Customer Reviews

All I Need is You

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(16)
2 star:		(9)
1 star:		(15)

 

 

How can readers say that a book is a page skipper then complain that the plot isn't fully developed? Hello, you have to read the book. And as for the remarks about having Damien portrayed as a 'tenderfoot' - if a man has no weaknesses then that is an undeveloped character. I was throughly delighted by this book and I have returned to it many times to reread, if fact I have the audiotapes in my car for trips. Johanna Lindsey still has her gift of writing - unfortunately some readers no longer take the time to read the entire book.

I love this book. I read it for the first time a while back, and it stayed with me enough to make me buy it. I loved "A Heart So Wild", and I think this was a fitting sequel. People are complaining about how Chandos wouldn't have let her go in the first place, but it seems to escape them that Chandos's daughter would have more than a small idea of what she wanted to do and the abilities to do it. Casey is very strong willed, but that's something most Lindsey readers expect. She can do anything a man can do, and that's something else I've come to expect. I love her stories because I can see myself in a lot of the heroines, and this one doesn't disappoint.

This has got to be one of the most beautiful love stories that I have read in a long time. As an avid reader of romance novels for the past 30 years that is saying quite a mouthful, but do not just believe me, find out for yourself. This book is a must read for all historical romance lovers. It is a marvelous story that takes the reader across the vast plains of 1892 Texas following the trail of a suspected murderer. It is a tender love story with characters that are simply unforgettable. Casey Stratton needs to prove to her father Chandos that she is capable of doing any job that a man can do. To prove this she cuts her hair, puts on men's clothing, and runs away in the middle of the night to begin a career that only a man can do, become a successful bounty hunter. Damian Rutledge III came west with an important need of his own, to find the man that murdered his father. As green as they come he is totally lost until he runs across the campfire of a young boy who claims to be a bounty hunter and calls himself simply Kid. Who could be better than a professional bounty hunter to help him find a murderer? So with the remarkable tracking ability that Kid learned from his father, and not to mention even a faster draw, the chase begins. But Damian is not quite the tenderfoot that Kid believes him to be and KId is not exactly what Damian thought he was either. It does not take Damian long to discover that underneath Kid's dirty clothes is a very beautiful young woman, Casey Stratton. Ride along with these two unforgettable people as they discover for themselves the greatest need of all, that where love is concerned "All I Need is You."

"All I Need Is You" is alright for a Lindsey. It's not awful, but neither it is a page-turner. "All's" story is straightforward enough: Damian hires a bounty hunter to find his father's murderer only to fall for the bounty hunter, a girl named Casey who is determined to succeed at a man's job to prove to her her father that she can run a rannch. What the story lacks is passion. So much time is spent on discussing the murder and chasing the bad guy that the romance part comes up short. I didn't devour this book, like I did it's prequel, the marvelous "A Heart So Wild." I wish Casey & Damian of "All" had half the passion that Chandos & Courtney of "A Heart" had. I also wish the "bad situations" that Casey found herself in really seemed threatening, but both her showdown and kidnapping were predictable and not at all exciting. Big sigh. Worse was the tacked-on ending revolving around Damian's mother. Lindsey seems to love having belated parent-child reunions in her books ("Angel," "So Speaks the Heart," "Defy Not the Heart" to name a few). I'd recommend reading "A Heart So Wild" over reading "All I Need Is You." "A Heart" is a prime example of a REAL steamy, sexy Western romance, while "All" (with it's lack of charisma and excitement) is more a girl-oriented murder-mystery than romance.

Nice story... nothing breathtaking or amazing about it. I found Casey to be headstrong and spoiled... almost to the point of being a brat. She did improve near the end though and redeem herself a bit.

What can I say about Damian? It took a long time for him to grow on me. Its like his character didn't really develop into much until the middle of the book. He seemed almost weak to me... with not much personality. But as with Casey, he redeemed himself near the end of the story.

Their love story was sweet. They certainly didn't have the chemistry that Casey's parents had. And their developing relationship almost seemed secondary to their search for Damian's father's murderer.

Slow start to the story, picked up in the middle and then slowed down again near the end. There were a couple great scenes, one including some fun in the river, which helped keep my interest. Overall a good book, but certainly not one I would read over and over again.

While I will admit to liking a Heart So Wild a little better than this one, I still found this book to be good. Not great, but good. Casey is kind of annoying, but, all in all I gave this book fours stars because I loved the storyline and Damien....need I say anything about this gorgeous hunk of man who can do anything!!!!! Read this book. You will like it, even if not as much as some of JL's other books.

What I really miss in this story is the chance to get to know the persons better. Instead they remain strangers, and I really don't care whether they get together or not. The story though is so exciting that I still managed to finish the book.

Casey Straton goes bounty hunting in an attempt to convince her father about her abilities to run her grandfathers ranch. After some months, Damien Ruthledge, businessman and city boy, stumbles into her camp. Not knowing her to be a woman, but amaced by her abilities with a gun, he hires her to hunt down the man who killed his father.

All I Need Is You is the sequel to A Heart So Wild, and what a sequel it is too! The first book traces the romance of the parents, Chandos Straton and Courtney Harte, the sequel is the story of one of their children, their daughter, Casey. To prove to her father that she is capable of running a major family ranching interest, Casey decides to take employment doing what a man can do. She thus becomes a bounty hunter and is hired by Damian Rutledge to track his father's murderer. It is an exciting tale, filled with humor and great plot development. But perhaps, one of the more satisfying things is reading about the parents again, so deftly described in the first novel. This is another of Ms. Lindsey's demonstrations of expert writing. It is hard to put this book down, and it is a most enjoyable read.

I was very excited when I saw that this book was coming out, as the story of Courtney and Chandos has been one of my favorite JL stories (reread many times). What an absolute disaster this book is. The chemistry, romance and fire of Courtney and Chandos was lost on their daughter! I had never been disappointed by a JL till I read this one. I still reread the old ones - and hope that she can recapture that style in the future.

This novel had a boring, rambling, largely unbelieveable plot that consisted mostly of characters wandering on and off trains and in and out of saloons. The heroine seemed not so much feisty and independent as knuckle-headed; the hero had little depth and his shallow character simply changed to fit the plot's demands. Especially annoying was the fact that, had the two central characters cared enough about each other to actually talk to each other--even once--the numerous contrived misunderstandings would not have occurred. The novel's saving grace is the small subplot involving Chandos and Courteney. Despite the little space they are given in this novel, their relationship is tender and honest, and the author clearly cares for them. All in all, I believe that if this had been the author's first novel, it would have been a tough sell.