Ransom [Hardcover]

Julie Garwood (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1, 1999

As a child, Gillian lost her sister and saw her father killed by Baron Alford, a man driven by greed, determined to obtain a jewelled box belonging to King John. Years later, while searching for her sister, Gillian enlists the aid of Scottish Lairds Ramsey Sinclair and Brodick Buchanan, as well as a new friend, Brigid Kirk Connel. The four unite to face the terrifying and powerful baron who has stolen Gillian's home. But in the process of regaining her heritage, will Gillian lose her heart?

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

In Ransom, New York Times bestselling author Julie Garwood returns to her beloved Highlands and the dark days of the despotic rule of King John to reacquaint readers with Scottish chieftain Brodick Buchanan, first introduced in The Secret. Brodick finds himself playing protector to Gillian, an exquisite English beauty, who is desperate to find her long-lost sister and a treasure of incalculable worth--one for which many already have died, including Gillian's own father. Coerced by the fiendish Baron Alford, who murdered her father before her eyes and usurped her birthright 14 years earlier, Gillian must return to England with Arianna's Box, a bejeweled golden box commissioned by King John, or her beloved Uncle Morgan will be tortured to death. In spite of Gillian's fragile looks and her loathsome English bloodlines, Brodick encounters a woman of immeasurable courage and determination, one not at all intimidated by his legendary temper or imposing size. And as he realizes that he has met his match in Gillian--whose sense of honor and duty equals his own--their passion for each other grows ever stronger in this thrilling historical. --Alison Trinkle

From Library Journal

In The Secret (Pocket, 1997), Garwood introduced fans to Brodick Buchanan and Ramsey Sinclair, then left us dangling for years with the hint that Brodick and Ramsey were going wife-hunting to find the happiness Laird Ian Maitland found in his Judith. Well, they don't seem to have remembered the purpose of their quest, possibly because each is too busy being laird of his own clan. When Lady Gillian arrives in Scotland to search for her long-lost sister and to return a kidnapped boy to the Maitlands, she pulls Brodick away from his duties by claiming to be his bride. Her guardian, Baron Alford, believes her sister holds the key to a treasure King John is desperate to find. Alford, the man responsible for killing Gillian's father, uses her uncle as a ransom against her return. Gillian needs Brodick's help to locate her sister, who is believed to be hiding within Ramsey's clan. When the two strong-willed people meet, tempers flare and sparks fly. Jan Maxwell provides an excellent interpretation of the nuances of Garwood's writing, but the abridgment itself leaps too quickly across important plot points and lingers on background material, leaving listeners to wonder "What happened?" Wait for the unabridged version. Not recommended.AMelanie C. Duncan, Washington Memorial Lib., Macon, GA
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 496 pages
• Publisher: Atria; 1 edition (February 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0671003356
• ISBN-13: 978-0671003357
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.8 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (347 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #743,424 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Julie Garwood is the author of numerous New York Times bestsellers, including Fire and Ice, Shadow Music, Shadow Dance, Murder List, Killjoy, Mercy, Heartbreaker, Ransom, and Come the Spring. There are more than thirty-six million copies of her books in print.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Real Reading Pleasure, April 13, 2002

By 

Pam from Texas - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Ransom (Mass Market Paperback)

This was my second Garwood book and I loved it just as much as the first one (The Secret). This time Brodick Buchanon and Ramsey Sinclair from The Secret are the heroes with a brief appearance by Judith and Iain. In a plot to kidnap Ramsey's younger brother, Iain and Judith's son, Alec, is taken by mistake. Lucky for him, a young woman, Gillian,is also being held. Baron Alford believes she knows where a certain box belonging to King John is and he will stop at nothing to get it first. After beating Gillian and threatening her uncle's life, she is sent to find her sister. When Baron Alford killed her father when she was a child, she and her sister were given the box and sent into hiding. The two children were separated and Gillian never saw her again. If she didn't find the box and return it, Baron Alford threatened to torture and kill her uncle. Knowing that Alec's true identity would cause the baron to kill him, she escapes with him and hands him over to Brodick. Of course it was attraction at first sight and the fun begins here. There were many humorous parts and I loved seeing Gillian stand up to Brodick at every turn. There was a secondary romance between Ramsey and Bridgit that could have very easily been made into its own book. These two books have made me a big fan of Julie Garwood.

32 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Mystery, Romance, Highlanders and English all in one...., August 28, 2002

By 

Tanya L. Schaub "TSchlaack" (Livermore, Maine USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Ransom (Mass Market Paperback)

I loved this story.

If you have read the story "The Bride" by Julie Garwood this story is a must. This is Brodrick and Ramsey's story.

In this story the characters are wonderfully developed. The women are strong and are not weak little push overs. This is evident when Gillian's arm is treated, as well as when Birgid and Gillian foil the soldiers who just want a "little kiss" from them.

In this story Gillian helps to save a little boy (I won't spoil it for you) while trying to solve a very old mystery about "Adrianna's Box", find her sister and keep her Uncle safe as well as herself. Enter the highlanders - Alec, Brodrick and Ramsey who are uniquely drawn into the story. They are all lairds of their own land now and it is interesting how JG shows that they are all still good friends even though they are very different and their "ruling" style is very different.

I don't want to say to much about this but there is romance, lots of laughter, courage, humor (if the little boy had said "You know what" once more I think everyone would have had to throttle him)and love woven in around the fierceness of the situation...

I have read the book (5+ stars) and also listened to the tape (the abridged one is about 3 stars, as it looses a lot of the depth to the story).

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Simply Wonderful!!, July 13, 2004

By 

Katie (Annapolis, MD USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ransom (Mass Market Paperback)

Ransom by Julie Garwood is only my second book by this author (the first being Heartbreaker which is more contemporary but nonetheless very good). Overall this book is simply wonderful, heartwarming, romantic, exciting... I could go on forever. I would recommend this book to any mystery, romance, historical fiction lovers out there. Judging from my first two Julie Garwood novels, she is a very talented author and I look forward to enjoying much more of her work. I have already placed three of her novels on order at my local library.

Ransom is the story of Lady Gillian, whose father is killed and family destroyed when she is only five and Baron Alford invades her home. She is separated from her sister Christen, who flees into Scotland for protection. Gillian remains in England with her Uncle Morgan. When she grows up, her uncle is held for ransom until Gillian can find Arriana's box, King John's missing treasure that holds the clue to who killed his one true love. Gillian has reason to believe that her sister has the box, so she escapes the baron with a kidnapped Scottish boy, Alec. They head to Scotland to find Christen, and fall together with the laird and a few soldiers of the Buchanan clan. Gillian falls in love with the laird, Brodick.

Also included included in the storyline is the romance of Ramsey Sinclair and Bridgid, although it plays a disappointingly secondary role to the main romance between Brodick and Gillian. Between searching for her sister, finding a traitor in the midst of the Sinclair clan whom only Gillian can recognize, and falling in love, the plot is amazing in its complexity. The setting feels utterly real and the dialogue is witty and entertaining. (I especially love the conversations between Alec and Gillian because it makes Alec innocently lovable while being realistic - hey, all five year olds talk practically nonstop about the most mundane things and then say all the things they shouldn't!

After all my praise, I must add one tiny complaint. The first few chapters are very hard to get through. I was completely confused as to what was going on with Gillian and Alec (why was he hanging off a cliff, why was Gillian chasing him, how did Gillian come to know about Alec being held prisoner, etc.). Maybe I missed a few hidden clues about what was happening, but it took me a few chapters for everything to make sense and at the time I was getting very frustrated. Perhaps Julie Garwood was attempting to try something different by plunging right into the action, but I feel she could have started at the beginning and the effect could have been the same if not better. This might also have prevented a few readers from giving up in the beginning. However, once everything clicks into place, this book is awesome. I loved it and stayed up till 2 in the morning reading.

*****Also, I shall be going back to read The Secret, which I have discovered is the prequel to this, centering on Iann and Judith, who are the parents of Alec and minor characters in Ransom. I look forward to it!