moment on, she pushes the H away, thinking he's just playing with her, all the while with a fiance on the side. She was also a big fan of weeping, she cried with she was happy, sad, angry. It was a giant cry fest for this h. When the 'I love you' moment happened it came out of left field. The H says it first, although Jan did acknowledge she loved him (right after they had a fight no less!) and there was no build up. The only interaction they've had before this declaration is a handful of encounters where they either jeered and mocked each other or they were sharing anger fueled kisses.
Both MCs suffered from borderline psycho mood swings and I don't get how or why they fell in love with each other. It made zero sense and I felt there was not real depth to the characters or their romance.
July 21, 2016
Full of responsibility, Jan's world is stretched between three important things, her little brother, her deceased uncle's Ranch and her dominant, over ambitious and full of pride, owner of neighboring Golden Lasso who thinks everything is on sale! It will be interesting to find out how things will turn out for Jan?
March 23, 2019
Probably because this book was first released in 1980 - I didn’t enjoy. Didn’t like Jan- I was a teen in the 80’s but I don’t remember ladies being so weak. The first time she meets Derek he’s kissing her. Thereafter nearly each time he’s kissing her and feeling her up, but heaven forbid no hanky panky cosmthat is sinful!
The story is so weak , the ending, well not an ending - I’m left wondering did she sell the farm, did Derek and Jan get together, what happened to Benji, thankfully it was only 200 pages. Who on earth lets a 9 year old boy be loaded off onto a grown man? She did nothing at the ranch either. Thinkmall she did was get blisters!
Very disappointed, now I don’t know if I would her other books or not, I thoroughly enjoyed the series she did (Texas, Vegas and Kentucky) they were released around the same time to, but they had a stronger female in the story, big books with 3 in each series, gritty storylines.
The story is so weak , the ending, well not an ending - I’m left wondering did she sell the farm, did Derek and Jan get together, what happened to Benji, thankfully it was only 200 pages. Who on earth lets a 9 year old boy be loaded off onto a grown man? She did nothing at the ranch either. Thinkmall she did was get blisters!
Very disappointed, now I don’t know if I would her other books or not, I thoroughly enjoyed the series she did (Texas, Vegas and Kentucky) they were released around the same time to, but they had a stronger female in the story, big books with 3 in each series, gritty storylines.
December 2, 2025
The behavior of the main female character, Jan, is extremely annoying and her behavior reflects some of the extremely dated ideas of the 80s time period in which the book was written.
She’s supposedly an intelligent woman, but doesn’t act it. She allows a man she just met to kiss her without decking him or cussing him out. Then she allows him to take her brother Benjie to a doctor’s appointment without her. What was she thinking?!
Later she muses, “He just better not think he was going to make any decisions where Benjie was concerned.” She’s the boy’s sister and apparent guardian and she’s concerned that a stranger will make family decisions for her. Really?!
Then there’s her repeated obsession with her “hated freckles.” I get that she’s young, but that’s so juvenile when she has so many other issues to concern her.
Derek’s arrogance and Jan’s preconceived notions made the two of them not very likable. The book should have been updated before reissue.
She’s supposedly an intelligent woman, but doesn’t act it. She allows a man she just met to kiss her without decking him or cussing him out. Then she allows him to take her brother Benjie to a doctor’s appointment without her. What was she thinking?!
Later she muses, “He just better not think he was going to make any decisions where Benjie was concerned.” She’s the boy’s sister and apparent guardian and she’s concerned that a stranger will make family decisions for her. Really?!
Then there’s her repeated obsession with her “hated freckles.” I get that she’s young, but that’s so juvenile when she has so many other issues to concern her.
Derek’s arrogance and Jan’s preconceived notions made the two of them not very likable. The book should have been updated before reissue.
May 18, 2023
I knew this would be a dated 80s type romance but this book was even worse for me because the main character was an unlikable idiot. She was dating a verbally abusive man in NY who treated her like she was stupid and was mean & disrespectful to her brother yet she didn't break up with him. She moves across the country to a ranch she knows nothing about (financially stable, run down, handicap accessible, etc.???) then proceeds to be a pathetic manager. Jan jumps to conclusions about everything and makes immature and idiotic moves based on bad assumptions. Derek & Jan spend almost no time together with no meaningful conversations before they're in love; ugh.....I could go on with more eye rolling items from the book but this is enough to say even knowing it's a typical 80s "romance", that it's not worth reading/listening to.
Currently reading
June 9, 2022I am not sure I will be able to finish this book. The main Jan is way to mousie and Derek is way to much of a jerk to actually give him any props at all. I don't think I can finish to find out that Jan actually gives in an has a relationship with him. This would be a horrible book for anyone to wish they could have a story like theirs. Jan started out as a strong independant woman, she took on raising her brother after the dealth of her parents. Move him across country partly for better medical care only to let a pompance, jerk try and hijack her life. Since we all know the pattern you know she will fall for him and I don't think I can finish a book where I just want her to punch him in the gut and move on.
April 16, 2020
This is the worst book I’ve ever read, hands down. It’s so short of a story for everything that happens and it feels like the author rushed everything too quickly. Derek kisses Jan and basically makes out with her and is rubbing on her only a week into her stay at the Ranch. And then the ending? Can we talk about that ending?!? What the hell is that?
July 24, 2021
After the loss of her parents, Jan cares for her little brother who can't walk because of an accident. When she learns that her uncle had died and left her a dude ranch, the future looks brighter. Not only will they move to Arizona but there is a rehabilitation center to help her brother walk again. But a couple of men and a competitor complicate both.
July 9, 2024
This book was mostly about a long, painful misunderstanding by the very young, immature, foolish female main character. What a chore to read. Maybe this kind of book worked 40+ years ago when it was written, but it did not age well.
January 25, 2020
Romance.
May 8, 2022
Ugh. Wishy washy heroine, hero is a bully. DNF’d Ch. 4.
May 21, 2023
Ok but she was a bit self distrust
December 5, 2023
Terrible. December 5, 2023
January 3, 2024
Nice romantic novel
January 11, 2025
I really enjoy Fern’s suspenseful books. This story was disappointing.
August 20, 2025
This may be ok maybe for an 11 year old girl, but the female character is very weak and the book itself does not make sense. I stopped on chapter 9 after seeing that it did not get any better.
January 10, 2024
A good story line.
March 1, 2021
Fern sure has a way of driving home the point that when we don't let people finish introduction it will come back to bite us. Self talk with not ask friend to explanation to things you want to know you will regret it. Thanks Vern for same message
August 5, 2011
Not one of her best stories.
August 16, 2012
This was a short but interesting romance written by the author in the mid 1980's. I liked the storyline. There is good action; the story moves along nicely.
November 13, 2014
Great old book and love story. nice short sweet and straight to the point. Thank you Fern Michaels
April 24, 2016
One step above the run of the mill formula romance novel.
No surprises or ha-ha moments... but a nice between heavier books treat.
No surprises or ha-ha moments... but a nice between heavier books treat.
Read
September 15, 2008F Mic
November 16, 2014
Very sweet story.
April 6, 2015
very corny and predictable.
Read
April 9, 2018HER DREAM HAD BECOME A NIGHTMARE!
When Jan Warren inherited the Rancho Arroyo dude ranch, she thought all her troubles were over. At last she and her young brother, Benjie, would have a home of their own, a place to be secure--together.
But Derek Bannon, owner of the Golden Lasso, had other ideas. He intended to have the Rancho Arroyo--by fair means or foul. He enticed away the Rancho's guests, hired away its employees, and even found a way to earn Benjie's affections.
But worst of all was Jan's realization that she couldn't deny him the ranch that he wanted--for the man with no heart had stolen hers.
When Jan Warren inherited the Rancho Arroyo dude ranch, she thought all her troubles were over. At last she and her young brother, Benjie, would have a home of their own, a place to be secure--together.
But Derek Bannon, owner of the Golden Lasso, had other ideas. He intended to have the Rancho Arroyo--by fair means or foul. He enticed away the Rancho's guests, hired away its employees, and even found a way to earn Benjie's affections.
But worst of all was Jan's realization that she couldn't deny him the ranch that he wanted--for the man with no heart had stolen hers.
Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews