Customer Reviews

Risk Everything (Zebra Debut)

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

Set in Scotland, the year 1074. Rolf and Meghan had fancied each other as children, but Fate sent them upon different paths.

Meghan of Blackthorn grew up training with her brother, Connor. She is efficient in archery, blade throwing, some hand-to-hand combat, and training animals. Her people affectionately call her their "Warrior Woman - the Pride of Blackthorn". Meghan knew that there was some bad tidings between Rolf and Connor, but no one ever told her what happened to cause the feud.

Meghan sneaks away from her brother and her laird for some time alone hunting. She soon finds herself kidnapped by Rolf. But he is no longer the boy she once loved. In his place stood a cold warrior with hate burning within his eyes and a sneer upon his lips.

Rolf of Rimsdale is known as the "Lord of Vengeance". He has proof showing that Connor was the one who led the raid two years ago. During that raid Connor hilled Rolf's wife and new born son. It is only fitting that Rolf uses Meghan for his revenge. Where before Rolf once had dreams of Meghan being his bride, now he has dreams of using Meghan to correct Connor's wrongs ... even if it means crushing Meghan's pride and spirit to do it.

***** OMG! This has got to be one of the very best Historical Romances I have ever read. I cringe at the thought of anyone missing out on this book. Yes, it is THAT great! It has strong characters full of honor and dignity. Lots of action, adventure, romance, and betrayal. I even fell in love with a few of the secondary characters. I hope to see young Garith get his own story told one day. If you are looking for a story that will grab your attention on the first page and never let go, reach for this title. Highly recommended! *****

Reviewed by Detra Fitch of Huntress Reviews.

Rolf MacDaidh has a score to settle with his childhood friend, Connor of Blackthorn. Connor murdered his wife and unborn child and Rolf is planning to inflict the same pain on him. He kidnaps Meghan, Connor's sister, and carries, well drags her off to his castle. Meghan is formidable. She is unlike any other woman he's ever known. She is known as the Pride of Blackthorn, the Woman Warrior of Blackthorn, and she can out-fight, out-shoot, and out-ride any man in her keep or Rolf's.

Meghan is shocked when Rolf reveals the reason behind her kidnapping and also his plans for her. Since Connor robbed him of an heir, Rolf will have an heir through Meghan. Meghan vehemently refuses so Rolf agrees to handfast with her, which is a form of marital oath where they both agree to stay together as long as both are willing. Meghan, in her oath, agrees to stay with Rolf for a year and a day.

Meghan and Rolf are finally a happily married couple but Meghan's happiness is constantly marred by the pitying looks thrown her way by the people around her. What she doesn't know is the true treachery of Rolf's plan. He already has a betrothed and plans to break their handfast to marry her and force Meghan to be his mistress.

Rolf's vengeance comes to pass. He marries his betrothed and Meghan is humiliated. And instead of releasing Meghan to return to her home, she is forced to remain at Rolf's keep and witness their wedding and endure his wife's malicious contempt for her. But Rolf's carefully laid plans finally backfire when Connor's innocence is finally proven and Meghan escapes his clutches on the same night.

Intense. Very intense. So intense that even three days later, I'm not completely satisfied with the ending. What I find unbelievable is that, after all the trauma Meghan has gone through, the anger, the hate and her rage at what Rolf did to her "simply" melts off of her at his apology. I can't quite swallow that.

An appropriate ending, I think, would've been a brief separation for the two while Meghan and Rolf worked through their emotions, especially Meghan's torture and ill treatment at Rolf's hands. After that, once they discover their abiding love for each other, they meet at, oh I don't know, somewhere and confess all, kiss and make up, and plan their wedding.

And may I just say that Rolf is a total idiot? With too much muscle in his biceps and not enough in his noggin.

"Risk Everything" is a wonderful debut effort by a new voice that bears watching in the future. Ms. Johnson has created a wonderfully dynamic story with larger than life characters that will jump off the pages and into your imagination.

Rolf MacDaidh is driven by his need for vengeance. He believes his once good friend is responsible for the loss of his wife and bairn as well as the damage done to his brother. He's waited a long time to pay back this insult and when he puts his plan in action he is not ready for the fall out from his decision. He abducts Meghan of Blackthorn. Once long ago he had strong feelings for the lass but he now needs to keep those long ago memories buried deep. The Meghan he once knew no longer exists. In her place is a lass that can fight as hard as a man and has enough pride to even impress him. Will he be able to keep his mind on his task, or will the emotions that Meghan brings out in him change everything?

Meghan once loved Rolf fiercely with all of her heart. She once dreamed of marriage and bairns with him. But, now things have changed. She is now his captive and he's been brutish in his treatment, and she has been a minx at every turn. She will not go quietly and if she causes a few injuries along the way...well, that's what happens when you take a lass such as herself against her will. But, the longer she's with Rolf the more her heart softens to the man he's become. Will she be able to deal with the fact that she's a weapon of revenge against her brother or will deceit and danger keep these two from ever finding the happy ending they so both deserve?

This was a richly written romance that grabbed me right from the start. Ms. Johnson is a worthy new voice in the historical romance genre and one that I eagerly look forward to reading again in the future. She has deftly created characters that are at the same time strong but endearing. The romance and chemistry between Rolf and his Meghan was sensual and romantic. I enjoyed the secondary characters and found them to be important to plot without overpowering the main storyline. Ms. Johnson is off to a brilliant start with her writing career.

Knowing that I was going to read a book about vengeance and that the hero would not be PC about his behavior, I was still left with a feeling of disgust on reading the book. I have to give the author points for getting me engaged in the story, but that was probably more because of the horrible main character she created in the form of Rolf MacDaidh than her writing or the story itself.

There will be SPOILERS!!

I could not understand the character of Rolf in this book. This man is out for vengeance, and he does not act like a hero. From what I have read in romance novels, I expected more. He was supposed to be smarter, but he unquestioningly believes that the man he called friend for years would kill his wife and attack his young brother. He never questions the motives behind such an act. He exacts vengeance on an innocent, and continues through with his plan even after finding out that she was a virgin. He talks of his honor forcing him to marry another, yet he has just betrayed Meghan, sullied her and made her a whore in her own eyes. He is shocked that Meghan would think him capable of beating a woman, yet he stands there ready to rape her. All throughout we're supposed to believe that he feels horrible for doing this to Meghan, but he has to because he promised to marry a woman he hardly knows, but I don't buy that. He hurts Meghan just so he can keep his non-existent honor unsullied.

This is not what I expect from my heroes, and I am thoroughly disgusted by Rolf's behavior. All this vengeance ... all this pain that he puts Meghan through, is all supposed to be forgiven once he finds out that Meghan's brother wasn't the perpetrator. There is nothing likable about this male chauvinist, who believes that women are beneath him in every way.

I kind of liked Meghan. A lot of the other reviewers are complaining about how she fights against being feminine and why is she always fighting Rolf, but the man kidnapped her! He has not earned anything, yet he expects Meghan to submit to him. She fights because she is trying to save herself. She fights him, but she also cares, about Rolf's people, about Rolf. And even after his betrayal, she is worried about him. What I don't understand is how easily she forgives him in the end. This man takes her pride, her self-respect and grinds it all into the dust. His behavior is pretty unforgivable. But she forgives him for it all.

Johnson's writing is stilted and awkward. She fails to explain why, if Rolf loved Meghan so much, he would have married his first wife. And then she glosses over the time where Rolf would be trying to make up for his horrible behavior! He says he was wrong. She doesn't know if she can forgive him. And then they're lovers again and getting married. I will not be keeping this book.

I was angry and frustrated during the entire book until the epilogue. The plot was bad and the characters were awful. In the following paragraph, I give examples as to why the two main characters were unlikeable and the plot line was uninteresting.

CAUTION SPOILERS: Meghan and Rolf were attracted to each other as teens. We are never told why he returned to his clan and married Ingirid. Meghan grieved when she learned of his marriage. Someone kills Ingirid and frames the murder on Connor, Meghan's brother. Now out of hatred and wanting revenge, Rolf kidnaps Meghan and plans to turn her into his leman (mistress) and get her pregnant. Throughout the kidnapping she is unlikeable. Fighting with him and throwing temper tantrums. Then all of a sudden they do a handfasting (temporary marriage) and they have enjoyable sex. Then she gets mad because he had thought she was not a virgin. She keeps fighting him and then enjoys sex with him. Then they fight more. I did not like her personality at all. Her motto was "Never will I be as other women. I will accept no man as master o'er me." (page 220) During the second half of the book I didn't like Rolf because after he and Meghan mutually fall in love with each other, he leaves Meghan to marry Ailsa, whom he had agreed to marry before the kidnapping and handfasting. He had lied to Meghan by not telling her that he was planning to marry another. He claimed his honor required him to keep a previous commitment to marry Ailsa. The reason he committed to Ailsa was that after Ingirid died, he felt he needed a wife to give him heirs, but he didn't care who it was, and Ailsa was available and interested, so he promised her he'd marry her. This wasn't a promise to a king or another laird to guarantee peace between clans, it was just that he needed a wife and she would do. Now, he makes good on his promise even though he loves Meghan and dislikes Ailsa. Meghan is mad and terribly hurt. I won't tell the rest, but there was nothing fun or enjoyable about this story.

I was angry most of the time I was reading it. I wished I had not wasted my time with this. Sexual language: mild. Number of sex scenes: twelve. Setting: 1074 Scotland. Copyright: 2005. Genre: historical romance.

Sophia Johnson's 11th-century Scottish medieval romance RISK EVERYTHING offers nothing in terms of substantive characters, engaging story or captivating settings. The prose here exceeds a Julia Quinn, Samantha James, Kathryn Caskie or Lisa Kleypas but not by much. The book reads as a woman's secret fantasy to have a beautiful, muscle-leaden, huge- "tarsed" (manhood) Scottish warrior dominate and possess. RISK EVERYTHING cuts to the chase and often borders on the erotic maltreatment of its virgin heroine Meghan of Blackthorn to magnify a sensual possession. Both lead characters are utterly forgettable and the love scenes often eclipse the participants and their purported connection. The hero Rolf MacDaidh must assert his masculinity with Meghan at every turn. Meghan meanwhile harbors the I-am-like-man-hear-me-roar syndrome, also for the entire book. She is an expert marksman, lethal with a dirk and sword, master horseman and mesmerizing on the bagpipes. Of course she spits curses at Rolf 24/7 but that's fine given Rolf's maltreatment. Meghan initiates nothing from a lovemaking standpoint even though the entire middle section of the novel contains copious love scenes. Apparently, having our virtuous Meghan initiate anything sensually would make her look like a strumpet. From her first oblique reference, we recognize the book's villain. Rolf of course spurns the villain's lewd advances -- apparently only female villains initiate anything sensually. We also know that false pretenses compel Rolf to the vengeance he exacts from Meghan of Blackthorn. The flimsy evidence which points to Blackthorn's Connor as the culprit behind Rolf's grievances seemed a ridiculous ruse to have the hero abduct and "possess" the heroine.

The book would be remiss to let a moment pass without reminding us Meghan can, in fact, best all men in arms with the possible exceptions of Rolf, her cousins Mereck and Damron and her brother Connor. Mereck, Damron and Connor appear so often often in their happily-married lives, we quickly deduce they appeared as heroes in prior Sophia Johnson novels. Even the final climax featured these heroes from other books, not Rolf and Meghan necessarily. When our muscular, high-handed medieval cartoon pimp (Rolf) services Meghan in their first love scene, Meghan thinks of how the men in her family (i.e., Mereck, Damron and Connor) have a reputation for pleasing women and superior lovemaking skills (p. 160). I thought it a little incestuous and creepy to think about relatives' lovemaking skills while going at it with Rolf. Even though this book takes place mostly in Rolf's castle at Rimsdale, it often depicts Rimsdale's inferiority compared to Damron's Blackthorn. Rimsdale's dog Ugsome pales in comparison to Blackthorn's hound Guardian (p. 93). The Pride of Blackthorn Meghan must properly teach all of Rimsdale's inept warriors in arms and combat. In her thoughts, Meghan constantly compares Rimsdale and its people with Blackthorn and finds Rimsdale entirely lacking. Why didn't this book just take place in Blackthorn if it rocks so much?

I'm reminded of many superior, yet sensual, medieval romances reading this. Julie Garwood's characters in GENTLE WARRIOR (***) and SAVING GRACE (**) discovered a sensual passion that resonated. I found Shannon Drake's bellicose hero-and-heroine chemistry passionately entertaining in COME THE MORNING (***). As far as honorable medieval possessions goes, Madeline Hunter's BY POSSESSION (****) still reigns supreme. Its characters Addis and Moira are memorable and their chemistry palpable.

She failed to engage me as a reader, in fact, her writing was quite distracting and irritating. If you don't like the characters and the writing is hard to follow, why would you stick with the book? After muddling through this wrack, I had to put the book aside in frustration.

Loved the plot idea, hated the writing. Wish another author wrote this.

I can't really call the leading man a hero. Throughout the book, "Rolf" lies, schemes, and betrays a woman who deserves to be admired. Normally, a character who is so despicable would ruin a story for me. However, the heroine "Meghan" is so admirable that I could not put the book down. I had to keep reading to learn her fate.

Rolf is out for vengeance. He believes that Meghan's brother killed his wife and son. To get even, Rolf kidnaps Meghan. His plan is to use her as his leman until she gives him a son to replace the one who died. From the beginning, he has guilt that stems from his past relationship with Meghan. Years ago, Rolf and Meghan were in love and hoping to marry. (One big question in this story is why he ended up marrying someone else all of a sudden. I kept waiting for an answer to that, but it was never explained.) Despite his guilt, Rolf is determined to shame Meghan's family.

Meghan of Blackthorn is a powerful warrior. Her clan knows her as "The Pride of Blackthorn." She can ride and perform archery better than most men. Despite her great skills, she is captured by one of the few men who can best her. Rolf was once her true love, but he betrayed her by marrying another woman. Now, years later, he seeks to humiliate her. He takes away her weapons and "boys clothes", forcing her to live as he commands. She fights him in ways that cause the shame to fall on his own shoulders. To get her to agree to share his bed, he asks her to handfast with him. She agrees, believing he is finally honoring her. Rolf's clan can hardly bare his dishonor... they know he is already betrothed to another woman. Rolf makes his oath to Meghan in front of his clan, being careful to word it in a way that he can back out of.

Meghan and Rolf spend the next several weeks in bliss. She is confident that they will be married at the end of their handfast. Rolf has no intention of marrying her, but he continues to deceive her so that she will continue to share his bed. However, what was meant to be vengeance against her family, becomes Rolf's own torment. He has fallen deeply in love with Meghan. When he receives a message that his betrothed will arrive in three days, Rolf spends one last special night with Meghan. He then turns from her without explanation. He has her belongings removed from their room, refuses to speak to her, and will not allow her sit next to him in the great hall. Meghan is hurt, but tries to be patient. When the three days are up, Rolf announces that he will marry the other woman the following morning. Meghan is crushed, but she refuses to give up her dignity. All know the shame is truly Rolf's to bare.

During the following weeks, Meghan works on planning an escape back to her family's lands. She valiantly spends her days training with Rolf's men, earning their respect and wearing her pride for all to see. While preparing for another escape attempt, Meghan overhears a plot to kill Rolf and his family. She also hears the murders admit that they killed Rolf's first wife and child. Desperate to escape, but still a woman of honor, she goes to Rolf to warn him. When he refuses to believe her, Meghan makes her escape.

Rolf comes to his senses, realizing that Meghan is not a woman who would lie. Now he must stop the murders and find Meghan. Signs that she was injured have been found in the woods. When she is found, he will do anything to earn her forgiveness.


I like the fact that it takes months for Rolf to win Meghan back. I would have been really annoyed if she made it easy for him after all he had done to her. He humbles himself in every way and gives her the freedom to be herself at last. The betrayal was a bit too steep for me though. I personally could not forgive Rolf's selfish and dishonorable acts. Meghan saved this book for me.

After reading some of the rave reviews for Risk Everything, I thought this book would be a keeper. It's not. I had a really difficult time liking theses leads especially the hero who acts less than honorably.

Meghan is quite a lady, she can ride better than most men, shoot an arrow skillfully, throw a knife as well an assassin and she is one proud woman. She is defiant of her brother's demands that she remain in the castle and sneaks out only to be abducted by hero Rolf of Rimsdale.

Rolf has vengeance on his mind when he abducts Meghan. They have a history which is told in little snippets here in there. I would have liked a more chronological background for these two because I never did get a sense of why these they had feelings for each other years before Rolf's fateful meeting with Meghan in the woods.

Rolf is convinced Meghan's brother killed his wife and son so he is seeking to hurt him where he can feel the most pain. He will abduct Meghan and force her to give him a son.

Meghan tries to evade him several times but still ends up in Rolf's castle. These two fight constantly. Meghan hits, kicks and I think bites him. They both have quick tempers and were not pleasant to each other throughout most of this novel.

Rolf is so consumed by his anger that he never listens to others. He wants to subdue Meghan and he wants her obedience, something she is loathe to give so this becomes a battle of wills over almost everything. Rolf is secretive and dishonest; he treated Meghan horribly and worse knew he loved her when he did so.

Meghan's family was a bit odd too. The men of her family are married to women who use foul language and are obstinate and demanding (they just did not fit the ladies of the middle ages.) I know they have their own stories but I will not be reading them.

By the end of this novel, Rolf is unworthy of Meghan and she seems resigned to her destiny. This couple is passionate in the bedroom and their many, many fights are loud and boisterous with Meghan sometimes resorting to physical violence and Rolf becoming imperious. I tend to like vengeance plots because they give a lead with anger in their heart a chance to heal and redeem themselves. I saw little change in Rolf who remained proud and stubborn (traits his leading lady shared) until the very last chapters of this book.

I was very disappointed in this story. If someone, no matter how long I knew them, treated me this way at the beginning of this book I sure wouldn't handfast with them! They would have to rape me! You can resist the sexual persuasions if you are angry enough. Nothing would convince me to trust Rolf and I would never forgive him for this deep of a betrayal! Although a well written book, there is no psychological common sense in Meghan's reactions to Rolf. Both characters disappointed me.