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Southern Gentlemen
Two contemporary stories of love, family, and betrayal set against the backdrop of the Deep South offers a fascinating glimpse of a place where the finest women are ladies and the best men are gentlemen. Original.
377 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published May 1, 1998
About the author
Jennifer Blake
160 books545 followersA pseudonym used by Patricia Maxwell.
Jennifer Blake has been called a “pioneer of the romance genre”, and an “icon of the romance industry.” A New York Times and international best selling author since 1977, she is a charter member of Romance Writers of America, member of the RWA Hall of Fame, and recipient of the RWA Lifetime Achievement Rita. She holds numerous other honors, including two “Maggies”, two Holt Medallions, multiple Reviewer’s Choice Awards, the Career Achievement Award from Romantic Times BookReviews Magazine, and the Frank Waters Award for literary excellence. She has written over 60 books with translations in 20 languages and more than 30 million copies in print worldwide.
Jennifer and her husband reside in a lakeside Caribbean-style retreat in North Louisiana where they often entertain family and friends. Always a gardener, she spends much of her time encouraging her garden to bloom with her favorite daylilies and antique roses. She also enjoys walking her two dogs, Buffy and Lucky, and indulging in needlework, painting, and travel.
Jennifer Blake has been called a “pioneer of the romance genre”, and an “icon of the romance industry.” A New York Times and international best selling author since 1977, she is a charter member of Romance Writers of America, member of the RWA Hall of Fame, and recipient of the RWA Lifetime Achievement Rita. She holds numerous other honors, including two “Maggies”, two Holt Medallions, multiple Reviewer’s Choice Awards, the Career Achievement Award from Romantic Times BookReviews Magazine, and the Frank Waters Award for literary excellence. She has written over 60 books with translations in 20 languages and more than 30 million copies in print worldwide.
Jennifer and her husband reside in a lakeside Caribbean-style retreat in North Louisiana where they often entertain family and friends. Always a gardener, she spends much of her time encouraging her garden to bloom with her favorite daylilies and antique roses. She also enjoys walking her two dogs, Buffy and Lucky, and indulging in needlework, painting, and travel.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
April 30, 2013
Both these stories were very good. I've read Jennifer Blake historicals before so this trip into a contemporary romance by her was new to me. I really enjoyed the chemistry between the two leads and the circumstances surrounding their relationship.
Emilie Richards is a new author to me and I hope to pick up some more of her books. I liked the way she described the attitudes (though some not very nice) of the characters/situations, and the hero and heroine were well matched.
From a bad boy and someone born on the wrong side of the tracks, to southern gentlemen, though I think at heart they were both gentlemen to begin with, they just had to open the eyes of their loved ones to show them.
Emilie Richards is a new author to me and I hope to pick up some more of her books. I liked the way she described the attitudes (though some not very nice) of the characters/situations, and the hero and heroine were well matched.
From a bad boy and someone born on the wrong side of the tracks, to southern gentlemen, though I think at heart they were both gentlemen to begin with, they just had to open the eyes of their loved ones to show them.
November 30, 2017
I grew up entirely in the Midwest. Minnesota to be exact. There was a brief stint in Illinois but that was no more than a blip on the radar. Yep, a Minnesotan through and through. The closest think I have to southern roots are my mom's transplanted Floridian brother and his family. My experience with southern gentlemen is limited to say the least. Nonetheless, I do enjoy a good southern drawl and and manners so that has to count for something, right?
We have been going through a bit of a warm spell here in Minnesota (by that I mean we are in the mid to upper 40s) We are back going for walks here and putting on lighter coats so it is hardly "reading weather" here but I have managed to give it my best effort. I am still working my way through my collection of books which lead me to grab Southern Gentlemen which includes two stories John "Rip" Peterson and Billy Ray Wainwright by Jennifer Blake and Emilie Richards respectively.
Jon "Rip" Peterson tells the story of Rip returning to the town that turned its back on him at 18 after getting arrested and convicted of burglary. He returns years later after making himself a very successful business man in electronics, to purchase the old family estate of an old friend and flame Anna Montrose. He comes with an offer for Anna one that initially sounds like a lose lose situation. Get him into society again or he will bulldoze the estate to the ground and if she can do that she must marry him. The scandal and heartbreak goes deep in this story which will keep you interested and guessing a bit. A charming page turner.
Billy Ray Wainwright tells the happen stance reunion of old friends who never left town. Billy Ray, now a lawyer and Carolina, a fleeing widow who escaped he controlling and manipulating in laws to start a better life for her children. This story by far was my favorite, with its corruption,scandal, and domestic violence discussion of makes for both a heartbreaking and inspiring tale.
Overall, I enjoyed this book quite a bit. A great member of my little library that I am happy to reshelve.
We have been going through a bit of a warm spell here in Minnesota (by that I mean we are in the mid to upper 40s) We are back going for walks here and putting on lighter coats so it is hardly "reading weather" here but I have managed to give it my best effort. I am still working my way through my collection of books which lead me to grab Southern Gentlemen which includes two stories John "Rip" Peterson and Billy Ray Wainwright by Jennifer Blake and Emilie Richards respectively.
Jon "Rip" Peterson tells the story of Rip returning to the town that turned its back on him at 18 after getting arrested and convicted of burglary. He returns years later after making himself a very successful business man in electronics, to purchase the old family estate of an old friend and flame Anna Montrose. He comes with an offer for Anna one that initially sounds like a lose lose situation. Get him into society again or he will bulldoze the estate to the ground and if she can do that she must marry him. The scandal and heartbreak goes deep in this story which will keep you interested and guessing a bit. A charming page turner.
Billy Ray Wainwright tells the happen stance reunion of old friends who never left town. Billy Ray, now a lawyer and Carolina, a fleeing widow who escaped he controlling and manipulating in laws to start a better life for her children. This story by far was my favorite, with its corruption,scandal, and domestic violence discussion of makes for both a heartbreaking and inspiring tale.
Overall, I enjoyed this book quite a bit. A great member of my little library that I am happy to reshelve.
October 12, 2025
The story of Anna and Rip by Jennifer Blake was both fun and sorrowful. The effects of drugs on young teenagers are awful. This story occurs some sixteen years later, and you get to see the devastation caused by drugs and drinking in high school. The second story is even more moving. About a woman trying to keep her kids in a custody battle with their grandparents after the death of their son, a man who was destroyed by drinking and drugs, she enlists the aid of a former boyfriend, now lawyer, named Billy Ray. It is a story that is definitely hard to put down until the last page. Emilie Richards tends to write books that really grab you. She didn't fail here either.
July 1, 2017
John Peterson was a kid from the wrong sides of the tracks with Spanish and Native American ancestry, who grew up with Tom and Anna Montrose. The three were great friends and often played in the abandoned ante-bellum plantation house, Blest, that used to belong to the Montrose family. Anna nicknamed him ‘Rip’ after finding him asleep in the family graveyard, after Rip van Winkle.
In one awful night, Tom disappears and Rip is caught robbing the service station. He refuses to speak up for himself at the trial and goes to jail for three years. And Tom hasn’t been seen since.
Years later, he’s a self made man who has secretly bought the old house. Now, he makes Anna an offer to help him repair and renovate it, and to get him accepted into ‘society’; proven by membership of the Old Bon Vivant Club. But there’s a catch
But Anna’s mother is not pleased to see him back in town.
But the old house caretaker, Papa Vidal, might know more about what happened that awful night.
Either way, Anna is conflicted about what she really wants. She loves the old house, and to get both it, and Rip might be a dream too far.
***
First published in June 1998 - people wear caftans… I kid you, not. I mean that was out of date in 1998.
Now in a boxed set as well: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3...
Half the town fall over each other to ingratiate themselves with the newly rich Rip. The other half hate him and cut him dead. Anna’s mother is particularly vicious, accusing him of murdering her son.
Anna is not so sure. The case never made sense to her, Rip worked at the garage, had a key and had no need to break in to rob it. But she can’t work out why Rip refused to talk. Her mother tried desperately to squash their young affection for each other and Rip going to jail was the final straw.
Tom had got into drugs and she’s pretty sure that he’s dead; having never shown up again. But it would be nice to know.
Rip is a far better gentleman than almost anyone else in the book. Which is, I suppose, the point.
3 stars
In one awful night, Tom disappears and Rip is caught robbing the service station. He refuses to speak up for himself at the trial and goes to jail for three years. And Tom hasn’t been seen since.
Years later, he’s a self made man who has secretly bought the old house. Now, he makes Anna an offer to help him repair and renovate it, and to get him accepted into ‘society’; proven by membership of the Old Bon Vivant Club. But there’s a catch
“Either I help you become a respected citizen of Montrose or you’ll bulldoze Blest to the ground. As proof of success, you require membership in the Bon Vivant Club. If that fails, you expect me to—become your wife.” (Kindle Locations 288-290)
But Anna’s mother is not pleased to see him back in town.
But the old house caretaker, Papa Vidal, might know more about what happened that awful night.
Either way, Anna is conflicted about what she really wants. She loves the old house, and to get both it, and Rip might be a dream too far.
***
First published in June 1998 - people wear caftans… I kid you, not. I mean that was out of date in 1998.
Now in a boxed set as well: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3...
Half the town fall over each other to ingratiate themselves with the newly rich Rip. The other half hate him and cut him dead. Anna’s mother is particularly vicious, accusing him of murdering her son.
Anna is not so sure. The case never made sense to her, Rip worked at the garage, had a key and had no need to break in to rob it. But she can’t work out why Rip refused to talk. Her mother tried desperately to squash their young affection for each other and Rip going to jail was the final straw.
Tom had got into drugs and she’s pretty sure that he’s dead; having never shown up again. But it would be nice to know.
Rip is a far better gentleman than almost anyone else in the book. Which is, I suppose, the point.
3 stars
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December 22, 20162 Stars John "Rip" Peterson - Jennifer Blake
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews