Savage Desire (Mira) [Mass Market Paperback]

"Savage Desire" is a reward to those who were disappointed with the culmination of third installment of the Morgan saga, "Lost Love, Last Love". That book ended less than satisfying with Steve and Ginny behaving curiously cool after all they had been through. Steve was particularly cruel and, as usualdid not acknowledge that he was the catalyst for most of the subsequent destructive events. Ginny is certainly no saint, but gosh Steve is really arrogant. Somehow I came away with the usual conclusion that Ginny was the blame for everything. "Savage Desire" makes Steve a much more sympathetic individual and rightly so. He had a lot to make up for--blatant affairs, indifference, abandonment, etc. Steve's a very sexy man, a powerful one, but after all those years I was looking for some sort of closure--admittance of love and value of Ginny. Flash back to old material was necessary. The device was used to recreate the volatile atmosphere and for Steve to rethink his actions. Going back to Mexico, revisiting and crushing all the old demons, cleared the way for Steve and Ginny to finally find a sweet and enduring relationship. Steve is no less desirable a character in this book, actually I think he is more so. Ginny remains Ginny. Steve's unforgettable and tempetuous love. She finally finds what she was always looking for in "Savage Desire". If any romance novel heroine ever deserved a bit of happiness, it's Ginny Morgan!

In 1876, Virginia "Ginny" Morgan tries to reconcile with her spouse Steve after a long separation caused by her being incapacitated due to an illness. Although she loves her spouse and would like to start over with him, Ginny desperately needs to hold and hug their two children, Franco and Laura who had been left behind in Mexico and then sent on to France to stay with an aunt. Steve also loves Ginny, but has doubts about their relationship. Still, he agrees to try to over come the past and look to the future as a family.

Even her children question what took her so long to return to them while her spouse doubts he will ever trust her again. Still, she works at healing the relationships with her husband and children. When Steve is forced to return to Mexico on business, Ginny accompanies him because she refuses any long-term separation like they always did in the past. However, neither one knows that the return to Mexico may prove too powerful for this pair to remain a family.

SAVAGE DESIRE is a passionate late nineteenth century love story that has all the trademarks of a Rosemary Rogers romance. The intrepid Ginny will fight anything and everything for the love of her family, although Steve seems childish in adhering to his obstinacy towards Ginny and her previous health problem. The children ooze a charming innocence that feels so genuine that the audience will think "out of the mouth of babes." Ms. Rogers' fans will delight in this entertaining cross-Atlantic tale.

Harriet Klausner

I must admit that I jumped from the first book (Sweet Savage Love) straight to this fourth book, without having read Dark Fire and Lost Love, Last Love. After finishing Savage Desire, I don't think that I missed much of the actions on the first two books, as there are a lot of references from Steve and Ginny's previous relationships while they've been apart.

After a long separation from Steve and the twins, Ginny is now back in London trying to rebuild her relationship with them. When duty calls Steve back to Mexico to settle some old business, Ginny, not wishing to be apart from him once again, insists on accompanying him. And so they find themselves in another adventure, with past experiences creeping up and haunting them once more, bringing back painful memories. Will they be ever be able to let go of the past? Can they ever bring themselves to trust one another and look forward to a happier future? Will they ever be able to confide with each other without feeling ashamed of what they've done? These are questions that they face and know they must overcome. You will notice that most of the chapters end with these sorts of questions. We know that Steve and Ginny love each other to distraction, yet theirs is a case of "can't live together, can't live without each other".

I liked that we see the more gentle side of Steve in this book. I appreciated the fact that he was truly sorry for having caused Ginny so much pain and is full of regrets for not being able to protect her from the horrible, degrading things that she has suffered, and now wish to atone for his sins and want to live a quieter life with her and their children.

I do wish that Ms Rogers didn't feel the need to put Ginny in the same situation again by having her abducted and raped once more. From what I gather, she was also subjected to the same fate in the second and third book and I felt that enough is enough.

But overall, despite skipping Dark Fires and Lost Love, Last Love, I am glad that Steve and Ginny have finally found the happiness that they deserve. This was the ending that I was looking for from the first book.