Customer Reviews

Crystal Passion

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

First in a series of 3 books set during the American Revolution about the McClellan family. Follows the oldest brother, Salem, to England to rescue girl from evil uncle. Ms. Goodman is excellent at interweaving history and romance with a good plot. I couldn't put this book down until I had finished it. It also introduces characters for the other 2 books in the series, Seaswept Abandon about Rae, and Tempting Torment about youngest brother Noah. This book is must read for recent Jo Goodman fans.

Crystal Passion is a re-release of a series that Jo Goodman released years ago. The author of The Thorne brothers trilogy and the Dennehey sisters series.

The first in this series is about Ashley Lynne and Salem McCellan. When Salem visits England, he is surprised to find a beautiful girl in his bed. Assuming she is the "evening entertainment" he plans to seduce her. Immediately he finds that he has been set up and Ashley is not there at her own free will, but at her evil uncle's insistance. Planning to rescue her, Salem doesn't count on her actually rescuing him from prison and escorting him back to Virginia.

During the voyage to Virginia the two fall in love, but Ashley belives that Salem is her brother. The two realize they are not related, get married and the Revolutionary war begins.

Crystal Passion is a good book, but just doesn't have the "passion" that is found in many of Jo Goodman's other novels. If you're a fan of Jo Goodman, this is a good book to read. Jo Goodman is true to her writing style by combining a great love story with great history.

This is the first book about the McClellan clan and is set in Virginia just prior to the revolution. I had read the series years ago and ran across it again recently and just had to re read it. The McClellans are 4 brothers and 2 sisters, all fiesty and quite different and yet they are quick to be there for each other. I liked this story about Salem who inadvertendly ends up in Newgate when he goes to England to buy a "filly" with a L shaped brand on her chest. Unbeknowst to him, the filly is abused Ashley Lynne, the evil Duke of Linfield's ward. Salem and Ashley rescue each other and fight their battles together as the book introduces the whole clan and geo washington and his sons of liberty. It really was enjoyable. The sequels to this were also enjoyable...the fiesty sister Rae is book 2 and Noah the brother who was supposed to be a sea captain but has a major problem with being seasick!! so is the family lawyer. The dialogue is refreshingly witty in all of Jo Goodman's books and she is always a joy to read........

I do not like historical romances based in America, in my opinion there isn't enough history. But this book shocked me. I thought it was wonderful! This is my first book by this author, but it won't be the last. Check it out. I'm suprised the other reviewes aren't better.

Ashley is the ward of a sadistic Duke. She is told in no uncertain term she will be married off to an old codger and to make sure that the marriage cannot be annulled because said old man's is impotent, the Duke is going to have Ashley lose her virginity to a colonial. The Colonial will never be seen again and she will go to the marriage sans virginity.

American Captain Salem McClellan is in London to buy a horse from the Duke. As the Duke's guest he never sees Ashley, does not even know she is there. The Duke questions Salem about his past and even says that he knew Salem's father who use to work on the neighboring estate. The Duke is so evil he drugs Salem and provides Ashley as the entertainment but fortunatley nothing happens and Salem is determined to rescue Ashley from the Duke.

These two have a fine romance and they do not let misunderstandings get in the way of their feelings. Both are loyal and try to keep no secrets. Of course, the Duke is bent on revenge and the colonies are getting ready to break out into revolution. Salem and Ashley are tested with both of these specters and there are a few surprises thrown into the mix too. Overall a good story.

Description from back of book:

Ashley Lynne had never expected kindness from her guardian, the cruel Duke of Linfield. But to be betrothed by him to an aging peer she hardly knew was unthinkable. Even worse was the cost of her resistance, for Ashley awoke from a drugged sleep to find herself in the bedchamber of a dark-haired, steel-eyed stranger.

Sent to England on business, Captain Salem McClellan assumed the lovely young woman curled in his bed was only an evening's entertainment supplied by the Duke of Linfield. Ashley's terrified protests were proof of her innocence - and a powerful inspiration to rescue the young beauty from her guardian's clutches.

From the gloomy docks of London to the lush green hills of Virginia, Salem and Ashley embark on a journey that plunges them into scandalous family secrets, and into the danger of the American Revolution. Together, they will fight for America's freedom, and the promise of being wrapped in each other's arms...forever.

* This was a very good book. I found it very hard to put down. The characters are very likable & you find yourself wanting to know more about the secondary character, which we will have a chance to since this is the 1st in a 3 book series. I highly recommend this book.

This is my first book by Jo Goodman and I'm glad I took a chance with this book. You won't be disappointed with this love story.

SPOILERS of the plot: Her uncle is obsessed with her dead mother, now with her.

I should know better than to read a 1985 reprint, regardless who the author is. 18 years ago, Romance novels used plotlines and devices that come off dated or even offensive now. Crystal Passion, the first of a trilogy written by otherwise excellent author Jo Goodman, has as its hero and heroine 2 wonderful characters - Ashley Lynne and Salem McClellan - who for the most part are caring, loving, heroic and admirable. But midway through the book, Salem rapes Ashley while he's delirious from a fever. He is "unaware" that he has done this. He has loved her from the moment he met her and can't understand her terror of him after his illness. This is the premise for their love and later family life. As a Romance reader in 2002, I found it disgusting that this scene was included, also that Ashley's evil guardian Nigel, chained her with shackles to the bed earlier in the book. Otherwise, Salem's family is warm and loving and parts of the book are what I expect from Jo Goodman. I do not recommend this book because of outdated, offensive plot devices and an exorbitant amount of American history. If you want to see what Goodman is truly capable of, try the Thorne Brothers trilogy: My Steadfast Heart, My Reckless Heart and With All My Heart. These 3 stories kept me up for nights on end and were worth every bleary-eyed morning but Crystal Passion, however, was a shambles. Stay away from it - you've been warned.