The Next Mrs. Blackthorne (A Bitter Creek Novel) [Hardcover]

Joan Johnston (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Pocket Books (2005)
• ISBN-10: 0739458744
• ISBN-13: 978-0739458747
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,630,132 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Joan Johnston, the New York Times bestselling author of the Bitter Creek novels A STRANGER'S GAME, THE NEXT MRS. BLACKTHORNE, THE RIVALS, THE PRICE, THE LONER, THE TEXAN, THE COWBOY, and the historicals NO LONGER A STRANGER and COLTER'S WIFE, has written more than forty award-winning historical and contemporary romance novels. She received a master of arts degree in theater from the University of Illinois and graduated with honors from the University of Texas School of Law at Austin. Joan Johnston lives in Colorado and South Florida.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars 6th In The Bitter Creek Series....A Blackthorne/Grayhawk Feud, November 18, 2010

By 

L. Shirley "Laurie's Boomer Views" (Huntington Beach,CA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Next Mrs. Blackthorne (A Bitter Creek Novel) (Hardcover)

"The Next Mrs. Blackthorne" by Joan Johnston" is 6th in the Bitter Creek series. It follows:The Cowboy - The Texan - The Loner - The Price - and The Rivals. This series is modern day romance/western adventures that revolve around feuding families.The Blackthornes, The Creeds(descendants of the "Sisters of the Lone Star" Trilogy) and most recently The Grayhawks, who in this series were introduced in "The Rivals". The Blackthornes and Creeds had pretty much laid their feud to rest, but the Blackthornes and Grayhawks have another long standing hatred for each other, which escalated 20 years earlier by the affair of son Clay Blacthorne and daughter Libby Grayhawk, which produced grandaughter Kate, who being a Blackthorne-Grayhawk is caught in the middle.

So in the last book "The Rivals", teenaged Kate had been kidnapped and Libby and Clay had to work together to save their daughter. You knew that sparks still flew between them and hoped someday they would put aside their differences and marry and bring together these two feuding families. But alas, Clay is engaged to another and neither admit their true feelings. Now in "The Next Mrs. Blackthorne", Kate is once again in serious trouble as a result of trying to trick her parents into reuniting.She announces her engagement to an older mysterious fellow who's reputation is not exactly pristine,in hopes her parents will unite in order to stop the relationship. Clay now a federal Judge,is trying a high-profile case of a "bomber" and Kate has also befriended the son of the defendant. Now she has turned up missing and the hunt for Kate, her kidnapper and a bomb makes for an exciting and suspenseful adventure.

I enjoyed the mystery/adventure aspect of the story and found that quite intriguing,and also following the family saga, but the rest didn't seem up to par with the earlier romance stories. Libby who we want all the time to be The Next Mrs. Blackthorne,and make some of those sparks fly with Clay, doesn't even enter the picture until chapter 6 about 125 pages in. Clay's fiance, Jocelyn and Libby's brother North, are the focus at first, and although their story eventually becomes pretty hot(romantically speaking),it begins with an unrealistic ploy by Jocelyn as she offers her body to North,in exchange for some property the Blackthornes do not want to lose to him.Also, Kate, now a college student seems as mischievous and naive as a grade school girl,especially taking into consideration the life-threatening situation she had already had in the last story.

This is also the one book in this series, that I would say does not stand on it's own. You really need to read, at least "The Rivals" to get a full understanding of the characters. If you have already been following this series, you probably want to read it for the adventure and to catch up with the families. The "older/mysterious" guy(Jack), Kate pretended to love,was the most interesting character in the story.

All in all, a good story to take you away for a while, just not quite up their with some of the others in the series. Enjoy the read....Laurie

5.0 out of 5 stars Best of book of the series!!, April 30, 2011

By 

Campbellcrew - See all my reviews

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This review is from: The Next Mrs. Blackthorne (A Bitter Creek Novel) (Hardcover)

This was my favorite book of the series. I loved them all, but this one I actually got from the Library, and then bought because I loved it so much! I was so drawn to North... I just loved him. Hope you enjoy it as well. I have read over it several times since, just to get a quick Fix.
Enjoy!