When Lightning Strikes [Paperback]

Kristin Hannah (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Ballantine Books (1994)
• ASIN: B001UPFZZY
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,859,561 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Kristin Hannah was born in September 1960 in Southern California and grew up at the beach, making sand castles and playing in the surf. When she was eight years old, her father drove the family to Western Washington which they called home.

After working in a trendy advertising agency, Kristin decided to go to law school. "But you're going to be a writer" are the prophetic words she would never forget from her mother. Kristin was in her third-and final-year of law school and her mom was in the hospital, facing the end of her long battle with cancer. Kristin was shocked to discover that her mother believed she would become a writer. For the next few months, they collaborated on the worst, most clichéd historical romance ever written.

After her mom's death, she packed up all those bits and pieces of paper they'd collected and put them in a box in the back of her closet. Kristin got married and continued practicing law.

Then Kristin found out she was pregnant and was on bed rest for five months. By the time she'd read every book in the house and started asking her husband for cereal boxes to read, she knew she was a goner. That's when her husband reminded her of the book she'd started with her mom. Kristin pulled out the boxes of research material, dusted them off and began writing. By the time their son was born, she'd finished a first draft and found an obsession.

The rejections came, of course, and they stung for a while, but each one really just spurred her to try harder, work more. In 1990, Kristin got "the call," and in that moment, she went from a young mother with a cooler-than-average hobby to a professional writer, and has never looked back. In all the years between then and now, she have never lost her love of, or her enthusiasm for, telling stories. Kristin feels truly blessed to be a wife, a mother, and a writer.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A journey into darkness that rewards., August 5, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: When Lightning Strikes (Mass Market Paperback)

Very few romance authors are willing to venture this far into the territory of psychological darkness. Even fewer competently navigate all the way to a believable ending. Kristin Hannah gets five stars from me for coming through on both counts. Both her hero and heroine are in a world of pain from their pasts. They are relationship cripples. The story revolves around their halting steps toward wholeness and each other. Their process is psychologically complex and believable. Add to that a nifty time travel element and a little magic - and you have a compelling story. As an author, I was especially fascinated by the book's theory on writing and reincarnation. It gave me goose bumps! A word of warning: this book is dark. If you're looking for a light, bubbly read - forget it. Rape and abuse are not subjects for the squeamish. But for those readers looking for depth and compassion in a storyline, this book is worth it!

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lightning Strikes a chord . . ., June 16, 2003

By 

Barb Caffrey "writer-for-hire" (In a Midwest State (of mind), USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: When Lightning Strikes (Mass Market Paperback)

"When Lightning Strikes" definitely struck a chord with me.

The basic plot of the book is as follows. Alaina (Lainie) Costanza is a romance writer, but she's no wimpy, frou-frou darling. Nope, she chain-smokes, drinks on occasion, wears tacky outfits, and is generally a hell-raiser. There are reasons for her behavior I'll get to in a moment; suffice it to say that only two things are keeping her together at this point: her writing talent, and her teenage daughter, Kelly.

John Killian is an outlaw, a former Texas Ranger who feels like he's lost everything. His wife died years ago and he couldn't save her; once that happened, he felt his soul rip apart, and decided to live down to his reputation. Now he's the leader of a notorious bunch of outlaws.

How do these two relate? It's not as simple as it appears at first. At first, Lainie gets thrown back from her time (early 1990s) to Killian's time (late 1800s); Killian isn't exactly overjoyed to see her. Lainie is in a state of shock at first, thinking it's all a dream.

But it's not.

Instead, Lainie finds out slowly that Killian is her soulmate. And that she, in an earlier life, was the wife that left him alone. And as she and Killian learn to trust each other again, they overcome nearly insurmountable problems.

Item 1: Lainie was gangraped at least once. Used to do drugs. Her parents abandoned her, and the foster system didn't work. Her daughter is the result of the rape; she kept her daughter and loves her, which shows enormous strength of character. (As if being creative and reaching for her dreams wasn't enough strength for anyone; well, this is a romance, and I suppose this is a bigger "hook" to grab the reader.)

Item 2: Killian was a Texas Ranger, as I said before, and was a very good law enforcement officer. He was married to Emily (Lainie's previous incarnation), and was sent off on a mission to Mexico. While there, he got thrown in jail; she waited for a long time, then, (perhaps after being raped and abused herself because her husband was gone -- she lived on the Texas frontier alone), ended up killing herself. That's how John became a villain; he felt like he must be one, because his beloved wife had left him like that. And he blamed himself for being thrown in jail, and couldn't forgive himself.

Both characters are looking for salvation, and in this book, they find it. In each other, granted, but that's what they needed. Both needed a second chance with the other, to be able to love and be loved in return. They get that chance through an unusual twist; they don't want to give it up, yet if Lainie doesn't return to the 20th century, Kelly will be put in foster care -- and Lainie knows all about _that_.

So, she and Killian believe it's a choice between love of parent for child and love for each other, and both make love to each other with a sadness that is palpable. Instead of being joyous, they are miserable; they know this is all they are ever likely to have. Yet, how could they pass it up?

How Ms. Hannah brought off the obligatory happy ending is up to you to find out; I will say that I enjoyed it and found it reasonably realistic. (I still wonder, though, how Killian found the 20th century, what he found to do, how Lainie was able to get him the ID she'd so blithely talked about, and what Kelly thought of him. This book demands a sequel.)

So, even though some of the historical details one of the editorial reviews talked about were missing (Lainie doesn't spend much time on detail; she does talk about what the men wear and a lot about the scenery), this book deserves five stars. For more than one reason; it's not every book that shows that love, even a love like this, can be funny, sexy, sweet, poignant, and sad, all by turns.

Yet love, in real life, _is_ like this. And that is why I'd give "When Lightning Strikes" five stars.

Two more things. The character of Viloula is wonderful; check her out. She might live in the late 1800s, but she's a modern woman indeed, and I believed fully in her characterization. Also, Ms. Hannah is to be commended for how she writes her love scenes; the dialogue and description crackles with life, and it shows exactly how Lainie loses what barriers she has left and surrenders to love. And to herself.

Highly recommended. And by far the best book Ms. Hannah has ever written.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Fantasy Story, October 30, 2000

By 

Judith E. Pavluvcik (Dreaming of the beach in Hawaii, but living in the reality of the desert in Arizona!!) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: When Lightning Strikes (Mass Market Paperback)

When Lightening Strikes, is a great time travel/fantasy romance story by Kristin Hannah. Alaina Costanza is thrown back into time, captured into the latest romance story she is writing. Unbeknownst to Alaina, her villain character, Killian, is actually her soul mate, reaching across time and space to Alaina to rectify the loss and love in both of their lives in the late 1870's.

I thought the concept was ingenious and really enjoyed this book of time-travel! I also found it interesting that Hannah picked out several elements from her book, The Enchantment, and used those elements in this book! I thought it very clever!

Hannah once again paints a heroine who is strong and determined, with supporting characters that are as equally believable. The reader is immediately drawn into the story, and I thought that the story line moved great! This is the last book of Hannah's that I had left to read, and it, too, did not disappoint me.

Kristin Hannah has quickly become one of my favorite authors due to her ability to draw the reader intensely into the heart and plot of the story, with believable and true to life characters. Her love stories are warm and sensitive, with the heroine able to overcome obstacles in her life, and embrace love once again. I have found that all of Hannah's books contain messages of struggle, hope and love. And as always, once you fall in love with the characters in her books, you are dying for a sequel!