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Ecstasy's Dawn
"I'll always love you!"
cried the fiery redhead, Rachel O'Brian, as she kissed John Reynolds goodbye. With the protectiveness of his arms, the power of his caresses and the excitement of his flaming touch, he had taken her to the soaring heights of desire. He had made her into a woman. how could he leave her after she had given her body and pledged her love? Somehow she'd find a way to possess him -- someday she'd win his heart...
"I'll always want you,"
John whispered as Rachel closed the door. She was the most beautiful, most tantalizing, the most provocative little spitfire he had ever met. Her emerald-green eyes promised everlasting rapture, her soft silken flesh drove him wild. But she was so young and innocent -- and that could only mean one thing: trouble! So he'd take what he wanted and bid her farewell. Only once he filled her with his passion -- he awakened to ECSTASY'S DAWN
cried the fiery redhead, Rachel O'Brian, as she kissed John Reynolds goodbye. With the protectiveness of his arms, the power of his caresses and the excitement of his flaming touch, he had taken her to the soaring heights of desire. He had made her into a woman. how could he leave her after she had given her body and pledged her love? Somehow she'd find a way to possess him -- someday she'd win his heart...
"I'll always want you,"
John whispered as Rachel closed the door. She was the most beautiful, most tantalizing, the most provocative little spitfire he had ever met. Her emerald-green eyes promised everlasting rapture, her soft silken flesh drove him wild. But she was so young and innocent -- and that could only mean one thing: trouble! So he'd take what he wanted and bid her farewell. Only once he filled her with his passion -- he awakened to ECSTASY'S DAWN
558 pages, Paperback
First published May 1, 1983
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February 27, 2018
This review is of “Ecstasy’s Dawn” by Rochelle Wayne.
The book is written in four parts. I will take each separately.
Part I:
The book begins in Missouri, where a wagon train is planning to travel from Missouri to California. Among those on the train are the O’Brian family: father Tom, mother Nadine, and their two daughters, Deborah, and Rachel, the heroine of the book. Leading the train is Ashley Jonathan Reynolds III, hereafter known as John Reynolds, the hero of the book. When Rachel first meets John, she is immediately attracted to him. There are, however, many obstacles in the path of their happiness together; they include: politics (Rachel comes from an aristocratic Southern family from Mississippi; John fought for the Union in the Civil War), an age disparity (John is 40 when the book begins; Rachel is 16); and other issues which are revealed.
The train makes it to California, but not everyone on the train does; a cholera epidemic kills several people; among them, Tom and Nadine O”Brian. Concerned about the girls’ future, John-who has immense wealth-sets them up with a dress shop business in San Francisco, but neither Deborah nor Rachel is truly happy. Then, Deborah is offered marriage by Josh Kendall, another traveler on the train who served under John in the Union army and does so again now that John has re-enlisted. The O’Brian sisters sell their shop and head to Fort Craig in Arizona for Deborah’s marriage and to allow Rachel to see John as well.
Part II:
The O’Brian sisters arrive at Fort Craig. Rachel and John become lovers, and Deborah marries Josh. Neither sister, however, is completely happy, as Deborah’s marriage is strained and John continues to insist he and Rachel have no future together. After Josh is injured in a shooting, he is discharged from the Army and John sends him and the sisters to his ranch in Texas. While in Texas, Rachel meets and marries one of John’s neighbors, William Granger. Their marriage, like Deborah’s, is not a happy one. Rachel gives birth to a son (whose paternity is in question) and is later kidnapped by notorious outlaw Klu Bronson.
Part III:
Klu takes Rachel to a bandit’s hideout in Mexico, and they become lovers. (Not out of desire, but Rachel’s self-preservation), Rachel also learns more about John’s past. Klu eventually tries to return Rachel to William, but tragedy ensues. When Rachel does reunite with William, even more tragic events happen.
Part IV:
Rachel believes she’ll never see John again, but they reunite, and have their Happily Ever After.
Upside: Ms. Wayne is an emotional author, and “Ecstasy’s Dawn” is a prime example of this style. Rachel and John are strong, emotional characters. Few authors I read pay as much attention to their supporting characters as Ms. Wayne does.
Downside: While I found Rachel and John to be strong characters, I’m not sure I found them likeable or interesting. Ms. Wayne writes the name “John Reynolds” at LEAST 100 times in the book, which is completely unnecessary. He’s the only character named “John” in the book. Why repeat his name constantly?
Sex: Ms. Wayne usually writes somewhat hot love scenes. “Ecstasy’s Dawn”, however, doesn’t contain that many. It’s pretty tame by her later standards.
Violence: “Ecstasy’s Dawn” contains the following acts of violence: Multiple scenes of assault and battery ; attempted rape, a hanging, shootings and killings. Most of the violence is not graphic.
Bottom Line; ‘Ecstasy’s Dawn” is not a bad book. It’s just not as good as the books Ms. Wayne would later write.
The book is written in four parts. I will take each separately.
Part I:
The book begins in Missouri, where a wagon train is planning to travel from Missouri to California. Among those on the train are the O’Brian family: father Tom, mother Nadine, and their two daughters, Deborah, and Rachel, the heroine of the book. Leading the train is Ashley Jonathan Reynolds III, hereafter known as John Reynolds, the hero of the book. When Rachel first meets John, she is immediately attracted to him. There are, however, many obstacles in the path of their happiness together; they include: politics (Rachel comes from an aristocratic Southern family from Mississippi; John fought for the Union in the Civil War), an age disparity (John is 40 when the book begins; Rachel is 16); and other issues which are revealed.
The train makes it to California, but not everyone on the train does; a cholera epidemic kills several people; among them, Tom and Nadine O”Brian. Concerned about the girls’ future, John-who has immense wealth-sets them up with a dress shop business in San Francisco, but neither Deborah nor Rachel is truly happy. Then, Deborah is offered marriage by Josh Kendall, another traveler on the train who served under John in the Union army and does so again now that John has re-enlisted. The O’Brian sisters sell their shop and head to Fort Craig in Arizona for Deborah’s marriage and to allow Rachel to see John as well.
Part II:
The O’Brian sisters arrive at Fort Craig. Rachel and John become lovers, and Deborah marries Josh. Neither sister, however, is completely happy, as Deborah’s marriage is strained and John continues to insist he and Rachel have no future together. After Josh is injured in a shooting, he is discharged from the Army and John sends him and the sisters to his ranch in Texas. While in Texas, Rachel meets and marries one of John’s neighbors, William Granger. Their marriage, like Deborah’s, is not a happy one. Rachel gives birth to a son (whose paternity is in question) and is later kidnapped by notorious outlaw Klu Bronson.
Part III:
Klu takes Rachel to a bandit’s hideout in Mexico, and they become lovers. (Not out of desire, but Rachel’s self-preservation), Rachel also learns more about John’s past. Klu eventually tries to return Rachel to William, but tragedy ensues. When Rachel does reunite with William, even more tragic events happen.
Part IV:
Rachel believes she’ll never see John again, but they reunite, and have their Happily Ever After.
Upside: Ms. Wayne is an emotional author, and “Ecstasy’s Dawn” is a prime example of this style. Rachel and John are strong, emotional characters. Few authors I read pay as much attention to their supporting characters as Ms. Wayne does.
Downside: While I found Rachel and John to be strong characters, I’m not sure I found them likeable or interesting. Ms. Wayne writes the name “John Reynolds” at LEAST 100 times in the book, which is completely unnecessary. He’s the only character named “John” in the book. Why repeat his name constantly?
Sex: Ms. Wayne usually writes somewhat hot love scenes. “Ecstasy’s Dawn”, however, doesn’t contain that many. It’s pretty tame by her later standards.
Violence: “Ecstasy’s Dawn” contains the following acts of violence: Multiple scenes of assault and battery ; attempted rape, a hanging, shootings and killings. Most of the violence is not graphic.
Bottom Line; ‘Ecstasy’s Dawn” is not a bad book. It’s just not as good as the books Ms. Wayne would later write.
June 13, 2022
Talk about annoying! How many times can you hear Rachel tell John she loves him, she doesn't care that he's old enough to be her father, they belong together, she'll always love him, she'll never stop loving him, even if she married another man, she'd still love him, he's the man she'll always love...
Then there's John saying she doesn't really love him, she only thinks she loves him, he's too old for her, someday she'll realize they don't belong together, he'll be old and gray soon and she'll still be young, she can't waste her youth on a middle-aged man, someday she'll know he's right, what she feels for him isn't really love....
Get the idea? Enough is enough!!!!
Ironically, John's belief that Rachel's too young, that she could be his daughter, doesn't keep "Daddy" from getting into his little girl's bloomers! If he was so convinced it was wrong, he should never have started an affair with her. The age difference creeped me out: when they first meet, she's only 16 and he's 40!! They don't have sex for a few years, but still, it's kind of YUCK!!! A man of 43 shouldn't rhymes-with-yuck a 19-year-old girl.
When he takes the coward's way out and dumps her (noble sacrifice and all that crap) she rebounds to an autocratic jerk, marries him and has his baby, who later dies, (and cheats n him withmJohn, who turned up for a short time, gave her a boink, then said she should stick with hubby, since he's still too old, WTF!!!) gets kidnapped by a sexy outlaw named Klu (like that unusual name), and Klu sure had a clue as to how to get Rachel all hot and horny, despite her still going on and on (AD NAUSEUM) about John being the only man she'll ever love. (Then again, she didn't say he'd be the only man she'd ever have orgasms with.)
It turns out Klu didn't just want her body, he wanted all of her, and had she been smart, she would have made a life with this outlaw who cheated death to return to her, he was sexy, about her age, and knew how to wet her pantalettes. Instead, she gives him up because (you guessed it) Old John is the only man she'll ever love!
What's a girl to do? in her case, get a job singing in a saloon, if that makes any sense. She also reconnects with her former suitor, who her sister loved, but married someone else who was also at one time attracted to Rachel, but that's another story.
John, meanwhile, reconnects with his wife, Carlotta who cheated on him once and did penance for it forever, (another reason he pushed Rachel away was because of his marital status, even though he hadn't seen Carlotta for a long time) and it turns out Carlotta wasn't really his wife, so he was a free man, but he stuck by Carlotta, who was terminally ill, and then suddenly decided he made a mistake by giving up Rachel (Why? Has he suddenly grown younger???), and meanwhile she keeps having crazy nightmares that she claims are part of her destiny, AND THAT'S IT FOR ME!
I knew a geriatric HEA was coming up, and I'd rather have a bad bout with diarrhea than stick around for that! (I deserve a few cramps for sticking around as long as I did!)
Then there's John saying she doesn't really love him, she only thinks she loves him, he's too old for her, someday she'll realize they don't belong together, he'll be old and gray soon and she'll still be young, she can't waste her youth on a middle-aged man, someday she'll know he's right, what she feels for him isn't really love....
Get the idea? Enough is enough!!!!
Ironically, John's belief that Rachel's too young, that she could be his daughter, doesn't keep "Daddy" from getting into his little girl's bloomers! If he was so convinced it was wrong, he should never have started an affair with her. The age difference creeped me out: when they first meet, she's only 16 and he's 40!! They don't have sex for a few years, but still, it's kind of YUCK!!! A man of 43 shouldn't rhymes-with-yuck a 19-year-old girl.
When he takes the coward's way out and dumps her (noble sacrifice and all that crap) she rebounds to an autocratic jerk, marries him and has his baby, who later dies, (and cheats n him withmJohn, who turned up for a short time, gave her a boink, then said she should stick with hubby, since he's still too old, WTF!!!) gets kidnapped by a sexy outlaw named Klu (like that unusual name), and Klu sure had a clue as to how to get Rachel all hot and horny, despite her still going on and on (AD NAUSEUM) about John being the only man she'll ever love. (Then again, she didn't say he'd be the only man she'd ever have orgasms with.)
It turns out Klu didn't just want her body, he wanted all of her, and had she been smart, she would have made a life with this outlaw who cheated death to return to her, he was sexy, about her age, and knew how to wet her pantalettes. Instead, she gives him up because (you guessed it) Old John is the only man she'll ever love!
What's a girl to do? in her case, get a job singing in a saloon, if that makes any sense. She also reconnects with her former suitor, who her sister loved, but married someone else who was also at one time attracted to Rachel, but that's another story.
John, meanwhile, reconnects with his wife, Carlotta who cheated on him once and did penance for it forever, (another reason he pushed Rachel away was because of his marital status, even though he hadn't seen Carlotta for a long time) and it turns out Carlotta wasn't really his wife, so he was a free man, but he stuck by Carlotta, who was terminally ill, and then suddenly decided he made a mistake by giving up Rachel (Why? Has he suddenly grown younger???), and meanwhile she keeps having crazy nightmares that she claims are part of her destiny, AND THAT'S IT FOR ME!
I knew a geriatric HEA was coming up, and I'd rather have a bad bout with diarrhea than stick around for that! (I deserve a few cramps for sticking around as long as I did!)
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