Random Book

Today’s MUSING MONDAYS:


Go to your bookshelf and pick a random book. No cheating now, just reach out and pick one. Now tell us about it – where did you get it? Why? Was it a gift? Does it hold any special memories? Did someone recommend it to you? etc

My finger fell upon Ashes In The Wind by Kathleen E. Woodiwiss. I read this book when it first came out back in 1979 and loved it.  My first copy (in the back) shows it age.  I purchased this book myself for $4.95. This summer I found a hardback copy in good condition at the library sale.

 

I am planning to re-read this book this year for three challenges. The American Civil War; The Chunkster and 451 Challenge.  I remember this being more historical than romance, so it will be interesting if that is true and if I love it just as much 31 years later.
 
The  original summary:  A novel ablaze with the flames of magnificent passion that captures the clash of wills of two proud people:  Alaina MacGaren, the impudent, plantation bred beauty whose reckless bravado could never be crushed - until she met the one man whose sheltering arms made her incapable of reason....and Cole Latimer, the tall, ramrod straight Yankee surgeon who rescues her, is deceived by her again and again, but who can never forget the night his sold was seared by a body clothed in mystery.
 
Today's summary: Alaina MacGaren is forced to flee the devastation of her homeland in the guise of a young boy, only to find sanctuary in the arms of an enemy. Cole Latimer is a dashing Yankee surgeon who has served the Union faithfully, and his tender heart compels him to help a ragged, innocent "lad" in need--never suspecting the rags conceal a bewitching belle suspected of being a rebel spy.

But Alaina's masquerade does not fool Cole for long. And the strength, courage, and breathtaking sensuality of this woman whom it would be treasonous to love sets duty and desire at war within him. Yet Destiny has joined them for good or ill--and they both must follow where their hearts would lead them, if they are to build a glorious new life together out of the ashes of the old.

Kathleen's  book The Flame and The Flower (1972) is credited as being the first historical romance novel, a subgenre that now accounts for a huge percentage of all paperback romances. She wrote 15 books before her death in 2007.