Customer Reviews

Runaway

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Magnificent! Tara is a spitfire to rival any of Graham's or Virginia Henley's heroines. Jarrett is cool, calm, collective, but oh so strong and protective. Truthfully, if you enjoyed reading 'Rebel, Surrender, and/or Glory', then you should backtrack and read the history of the siblings/cousins parents. I recommend both 'Runaway and Captive' be read before continuing onto the latter books of the saga in order to understand the history of the family, the history of the Native Americans whom inhabited Florida, the love of the brothers, their love for the land, their families, and their beliefs. Then you'll understand the offsprings, Ian, Jerome, and Julian and see where each of them received their strength and compassion and of course, sensual sex appeal. If Ian (of Rebel) only knew that his father, Jarret McKenzie's poker hand was the factor of his mother and father ending up together for the night, and later for a lifetime.

I got this book by chance only having read one of Heather Graham's modern day books and thought it was good but not great. After reading "Runaway" I hunted down the rest of the series. I loved Tara and Jarrett. It is total romance and steamy as well. It takes away from the real world and the way things are done in todays time. You have to read "Captive" after this.

I picked up Runaway on sale at the bookstore. As a native Floridian and lover of romance novels, this book looked right up my alley. I'm one of those people who takes two months to read a book, but I had this one finished in three days! After logging on to Amazon.com I was encouraged to find out it was the first in a five part series! I bought the remaining four and finished the first two in a week. I love Heather Graham's descriptive words and strong female characters. I also like the way she's meshed fictional characters with the real-life events that shaped the state of Florida. My only wish is that she would continue the saga with more books involving the McKenzie clan! It would be a must-buy for me!

I thought this was a great start to the whole McKenzie series. You can see where the rest of the family gets their strength and courage. Jarrett holds a strength that is comforting and protective. He is non judgemental (as seen in the following books of the series)and holds to a set of values and will not let anyone harm those that he loves. I loved the character of Robert as well. Too bad there wasn't more of him. What a great friend to have. And Tara brings a grace and elegance that just lets Jarrett think he is in charge.

I immediately liked this book because it was about Florida which is a state that I am very fond of and because my parents are moving there soon, I was even more intrigued to find out about this exotic land's past. I think that if you are a person who is drawn to stories with adventure and mystery, this is a good book for you but be aware that the main focus of the story is the passionate and confusing relationship of the two main characters. There was a lot of sex involved to say the least but it was done with taste. My only complaint is that by the middle of this book I grew annoyed and bored of the extreme love/hate romance between Jarrett and Tara. The constant "I wanted to rip his eyes out and touch his brozed muscles at the same time" attitude of Tara was overdone but nearing the end of the book I fell in love with the characters and felt the ending was very compelling.

Heather Graham is the only author I have found to wrap you up in a story so well you can't wait to read what happens next. YOu can't wait for the next book to see how well the mackinzies survive all that is happening to them. One family fights to stay together no matter what the veiws and they fight for the women that they love.

This was one of those books that I found at the library- the cover was pretty, review was interesting, and there were lots of initials on the inside cover where others had read it. So I decided that this must be a good one. AND IT WAS!!! Never a dull moment in it. Oh, there were times the history got a little long (nothing I couldn't bare though) and other times when I could have strangled Tara for not confiding in Jarret or for lashing out at him the way she did. And just when I thought I had it figured out there was a twist that took me off into another direction. I ended up carrying about the "supporting actors and actresses" as well as Tara and Jarrett. I thoroughly enjoyed the story and am glad the lasaga continues in Captive next. I don't usually buy very many to keep - but I did this one!

This is the first in Graham's 19th century Old Florida's McKenzies series. It's a captivating story of a passionate romance set against the background of the history of this great state. Graham takes care to give us the history of Florida in 1835 (it is her home state), including the Seminole wars that resulted from broken treaties and the white man trying to push the Indians west.

Runaway is tells the story of Tara Brent, a beautiful girl on the run from a twisted suitor who would have her at any cost, including murder for which he has framed her. Escaping to New Orleans, she becomes a pawn in a game of cards where Jarrett McKenzie, a wealthy "Black Irish" plantation owner from the Florida territory, wins a night with her. Alarmed, she explains she only waits tables in the tavern, but when bad guys chase her, McKenzie protects her and then decides, at his friend's suggestion, to marry her and take her back to Florida. He lost the wife he loved to death but he know he needs a wife. While there is no love to begin with, he desires Tara the moment he sees her. Tara agrees to marry him, needing to disappear and believing she has few options. Each has secrets they allow the other to keep as they find passion in their new marriage.

This exposed me to Florida's history and made the Seminole wars come alive. As she did with her Civil War trilogy, Graham helps us to feel what it was like for families caught between factions in a war...in this case, a family with Seminole relatives. I loved the way Graham portrayed the beauty of the "Eden" that is Florida and I look forward to reading the others in the series (see below). Highly recommended.

The series in order:

Runaway
Captive
Rebel
Surrender
Glory
Triumph

"I hate you! Let's go have sex." It's such an infuriating concept: a romance novel built on misunderstandings, deliberate untruthfulness, and a couple who are drawn together physically while sharing inconceivable, undeniable passion for each other. Sometimes, the background story is strong enough to make up for the foolhardy behavior of both hero and heroine while they bicker their way into bed. This is not the case here.
The premise is promising, with our heroine, Tara, being on the run from an evil dude who framed her for his father's murder, but the final showdown on this conflict is rather pat and anti-climactic. The setting could also enhance the drama, being set in Florida during the time Native Americans were being rounded up and sent west, or slaughtered if they wouldn't go. Our hero, Jarrett, even has a Seminole half-brother, but the only reason this enters the drama is so our heroine can be kidnapped by him but not be in any real danger while her husband teaches her a lesson in submissivness. Tara learns that Indians aren't all filthy, scary savages. How nice for her. Of course, in her situation, should she really be judging anyone?
Whatever, the book was okay, if you like that kind of Alpha meets fake-feisty femme, he rescues her a lot and they live happily ever after kind of romance.

Tara Brent is on her way from city to city running from a man accusing her of somethimg she didn't do. When she meets up with a card shark and he and he takes her as his payment. In his Florida eden she escapes only to find herself in the hands of a half-breed Indian, Jarrett's brother. She is now controlled by someone who has higher authority on her in the villiage. JARRETT! It was a goood book but in my opinion, not the best of the McKenzie saga.