Rob Imes's Reviews > Tender Is the Storm

TENDER IS THE STORM by Johanna Lindsey was originally published by Avon Books in June 1985; my copy is a 1997 paperback edition (hence not the original front cover). This is a historical romance novel that largely takes place in Arizona in the 1880s, with scenes in New York at the beginning and end of the book. What caught my interest from the first page was Lindsey's depiction of the Old West and the frontier loner Slade Holt who travels in both the Indian and white man's world. Slade has a twin brother named Lucas who seeks a mail-order bride as part of his plan to seek revenge on Sam Newcomb, a powerful man after whom the town is named, who murdered his father for his gold. Stephanie, our heroine Sharisse's sister, answered the ad and then convinces Sharisse to go to Arizona instead in order to avoid being forced to marry a man named Joel whom Stephanie loves and Sharisse does not. Their father Marcus is a stubborn man who insists on the marriage, so Sharisse escaping New York temporarily to Arizona seems like a good way of avoiding this outcome. Conveniently, Stephanie answered the ad using only the initial of her first name, and sent Lucas a photo that had both sisters in it, so this convinces Sharisse that the plan will work. (It's a little too convenient and makes it look like Stephanie is eager to get rid of her sister.)

Much of the novel revolves around Sharisse's life on Lucas' ranch, which involves more hard work than she is used to doing back home, since there are no servants here. Sharisse learns to grow as a person because of her experiences on the ranch. However she is alternately attracted and put off by Lucas' sexual interest in her, and even more repulsed by the sexual advances of his twin brother Slade who occasionally visits the ranch when Lucas is not around, in order to have his way with her. I found Slade's attitude so appalling that I felt that Sharisse would have been justified in shooting him dead the next time he came near, and was disturbed by Lucas' lack of concern about his brother's behavior. Because of Sharisse's hostility towards Slade, his brother Lucas seems more attractive to her in comparison and the two eventually become lovers.

In the end, all works out for the best, with a couple big surprises in the last two chapters. The novel was highly enjoyable and satisfying, although the twists and turns of the plot felt as much contrived as clever. Although a historical, there's only about as much historical detail on display as might be found in an episode of Gunsmoke. This was nearly a 5-star book for me, but I'm only giving it 4.5 stars because the plot seemed a bit too contrived and the unpleasant neanderthal attitudes exhibited by Slade and Lucas towards Sharisse which are hard to forgive and forget.