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Ride the thunder

First published 1980 · 477 pages

A soapy, high-stakes collision of Manhattan glamour and rugged wilderness, fueled by primal passion and dark family secrets.

What it feels like

Reading this vintage romance feels like stepping into a glamorous, high-stakes soap opera where Manhattan penthouses collide with the untamed Idaho wilderness. The mood is fiercely passionate and rugged, driven by the electric, often volatile chemistry between a wealthy, guarded socialite and a rugged outdoorsman. Dailey's prose is lush and unapologetically melodramatic, sweeping the reader through a briskly paced narrative of primal attraction, jealousy, and shocking family betrayals. It is a story of shattered illusions, where the polished veneer of high society is stripped away by the raw realities of nature and desire. This book will delight fans of old-school romantic suspense who crave alpha heroes, fiery heroines, and a heavy dose of dramatic, sweeping emotion.

Mood
  • rugged
  • glamorous
  • fiery
  • tense
Tone
  • melodramatic
  • intense
  • sweeping
  • earnest
Pace
brisk
Themes
primal attraction · family secrets · high society vs wilderness · shattering of illusions · forbidden desire
The writing
Lush and dramatic, the writing leans heavily into the sensational, sweeping emotions characteristic of vintage 1980s romance.
The arc
The protagonist moves from a state of guarded, wealthy entitlement into a crucible of raw passion, ultimately facing devastating family truths to embrace a wilder, more authentic love.
Who it's for
Readers who crave the soapy, high-stakes melodrama of vintage romance, where glamorous socialites clash with rugged alpha males against breathtaking backdrops.
Content notes
  • murder
  • hunting and animal death
  • vintage romance gender dynamics
  • family betrayal

About the book

From the Driving Power of Manhattan's Penthouses to the High, Wild Beauty of Idaho's Mountains, a Love Story That Rides the Thunder!

Jordanna Smith is a woman every man wants and every woman wants to be. Her father is rich, she spends part of her time globe trotting, hunting big game. No man is good enough for her, because no man can compare to her father. Then one night at a party the stoked fires within her are set ablaze by a stranger.

Jordanna flees to the mountains of Idaho with her father's hunting party to escape the memories of that one passionate night. She is stunned when they meet their guide, Brig McCord, because he was the man who poured gas on her fire.

Jordanna Smith was the wild and willowy daughter of a prominent banker and a glamorous socialite, a globe-trotting huntress who sought the world’s big game at her father’s side. No man was her father’s equal in her eyes—until the night she met the rugged stranger who, in one frenzied and exalted moment, tapped the roots of a desire she had never known.

Fleeing to Idaho to join her father’s hunting party, she hoped to forget the bronzed stranger’s fiery touch. But there he was—her stranger, their guide, Brig McCord.

Their days were filled with the wild beauty of the hunt, their nights with the primitive fire of their passion.

But soon their idyll was shattered by jealousy, betrayal, and murder.

Now Jordanna has to face the hidden truths about her father and her brother, and a secret that already had claimed one life and threatened to destroy her newfound love.

Description from Open Library.

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