Rating: 
Summary: "Gone With the Wind" the way it should have been. NOT!
Review: The above quote is from JUST IMAGINE's cover and should have been a warning for me not to waste my time with this rewrite. I could never mesh with the lack-luster story or characters. I couldn't even keep enough interest to read through to the end.Phillip's contemporary works are better. Try them instead, if you are a first-time reader, and you'll be pleased.
Rating: 
Summary: Susan Elizabeth Phillips does it again!!!
Review: This book is great. Susan always leaves you laughing and fills her books with lots of adventure. In this one....Kit Weston has a strong will and even stronger passions. You won't be able to put it down.
Rating:
Summary: Started out Great, but turned Cold, Dark, and Unlikable
Review: This book lacked for nothing at first. Kit was adorable and beautiful and Baron was sensitive and gentle. So why did Kit and Baron turn to ice? After they became lovers, they turned vicious towards each other. I can't figure out why the author did this. There was never a good explanation as to WHY this happened, either. Who wants to read about two characters who dislike each other that much?
By mutual consent, Kit and Baron put unexplained personal animosity aside in order to sleep together. Meanwhile, the unexplained rage continued to build. I started dreading the rest of the story, but stuck with it in deference to SEP. There would have to have been at least a drop of love between these two in order to have the sort of ending SEP gave us.
The slavery issue was unfortunately accurate, but there's no way Sophronia would have ended up so blessed in the end, not with such ignorance in the world during that time.
Rating:
Summary: Tension-filled Historical
Review: This historical, chronicling the stormy attraction between a Southern woman and a Yankee war hero, is actually a revision of RISEN GLORY published in 1984. At the conclusion of the Civil War, Kit Weston travels from South Carolina to New York to kill the only man that stands between her and Risen Glory, the plantation that she stands to inherit upon his death. Major Baron Cain, Union “Hero of Missionary Ridge”, was deeded the plantation by his wayward mother, Rosemary, who also happened to be Kit’s stepmother. Believing that Kit is a boy, Baron hires her to be his stable boy. When Cain discovers his mistake and learns her true identity, he decides to send Kit away to finishing school. Not only does Risen Glory belong to him, but, in a coincidence true only in romance novels, he is also Kit’s guardian. Though Kit despises Baron, she agrees to do as he suggests. If not, he has promised that he will sell Risen Glory. But three years later, at the tender age of twenty-one, Kit returns to South Carolina to see the prospering of her plantation. Tension between Cain and Kit is like an electric storm, as they are constantly sparring amidst the sparks of attraction. The cast of supporting characters are the condiments to this Yankee/Southern sandwich. There is Sophronia, a freed former slave and friend of Kit’s and Magnus, also a freed slave who is both friend and employee to Cain. And one could hardly forget the ever-proper Miss Dolly, Kit’s slightly batty, aging Southern belle chaperone. In the tradition of the tension filled romance novel, Kit and Baron are the perfect protagonists, coming together in their moments of passion, though they are distant and constantly at each others’ throats any other time. Ms. Phillips weaves a delightful mix of tears, laughter, and passion into this memorable historical, another novel in her growing list of exceptional reads.
Rating:
Summary: Just Imagine! A trip back in time and worth every minute!
Review: What a treat to find a reissued, rewritten version of this classic historical from the "olden" days of romance! I had not read RISEN GLORY because I couldn't find it and so was delighted to have the opportunity to read it now. And in a new, fresh form! Wow! Just imagine the fun! I love the characters and the dialogue, and it's such a hoot to read it and remember those days when I first started reading romances.
Because Ms. Phillips now writes contemporaries, it was a real treat to see her treatment of the "old" romance themes and characters, a privilege to see the early Phillips at work with her trademark talent and warmth. Quite a trip back in time, and an endearing journey at that. I know some of the aspects of those old romances are problematic now. I know the slavery situation is touchy, and yes, that's a weak word for such a huge, horrible time in our history. I'm not sure that any historical romance written in the '00's, could use those settings and situations. Though a lot of romances, probably too many, used the Old South as the setting of the romances from the 80's, it's just about off limits now for romantic fiction. It's an ugly, divisive aspect of our history. There's no way with our modern sensibility to make it palatable.
Because of the heroine's growth and changes, JUST IMAGINE, however, delicately skirts this issue and makes it understandable from the point of view of those days. A tough job, but Ms. Phillips has pulled it off. She has a light touch, a sensitivity that comes through. In updating RISEN GLORY and turning it into JUST IMAGINE, Ms. Phillips has taken a classic and freshened it in the most delightful ways with her traditionally adorable, steel underneath the magnolia, heroine. And Baron? Hey, he makes my hormones buzz! But I'm a sucker for Ms. Phillips' heroes, whether in 19th century dress or modern garb! This was just a total fun read, start to finish!
Rating: 
Summary: SEP has written a lush and evocative saga of the South.
Review: While historicals are not normally my favourite genre - as a dedicated SEP fan I have been waiting to read "Just Imagine". Kit is an interesting character and I was pleased that she did not lose her independent and tomboy-like ways. The romance between her and Baron is believable and develops slowly and naturally. As always, we have good strong secondary characters as well.
I have enjoyed this excellent story that also made me think more about the post Civil War times.
| 
