Ride the Wind Home [Paperback]

Christina Kingston (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 25, 2003

Recently-widowed Diana Huntley has no intention of becoming the wife of another bad-tempered baron. So while her father schemes to produce another ill-conceived match, she plots an escape. But her one chance at dodging the confines of matrimony brings her face to face with the one man who makes marriage seem like a worthy state of affairs.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The newest entry in Kingston's Regency-era Lucky Seven series (Ride the Winter Wind, etc.) is not her strongest, but it has its poignant moments. After the death of her abusive husband, Diana Huntley vows never to marry again, but her father is equally determined to see her settled with a new lord. Diana runs away, intending to take shelter with her godmother in London, but when her plans go awry, she's forced to depend on a common seaman named David. Diana fails to realize that David is actually the portly duke who protected her from her late husband and his friends five years earlier. Newly returned from a year in captivity on the Barbary coast, David is now leaner and more hardened, but he chooses not to reveal his identity in the hopes that she'll fall for him, rather than his title. The book hinges on this decision, which feels contrived given Diana's fondness for him when they first met. A nonsensical magical subplot adds little to their burgeoning romance, and Kingston's characterization of Diana is inconsistent (she supposedly learned self-defense so that she wouldn't be at the mercy of any man, but she depends on David for most of the book). Still, the attraction between the protagonists feels genuine and David is a likable (if conventional) hero.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Diana Huntley was 16 and newly married when she tried to save her puppy from her cruel husband. She had given up hope when she came upon young, portly Michael David Lawrence, Duke of Smythington. He not only saved the puppy but ensured that Diana, herself, would be safe. Five years later, newly widowed, Diana is loathe to marry again, yet that's what her father intends. Unable to convince him otherwise, Diana decides to run to her godmother for help. Unfortunately, Diana intends to travel alone. Fortunately, David is touring the countryside incognito to find some personal peace. Hanging out in her barn, he recognizes Diana and follows to keep an eye on her. She doesn't recognize him because he's no longer portly, so, thinking the stranger is just being nice, she lets him accompany her. But things aren't as simple as Diana hoped. She's in his company for much longer than she planned, just long enough to fall in love. Maria Hatton
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Jove (March 25, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0515135100
• ISBN-13: 978-0515135107
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,260,116 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Shallow with weak characterizations, May 23, 2003

By 

Tasha B. (Colorado) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ride the Wind Home (Paperback)

I have liked other books by Christina Kingston, but RIDE THE WIND HOME was the first book in a long time to make me really angry. There has been a lot of media coverage lately about how romance heroines are "evolving" into strong, independent women--anyone who thinks that's true should take a look at this book, which demonstrates just how tightly the "ideal" of female submissiveness is ingrained into the industry.

Diana, the story's heroine, is (the author tells us) a strong, independent woman. So then why does she allow her father to pick husbands for her? I can understand when she was sixteen, but the second time is stretching the bonds of credibility. And, as she has her own fortune, one has to wonder why she doesn't just live by herself. Kingston may tell us she's strong and independent, but Diana's actions indicate that she can't do anything without another person's help and approval. She trains herself in self-defense (as if a woman in the nineteenth century would actually do that), yet spends all of the book depending on Smythington for defense, being nice to her father which he clearly doesn't deserve, reacting passively to everything every man does to her, and then making excuses for them! Aaaargh! Push her forward a hundred and fifty years, and she'd make a great Stepford wife.

Beside my principle objections to the story, this book is, to put is simply, badly written. It starts off wonderfully in the prologue, with Smythington as a likable, original, and interesting hero, and real chemistry between him and Diana. There is also a great, ready-made conflict to move the story along. But Kingston demolishes all of these factors almost immediately: the "conflict" dies, and Diana and Smythington spend most of the first half of the book apart, which is not only completely nonsensical for a romance novel, but BORING!!!!! I knew when I started this book that Kingston doesn't tend to think about plot (hence her writing what is essentially the same book four or more times), but this one apparently was not even edited to smooth out the wrinkles.

The most annoying aspect of RIDE THE WIND HOME, however, were the completely illogical characterizations. I've never encountered so many characters with absolutely irrational personality traits. The father is kind and sweet, yet he marries his daughter off at the first opportunity to a cruel, lecherous swine? An overweight man who hesitates to kill a fly, yet is somehow an expert marksman, swordsman, horseman, and highly decorated army officer? In fact, NONE of these characters behave consistently and that, combined with a story that would try the patience of Tolstoy, is what finally made me put this book down.

RIDE THE WIND HOME is, to put it mildly, not one of Kingston's better books. Try RIDE THE WINTER WIND instead and give this one a pass.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars enjoyable Regency romance, April 12, 2003

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Ride the Wind Home (Paperback)

In 1814 her father a vicar married sixteen year old Diana to Huntley. Her new spouse is a nasty brute who abuses his young bride. When his friends trap her in an ugly situation, Michael David Lawrence, the Duke of Smythington and a member of the Lucky Seven, intercedes. Following that incident, Diana refused to accept crap from her ugly husband even when David vanishes.

Four years later, Huntley has been dead for over a year, but her father wants Diana to marry Lord Runsfield. She never told him what an abomination her first marriage was, but refuses to wed anyone though she wishes her savior David was available. David has just returned to England after being held prisoner by a Barbary prince. He seeks internal peace and so he decides to wander until he recovers his equilibrium before taking over his dukedom. David sees Diana traveling by herself and decides he must keep safe the woman he fell in love with four years, not realizing she may be his healer.

RIDE THE WIND HOME is an enjoyable Regency romance that stars two delightful lead protagonists. The story line is exciting although the country seems loaded with too many repulsive aristocratic males. Still the tale catches the audience attention from the moment the two stars meet and never releases the reader until the final climax.

Harriet Klausner

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Sweet modern classic, March 25, 2003

By 

Huntress Reviews (United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ride the Wind Home (Paperback)

When the Duke of Smythington rescues Diana, a baron's very young bride and her puppy from the unwelcome attentions of ruffians, it begins a fledgling love that will haunt the two for years to come. She keeps track of him until he disappears.

A year later, he returns to England after spending a that time enslaved. At first, he disguises himself as a young seaman, going only by one of his names, David. By this time, Diana is a widow, but is not ready to be a wife again, especially considering how distasteful she has found all the men her father would choose to be.She flees to London, and meets David there. Diana fails to recognize him as the man she never stopped loving, but despite that, there is an attraction to this stranger. David remembers and loves Diana, but wants her to love him for himself, not his title, so does not reveal who he is. The problem is, Diana may be in love with "David", but knows he is beneath her in station, and she loves another man, the Duke of Smythington.

***** With a combination of sweetness and passion, this charming story weaves a place in the reader's heart. Love's power is tenderly portrayed in a modern classic that will leave you feeling warm.