Customer Reviews

Seized by Love

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

 

 

I read most anything by Susan Johnson, although I don't like everything she writes. By far, the biggest reason that I read her is her ability to meld history and sex with wit and style. Outlaw, for instance, has some genuinely good writing and well-researched history.

Reading this book, however, was kind of a shock. You talk about spousal abuse... The heroine's first husband was a physically abusive demented religious zealot many decades her senior, her lover (the hero) turns out to be a psychologically abusive man who desires her (and her submission) obsessively. My initial reaction to this book was "ick."

Upon reflection, though, I have truly come to appreciate this book. It is in no way a typical romance story; if you are looking for "maltreated virginal heroine finds sappy romance with adoring lover" this book is NOT for you. But Johnson's hallmark is historical realism, and let's be honest, Tzarist Russia was not exactly a hotbed of women's rights.

I have hashed this out with friends who argue that romantic fiction is exatly that - not intended to be realistic. On the other hand, the "bad boy" figure in romance tends to be a neutered caricature: rake until he meets the perfect sex partner, then he's just as tame as can be. This book presents the hero as a true bad boy, atrocious ego and all. The scene where Nikki comes from a liason with a former mistress to a pregnant Alissa's bed is a perfect example of this - revolting to modern sensibilities, but probably not out of the norm for a Russian prince 250 years ago.

So, thank you Ms. Johnson for injecting a true note of reality - along with some great sex scenes - into the world of romance.

Dear readers , I love reading about bad boys, and there is no boy badder, than Nikki Kuzan! If you are softhearted and can't handle the drama that a bad boy is going to bring, then this book is not for you, but to all the others whose a little on the wild side, go an take a ride with Nikki Kuzan. It seems to me that Susan Johnson knows every women's fantasies. Nikki is not your average romance hero. He is the kind of hero you save for your naughty dreams. He is devastatingly sexy, hard to get, and every women wants him. Who does he want? (Alisa). He might not show it in the conventional way, but show it he does! Alisa is a wonderful and realistic heroine, because it doesn't matter what era we are living in, there will allways be women who rebels against there plight, and take a chance on something better. Put aside how wonderful Alisa and Nikky are, the story in itself was magnifecent. Susan Johnson captivates you with her writing. I was hooked from the first page. It took me one day to finish this book. Heroes like Nikki are the very reason I started reading historical romances and not contemporary. The men of that era were very dominant and so different from the men of today, but men like Nikky should be left for your fantasies, and I want to live out my fantasies in every book that I read! That is why I think Susan Johnson is such a refreshing author. She was bold enough to write a romance novel like this for all the people who wanted to read something more daring, and for that I am her biggest fan!

You would think, from Ms. Johnson's own apologia in the preface of this book, together with the reviews here on Amazon, that the plot and characters' behavior(s) in this novel made it the biggest Neanderthal throwback to the dark ages of romance novels ever.

Well, I was pleasantly surprised. Nikolai may not be the most evolved 19th century gentleman ever created, but he's a typical product of his time (fabulously wealthy, Russian, aristocrat). The heroine, Alisa, has spunk and speaks up against Nikki when he's just too obnoxious; she's not a wimp, just (again) a product of her time...Women were in the control of men during the 19th century, in all countries, and our latter-day freedoms were hard wins. As for the sensuality & "scenes", well, frankly, I've read books that poured it on much, much more raunchily than Ms. Johnson does here; it's all pretty basic! (That's a good thing, it's not a negative!) Having never read anything by Ms. Johnson before, I can say I enjoyed this novel and would read more by her; she's a good writer. I think the relationship between Nikki & Alisa was just "romantic" enough, considering the protagonists involved & the times they were living in, and the end, when Nikki finally comes around to confessing his love for Alisa, is super.

I was completely appalled and abhored reading this book. In an introductory letter to the reader, Ms. Johnson writes that this story follows the tradition of romances of the past described as "bodice-rippers". The story was originally printed in 1978. This book is incorrectly labelled a "bodice-ripper"; bodice ripping is far to mild a description for this story.

The characters in this book are completely reprehensible. The hero treats the heroine wretchedly. He insults, ignores, domineers, and forces his attentions on her. At one point, he outright rapes her. The "love" scenes, if you can even call them that, are on the borderline of rapes and that is because the heroine's lust for the hero makes her capitulate to him. I tried to sympathize with the heroine because she is initially innocent in this story. However, her masochistic tendancies to put up with her abuse at the hands of the hero and to continue to love him removed any pity I had for her.

The hero never reforms. Even at the end of the story when the couple inevitably acknowledge their love for one another; Nikki's declaration left me hollow. After his declaration of love following his wife's near death during the birth of their child, the heroine asks him to abandon his philandering ways and give up his mistresses. He first considers lying to her, but he doesn't want to make promises he can't keep, so he replies that he will "forswear one day at a time."

This was my first Susan Johnson book and, unfortunately, it will take me some time to pick up another one of her books.

Truly there are almost no words to describe how horrible and appalling this novel was. At first, I felt compassion toward the heroine, Alisa, suffering from an abusive marriage with an aging lecher, however toward the middle of the novel I became angry and frustrated that the heroine was utterly spineless. I kept waiting for Alisa to give Nikolai his final comeuppance for his behavior towards her but it never came!
This was just the tip of the iceberg. I found the hero of the novel, Nikolai, to be very offending. The hero was psychologically abusive to the heroine, practically raped her, and cheated on her multiple times!! It is true that some of these traits add hints of realism to the novel, but this book is a romance novel, hence its design is to inspire fantasy and a feeling of enjoyment, I felt none of this. Towards the end of the novel, the hero showed almost no signs for reform, rather he will take his fidelity to his wife, "one day at a time."
Fortunately, I did not waste my money purchasing this novel, but I still felt like reading it was a complete waste of time. And I am taking my time, to warn others into not making the same mistake that I made by reading this book. THIS IS THE FIRST SUSAN JOHNSON BOOK I HAVE READ, AND I FEEL LIKE IT WILL BE MY LAST.

I am writing this review because I see that so many people hate this old favorite of mine. I love the lush evocative description in this highly-emotional book. I think I bought this book more than ten years ago--because someone told me how sexy and memorable it was, and since then I have bought several copies--just so that I always have a copy on my shelf. And, believe me, they are all dog-earred. True--this book is erotic. True--the hero is unkind and terribly abusive to the heroine. True--I gave it to my best friend and she found the story horrifying and not her idea of romance.

It's not mine either, but come on.

This book is a sexual fantasy. It was written to give the reader a safe taste of the fantasy of having to tame an impossible male when even her life, soul, and body are threatened by the hero. As a feminist I would abhor such a situation in real life. But with in the safe confines of Ms Johnson's paperback novel I can enjoy these wicked activities knowing that I am safe.

Most everything I feel about this book has already been said by the other "positive" reviewers on here. I just wanted to reinforce that I love Susan Johnson and the way she writes. Yes, I usually like to read books with Alpha males that become loving and tender and faithful once they meet the woman they fall in love with but that just would not have worked in this story. That would have actually ruined the story and been very unbelievable since Nikki was a spoiled rich Prince who got what he wanted with probably very little difficulty. Then he comes across Alisa who speaks back to him. I'm sure he found that difficult to handle so it brought out even more of the bad boy in him (as well as the fact that he was fighting his feelings for her). ****SPOLIER: And when Nikki said he would take it one day at a time...well, that broke my heart & I did become upset with Nikki but the epilogue was wonderful.**** I appreciate SJ's willing to take chances on writing about these kinds of bad boys (the VERY BAD ones) as it's great to read something different from the usual. Besides, they end up just like the other rakes...it just takes a little longer and a little harder of a fall.

I thought this was an great romance novel. For once the heroine was not a whimpering virgin. There were several heated and sensual love scenes. This is a bodice ripper but one that is definitely worth reading.

If I could give this book a minus I would. This was a horrid book. The characters Nickoli and Alisa are equally horrid. Don't you just love "Romance Books" were the "Hero" is abusive and unfaithful. Well if you do this may be the book for you. Unfortunetly when I read a romance book I like my H/H to be kind to one another, even act like they care about one another. Oh Mrs. Johnson what were you thinking? I feel this way every time I read one of her books that I finally stopped reading her. I believe her writing seems to be in a class all by itself. And that is not a good thing. She never writes about likable characters. They always cheat, most are abusive, domineering and unlikable. Why would I want to waste my time and money on books like that. Well thankfully I have learned my leasson in this one here. My first attempt at her book was Blaze. Don't bother.

This is not a tale of love but lust. The hero is a selfish cad so I was not convinced at all that he fell in love her. The story lacks credibility. The author stretches it to put in the steamy love scenes.This is a book I couldn't enjoy.