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Conferences OLDER BOOKS DISCUSSION Topic #280
Reading Topic #280
Cali23
Member since Mar-25-08
12 posts		 Apr-23-08, 06:08 PM (CST)
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"Just Imagine"
 
   Hi Everyone! I had a quick question, I've read some very mixed reviews on the book "Just Imagine" and was wondering what you guys thought about it. I've read a bunch of SEP's other books and have loved them. I would love to hear all your comments on this book. Thanks in advance

Cali23


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  Subject     Author     Message Date     ID  
  RE: Just Imagine InZomnia Apr-23-08 1
     RE: Just Imagine InZomnia Apr-23-08 2
  RE: Just Imagine redsox04 Apr-23-08 3
     RE: Just Imagine hopeful soul Apr-23-08 4
         RE: Just Imagine redsox04 Apr-23-08 5
             RE: Just Imagine enorden07 Jun-26-10 6
  RE: Just Imagine april Jun-30-10 7
     RE: Just Imagine dmummey Sep-16-10 9
  RE: Just Imagine danfan Jul-17-10 8

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InZomnia
Member since Apr-2-08
2056 posts		 Apr-23-08, 06:25 PM (CST)
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1. "RE: Just Imagine"
In response to message #0
 
I absolutely loved that book. It was my first historical romance ever and so it was very different from all I'd read before. But the characters are just adorable and besides, you get so many interesting historical facts about the civil war and slavery woven into the story. Like all of SEP's novels, the book's incredibly funny. Young Kit is so quick-witted and you'll just LOVE Baron. He's very progressive (kinda ahead of his time), generous, drop-dead gorgeous and simply wonderful! The struggles between the two of them are depicted in a very realistic way, and they both have human flaws. This story really got me. It's so touching. You should definitely read it.

- Sarah

Sarah (Germany)


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InZomnia
Member since Apr-2-08
2056 posts		 Apr-23-08, 06:48 PM (CST)
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2. "RE: Just Imagine"
In response to message #1
 
I just realized that I wrote barely anything about the PLOT:
Cain is Kit's stepbrother, but they've never met before. He inherits the family plantation just months after the end of the civil war when his biological mother (he loathed her, though), Kit's stepmother who treated her very badly, dies. When Kit gets to know this, she makes her way from South Carolina up to New York to kill him. She costumes as a stable boy and he hires her. The night she tries to kill him, he discovers her real identity. He tries to find somebody else to be her guardian, but fails in doing so and Kit has to attend an academy in NY at his request. Meanwhile he rebuilds the destroyed plantation in South Carolina which she doesn't know, of course. Kit is kinda narrow-minded and in her opinion he is still the Yankee enemy. She decides to marry the Southerner Brandon Parsell because she is supposed to inherit the plantation on her wedding day. But soon it becomes clear that Baron Cain gets kinda jealous... though he doesn't know why himself yet...

- Sarah

Sarah (Germany)


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redsox04
Member since Apr-8-05
6150 posts		 Apr-23-08, 06:51 PM (CST)
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3. "RE: Just Imagine"
In response to message #0
 
Welcome to the board. My first question is have you read a historical and do you like historicals? While I personaly loved Just Imagine I think one of the reasons why it gets such mixed reviews is because it is a totaly differnt tone then most of SEP's other books, plus as a historical it's not even the same genre of romance. So basicly if you like big books that span many years, books with an edge of darkness, characters who aren't perfect and grow and change during the book, then you'll probably like this book. There's humor in it but I found that it more intense then funny. If you have tried and hated the more old fashioned historicals where the heros are a little overbearing and the heroines are very spunky you may want to reconsider this, JI isn't really like the old fashioned books, because it's got a lighter side to it, but there are shades of the 80s in the basic plot, which makes sense since it is the edited version of a book writen back then.

Lauren,
From Neah Boston


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hopeful soul
Member since Nov-23-05
10503 posts		 Apr-23-08, 08:26 PM (CST)
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4. "RE: Just Imagine"
In response to message #3
 
   I think Lauren hit the nail on the head. If you're not a huge historical fan, then you may not enjoy this as much as all of SEP's other books. I personally loved it; hands down this is one of my all-time favourite SEP's, if not all-time fav historical.

One of the reasons I loved this book is that very few romance novels tackle a love-story between African-American couples. Considering that this is post-civil war, I found it very dramatic and sweet. They all are such interesting characters, all with different motivations...the one scene that I always seem to remember that conveys a thousand emotions was when the secondary heroine offers herself to the main hero, and how he reacts to that offer...I won't say anymore, because his reaction was one I was not expecting, and it made me see him in a whole different light.

BTW, my head is a little fuzzy from lack of sleep but I thought that Cain inherited the plantation from his stepmother, who happened to be Kit's stepmother too. Maybe I'm wrong...another perfect excuse to do a reread

I would highly recommend this book!

- Amal


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redsox04
Member since Apr-8-05
6150 posts		 Apr-23-08, 09:10 PM (CST)
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5. "RE: Just Imagine"
In response to message #4
 
I think it was his mother, first because I remember her being a real horrible woman and Caine did have mommy issues, but also if she were also his stepmother then that would mean that Caine's dad was Kit's dad, because this woman was not the kind to stay in touch with a previous husband's kid.

Lauren,
From Neah Boston


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enorden07
Member since Jun-25-10
243 posts		 Jun-26-10, 01:10 AM (CST)
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6. "RE: Just Imagine"
In response to message #5
 
   Unfortunately for me, it wasn't my cup of tea. Haha rhyming. But that shouldn't put a damper on your feelings. I was BIG on historicals for a while...I went through all of Kat Martin's historicals and a bunch of others until I finally couldn't pick up another one without clenching my teeth. A lot of them are all the same...samely written...and "Just Imagine" was somewhat better because of SEP's writing style...but I just didn't feel it. Sorry to all who love it. I loved the plot line because I thought it was interesting, but I never finished the book...maybe I should sit back down some day and read it all the way through. ....but it will be a while before I can. Kit is funny though.

Emily

Emily
(From Wichita)


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april
Member since Apr-22-04
5381 posts		 Jun-30-10, 09:44 AM (CST)
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7. "RE: Just Imagine"
In response to message #0
 
I liked it a lot. Maybe because when I read it, a lot of people said to lower my expectations, that it was an older book of SEP's and in a different style. So, I went in with an open mind, but I thought it was adorable.


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dmummey
Member since Jul-3-08
2545 posts		 Sep-16-10, 07:45 PM (CST)
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9. "RE: Just Imagine"
In response to message #7
 
   I LOVED IT !


I hated what she did, grrrrrrrrrrrrrr and that is all I will say but yes I liked it !

Dawn


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danfan
Member since Mar-11-10
25 posts		 Jul-17-10, 04:43 PM (CST)
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8. "RE: Just Imagine"
In response to message #0
 
   I read it for the first time this spring and liked it. However, I have heard some people compare it to "Gone with the Wind." And, well, that's just nuts. JI is entertaining. If you like historicals, give JI a try. I can definitely tell this is an early work because the writing isn't as good as her later books, but I think it merits a read if you're into historicals.

danfan


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