Iris Johansen’s THE GOLDEN BARBARIAN – Desert Sands Make for an Exotic Locale in this Keeper!

This is the first in the Sedikhan series and it's a good one. If you like strong, resourceful heroines, handsome desert Sheikhs and love stories set in exotic places, you'll love this one. As with all Johansen's historical romances, she takes pains to weave a complex tale with wonderful characters and believable sexual tension.

Set in the early 19th century, this is the story of Tess Rubinoff, Princess of Tamrovia (somewhere in the Balkans) who first meets Galen Ben Raschid Sheikh of Zalandan (think desert sands) when she is 12 and he pulls her and her dog out of quicksand. Even then, he has designs on her as he wants to link their two countries in order to gain sufficient power to unify the desert tribes of Sedikhan.

 

Since she is only 12 when they meet, he will wait; he is a patient man. She spends the next 6 years in a convent at her cousin's suggestion (prompted by Galen) to protect her from an abusive father. When her father rejects Galen's suit, Galen arranges to steal Tess away by making her a proposition she cannot refuse—and she doesn't.

 

Once in Sedikhan, the adventure begins.

In case you want to read more of them, here is the entire Sedikhan Series (not all are historical; some are contemporary; but all have a link to Sedikhan):

The Golden Barbarian
The Golden Valkyrie
The Trustworthy Redhead
Capture the Rainbow
Touch the Horizon
A Summer Smile
And the Desert Blooms
Always
Everlasting
Till the End of Time
The Last Bridge Home
Across the River of Yesterday
Star Light, Star Bright
Man From Half Moon Bay
Blue Blue Skies and Shining Promises
Magnificent Folly
Notorious
A Tough Man to Tame

 

Iris Johansen’s THE WIND DANCER - Amazing Love Story in Renaissance Italy...Masterfully Told Tale! A Classic!

This is the first in the Wind Dancer trilogy and it is amazing, a "keeper".

Set in early 16th century northern Italy (1503), it tells the story of Lionello Andreas, oldest son of an Italian family that has held as its most treasured possession a small golden statue of the winged horse Pegasus that, according to legend, was given to their family at the fall of Troy.

 

The statue, known as the Wind Dancer, has been stolen from their city state of Mandara by Lion's enemy, Francisco Damari. In his effort to recover the statue, Lion decides to hire a thief and travels with his erstwhile companion, Lorenzo, to Florence where he buys a 16-year-old slave girl, Sanchia, who is known an expert at lifting men's gold. Lion quickly realizes he wants more from the brave and clever young woman than her thieving talents and takes her as his mistress.

 

Believing she has no ability to resist, Sanchia complies, as any slave would. In the process of helping Lion to steal the key to where the statue is kept, and in an act of great courage, Sanchia leads Damari away from Lion only to be captured by the demented and sadistic man. By the time Lion recovers her, she has been tortured and believes Lion did not honor his promise not to leave without her. As a result, she now believes her debt to Lion has been paid and demands her freedom. But Lion, whose feelings for her have grown into an obsession, will not let her go.

This is a story of passionate love in an unlikely place and, once found, denying it. The story is well told, the dialog gripping and the twists and turns complex. You will feel like you are there in Renaissance Italy. The physical relationship between Lion and Sanchia is explosive and sensual and Johansen does a superb job of describing it.

 

Like a tapestry with many threads coming together, Johansen has woven many lives into the story in a convincing manner. She has also created a great cast of secondary characters with their own passions and unique qualities. Lorenzo Vasaro, Lion's stalwart friend is an assassin with a jaded past and a wisdom that insists reality be pursued even if costly. He adds richness to the tale. I highly recommend this one.

 

Wind Dancer trilogy:

 

The Wind Dancer

Storm Winds

Reap the Wind (a contemporary )

 

Iris Johansen’s THE GOLDEN BARBARIAN – Desert Sands Make for an Exotic Locale in this Keeper!

This is the first in the Sedikhan series and it's a good one. If you like strong, resourceful heroines, handsome desert Sheikhs and love stories set in exotic places, you'll love this one. As with all Johansen's historical romances, she takes pains to weave a complex tale with wonderful characters and believable sexual tension.

Set in the early 19th century, this is the story of Tess Rubinoff, Princess of Tamrovia (somewhere in the Balkans) who first meets Galen Ben Raschid Sheikh of Zalandan (think desert sands) when she is 12 and he pulls her and her dog out of quicksand. Even then, he has designs on her as he wants to link their two countries in order to gain sufficient power to unify the desert tribes of Sedikhan.

Since she is only 12 when they meet, he will wait; he is a patient man. She spends the next 6 years in a convent at her cousin's suggestion (prompted by Galen) to protect her from an abusive father. When her father rejects Galen's suit, Galen arranges to steal Tess away by making her a proposition she cannot refuse—and she doesn't.

Once in Sedikhan, the adventure begins.

In case you want to read more of them, here is the entire Sedikhan Series (not all are historical; some are contemporary; but all have a link to Sedikhan):

The Golden Barbarian
The Golden Valkyrie
The Trustworthy Redhead
Capture the Rainbow
Touch the Horizon
A Summer Smile
And the Desert Blooms
Always
Everlasting
Till the End of Time
The Last Bridge Home
Across the River of Yesterday
Star Light, Star Bright
Man From Half Moon Bay
Blue Blue Skies and Shining Promises
Magnificent Folly
Notorious
A Tough Man to Tame

Iris Johansen’ THE MAGNIFICENT ROGUE – A Scottish Rogue to Love, a Tale to Savor—a Keeper!

Set in 16th century England and Scotland, this is a magnificent tale of strength born of hardship and love that develops even when denied.

He was the Black Robert of Craighdhu, a remote island castle in Scotland, where he was laird. Half Spanish and experienced in their tortures as well as their pleasures, he'd been a pirate and had incurred both the praise and anger of Queen Elizabeth, who has now seized him for another assignment: The Queen wants him to wed Kathryn Kentyre who, he is told, is Queen Mary's illegitimate daughter.

Kathryn ("Kate"), now 16, has been raised in seclusion by a vicar who is going insane and beats her. She is bent on escape. But Robert McDarren will find her and handfast with her and then sweep her away to his castle in the Highlands where he intends to keep her for only a year. For he knows who she is threatens Craighdhu and he will do anything to protect his lands and his people.

You won't regret reading this one. It is well written, the characters wonderful, and the plot believable. The action will draw you into the world of treachery, envy, betrayal and deception that existed at the time of Queen Elizabeth and King James.

A romance from a favorite author of mine and well worth re-reading—a keeper!

Iris Johansen’s STORM WINDS - Masterful Sequel to Wind Dancer... a Keeper!

Johansen weaves a complex tale with many threads and many interesting characters. She does it so well you will be captivated. And one thing I really respect is that from novel to novel, her heroes and heroines are different with unique personalities and attributes.

Set in late 18th century France, it begins a few years before the dawn of the French Revolution as Jean Marc Andreas, heir to the Andreas shipping and banking business based in Marseilles, meets Juliette de Clement, a courageous but lonely 14-year-old girl whose mother is a courtesan at the court of Marie Antoinette. Juliette takes care of Jean Marc, who is 10 years her senior, when he is injured. Their time together at the inn is not forgotten by either of them.

When Jean Marc has the chance to send his ward, Catherine Vasaro, to an abbey for an aristocrat's education, he asks the queen to send Juliette with her. Juliette thinks it is so she can watch over the sensitive and fragile Catherine, but Jean Marc has other plans in mind. At the abbey, the girls come to be great friends and Juliette pursues her love of painting.

Years later, as France's Reign of Terror begins, the revolutionaries attack the abbey, massacring and raping nuns and students. The two young women escape with their lives as one of the revolutionary leaders, Francois Etchelet, comes to their rescue and delivers them to Jean Marc's Paris home. Juliette, wanted for murder, asks for Jean Marc's protection in exchange for which she will use her connections with the queen, who is now imprisoned in the Temple, to recover his family's once-prized possession, the golden statue of Pegasus—the Wind Dancer—last owned by the royal family and now missing.

As Jean Marc and Juliette search for the Wind Dancer, they face treachery, danger and a city in the grip of the Revolution.

This is a well-told tale of a tumultuous time in the history of France. I loved Jean Marc, Francois, Juliette and Catherine. Great characters all. Amazing details and careful attention to history make this a very worthy historical romance. Highly recommended.

The Wind Dancer Trilogy

Wind Dancer

Storm Winds

Reap The Wind

New Review: Iris Johansen’s THE WIND DANCER - Amazing Love Story in Renaissance Italy

This is the first in the Wind Dancer trilogy and it is amazing, a "keeper".

Set in early 16th century northern Italy (1503), it tells the story of Lionello Andreas, oldest son of an Italian family that has held as its most treasured possession a small golden statue of the winged horse Pegasus that, according to legend, was given to their family at the fall of Troy.

The statue, known as the Wind Dancer, has been stolen from their city state of Mandara by Lion's enemy, Francisco Damari. In his effort to recover the statue, Lion decides to hire a thief and travels with his erstwhile companion, Lorenzo, to Florence where he buys a 16-year-old slave girl, Sanchia, who is known an expert at lifting men's gold. Lion quickly realizes he wants more from the brave and clever young woman than her thieving talents and takes her as his mistress.

Believing she has no ability to resist, Sanchia complies, as any slave would. In the process of helping Lion to steal the key to where the statue is kept, and in an act of great courage, Sanchia leads Damari away from Lion only to be captured by the demented and sadistic man. By the time Lion recovers her, she has been tortured and believes Lion did not honor his promise not to leave without her. As a result, she now believes her debt to Lion has been paid and demands her freedom. But Lion, whose feelings for her have grown into an obsession, will not let her go.

This is a story of passionate love in an unlikely place and, once found, denying it. The story is well told, the dialog gripping and the twists and turns complex. You will feel like you are there in Renaissance Italy. The physical relationship between Lion and Sanchia is explosive and sensual and Johansen does a superb job of describing it.

Like a tapestry with many threads coming together, Johansen has woven many lives into the story in a convincing manner. She has also created a great cast of secondary characters with their own passions and unique qualities. Lorenzo Vasaro, Lion's stalwart friend is an assassin with a jaded past and a wisdom that insists reality be pursued even if costly. He adds richness to the tale. I highly recommend this one.

 

Buy on Amazon

 

Wind Dancer trilogy:

The Wind Dancer

Storm Winds

Reap the Wind (a contemporary )