Hunh???Basic Premise: Cord Blackstone is the black sheep of the Blackstone family. (Got enough "black" in there for ya?)Susan Blackstone is the widow of his cousin and she's graceful and demure (hmmm. I sense a theme) and kind of a massive wuss. I don't have a damn clue where the title came from, by the way. Why do I feel like that title should go on a Native American story?This is not one of Howard's best. First, I am not enamored of Susan. She's typical of these throwback heroines--naive and sweet and victim-like and slightly passive. Not to mention, guess what, she was a secretary. I have got to believe that not all women in the 80s were secretaries, and that there were women in that era who both aspired and achieved some kind of career success. I'm not sure why the secretary thing is a so prevalent. No offense to people who work as secretaries--but I hate this stereotype in these books. Anyway. Hate Susan.Also, sort of hated Cord--he's your standard throwback alpha asshole. Yes, he is sexy. I'll give you that. And the man can dance. Also very sexy. But what a freaking jerk.I haven't really noticed this in other Linda Howard books, but this novel has a lot of wierd side commentary, like there's a section where she talks about tigers for a whole paragraph before comparing Cord to one. Can't you just say he is "like a tiger" without saying "A tiger is a majestic beast...solitary and alone...blah blah blah if I wanted to know this, I'd be watching PBS, not reading a romance novel."I can't recommend this. She's got better stuff out there
I have so many problems with this book. I really love Linda Howard. I think her women are generally sassy and fabulous and her men are strong and intelligent. She has a great sense of humor and is exceptionally creative. There's suspense, romance, strength and warmth. Good stuff. Then you have Tears of the Renegade, which is not a romance. This is a story about obsession, lust, betrayal and It's a quasi-suspense. Those can be fun... if you like the characters. Here, the characters piss me off. Cord was a man hellbent on revenge and didn't trust anyone. He's broken and stuck in the past. We get it. My biggest problem is not with Cord, though he was really difficult to read. My biggest problem was Susan. I suppose this is the story of her finding her strength, which she does in the end, but good God she was terrible. She convinced herself that she was in love with a man when she knew nothing about him (lust/obsession?) and continues to wait for him/demean herself to get him to change and fall in love with her. Generally, I read suspense and romance because I feel uplifted. At the end of this story, I felt uplifted which is why I rated it as ok. 90% of this story is really difficult to read if you enjoy strong heroines and look up to them. The takeaways here are terrible. So, I would highly recommend Linda Howard. Just, not this book.
What do You think about Tears Of The Renegade (2001)?
Although I usually really enjoy Linda Howard's bookks, this book I had a hard time getting into, the first time I read it and again when I just re-read it. Although the heroine has some backbone, I still found myself wanting to shake a little more into her & I wanted to tell her in-laws to stop being so self center/selfish in their relationships. I could see where the hero was coming from and really could cheer him on after seeing how his family (the heroine's in-laws) treated him. Read it and see what you think. This book was published back in 1985, so I don't know if it's been re-printed or you'll need to look in the used book stores for it.
—Amelia-Irene
Cord Blackstone datang kembali ke Missippi untuk merebut kembali haknya yang telah di rampas oleh keluarganya. Kedatangannya kembali membuatnya harus bertemu dengan menantu Blackstone Susan yang menikah dengan sepupu Cord, Vance. Ternyata Preston, sepupu Cord telah mencuri uang Cord selama ini sehingga Cord menuntut kembali uang yang telah dicuri Preston. Tapi sayang hasil penjualah saham dan barang berharga milik Susan pribadi tidak mampu menutupi hutang itu.Susan yang sejak pertama kali melihat Cord yakin kalau ia telah jatuh cinta pada Cord. Tapi Cord mempunyai masa lalu yang menyakitaakan tentang pernikahannya dengan Judith 14 tahun lalu. Cord punya rencana lain dengan Blackstone Cooperation, ia ingin menguasai Blackstone untuknya sendiri. Bahkan Susan pun ingin dimilikinya, karena ia telah jatuh cinta pada Susan. Susan yang mulai melupakan Vance, mulai membuka hatinya pada Cord. Dan mempercayai Cord kalau Cord ingin menguasai Blackstone Cooperation untuk kebaikan semua orang.
—Gramedia Pustaka Utama
Susan Blackstone, widow of Vance, is taken with the dark, handsome man who has just arrived at the party. She is unaware that this is Cord, cousin to her husband and his brother, Preston and he is crashing the party. Spotting a potential confrontation, she invites the stranger to dance with her. She doesnt realize that this will be the beginning of a new direction in her life. Cord has come back to his hometown to face the gossip and make it known that he will not be run out of town or made a fool of. In fact, he will show Preston who has the upper hand in the family. Cords mother encourages Susan to spy on Cord and report back to her and Preston so they can stay one step ahead.Susan did not plan on falling in love with Cord so she is now torn between he love for him and her loyalties to Preston and his mother who have been there for her for the past 5 lonely years.I have a few issues with the story - Cord's absence is never explained, Vance's death is traumatic but no details, Susan falls in love in about a minute with Cord. This is one of the weaker books by this author.
—Pam H
