Johanna Lindsey
When Love Awaits
I first read Johanna when I was 13 years old. I still remember I was majorly into Enid Blyton and just venturing into hardcore stuff like Tolkien. The ’86 cover of When Love Awaits appealed to me, and I thought it would be really cool to sketch it out. I did pick it up from the library, way back in 1988 and took it home with me.
In a while, I was to flip through the pages and to my naive mind, a certain situation that I glanced at didn’t quite make sense, until I realised I was reading a love-making scene! That certainly got me hooked. (Pre-internet days and all that, y’know.) But after I went through that part, I kept on reading. Then started reading from the very beginning. And THEN I was truly hooked.
The lady wrote with such flair that romance actually came alive, and trust me, she spoilt me for the real world. She took me into worlds that I had not even heard about…and the journeys were fantastic! History became something that was so damned interesting, and I learnt so much. I know it seems weird to some that a child could pick up something other than ‘hair-brained notions’ (as one of my relatives termed the reading of such books); but if they only knew how much I learnt. Vikings, King Alfred, the ruthlessness of the West, the tenderness of human emotion, Regency England, the hierarchies within the nobility, the tenderness of love, the cruelty of fate, and bloody hell, so much more!
If you ever come across this page, Johanna, do know that the love I bear for the Rowlings and the Grishams and the Rushdies and the Masters of Literature now was actually possible because you took a sad child and taught him how to read and venture into the beautiful worlds of your Imagination that made him get in touch with his own!
Thank you so much.
Post Script:
I was just updating the blog. She releases a novel every year around June/July and I had not updated the blog in about a year, since a lot has been happening in my life. To my utter shock, I found that she had passed away on 27th October, 2019.
I sit at my keyboard and I wonder what to type because my heart is so full of emotion right now. I will never forget the first novel I had read, written by Ms Lindsey. I was twelve then.
Johanna Lindsey educated me in so many ways. She opened my imagination to eras that I had never heard of. She took me into realms of royalty. She helped me sail the seas. She made me understand about prejudice and about women empowerment. She had brilliant heroines and flawed heroes, funny ladies and strong men. Knights in shining armour and beautiful, red-haired lasses on heather filled moors.
I cannot believe she is gone and she won’t be creating any more worlds for me to escape into. By far, she was my favourite author of historical fiction. She was one of the reasons I began writing. One of the reasons, I became an avid reader and went on to do my Masters in English Literature. One of the reasons, I learned to dream. She was my escape from the reality of life. She gave me life lessons and lessons in love. I will never be able to forget what she means to me.
Thank you, Ms Lindsey, for helping me understand myself better. You have a beautiful legacy. You will be missed.
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Johanna Lindsey 
The first book I read was Love Only Once and I was 13 at the time. I was looking through my mom’s books and I was Just flipping through and I thought it was really good, so I read it. Oh my God, it was the best book I ever read. I was really into Harry Potter then and that book made me see how much there is to life.
I continued on with Tender Rebel, falling in love with Anthony Malory was absolutly amazing. That is my favorite book. Then I read Gentle Rogue. It was so damn enchanting. I loved it. The Magic of You was probably the funniest. It made me laugh all the time. Say You Love Me was very good also. I liked how Anthony and James got involed with the rescuing of Kelsey. The Present was hilarious at the begining. I love when Anthony and James fight.
A Loving Scoundrel was probably the most romantic of all of them and they all are filled with romance. Jeremy and Anthony’s cobalt blue eyes are too enticing by far. Captive of My Desires was positively the most exciting. I read No Choice But Seduction and was the most influental on my life.
Johanna, if you ever read this please know that I am now 14 and these books helped me survive. Thank you so much.
Posted by Rachel | October 3, 2008, 12:44 amI read Secret Fire first and i immediately fell in love with it. I looked online for more and came across Captive Bride which filled me with an emotion i did not know i could feel,incredible joy and pain that the heroines felt and the love they felt. i was literally crying when reading parts of the two books. Am such a sucker for historical romances. I’d much rather sit down with a lindsey than watch tv or pretty much anything else. If you are reading this, Johanna, please do know that you have provided not only an escape for people like me, an escape from the stressful lives that we live,but also made us experience incredible joy and love.God Bless
Posted by DimpleDiva Mani | April 7, 2011, 3:47 pmhi Johanna Lindsey.. about 5 months before i was gettin bored so i asked my cousin to give a book to read
and one of the book was yours(once a princess),i must tell you i read it 8 times and now i cnt because i remember the story,, oh god your book are so good, from that till now i been reading a lot and sometime when i start your book i cnt stop and until i read it whole which definitely makes me skip my routine work at home..i am from india. i have read 25 of your book and sometime i read them twice, i wish i could tell each and every book is so good , weneva i m sad or depressed i pick up any of ur book and read,,reading your book makes me feel wish that i could live the characters you write you…all i can say keep writing a lot and lot of book andmake our life happy..,you rocks…
Posted by mee | August 7, 2011, 11:43 pmI was just wondering if it was Jonanna Lindsey who wrote a book about a man that only wore gray and had a pet martin. I read this book a long time ago and I remember bits and pieces of it but not the name or the author and I would like to find it again. It was set in midieval times.
Posted by Jackie Giese | September 3, 2011, 3:50 amI read Tender Rebel some years ago. I then stopped reading. then this summer I started reading these kind of books again. in the store I seen the cover of That Perfect Someone. I was hooked with this family. These men are darn sexy the way Ms lindsey descibes them. I get hot flashes what they do to there ladies. were can i get one of these Malory men. I have gotten most of these books, I can’t wait till she comes out with another one. How about one on Clinton Anderson and Thomas Anderson. Then when the girls Judy and Jack come of age look out, those to are going to be more then a handful for any guy. Lord help those men who win there hearts.
Posted by sally | November 22, 2011, 4:09 amThe very first Johanna Lindsey novel I was able to read was “Say You Love Me”. Then after that, I took all of my grandmother’s Johanna Lindsey novels collection on my way home. I was and still am engrossed to the sexy, bold and wonderful characters Ms. Lindsey describes. I totally love all of her works! I mean, I can finish reading one of her books per day. I just can’t stop reading and flipping all those wonderful pages. Also, I dream about my future husband to be like one of Ms. Lindsey’s characters. I wish more powers to the very great Ms. Johanna Lindsey who never fail to inspire me about certain things such as love, family, and friendship.
Posted by Ma. Michelle NIca Mizon | December 23, 2011, 11:18 pmThe very first Lindsay novel I read was Glorious Angel, when I was 12 years old. My oldest sister brought it home and, overnight, I went from Jude Blume to Johanna Lindsey. 🙂 Glorious Angel not only became an escape for me, it led me into the world of romance novels, which subsequently honed my English skills (reading comprehension, vocabulary building, etc.) and helped me do well academically enough to earn scholarships to attend college. My favorite Lindsey novels include the Viking Haardrad series, the Ly-san-ter Family series, Love Me Forever, and Defy Not the Heart. Twenty plus years later, I have read every Lindsey book and have the entire collection with original covers. The author and her books will eternally have significance to me in terms of how they’ve helped to change the direction my life. Thanks, Johanna. 🙂
Posted by Christine20003 | February 27, 2012, 7:27 pmi started reading johanna at age 56 and i love her books the mallory series is fantasticbut all ive read so far r great thanks for the pleasure
Posted by belinda richardson | March 22, 2013, 3:09 amI absolutely LOVE Johanna Lindsey’s writing. I am so disappointed that the old/original “clench” covers of the novels have been changed to dull unexciting covers 😦 I used to love the Fabio-esque pictures with the heroine that adorned the covers with a Pino style “painting” . I would love to buy the kindle versions but I keep on resorting to buy old/used books since they do have the original covers. Even then, I cannot always find the original covers 😦
My first Johanna Lindsey book was “A Pirate’s Love” which I “borrowed” from the teacher’s lounge in high school in 1989 at the age of 17. Let’s just say the book never went back to the lounge and I started this crazy of buying romance novels (mostly Johanna’s). Now that everything can be found at my fingertips (amazon, half.com, ebay), I’m frantically searching for the original covers. My suggestion to Johanna, if she reads our posts: PLEASE MAKE THE ORIGINAL COVERS AVAILABLE ON THE KINDLE AND LET THE CONSUMER CHOOSE WHICH THEY CHOOSE TO BUY! Thank you for listening and I won’t ramble on anymore. BTW, I still have “A Pirate’s Love” and have read it several times throughout the years.
Melanie
Posted by Melanie | December 2, 2013, 1:32 pmLove the Ly San Ter series and would love to see her write more sci fi romance
Posted by Jenni | March 11, 2014, 6:26 pmI’ve picked up a Johanna Lindsey novel from time to time and read right through from beginning to end often without stopping. It had been a while, though, since I had done so until I came across “Wildfire in His Arms” and was drawn to the cover so strongly I spend more than 20 minutes looking at it. I wish I could find out who the model was for that image. He is mesmerizing.
Posted by MJ Lewellen | November 29, 2015, 2:44 amI love this blog so much because it takes me back to the days when Johanna Lindsey and romance novels opened up a whole universe to me. I was 12 when I read my first Lindsey, Warrior’s Woman. The year before, my parents had gotten divorced and books like Lindsey’s brought a bit of positivity to my world. For years afterward, even if I was no longer reading the romance genre, I always purchased Johanna Lindsey’s books when they came out. They brought such joy to my life and I cannot forget those wonderful memories. There are too many favorites to mention; I’ll just say that she hit her stride circa 1980-1995. When Love Awaits is one of those great ones.
The world lost a wonderful soul when she passed away.
Would it be alright with you if I linked this blog to my blog, sweetsavagefire.com, which is about retro historical romances? This is what the Johanna Lindsey page looks like:
https://jacquelinediazromance.wordpress.com/authors/johanna-lindsey/
Thanks. Love the site!
Posted by jacquelinediaz | April 5, 2021, 5:26 amYou’re most welcome to do so. 🙂 I think any worthy mention of Lindsey would be lovely.
Posted by HC | April 5, 2021, 5:28 amThank you so much. She more than any other author brought joy to me when I needed it and I would like to show thanks by honoring her memory. Cheers!
Posted by jacquelinediaz | April 5, 2021, 5:31 amJust visited your blog and the post on Johanna Lindsey and it’s wonderful!!
Posted by HC | April 5, 2021, 5:30 amThank you. 🙂 I’m just starting out, so the site’s a bit clunky, but it’s a work-in-progress. JL was one of the first authors I wanted to write about because of what she meant to me. Thanks, again!
Posted by jacquelinediaz | April 5, 2021, 5:33 am