M

I am Lover of romance, who indulges in the romantic adventures of literature

My name is Renee, and I am the host of this site. I am a 34 year old woman, on the prowl for her mate, searching out the best of books, exploring the wilds of the imagination and delving into the heart of a beautiful love story.

 

Book Review-Seized By Love by Susan Johnson

by | Nov 16, 2017 | Book Reviews | 15 comments

Book Review-Seized By Love by Susan Johnson

Book Review-Seized By Love by Susan JohnsonSeized by Love by Susan Johnson
Series: Russian Kuzan Family #1
Published by Fanfare on April 1st 1994
Genres: Historical Romance
Pages: 304
Format: Paperback
Source: Library
ISBN: 0553563270
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three-stars

She knew him by reputation; a man unmindful of convention. it was said he offered sensual delight beyond a woman's wildest dreams. Yet even forewarned of his wild and reckless past. Alisa Forseus found herself responding to the dark smoldering gaze and the quick warmth of Prince Nikolai Kuzan's stolen caresses. She knew too well that love between them was impossible--forbidden--but she could not resist the rapturous pleasure of one moment in his arms.

She was to be his prize, his ultimate conquest, but when Nikki found himself alone with the lovely and chaste Alisa, he was shocked to discover that it was more than her body he desired to possess. He had three days to win the heart of this proud and passionate beauty, three days--and nights--to steal her from the man she called husband in name only. For what began as a simple challenge had become a dangerous passion for a woman he'd surrender anything and everything to love---even his renegade heart.

Seized By Love is a sexy well written historical romance with a Russian Prince playboy and an introvert and shy heroine…will our prince give up his life of parties, gambling, and women for love…

Seized By Love is a book I have been really looking forward to picking up ever since I saw it on the shelf at my local library. And yes I knew it would be a more older style type romance, but I have been in the mood for those lately so in some ways this story really worked for me. Seized By Love is one of the most earlier books that this author has written, orginally published in the late 70’s and then this copy was a republishing in the late 90’s. So it still has that old school feel, with the typical forced seduction (although I wouldn’t call it rapey, it doesn’t cross that line thankfully) and it does deal with some face slapping from the heroine and some angst, a sweet little girl and a emotional love story with a selfish and spoiled playboy prince who falls in love over what begins as a wager.

So Seized By Love begins when our hero is becoming bored with women, and his current mistress he is ready to cast aside soon. And then his buddies make a wager that he can’t seduce any woman they pick in three days. They choose a young woman sketching in the park. Nikki is used to getting his way with women and from the moment he introduces himself to Alsia, a chaste but married woman stuck in a marriage with an abusive husband. Alsia has never really known what it feels like to feel desire and passion until she meets Nikki. They begin an affair that starts out with only sex in mind, but soon love enters the equation, and how long will Nikki wait to accept what he feels for Alsia.

There were some aspects of this story I really enjoyed and other I wasn’t a huge fan of. Let me talk about what I didn’t like first off. My biggest problem with this story was the angst, it felt a bit too drawn out in the story and I felt at times both Nikki and Alsia just couldn’t communicate. I was rolling my eyes every time a misunderstanding got in the way of them being open and honest with each other. Another aspect I wasn’t a huge fan of was the fact that the heroine was married. Now she doesn’t stay married for long, but there is still some cheating involved and boy her husband is one brutal piece of work. He does make a good villain for the story however but we only see him in a few scenes but your heart just opens up more for the heroine and having to deal with such brutality as she is dealt by him.

Now what was pretty fantastic about this book: First off I really loved the heroine here for the most part. Even though she is more introverted. She liked to pain and sketch, and spend time with her young daughter. She tries to stay  out of her husbands way because he takes out his anger on her in a brutal way. At first we see how strong she is, feisty and she lets Nikki know exactly what she thinks. But she also knows when to fight and when to back down. I did like seeing her come more into herself as she discovers desire and love. I also liked the romance that develops. Now it’s not an easy story to read that is for sure, but seriously all the sweet and poignant moments that erupt in the most unlikely places, makes all the angst all the worth it to read through. Seeing these two find a love worth fighting for is epic and memorable. Another delightful portion of this book was spent on the historic and cultural aspects of the time. I don’t know much about European’s and Russian’s culture and so Johnson did a detailed job of portraying it well without taking away from the story. I felt like I was in one of those dazzling Russian ballrooms, or a beautiful country side estate. Another delightful element was Nikki’s parents, his father especially. His parents have a love match and the way the father involves himself was pretty entertaining at times and added some lightheartedness to the story that has a more serious tone to it at times.

Seized By Love is a beautifully well detailed love story that brings together opposites who have to fight through some conflicts to find their happy ever after in a most satisfying ending!!

 

About Susan Johnson

And it all began rather serendipitously. Long ago, as they say, in another time, when fast food hadn't reached our area and the only shopping was what the feed mill offered, I was reading a book that annoyed me .

My husband was lying beside me in bed, watching TV. Turning to him, I sort of petulantly said, "How the hell did this book get published?"

"If you think you're so smart," he replied, with one eye still on the TV, "why don't you write a book?"

So I did. And very badly.

I've since learned how to do, he said, she said, and a great variety of other adverb heavy, sometimes lengthy explanations of why my characters are saying what they're saying, along with finally coming to an understanding of what things like POV means. Point of View for you non-writers}.

Although, I still don't fully comprehend why it matters if you switch POV and I cavalierly disregard it as much as possible. So while my technical skills have hopefully improved, what hasn't changed is my great joy in writing. There's as much pleasure today in listening to my characters talk while I type as fast as I can, as there was the first time I put dialogue to paper--in long-hand, then, in my leather bound sketch-book.

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15 Comments

  1. Ann Lorz

    I can remember reading her back in the day.

    Reply
    • Lover Of Romance

      Yeah she does have a memorable writing style. Glad to see someone else has read her since she is old school.

      Reply
  2. Kimberly Caffeinated Reviewer

    It has been a spell since I have read this author. The drama doesn’t appeal to me but your positive elements do. Great review.

    Reply
    • Lover Of Romance

      Yeah the drama was a bit much but it did have quite a few redeeming qualities.

      Reply
  3. Sophia Rose

    Despite the flaws, it sounds good with those unexpected sweet moments and the heroine getting out of an abusive marriage. I love that the setting is Russian. Neat that you were able to pick this one up and get back into an older book.

    Reply
    • Lover Of Romance

      It did have some great elements to it Sophia. And the Russian and Finnish Settings were amazing, and its so rare to find in HR now a days.

      Reply
  4. Blodeuedd

    Oh those old school covers. They were always so much more dramatic

    Reply
    • Lover Of Romance

      haha they so were more dramatic right? Its definitely very different from today.

      Reply
  5. Melliane

    It’s too bad for the angst there but I can understand. In a whole though it looks good

    Reply
    • Lover Of Romance

      Yeah as a whole it was a solid read but too much angst.

      Reply
  6. Sarah @ A Weebish Book Blog

    I love these old bodice ripper romances, though they are often filled with angst and drama 🙂

    Reply
    • Lover Of Romance

      haha YAY!! Another romance reader that loved that bodice rippers. But I so agree most of them were filled with a ton of angst and drama.

      Reply
  7. Michele H

    I’m pretty sure I’ve read this one years ago. 🙂 Not a huge fan of forced seduction but if I remember right, there was enough of a real connection and sweet moments to make up for it. Lovely review!!

    Reply
    • Lover Of Romance

      Yeah forced seduction isn’t something I am a fan of but older books contained it quite a bit. Maybe because it’s more realistic in the time, it happened way more and was “acceptable”, so I like to think for many authors they were trying to show how real of a element it was for many women back then. But it wasn’t as bad as other older romances I have read so thats a plus. I did love those sweet moments though, definitely made up for it.

      Reply
  8. Lorna

    I have just started reading historicals again. I haven’t come across any forced seductions yet so hopefully I won’t either in the future! If the villain is the husband, he’s abusive and the marriage is in name only, I don’t really consider that cheating. Technically yes, but no I don’t think it would bother me much. But that’s just me. But miscommunication to further the story drives me nuts. Not a book for me I don’t think but thank you for sharing.

    Reply

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