Early Francine Rivers: Yes, She Wrote Romance!

Before Francine Rivers found God, she wrote, believe it or not, romances! I read maybe three or four them and enjoyed them. Not all of them were great but a few were worth stick­ing on my book­shelf to keep for good. Has any­one else read her? Her writ­ing reminded me so much of LaVyrle Spencer. I don’t make that com­par­i­son lightly as I know LaVyrle Spencer is revered by all read­ers of romance. I thought she had just a bit more heat between her char­ac­ters than Spencer but oth­er­wise, their writ­ing were some­what sim­i­lar in voice/style.

Will let you in on a lit­tle known secret. I couldn’t fin­ish read­ing Redeem­ing Love. Her most pop­u­lar book, ever. As far as romance is con­cerned. Can’t recall the book mak­ing too many top romance lists in my cir­cles but, I just couldn’t get through it and the end­ing! Yes, I read it. Didn’t like it.

But Outlaw’s Embrace? Remem­ber lov­ing it. Also loved, Rebel In His Arms. Sad to hear that she’s renounced her writ­ing romance(s). At least that’s what I’ve been told sec­ond­hand. Well, I’m hear to tell you that they were decent reads. So, next time your in the used book­store and stum­ble across her name to get to Nora Roberts or some­body else, see if they have Outlaw’s Embrace or Rebel In His Arms. That’s some good reading.

Over the years I’ve tried to find them _all_. She mainly wrote his­tor­i­cal romances with a few that you can say were west­erns. One book­seller, who was also a fan, had no idea that she wrote cat­e­gory romances! Yes, she started early. I have those too! It felt good to know what some­body else didn’t btw. But I digress. I don’t know what made me think of her but I had to post about her when I went back through my col­lec­tion. Yes, Francine Rivers wrote romances and a few of them were damn good, too!

Syn­op­sis for Rebel in His Arms by Francine Rivers

The untamed pas­sion of the West was no match for the fiery desires that burned within them!

IN THE HARSH LAND OF THE CALIFORNIA SIERRAS,
A WILD LOVE STRUGGLES TO BE BORN

Kathryn Durham was famil­iar with hard­ship — rais­ing her younger brother, Jeremy, with­out a mother; keep­ing house for her father. But Katie loved their home­stead, adored her fam­ily. Then one day, her father is fatally shot, the only clue to his mur­derer the ini­tials he drew on the dirt before dying: M D.

Mace Dono­van: the man who had offered to buy up the Durham spread. The man with mus­cles that rip­pled like a stal­lion in motion, and eyes as cold and as fierce as a puma’s. Mace Dono­van: vir­ile, pow­er­ful, wealthy — and a murderer.

Deter­mined to avenge her father’s death, Kathryn is thwarted at every turn by this man who makes her churn with rage and trem­ble with emo­tions she is help­less to stop. Like two wild­cats, they claw at each other, tem­pers as bru­tal as the land they live on. She is a shrew and he intends to tame her. He is a killer, and she wants him to hang.

Only when Jeremy becomes a pawn in a deadly game does Kathryn finally admit her deep love for Mace Dono­van — a love that may have come too late to share.

Syn­op­sis for Outlaw’s Embrace by Francine Rivers

Her love tamed his rene­gade heart.

HIS SAVAGE KISS AWAKENED HER FLESH…
HIS TENDER TOUCH AROUSED HER SPIRIT

In the untamed fron­tier of the West, women mar­ried when they were young girls. So at the ripe age of twenty-one, Beth Tyrell was nearly an old maid.

But the wheat-haired sheriff’s daugh­ter pos­sessed a proud, gen­tle spirit that could not be com­pro­mised. She would marry only for deep, abid­ing love — and would set­tle for noth­ing less.

Not for Adam Buchanan, the town’s new physi­cian — whose boy­ish face and laugh­ing eyes were openly ador­ing.… Not for Avery Carlile — with whom she’d shared so much when they were younger.… Not for the sake of her father — who wanted noth­ing more than his daugh­ter to find the hap­pi­ness he had lost.

Then Logan Tan­ner rode into town — a gun­slinger seek­ing revenge. His burn­ing eyes pierced her soul — and made her ache.… For no blaze burns so hot, nor glows so bright, as the flame kin­dled by desire.…