Skip to main content
PBS logo
 
 

Book Reviews of Just Imagine

Just Imagine
Just Imagine
Author: Susan Elizabeth Phillips
ISBN-13: 9780380808304
ISBN-10: 0380808307
Publication Date: 9/1/2001
Pages: 384
Rating:
  • Currently 3.7/5 Stars.
 236

3.7 stars, based on 236 ratings
Publisher: Avon
Book Type: Paperback
Reviews: Amazon | Write a Review

19 Book Reviews submitted by our Members...sorted by voted most helpful

reviewed Just Imagine on + 33 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 4
My Amazon review - This is my favorite by SEP, and that's saying alot, because I've really enjoyed all of her books. Maybe I'm a sucker for a hero and heroine who try so hard not to fall for each other, but this story grabbed me from the beginning and refused to let me go until I finished it at 2 AM! Kit's transformation from stubborn tomboy to independent belle is surprisingly believable. I agonized with her as she struggled between her long-held dream to regain her land and her growing feelings for the man keeping that dream from her. Baron's fight to resist caring for a woman who could tie him down to a life he didn't know he wanted is equally compelling. I also enjoyed the sub-plot of the secondary characters, and found myself just as intrigued about their future as Kit and Baron's. Emotions here are too raw and edgy to be called "romantic", but the story is magnetic - the sexual tension runs high, the love scenes are steamy with just the right hint of tenderness. The satifying ending is not achieved easily, which is refreshingly realistic. This one will be kept and re-read often.
reviewed Just Imagine on + 9 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2
this is a great read .get your hankie ready.i could not put it down.
reviewed Just Imagine on + 331 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2
Wonderful characters and a wonderful story.
reviewed Just Imagine on + 5 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
I really enjoyed this book...read it in one day because I couldn't put it down!
reviewed Just Imagine on
Helpful Score: 1
I could not put this book down. Great storyline!
girlofthehollow avatar reviewed Just Imagine on + 23 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
If SEP wrote 50 books a year, I'd read every one! I laugh, I cry, I enjoy. This one doesn't disappoint.
reviewed Just Imagine on + 17 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
Having read most of SEP's books I was excited to stumble upon this title that successfully weaves history with romance. I found both Kit and Baron to be a couple ahead of their time in the best possible ways. Following the Civil War; these two are complete enemies, but yet they are a perfect fit even if neither wants to admit it. I found myself rooting for Kit and then for Baron and then for the two as a couple! Great read!
judgejudy avatar reviewed Just Imagine on + 30 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
I truly enjoyed this book. It reminded me of Ashes in the wind by Kathleen Woodiwiss and Gone with the wind. All in all a great love story.
reviewed Just Imagine on + 3 more book reviews
I had this book on audio and then re-read it. It was great - great plot, great characters. I highly recommend this as a must read...warning - it's a little bit different from the Stars series, but still worth the read! you'll love the characters.
jjares avatar reviewed Just Imagine on + 3413 more book reviews
This is my first book by this author; as I understand it this is a reworked novel from 1984 (previously named RISEN GLORY). This is a very talented writer; I found myself hanging on to every word. She paints such clear images of feelings; Phillips is a joy to read.

Before starting any of Phillips books, Id read an interview by another author who waxed eloquently about Phillips humorous and imaginative writings. This book wasnt particularly humorous but filled with raw emotion and strong, hard-headed characters.

Choosing to write about the end of the Civil War is always a good bet; she chose a time of high passion. Remember, the fighting didnt stop after Appomattox. This story makes good use of the strong emotion that remained in the country years after the conflict ended.

The plantation, Risen Glory is literally a character in this story. Kit Westin comes to New York City to kill Baron Cain, the man who inherited her plantation. Obviously, Kit does not kill Cain but enters into a sparring match with the Yankee war hero.

Although I enjoyed the story, I did have a couple of problems with it. Some points were repeated too often (Yes, I know Kit thought the only thing she had was Risen Glory). Second, after awhile the fighting seemed excessive and repetitious.

Will I read another book by Phillips? Yes. She is obviously an authors author (Jo Goodman and others are gaga over Phillips). Since I really like the work of the writers who sing Philips praises, maybe I need to take another sample before turning my back on her books.

3.5 stars
reviewed Just Imagine on + 137 more book reviews
This is not one of her best works. The plot, and the characters, were extremely predictable. Honestly, I couldn't even finish this one, although I usual enjoy her books.
reviewed Just Imagine on
Post Civil-War historical, originally released as "Risen Glory." Kit's plantation, Risen Glory, has been inherited by her step-brother, Baron Cain. He's a northerner and she will do just about anything to get the plantation back from him, including murder him.
robinmy avatar reviewed Just Imagine on + 2104 more book reviews
Disguised as a boy, Kit Weston travels to New York City to kill Baron Cain. Cain inherited Kit's South Carolina home, Risen Glory, when her stepmother died. Kit is determined to get her home back from the Yankee scoundrel. She's surprised when she meets him, and he gives her a job as a stable boy. She is also shocked to learn that he has been named her guardian.

Just Imagine is the 2001 re-write of Susan Elizabeth Phillip's debut novel, Risen Glory, which was published in 1984. I never read the original, so I don't know what changed. This book felt like the historical romances I used to read in the 80's and 90's. They're the reason I stopped reading historical romance for so long. Kit and Baron were combative right from the start. Their fighting never let up until the last page of the book. Kit was just like Scarlet O'Hara. She thought her plantation was all that she had in this world. She never stopped to look at her life and the things that she had.

If you like the older historical romances, you will love this book. I prefer the newer, lighter historical romances that we have now. My rating: 2.5 Stars.
reviewed Just Imagine on + 74 more book reviews
Great read!
reviewed Just Imagine on + 18 more book reviews
Very good book with romance and history.
reviewed Just Imagine on + 57 more book reviews
Two hard-headed, passionate people..Two stubborn opponents with tender souls...Sometimes wars of the heart can only be won through the sweetest of surrenders.
reviewed Just Imagine on + 711 more book reviews
The War Between the States may be over for the rest of the country, but not for Kit Weston. Disguised as a boy, she's come to New York City to kill Baron Cain, the man who stands bewtween her and Risen Glory, the South Carolina home she loves. But unknown to Kit, the Yankee warr hero is more than her most bitter enemy---he's also her guardian. And he'll be a lot harder to kill than she's figured on...
reviewed Just Imagine on + 10 more book reviews
An innocent beauty is courted by her mysterious boss to play his lover during a dangerous mission. Dare she resist her SOLDIER OF FORTUNE?
reviewed Just Imagine on + 5 more book reviews
The War Between the States may be over for the rest of the country, but not for Kit Weston. Disguised as a boy, she's come to New York City to kill Baron Cain, the man who stands between her and Risen Glory, the South Carolina home she loves.