Seized By Love [Paperback]

Susan M. Johnson (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Playboy Press; 1st edition (1979)
• ISBN-10: 0872165035
• ISBN-13: 978-0872165038
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,593,048 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Realism, whether you like it or not..., June 18, 2001

By 

"moreland98" (Vacaville, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Seized by Love (Mass Market Paperback)

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.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Susan Johnson 's #1 fan, September 14, 2004

By 

LuvGirl (New York ,NY USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Seized by Love (Mass Market Paperback)

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!

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars What's all the fuss about?, September 17, 2004

By 

SusieQ (New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Seized by Love (Mass Market Paperback)

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.