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Angela Lindsay enjoyed a pampered existence among French society, but she has had to trade it all and move to New Mexico in order to collect her inheritance. Captain Jake Branden is the first irritation of her new life. Jake has to escort the city miss from New Orleans to New Mexico, but he doesn't plan any concessions for her delicate sensibilities. But the sapphire sparks of defiance shooting from Angela's eyes and her fury will challenge his indifference.
412 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1998
About the author
Rosemary Rogers
110 books433 followersThere is more than one author with this name
Rosemary Jansz Navaratnam Rogers Kadison
Rosemary Jansz was born on 7 December 1932 in Panadura, British Ceylon (now known as Sri Lanka), she was the oldest child of Dutch-Portuguese settlers, Barbara "Allan" and Cyril Jansz. Her father was a wealthy educator who owned three posh private schools. She was raised in colonial splendor: dozens of servants, no work, summers at European spas, a chaperone everywhere she went. A dreamy child, she wrote her first novel at eight, and all through her teens scribbled madly romantic epics in imitation of her favorite writers: Sir Walter Scott, Alexandre Dumas and Rafael Sabatini.
At 17, Rosemary rebelled against a feudal upbringing and went to the University of Ceylon, where she studied three years. She horrified her family by taking a job as a reporter, and two years later marrying with Summa Navaratnam, a Ceylonese track star known as "the fastest man in Asia." The marriage had two daughters. Unhappily, he often sprinted after other women. Disappointed with her husband, in 1960, she moved with her two daughters and took off for London.
In Europe she met her future second husband, Leroy Rogers, an african-american. "He was the first man," she recalls, "who made me feel like a real woman." After getting a divorce from her first husband, she married Rogers in his home town, St. Louis, Missouri. They moved with her family to California, where she had two sons. Six years later, when that marriage broke up, Rosemary was left with four children to support on her $4,200 salary as a typist for the Solano County Parks Department. In 1969, in the face of a socialist takeover of Ceylon, her parents fled the island with only ?100, giving Rosemary two more dependents. At 37, the rich girl from Ceylon was on her uppers in Fairfield.
Every night for a year, Rogers worked to perfect a manuscript that she had written as a child, rewriting it 24 times. When she was satisfied with her work, she sent the manuscript to Avon, which quickly purchased the novel. That novel, ''Sweet Savage Love'', skyrocketed to the top of bestseller lists, and became one of the most popular historical romances of all time. Her second novel, ''Dark Fires'', sold two million copies in its first three months of release. Her first three novels sold a combined 10 million copies. The fourth, ''Wicked Loving Lies'' sold 3 million copies in its first month of publication. Rosemary Rogers became one of the legendaries "Avon Queens of Historical Romance". The difference between she and most of others romance writers is not the violence of her stories, it is the intensity. She says: "My heroines are me", and certainly her life could be one of her novels.
In September of 1984, Rosemary married a third time with Christopher Kadison, but it was a very brief marriage and they soon began to live apart. "I'd like to live with a man," she admits, "but I find men in real life don't come up to my fantasies. I want culture, spirit and sex all rolled up together."
Today single, Rosemary lives quietly in a small dramatic villa perched on a crag above the Pacific near Carmel. Her four children are now away from home and she continues to write.
Rosemary passed away at the age of 87 on November 12, 2019 in Carmel, California where she called home since the early 1970s.
Rosemary Jansz Navaratnam Rogers Kadison
Rosemary Jansz was born on 7 December 1932 in Panadura, British Ceylon (now known as Sri Lanka), she was the oldest child of Dutch-Portuguese settlers, Barbara "Allan" and Cyril Jansz. Her father was a wealthy educator who owned three posh private schools. She was raised in colonial splendor: dozens of servants, no work, summers at European spas, a chaperone everywhere she went. A dreamy child, she wrote her first novel at eight, and all through her teens scribbled madly romantic epics in imitation of her favorite writers: Sir Walter Scott, Alexandre Dumas and Rafael Sabatini.
At 17, Rosemary rebelled against a feudal upbringing and went to the University of Ceylon, where she studied three years. She horrified her family by taking a job as a reporter, and two years later marrying with Summa Navaratnam, a Ceylonese track star known as "the fastest man in Asia." The marriage had two daughters. Unhappily, he often sprinted after other women. Disappointed with her husband, in 1960, she moved with her two daughters and took off for London.
In Europe she met her future second husband, Leroy Rogers, an african-american. "He was the first man," she recalls, "who made me feel like a real woman." After getting a divorce from her first husband, she married Rogers in his home town, St. Louis, Missouri. They moved with her family to California, where she had two sons. Six years later, when that marriage broke up, Rosemary was left with four children to support on her $4,200 salary as a typist for the Solano County Parks Department. In 1969, in the face of a socialist takeover of Ceylon, her parents fled the island with only ?100, giving Rosemary two more dependents. At 37, the rich girl from Ceylon was on her uppers in Fairfield.
Every night for a year, Rogers worked to perfect a manuscript that she had written as a child, rewriting it 24 times. When she was satisfied with her work, she sent the manuscript to Avon, which quickly purchased the novel. That novel, ''Sweet Savage Love'', skyrocketed to the top of bestseller lists, and became one of the most popular historical romances of all time. Her second novel, ''Dark Fires'', sold two million copies in its first three months of release. Her first three novels sold a combined 10 million copies. The fourth, ''Wicked Loving Lies'' sold 3 million copies in its first month of publication. Rosemary Rogers became one of the legendaries "Avon Queens of Historical Romance". The difference between she and most of others romance writers is not the violence of her stories, it is the intensity. She says: "My heroines are me", and certainly her life could be one of her novels.
In September of 1984, Rosemary married a third time with Christopher Kadison, but it was a very brief marriage and they soon began to live apart. "I'd like to live with a man," she admits, "but I find men in real life don't come up to my fantasies. I want culture, spirit and sex all rolled up together."
Today single, Rosemary lives quietly in a small dramatic villa perched on a crag above the Pacific near Carmel. Her four children are now away from home and she continues to write.
Rosemary passed away at the age of 87 on November 12, 2019 in Carmel, California where she called home since the early 1970s.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
April 23, 2013
This was more of 3.5 stars to me. It was okay. Pick this book up at a secondhand store. Don't pay full price for it. Would have liked to read more about Jake's background, kind of left him sort of sparce.
July 23, 2015
I had a hard time following, is the mom bad or good? Did Angela get her ranch back? Was this supposed to be a romance? What is Jakes heritage again? I'm so confused. I hate this stupid story it's just not even worth the time of reading.
September 12, 2018
This was a slow read. The story is based in New Orleans, to New Mexico in the 1800's. I could not find it in me to like the heroine of this story until the very end. She seemed quite childish. It really didn't help that her mother kept her in a bubble and continued to dress her like a little girl, even at 21 yrs old. I really didn't like the mother at all. She would not speak of Angie's father at all. So Angie, of course wanted to go to her father's ranch in hopes of learning about him. I definitely felt for Angie in this regard. I also blame her mother for the horrible things Angie had to endure. Her mother was quite selfish, controlling and way too secretive.
I found Jake intriguing. Tough and honest to a fault. There really wasn't much of a romance story. Angie was very immature and inexperienced so she just kept doing all the wrong things.
There was some action, and lots of politics. The end seemed rushed. There was no final judgement on who ends up with the Ranch. Did it revert back to Angie & Rita? Did it go to Jake? We don't really know. I did enjoy how the entire story ended. It was an intense ending with Jake's life on the line.
Overall, it was a great concept with many unnecessary details, just not the details that were needed.
I found Jake intriguing. Tough and honest to a fault. There really wasn't much of a romance story. Angie was very immature and inexperienced so she just kept doing all the wrong things.
There was some action, and lots of politics. The end seemed rushed. There was no final judgement on who ends up with the Ranch. Did it revert back to Angie & Rita? Did it go to Jake? We don't really know. I did enjoy how the entire story ended. It was an intense ending with Jake's life on the line.
Overall, it was a great concept with many unnecessary details, just not the details that were needed.
January 7, 2024
After reading the novel, I was left with ambivalent impressions. On the one hand, while reading, I was fascinated by the journey of the heroes; the nature and area where the adventure took place was very accurately and unobtrusively described.
But if we describe the relationships between the characters, they turned out to be not so interesting. Feelings are described very briefly, I didn’t see the fully developed thoughts of Angelica and Jake, what they thought about each other, and when they were together, there were more feelings on Jake’s part. Somehow I didn’t see that Angelica was doing anything towards him, no hugs, no kisses... And in general, she was more provoking than trying to somehow charm the main character.
Well, of course, I was surprised by the scene when Jake called Angelica into the gazebo to warn about the danger, and at the same time got carried away with her there instead of completing the task that he was assigned.
But if we describe the relationships between the characters, they turned out to be not so interesting. Feelings are described very briefly, I didn’t see the fully developed thoughts of Angelica and Jake, what they thought about each other, and when they were together, there were more feelings on Jake’s part. Somehow I didn’t see that Angelica was doing anything towards him, no hugs, no kisses... And in general, she was more provoking than trying to somehow charm the main character.
Well, of course, I was surprised by the scene when Jake called Angelica into the gazebo to warn about the danger, and at the same time got carried away with her there instead of completing the task that he was assigned.
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December 13, 2024Cannot recommend. Unsympathetic hero (wildly irregular characterization: is he responsible? irresponsible?) and heroine (almost "too stupid to live"). All the plot seemed to happen at the end of the book. Trigger warnings for racism and sexual assault.
August 15, 2025
Rosemary Rogers at her best, but beware it is pretty dated to say the least …… !
September 28, 2015
I really wanted to like this book. The setting was beautiful and the premise showed promise but it simply fell short. I found the heroine to be a Scarlett O'Hara style morally bereft and foolish ingenue without Scarlett's brains. She repeatedly trusted the wrong people and got herself into all sorts of situations by her own naivety and childish impudence. The hero was not much better off with little in the way of emotional range or character depth. The entirety of his backstory was rushed through in a few paragraphs shortly before the abrupt end of the story which itself left several loose ends and seemed incredibly rushed.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews