Customer Reviews

The Next Mrs. Blackthorne

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

 

 

"The Next Mrs. Blackthorne" by Joan Johnston" is 6th in the Bittercreek 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. At the end of the book, Ms Johnston lets you know that the next story will continue to tell Kate's story(but doesn't give the title, so I am not sure if it is even out yet). I am hoping the "older/mysterious" guy(Jack) she pretended to love, will be back in the next story. He 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

I read the other reviews and felt kind of bad giving this book only 2 stars but I just didn't think it was very good. I found the characters to be shallow and uninteresting, the dialogue choppy and boring. The only reason I kept reading it was to see if Jack and Kate would wind up together but apparently this book is one in a series and this was not their story. I first rolled my eyes when Joss left Clay's home and went to North's just as easy as that and then Clay came begging her to come home. What made him even more of a flop for a hero was when he told her he'd wait for her while North used her. I think it would have been much better reading had the author spent a little more time developing the characters and their feelings, maybe given us a little more detail about their lives and how they felt about the people they were involved with. There were three storylines in this book and not near enough time was spent on any of them. I never connected with any of the characters and frankly, I don't know how they connected with each other. It just didn't seem like there was much thought put into the writing of this book.

Joan Johnston has done it again - drawn us into the bitter feud between the Grayhawks and Blackthornes and wrapped us in the not-to-be-denied emotional bond between Libby Grayhawk and Clay Blackthorne.

At eighteen, Kate Grayhawk is still waging a campaign to get her parents together and married. One big stumbling block - Jocelyn Montrose, sister to Clay's late wife and now his fiancee. When she appeals to her Uncle North Grayhawk for help, he takes a step that will have a far-reaching effect on everyone - especially him. A man whose view of women is colored by his father's multiple marriages and lost love, he has held himself apart from emotional entanglement. Until Joss, trying to help Clay, offers him a bargain that turns out to be almost more than he can handle.

Clay and Libby, meanwhile, are thrown together through the plottings of their daughter. History has made them both stubborn and wary of each other, but circumstances will teach them, too, the meaning of real love.

As Joan Johnston takes the reader through the emotional turmoil of these four people, as she skillfully involves us in their conflicts and battles, we see the depth of character in each of them that directs their course for the future. The decisions they will ultimately make will effect everyone, and have a major impact on the Grayhawk-Blackthorn feud.

Who will be the next Mrs. Blackthorne? You'll have to read the book and see, but it is a most staisfying read, and will leave you waiting at the bookstore for the next Bitter Creek novel.

Nineteen years old Kate Grayhawk thought that her rescue from a kidnapping would be the catalyst to bring her biological parents together, but one year since her harrowing experience, Libby Grayhawk and Clay Blackthorne remain apart. Though she knows the families feud, she still has hopes until her prayers seem to be forever unanswered when her father announces his engagement to Jocelyn Montrose.

With the gene pool she carries Kate is not a quitter so continues her efforts to bring her parents together. Surprisingly and serendipitously her Uncle North Grayhawk assists her by buying shares of stock in the Blackthorne Bitter Creek Cattle Company. Meanwhile Jocelyn who always wanted Clay even when he was married to her late sister meets North and is stunned as he sets her heart ablaze like no one else including her fiancé has ever done before. Feeling a need to make things right for Clay and his family she offers herself to North in exchange for the stock not realizing the inferno she and Kate, acting separately, set between the two of them and the fighting families.

This is a strong entry in the long running feuding Grayhawk- Blackthorne dispute. Fans will appreciate the internal battles of the obstinate cast as no one wants to take the first step for fear of rejection by the significant other they love and the consequent scorn by their family. Though Police Officer Jack hits it on the head that Kate is too spoiled and has pitied herself over the years due to the lack of a two parent home, readers will enjoy the latest in Joan Johnston's long running saga.

Harriet Klausner

This is the first novel I have read about Joan Johnston's Bittercreek Dynasty, so all the characters and the background were completely unknown to me. There are three leading couples in this novel that are intricately tied together by events occurring twenty years earlier.

The Blackthornes and the Grayhawks are 21st century Capulets and Montagues. Their distrust and bitterness permeate all their interactions save two people, Clay Blackthorne and Libby Grayhawk, these two young lovers met twenty years ago when Libby was only 16 and Clayton was a worldly 26 year old. They fell in love and when Libby became pregnant, she lied about her feelings to Clay (but not her pregnancy) to protect him from her vengeful father. Both have moved on with their lives, in fact Clay is soon to marry beautiful young Jocelyn.

Clay and Libby's 19 year old daughter Kate desperately wants her parents together and she confides her longings to her mother's brother, North. He listens without comment but hatches a scheme which he believes helps everyone. He buys up stock in the Bittercreek ranching corporation and plans on a takeover, hoping Clay will call off the wedding to Jocelyn in order to regain his stock.

Riding to Clay's rescue is his fiancée Jocelyn who offers herself to North in exchange for the stocks. Joss kind of has an inflated sense of self worth but she also has an attraction for North. They met a year earlier. North takes her up on her offer and the two begin a hot overwhelming affair.

Meanwhile Clay is a federal judge presiding over a dangerous terrorist trial. His daughter Kate visits him regularly but when she takes up with a much older former NFL player, Jack McKinley, he and Kate's mom, Libby, join forces to prevent their daughter from marrying someone they find unsuitable.

These stories combine fairly well but not all the couple's have a well written story. Joss and North by far are the best of the couples. Besides having a passionate and heated romance, Joss confronts her feelings about North almost immediately and North reevaluates his feelings and future with Joss. Their personalities fit one another well, which explains their instant attraction for each other.

Kate and Jack have a romance that is not supposed to be a romance. Jack tells Kate he is only with her as a favor for his friend North. He has no intention of acting upon this May/December romance. Kate is impetuous and hard headed and she struggles mightily with her growing feelings for Jack. Their dialogue is somewhat unnatural and never really flows as well as the other couples.

Clay and Libby's romance of course, has a long history which played out to its happy conclusion. Both are deeply hurt over the other's actions and quite frankly both are stubborn when it comes to forgiving one another.

Sometimes these stories intersect well and at other times they seemed forced. Woven throughout this novel is the specter of a terrorist targeting the Blackthorne family. Overall I liked this novel because I so liked North and Joss's story. The others, while interesting just could not hold a candle to the passion and longing between Joss and North.

This was an easy to read romance that was very predictable, but it was still satisfying. The characters were interesting. The author writes with a style that is easy to read, as well as enjoyable

Received the book quickly. It was just what I wanted and in the good shape that was stated. Really enjoyed reading it.