When Someone Loves You [Paperback]

Susan Johnson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1, 2006

It was common gossip that "Duff" D'Abernon, Marquis of Darley, had returned from Waterloo a changed man. Gone was the reckless youth and in his place was a sullen recluse more interested in tending his horses than attending balls. But now the Marquis was entering the game again, openly flirting with the beautiful, witty, and thoroughly disreputable Annabelle Foster. Annabelle's no stranger to scandal. The actress-playwright is rumoured to have had liaisons with any number of powerful men, with an illegitimate daughter to show for it. She won't chance heartache again, even for a man as tempting as Duff D'Abernon. What she offers instead is a compromise: a true friendship between equals. Each agrees to the terms. A bargain is struck. And an idyllic summer begins. But what starts as friendship soon blossoms into searing passion. And the only thing worse than risking their hearts is not risking them at all...

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

It's 1816, and actress and playwright Annabelle Foster loves (and desires) handsome Murray D'Abernon, 13th Marquis of Darley, who goes by the name of Duff and reciprocates her feelings. Belle's widowed mother dotes on Duff, and Duff's stately but swinging parents venerate Belle, who has single-handedly reversed the (what we would now call) post-traumatic stress disorder that laid him low following the Battle of Waterloo. But society says they mustn't marry, and she says they mustn't even go to bed, although she is subject to "throbbing between the legs" and his buckskin breeches frequently show "turgid veins inflated and pulsing." Belle's had it, though, after a soul-sickening season with the despicable Walingame, who says she has "no rights" and dares call darling Duff a "fucking cunthound." Men! No woman alive could pass up the chance to hang with Duff; she accepts his wager that he won't proposition her for two months. He, of course, is confident that she'll make the necessary moves. Johnson frequently crafts one-sentence paragraphs, sometimes as many as five in a row, but no construction can introduce suspense into her turgid tale. The sprinklings of period language seem pasted-on. Characters are heavenly or vile. But for those who like their social history liberally sauced with lubricity: yum. (Aug.)
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Review

"Susan Johnson knows how to make the pages sizzle and burn and take forbidden passion to new heights. Susan Johnson continues to combine the best in historical novels with the best in erotic fiction."

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Product Details

• Paperback: 356 pages
• Publisher: Kensington (August 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0758209398
• ISBN-13: 978-0758209399
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,064,907 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars entertaining Regency romance, August 2, 2006

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: When Someone Loves You (Paperback)

Before Waterloo "Duff" D'Abernon was a carefree Marquis who enjoyed life to the fullest as he appreciated the London social scene. After Waterloo, Duff became a brooding angry hermit who obtained some pleasure with his horses but never attended any galas. Thus everyone who once knew the lighthearted pre-war youth is pleased to see him about town again by 1816, but upset that his companion is disgraceful Annabelle Foster. She is a scandalized-making actress who has allegedly slept with half of Parliament and the Royals and had a child out of wedlock if you believe rumors before abruptly vanishing from the stage and the hypocritical criticism of the Ton.

Annabelle offers Duff friendship and companionship, but not her heart, having been burned once before which led to her disgrace. Duff accepts as both feels loneliness. That summer of healing leads to heated passion and perhaps love, but neither trusts the other with their fragile hearts and then there is little Cricket to consider.

This is an entertaining Regency romance starring two flawed societal outcasts, one discarded while the other self-exiled. The story line is fast-paced even the interludes as Duff and Annabelle fall in love, but their respective recent histories make a relationship between them seem impossible but a delightful historical possible. Fans will root for this couple to find a way.

Harriet Klausner

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Wanted to Like - But Just Couldn't, August 13, 2006

By 

AnonRomReader "Luv Romances" (Virginia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: When Someone Loves You (Paperback)

When I try new authors, I really want to enjoy their work. I saw this book and thought it would be a good read. I enjoy hot sex in a book, and I love historicals. If I like a new author, I immediately hunt for backlist or eagerly await new books.

Unfortunately, I won't be doing that with future books by Ms. Johnson. I liked the author's writing style to some degree, but I never came to care about her characters. I saw them as one-dimensional and flat. I didn't dislike them, they were pleasant enough, but they were superficial. I never really got to see beneath the veneer that covered each character, even though it was clear the author was trying to pull that veneer off. However, it just didn't work.

The one reason this book isn't getting a lower rating is because of one scene. It is the first sex scene, so called because I never experienced any emotion or even a great deal of sexual tension developing between these too, although there were inklings of it. The characters used words like love, but it wasn't expressed in the sexual acts. In the first act, Duff is in a somewhat catatonic, cathartic state as he mates with Annabelle.

It was the first really deep look into his wounded psyche, and displayed what this book had the potential to be. Ms. Johnson appears to have a talent that got buried under confusing dialogue and a mish mash of scenes that never really explored the inner depths of the characters.

Perhaps in the future, I might be willing to take another look at Ms. Johnson's work, but it's going to need rave reviews and rave recommendations from readers I know who have the same tastes as me. Interestingly enough, after I read this book, I went looking for reviews because I wanted to know what others thought of the book. I didn't find any at the more major romance review sites. This book had great potential and failed to deliver

6 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars In response to AnonRom above..., November 29, 2006

By 

orpheus ascending - See all my reviews

This review is from: When Someone Loves You (Paperback)

This isn't a review of the subject book, but I would like to encourage and refer any readers new to Susan Johnson to her earlier works which are dynamite! My all-time favourite is "Sinful." This was the first book I read by Ms. Johnson and I was hooked! I've re-read it now approximately 5 times -- once every couple of years. The St.John and Kuzan sagas are great.

Alas, it seems to be the way with authors that once they've achieved any kind of significant success (as denoted by the mass market-sized and hardback books) that publishers put greater pressure on them to churn said books out and I've pretty much found that when an author starts putting out two books a year, the quality of the story goes down -- way down -- and Ms. Johnson has had her hits and misses in recent years (unfortunately more misses than hits).

But please give her another try through her earlier works. I guarantee you'll be thrilled!