Customer Reviews

Joining (Shefford)

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(21)
3 star:		(31)
2 star:		(26)
1 star:		(20)

 

 

I had to reread "Joining" twice before I rated it, simply because I couldn't make up my mind how I felt about it. I finally decided it was "alright" approaching "lackluster," especially in comparison to its marvelous prequel, "Defy Not the Heart."

A medieval romance, "Joining" is the story of tomboy Milisant and the knight Wulfric, betrothed since babies, who hate each other but are to be married in a month. With the ability to befriend any and all animals, Milisant desperately wishes she were a boy, and dresses that way. She loves to hunt with her bow and run around with dirt on her face. Wulfric is dark and brooding, and has a penchant for ordering Milisant around. At first, he prefers Milisant's most ladylike twin sister, Jhone, yet somehow he ends up falling for his uncouth bride-to-be.

I loved the relationship between Jhone and Milisant. In fact, I think this novel would have withered and died without it. There's real devotion between the two sisters; plus, wise Jhone gives excellent, witty advice to her wayward sister. Actually, I think I liked Jhone better than Milisant, which is sad. You're supposed to like the heroine. But Milisant as a heroine is an eyeball-rolling experience. She reminds me of a drama queen twelve-year old.

It's hard to feel much for Wulfric. He doesn't get too much story time, as most of "Joining" revolves around conversations between Milisant and Jhone.

The hatred between the two lovers-to-be is based on an experience that occurred when they were kids. It's an argument gone bad, with a dead bird and broken ankle thrown in. Most of it is just dopey. More hard feelings revolve around a distracting subplot with famous King John and a visit to the home of Reina & Ranulf of "Defy Not the Heart." I wish I could say Reina & Ranulf were fun to see again; unfortunately, they were so little used it's silly to call "Joining" a sequel.

All in all, "Joining" is fine is you've never read a Johanna Lindsey novel. It has its moments, with witty dialogue here and there and some interesting situations, but it's not great. It's way too women's lib (in the medieval times?!?) for me to stomach and lacks real passion (they don't even get it on until page 320).

I personally would prefer to read "Defy Not the Heart."

I thought this book was absolutely hopeless. Despite the description that Mill was supposed to be strong minded, I thought she never demonstrated this and especially at the end where she allowed herself to be bullied into agreeing with that bossy and self-important hero. Not very dignified, let alone romantic at all! J.L. has managed to maintain the dignity of her heroines in other books having a similar premise, such as "You Belong To Me" but "Joining" didn't allow this. Mill and Wulf only seemed to be obsessed with arguing about each other's habits in a flimsy attempt to substitute for plot. Lastly the word "joining" was used about every 5 pages for some reason. I found such repetition unnecessary and very annoying. If you must read this, get it from the library like I did. Not worth the $.

Although I'm a big fan of JL, I would suggest waiting until the paperback is out. Don't spend the money on the hardcover version, it's not worth it. It's a pleasing story, but without any bite, and very little romance. On a scale of 1-10, Joining is a 5. Did Johanna actually write this?

Johanna Lindsey is of course superb, and if the book was written by anyone else, I would have given it one star. However, Lindsay can write beautifully, even when the plot and characters are boring or stereotypical. I found Milisant's character annoying and completely out of character for the era she lived in, at times she truly irritated me to the extent that I would have slapped her had she been real. Her independence seemed pointless and more like pig-headedness than anything else at several points in the story. Her insistence on having her way simply makes her more annoying. Overall, she must rate as one of my least favorite heroines.

Wulfric is not as bad as Milisant, but he could have done with some improvements as well. The book does not lack 'fire' between the protagonists, who usually manage to end up at each other's throat, but I found most of the scenes repetitive and the antagonism dragged on much too long.

Overall, this is not one of Lindsay's landmarks. Stick to the Malory series by the same author if you want a really satisfying and enjoyable read.

I am a HUGE Johanna Lindsey fan, I have every book she ever wrote and I love them, but this is a waste of effort to have wrote or read! This book is the follow-up to "Defy Not the Heart". They don't even compare. The heroine in this book Milisent was weak and did unbelievable things in this time period(1214) which would never have been tolerated! The plot was dumb and the hero and heroine lacked any spark of romance or fire Johanna Lindsey usually has for her characters. The plot calls for this "danger" to threaten them! Please! If you read it you'll know what I mean. The "danger" plot never took off and was gone before you knew it. Left me wondering why it was there in the first place! And the reason she doesn't want to marry the Earl(Wulfric) is a stupid one. Lindsey could've come up with something better in my opinion. I was sorely dissapointed in this book. Her writing lately is much to be desired. I don't want to sound so critical, but come on! If you are new to this author, I would NOT recommend this book to you as a first, try instead her Malory books, starting with "Love Only Once", "Tender Rebel","Gentle Rogue", "Magic of You", "Say You Love Me"& "The Present"(in this order). This way you can judge for yourself how well she writes normally. "The Joining" had some humorous parts in the beginning, but seems to lose steam midway through and then took a nosedive. I hope this helps anyone out there.... =)

Johanna Lindsay is one of my favorite authors and I have read every single one of her novels. However, this book is definitely not one of her best works. It lacks tension and passion. The characters are flat and one dimensional. I could not understand how the main characters fell in love. At one moment, they hate each other, then the next thing I knew, they are madly in love.

When I read Lindsay's past novels, I got very emotional, teary and could not put the book down. With Joining, it was just the opposite. I was just plain bored and it felt like the novel would never end.

Hopefully, her next story would be better.

I LOVE JOHANNA LINDSEY but this one is lacking, we wait and wait for her books to come out and then we get this. I have all of her books,several covers for each, all of the abridged and unabridged Audio, invested a lot of money and time. And now with them comming out in hard cover 1st, that much more money just to be dissapointed. The story was good and would have liked it if it wasn't just so predictable for the true JL fan. Same old same old... girl doesnt want guy, guy doesn't want girl, forced to be together... then they discover they are in love. If I hadn't read all of her other book I probaly would have liked it but I know she is capable of so much better. I will always be greatfull for all that Johanna Jindsey has given me through her books and the fact that her books got me REALLY interested in reading, but I will not be putting any more of my hard earned money into my collection unless there are some major changes. I hope I haven't offended anyone because I have goten 35 people into her books and reveiwed several Very positivly because they were Majestic, but I have to say what I feel.

I have been a fan of Johanna Lindsey's work for over a decade, and I can honestly say: If stranded on a desert island, the only two books available were "Joining" and "The Art of Watching Grass Grow", I would be using the pages of "Joining" to kindle a fire while tending to the lawn I've grown on the sand!

This was Ms. Lindsey's poorest effort to say the least. The characters were uninteresting, the plotline thin, the love unconvincing...and I found myself struggling to complete the story in hopes of finding some redeeming feature. Alas, there was none to be found.

I would still recommend Lindsey's work, just skip this title.

Although certainly not one of Johanna Lindsey's greater works, this book certainly has its merits. The sexual tension is prevalent between Wulfric and Milisant, but there's more fighting than loving. It is only at the very end that the couple discovers how much they love one another.

There isn't as much action and adventure, but the plot and time-period were well-researched. In this Lindsey novel, the reader has to admire Milisant's desperate attempts to be accepted for who she is rather than who everyone else in the book wants her to be. Wulfric comes to understand this better than anyone, which is probably why the two fall in love.

All in all, the book is worth the read, but I would not recommend it if one is looking for a constant adventure. But if the reader is searching for a tale of love and acceptance, pick it up and prepare for a long afternoon of reading enjoyment.

This book definitely had the potential...it was a beautiful story. It just lacked the interaction between the hero & the heroine. There should have been more scenes between them instead between Mili & her twin sister or anybody else for that matter.

For what its worth, however little scenes between Wulf & Mili, were good. I especially liked the part where she dresses like a boy and he threatens to dress her himself is she doesn't change. And how she fools him into thinking she's her twin...more than once.

Give it a try, maybe you will like it. Not as good as Gentle Rogue / You Belong To Me...but still a worthwhile read.