Just Imagine

By: Susan Elizabeth Phillips

Narrated by: Cristine McMurdo-Wallis

Length: 11 hrs and 25 mins

Publisher's summary

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.

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. But unknown to Kit, the Yankee war hero is more than her bitterest enemy - he's also her guardian. And he'll be a lot harder to kill than she's figured on....

Believing that Kit's a boy, Cain offers the grubby rapscallion a job in his stable. But he has no idea what he's in for, and it's not long before the hero of Missionary Ridge discovers the truth. His scamp of a stable boy is a strong-willed, violet-eyed beauty who's hell-bent on driving him crazy.

©2009 Susan Elizabeth Phillips (P)2020 HarperAudio

Wonderfully Unexpected

I did not expect this story. It was beautifully written. Romance, history, hard topics, humor. This was the story I didn’t know I needed to read.

Good flow

Kit is a fire cracker. The journey is with her as she becomes a woman. Cain is a a simple character not saying that is bad but he is what he is.

wow

one of the best love stories I've come across. the voices were perfect. listen or read you will love it.

Civil war in a relationship

This was similar to Gone With the Wind, but with a HEA ending. Lots of fighting and angst, terrible stories of slavery and war battles, racism, love and loneliness - this book has all of that. Still, it's not as good as other SEP books. I'm a huge fan of many of her other books, but this one had just a tad too much heartache for me to give it 5 stars.

Great story!

This is a different style book for SEP, but it was a great story. I love the two main characters and the supporting characters were also very well developed.

Love her books

Never disappoints! I’ve listened and read most of her works. I only wish she would write faster.

Not her best

Susan Elizabeth Phillips is one of my favorite writers but this book was not up to her usual writing. It lacks the humor that is her trademark. Still a good book, just not her best.

fine until the end

I get it was written in 1984 but oh my god. I wanted him dead. She deserved better. Ugh!

Meh

Not one of SEP's best. It seemed very insipid. I missed her usual humor.

Old Fashioned Historical Romance

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.