Review: When Passions Rules by Johanna Lindsey

Forced to flee Napoleon’s rampaging army on the continent, orphaned Alana Farmer and her eccentric guardian make a new home for themselves in London. There, Alana enjoys every privilege a daughter of the nobility could hope for, plus an education fit for a queen. Now, on the eve of her debut into London Society, she learns the shocking secret of her birthright. Can it be true? Is she really the lost princess of the European kingdom of Lubinia? Persuaded by her guardian to return to their homeland to quell a bloody revolt, Alana finds herself in an isolated, mountainous country whose customs strike her as medieval!With controversy and intrigue brewing around the beautiful newcomer, Christoph Becker, the captain of the palace guards, arrests Alana on suspicion that she is either a wily imposter or a seductive spy working for the shadowy figures determined to depose the king. No stranger himself to seduction, Christoph uses every means at his disposal to draw the truth from his alluring prisoner, even if he must lay his own life on the line to protect her from harm. Now, as a fiery passion flares between Alana and the man who has wrongly imprisoned her, the fate of a nation rests in their hands and on their hearts.

(Product Description taken form Amazon.com) 

I gave this book a 3

sss

It’s always so difficult when you have to give a wonderful author a poor book rating.  I’m a die hard fan of Johanna Lindsey, you can find her books all over my house in various forms, but I was so disappointed with this book.   It was well written, but there was just something missing for me.  I wanted more, Christoph, the main character, left me wanting!  I wanted him to be more of the alphas Lindsey has given to us in the past.  I enjoyed  Alana more than anything.  I was disappointed that she wasn’t given a chance to show off her fighting skills she spent her young life acquiring.  I wanted to see her kick ass with a saber in hand!  Johanna has set a certain standard for me and it’s difficult when those standards didn’t apply to new books.  It makes me wonder if I may be at fault, have I become so jaded that I need more angst in my books to enjoy them?  Was it just to clean?   I think I may begin to reread past favorites to find what it was that I was missing in this book.  I look forward to reading the next book in the Mallory series, I just hope it’s not more of the same. If you have never read a book by Johanna Lindsey, I highly recommend earlier works that are still to this day stories I wish to reread when the mood calls for it.