16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Forceful, dark, and very sensual, September 11, 2003
This review is from: Sun God (Paperback)
What a treat Nan Ryan's Sun God is! It is the first of her books for me to read and I am excited to see she has a rather large backlist. Sun God is mostly a dark romance - there are very few, if any, light moments in it. However, the leads have some serious negative history to work through. Most of the book is about revenge.
Amy Sullivan is a very young sixteen during the opening pages of the book. She has just returned home to her beloved family's ranch in Texas after five years at school. Although she is anxious to see her father and two brothers, she has most missed Tonitiuh, a seventeen year old half breed (half Aztec - half Spanish) who she has adored all of her life. Tonitiuh is the Aztec name for the hero who's Spanish name is Luiz Quintano. Amy and Luiz's fathers are equal partners in a very successful ranch.
Once Amy returns home, she and Luiz begin a dreamy love relationship - first love in all its beauty. When Amy's father dies suddenly, her two older brothers do not want to have the elder Spaniard as an equal partner and decide to run off Luiz, his only heir, first. As they are attempting to bind Luiz, his father interrupts and the Sullivan sons kill him. Then they whip Luiz and want to murder him as well since he is obviously someone very special to their sister. In an unbelievable play of events, the brothers bring Amy to see the trussed-up and whipped Luiz and seek to find out what Luiz means to her. Amy realizes how mean and awful her brothers really are and acts out her indifference and ill will towards Luiz in front of him. She even hits him once with the whip. Convinced that Luiz means nothing to Amy, they take him to the desert and leave him for the vultures. Amy believes she has possibly saved Luiz's life by pretending indifference for him. Luiz only sees her actions and hates her for it.
Now the book skips ten years forward. A lot has happened at the Sullivan ranch since the river dried up immediately after Luiz's disappearance. The Civil War has come and gone. Amy is alone with the two remaining servants at the ranch. Luiz, now a Captain in the Spanish/Mexican army, brings his soldiers to the ranch and reclaims his half of it. Since the soldiers are presently inactive, the troops stay at the ranch and soon the river is flowing again. Luiz is seeing to the updating and repair of the rundown home. And Amy - so thrilled to see that Luiz is alive - finds she is a prisoner in her own home. Luiz refuses to believe any of Amy's explanations and is out for pure revenge with her. She is forced to share his bed and he is definitely an alpha male to the extreme. Gone is his kindness. Oh - he still exhibits his kindness to others but not towards Amy. This time of Luiz and his soldiers present at the ranch is the largest portion of the book. Many things happen to keep you reading the next page and yet the next page to see each new development. There are many sensual scenes and rate a 4.5 out of 5.0 (see More About Me for rating guidelines).
Sun God is a moving book - sometimes a little heartbreaking. You wish that Amy and Luiz were a little more forgiving and truthful with one another. They play the hate game well which is one of my complaints about the book. They love at night and hate during the day. Although Luiz is a revengeful hero, you still are sympathetic to his character. It is a little harder to be as sympathetic towards Amy. She is hateful nearly all the time to Luiz. I couldn't help thinking that if she would only be kind and make him stand still long enough to listen to her, things would have proceeded a lot differently.
Overall, Sun God is a superb book that I will keep to read again. Take heed - there is a mystical aura to Sun God. If that is not your usual taste, just ignore it. It adds a certain wistful, hopeful tone to a dark book. Although this is a definite five star rating in my mind, I still have another complaint that tempted me to rate this only four stars. The problem? The ending. It came too fast with so many situations playing themselves out within too few pages. The last 35 pages should have taken at least 100 pages. In addition, the leads work out their problems very late in the book. When reviewing a book, the period of positive growth in the romance is a very important criteria to me for a high rating. Knowing that, this had to be a pretty great book to make up for what I usually consider a serious flaw. But regardless, I eagerly am looking forward to the next Nan Ryan book which I have already purchased.
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
THE BEST ROMANCE EVER! I still love it after 10 years!, July 2, 2001
This review is from: Sun God (Paperback)
I read Sun God at 16 (nearly 10 years ago). It was the first romance I read. In the middle of the night during the summer I stumbled upon my mom's book: Sun God. As a naive 16 year old I made fun of mom for reading what I called "smutty romance". But knowing everyone was sleeping that night I was intrigued by the very sexy man on the cover and opened the book. To my surpise I stayed up til day-break reading Sun God! I fell in love with Tonitiuh, (the hero). I cried, I smiled, my heart pounded with excitemnet, and flowed with warmth. I have never been more moved by a fictional story of any kind, even a movie. I feel in debt to Nany Ryan for writing Sun God. I have since read hundreds of "smutty romances" as I once called them. And as an English Writing Major, I would like to write my own romance in time. To this very day, at 25 years old SUN GOD is my ultimate favorite story. After reading the other reviews about this book last week I was inspired to pick up my old, yellowed copy. "The Indian stood naked in the sunlight," the first line of the book, engulfed me once again. I re-read this WONDERFUL romance in only 2 days and grew sad as I had only a few pages left to turn. How I wish for a sequel, or even a TV mini-series! (Ms. Ryan I hope your reading this!) I told my mom to read Sun God again, becasue she would love it the second time as much as the first time. And I was right. I passed it to friends who turn thier noses away from romance novels, and guess what? They loved Sun God too! READ I!
PS anyone who would like to chat about Sun God please email me.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
UNBELIEVABLY ROMANTIC, September 21, 2000
This review is from: Sun God (Paperback)
Once I started reading The Sun God, I just couldn't get myself to put the book down. Nan Ryan, I commend you on this wonderful novel. Characters and Setting - incredibly romantic. This was only my first Nan Ryan book that I've read, and now I'm in search for more. I only wish this book had a sequel. I'm passing on this romantic book to my friends, already mentioning that I want it back. I recommend that a reprint be made. It even made my heart melt and my eyes tear, in fact, I was actually crying. Again, this is a must read book!
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