Customer Reviews

The Orchid Hunter

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Ms. Landis has written a wonderfully refreshing romp that has proven her versatility as a talented writer. This novel has something for everyone. The exotic jungle setting will capture the interest of the adventurous reader. And the compelling characters and storyline will satisfy fans of her earlier works, such as WILDFLOWER and JUST ONCE, which also had fun and fiesty heroines like the free-spirited Joya of THE ORCHID HUNTER. This book has now become my #1 all-time favorite by Jill Marie Landis.

I loved this book. The idea is so intriguing and the characters so endearing that I devoured it in two sittings (interrupted only by my own call of the wild, my garden). The interplay of the unschooled Joya and very proper Trevor made for perfect chemistry. Part "African Queen," part Cinderella, and wholly entertaining. Give yourself a treat and read this book.

In 1850 Joya Penn loves living on Matarenga but it sometimes gets very lonely being the only white woman on the African island. Though she is for the most part content with her life, Joya feels a deep need to go to England, the home of her parents. She feels that part of her, the girl she always draws pictures of, resides in England. However, Joya feels her chances of going to the land of her ancestors is remote. It is even less likely that she will be marrying anyone since most of the islanders feel uncomfortable around her and her father would forbid it anyway.

Everything changes when Trevor Mandeville arrives on the island seeking the perfect orchid for Her Majesty, Queen Victoria. He realizes that Joya is the lost twin of his adopted sister. Joya accompanies Trevor back to England where she is joyfully united with her sibling. Joya falls in love with Trevor. However, he is a stickler to convention, but the only conventions she knows are African not English. Unless love finds a way, this culture-crossed duo is doomed to a lifetime of unhappiness.

Jill Marie Landis paints two wonderful landscapes as a part of mid nineteenth century Africa and England vividly come to life in THE ORCHID HUNTER. The entertaining and often humorous story line features two notable lead characters, but clearly the tale belongs to the joyous Joya whose uninhibited nature takes Victorian London by storm, sending the "White Man's Burden" into clear disarray. The secondary romance starring Joya's sister adds to the overall fun. Ms. Landis has scripted a sensual storyline filled with vibrancy. This author creates some of the best historical romance writers' on the market today.

Harriet Klausner

I can not believe that reviewers liked this book. It is contrived and unbelievable. Even in her far off island, Joya would not be so uninformed about English cutoms. She may not have been "up to snuff" om everything, but she would have known considerably more than she does.

It certainly doesn't make me desire to read other books that she has written. It doesn't deserve even one star!

Throughout the last many years, Landis has continued to provide her fans with the highest quality romance in the market today. Her stories remain classic, and classy. Her talent for touching the emotions and providing us with hours of finely woven plots and larger than life characters grows with every book. The Orchid Hunter is no exception. If a reader longs for quality, a treat that one can savor for a long time to come, this book is a MUST read. I highly recommend it!

From the back cover:

Dear Reader,

What if you always sensed there was something profound missing from your life, and yet you had no way of explaining what that elusive something was? That is exactly what happens to Joya Penn until Trevor Mandeville walks into her world and discovers the secret of her past.

From the moment Trevor sets eyes on Joya and learns that she is the stolen twin of his adopted sister, he is certain that this captivating, innocently seductive creature will turn his life--and his heart--upside down.

Joya believes that her dreams have come true when she is reunited with her twin and then journeys to London with the Mandevilles. But her irrepressible native ways and her uninhibited desire for Trevor quickly throw the entire household into chaos.

The Orchid Hunter takes you from the steaming rain forest of a remote jungle isle to the drawing rooms of London. It's the kind of story I like most, the kind that will have you laughing out loud and shedding a tear or two. It's a tale of deception and desire, but most of all, the enduring power of love--Jill Marie Landis

And my review:

This story started off well. The author really placed me in the rainforest - it made me feel like I was actually there. Also, the "twins separated from birth" theme started out as quite interesting. I liked the idea of how, even though they had never been told about one another, each was subconsciously aware of the other's existance because each twin had dreams about the other.

But the author had a very hard time keeping the momentum of this book going. She fell back on that old staple of the romance writer--make the characters fall in lust with each other instead of fall in love with each other. I could maybe handle the immediate sexual attraction on Joya's part (after all, he's the only white man she's ever seen, which would make him a novelty), but not the immediate lust on Trevor's part. I mean, c'mon, this is the identical twin of his adopted sister! How is the idea of a man who sees a woman who looks exactly like his sister and starts getting horny supposed to be romantic? Isn't that almost like incest, or something? Ewww!

Janelle, Joya's twin, found the idea of her adoptive brother and her twin sister together disturbing, yet Trevor never seemed to have a single qualm about the idea. He never even once said to himself, "I'm such a pervert! I'm lusting after a woman who looks just like my SISTER!" This element of the story left a bad taste in my mouth, and made it hard for me to keep reading. If the author had had Trevor struggle with this, then overcome it because he fell in love with Joya (not lust), I would have enjoyed this book. Or, if he had fallen in love with her first, and then become physically attracted to her, it would have been okay. But the immediate lust? Gross.

Also, I never really could see any reason, apart from sexual attraction, why Joya should love him. He was so standoffish and aloof that I felt I didn't know him, not even at the end of the book. He wasn't a hero...he was just...well...there. I had no idea what made him tick, or why the heroine should think he was so great.

Joya's stupidity got to be annoying after awhile as well. If she had been entirely raised by unenglish parents, I might have understood her ignorance. But she was raised by a white father and mother who came from England! She should have had some idea that you don't discuss the benefits of being naked WITH THE QUEEN! (I'm not kidding!)

The fact that the hero and heroine were forced to marry was okay, but I felt like the author stopped caring about the story after she got them married. And the plot twist at the end felt completely unnecessary. Not only could I see it coming from a mile away, but it was just dumb. I didn't do anything to further or deepen the story. All it did was make me roll my eyes.

At the end, Joya finds out that her father lied to her and hid letters from both her husband and sister-in-law. Instead of getting steaming mad, like a normal woman, she's just like "oh, Daddy! You are so sweet to love me so much." Yeah, like making arbitrary, controlling decisions is so caring! How annoying.

Even by the very end of the book, I didn't feel any romance between the characters at all. I didn't feel like they even really knew who the other person was. I couldn't see any reason why they should like one another, apart from the flying hormones.

Also, the secondary romance was very poorly done. The author barely touched on it. It got maybe thirty pages and leaped from the couple fighting to being married with hardly a glance at it. If you're not going to take the time, don't bother to write a second romance subplot into the book. If you put in a secondary romance line, give it the attention is deserves, or give it its own book.

I really had to push myself to finish this book, and now I want my two hours back. If you want a touching, engaging romance, don't read this book. It's not worth the time or the money.

OMG......I loved this book.
I was sitting there in the doctors office laughing so hard I was getting strange looks. Then I would be crying. The story of separated twin is a must read.

One twin, Janelle was raised in London and the other, Joya had
been kidnapped by a woman right after birth and lived on an island off Africa with her father who is an orchid hunter. I loved how the hero, Trevor didn't know if he was coming or going when he was around Joya.

If you like time travel books when a hero or heroine is clueless
when coming to the future, you would like this book. Joya has problems with the rules, layers of clothes, balls, etc., after running free in the rain forest half naked.

I rated this one an A+.

I could barely put this book down! It's most definitely one of my most favorite stories! Jill Marie Landis is my favorite historical romance writer and she did not disappoint me at all with "The Orchid Hunter", which as she wrote in the back of the book, is "a story that will make you laugh and cry", which it did. Not many books can make me cry but parts of this one did! Ms. Landis made me feel everything that the main characters (Janelle, Joya and Trevor) were feeling. This book had everything---adventure, mystery and romance. And unlike some of the romance novels I've read, this one truly showed the love that grew between Joya and Trevor. The characters had life, nothing was terribly unrealistic, and this very well-written story was never boring for me. I loved everything about this book. High up on my recommended list!

Raised in the jungles of Africa, Joya Penn had always felt like she was missing a part of herself. Her whole life she dreams of another woman in another place in the world but can get no answers from her family. When she wasn't searching for orchids with her father, Dustin Penn, the famous orchid hunter, she drew pictures of her dreams and the woman she saw in them although everyone who saw them thought she was drawing pictures of herself. Only Joya knew the woman in the pictures and in her dreams was someone different.

Traveling to Matarenga Island, Africa from London, England, Trevor Mandeville is hoping to establish a business deal with Dustin Penn and the orchids he finds. What he finds upon stumbling into Dustin's camp is Joya--the twin of his adopted sister Janelle.

Finding out that her dreams were true, Joya wants to learn everything she can about her twin and Janelle feels the same way. After her father explains how she came into their lives, he gives her his blessing to travel to London with Janelle and Trevor.

Growing up on the island Joya wasn't as proper as Janelle and she had no problems telling Janelle of her feelings for Trevor. Trevor, on the other hand, was very business-minded and even though he had feelings for Joya, it was strange because she looked exactly like his sister, Janelle.

Trying to learn all the rules and social etiquette of London, Joya feels like a fish out of water but will do it for her love of Janelle and Trevor. But for Joya it's hard not to be able to give in to her feelings and when she embarrasses Trevor and Janelle for what she thinks is the last straw, she decides to head back to the island and what she knows is familiar to her, not realizing the gift she gave Trevor was one that will reveal more family secrets than any of them ever dreamed of.

With this separated at birth twin book, Jill Marie Landis was able to make you laugh at the things Joya said and did plus shed some tears for the heartache she was going through. This was a beautifully told story of one woman who loved with all that she had in her and the man that was finally able to love her in return without changing a thing about her.

Ms. Landis always writes a wonderful book, but this one was really special, and a little different for this writer. For one thing, it was funny, which reminded me of an early Julie Garwood. The part about the rules was a riot, in the marriage night scene was one of the best I've read. I also enjoyed the other characters in the story. The book was written in a simple style and was easy to read. I recommend it to anyone who is looking for a beautiful story with charm and humor. It's a definite keeper.