Stormy Persuasion by Johanna Lindsey

You know why I love June? Johanna Lindsey’s annual new book! You all know how much I love Johanna Lindsey, but in case you are new JL was the first romance writer I ever read. As a 13 year old she introduced love and passion in a sweeping story that carried me away. 14 years later and I am still hooked.

Last year, JL released her 50^th book – One Heart to Win. I had been worried because her work had definitely entered into a downward slope. One Heart to Win gave me hope that the old JL was on her way back.

If you have never read a JL book, she has a mega saga based on the Malory-Anderson family. These characters are near and dear to my heart. Her newest book, Stormy Persuasion is the 11^th installment in this series, but what made it so important was that the lead character of Judith is the daughter of the legendary Anthony and Roslynn from Tender Rebel. I worried how JL would handle this story, because Judy has been featured in many Maloy novels (along with her cousin Jacqueline aka Jack – daughter of James and Georgina). If you are a fan of JL and of the Malory-Anderson series, then you become attached to these characters.

I couldn’t wait for my library to process our copy of Stormy Persuasion so BF and I took a field trip to the bookstore. I will say that as I started reading, my hopes began to dwindle. The character of Judith did not stand out, the dialogue did not flow well, and the storyline wasn’t clear. Even though Stormy Persuasion had a rocky start, the chemistry between Judy and Nathan was there. As the story progressed this became clear and the characters became more of the main focus. JL put in a lot of backstory so a new reader could be caught up. There was also a lot of Jack, Judy’s sister like cousin. If you are a fan of Jack, JL sets up her story for the next installment.

Now back to Nathan and Judith. The dialogue was full of sweetness, humor, and plenty of steam. The novel takes a turn for the better about halfway through. It seemed like I was reading an old JL novel. One of my complaints about One Heart to Win was that JL completely skipped the sex scene. I’m glad to report that she fixes that issue in Stormy Persuasion.

Though it starts out a little rocky, Stormy Persuasion is another wonderful edition to Johanna Lindsey’s writing repertoire. If you are a fan of the Malory-Anderson series then you will enjoy seeing all the old characters up to their antics.  If you are new to JL, then I would suggest either Tender Rebel (#2) or A Gentle Rogue (#3).