Book Review: Just Imagine

Reviewed By: Harriet Klausner

Just Imagine     Amazon US PB Amazon Canada PB
Susan Elizabeth Phillips
Class/Genre:   Romance
Avon, Sep 2001, $6.99, 400 pp.

The Civil War is over and the country tries to heal its' wounds. However, eighteen years old Katherine "Kit" Weston of Risen Glory Plantation was ruined in the war. The woman from Rutherford, South Carolina has a personal battle to fight. She comes to New York mistaken for a young boy due to her ragged clothing to kill Northern war hero Major Baron Cain, current owner of what is left of her family plantation.

Kit obtains a job working as a stable boy for Baron, but soon learns he is also her guardian. However, Baron soon uncovers the truth that his outspoken street urchin is actually a lovely-determined young lady, who wants him dead even as he falls in love with her.

JUST IMAGINE reengineering a highly regarded novel that started your career's rise to the top. Susan Elizabeth Phillips risks doing just that to her fabulous 1984 Reconstruction Era romance RISEN GLORY and succeeds in improving the already strong novel. Ms. Phillips keeps the core essence of the original story line, and the hearts and souls of Kit and Baron intact, but tightens loose passages so that readers have quite a treat that will be labeled a classic seventeen years from now.

Harriet Klausner

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Harriet Klausner