It breaks my heart to share the news of the passing of romance icon, Julie Garwood. She's been a favorite of mine for decades. In fact, her Medieval Scottish romance, Saving Grace is my all-time favorite comfort read. I've worn out at least two paperback copies of it with all the re-reads over the years.
Several years ago, I wrote a blog post about Johanna, the heroine of Saving Grace. Before beginning, I reached out to Ms. Garwood to see if she would answer a few questions for me. I had never met her and I'm sure she had never heard of me, but she very graciously responded to my email and what followed was a wonderful conversation about her inspiration for the book and, especially, the character of Johanna. It was a monumental fan-girl moment for me and further cemented her position as one of my romance legends. Click here if you would like to read that post.
Click here to read Ms. Garwood's obituary and leave a comment, if you'd like, for her family.
Have you read any Julie Garwood books?
Do you have a favorite?
To honor her, I am giving away a copy of my favorite of her novels, Saving Grace to a randomly chosen person who posts a comment before 11:00 PM, June 13.
*U.S. only
*Must be 18
Of all the authors I have read, she was first on the list of those I wanted to meet. I did not read romance books until I was 50. I read the blurbs which sounded good, but the bodice ripper covers were not something I wanted to be seen with. I discovered some of Ms Garwood's books with a series of covers featuring broaches on lovely pieces of fabric. I bought THE PRIZE and after reading it, bought every one of her books I could find, which at that time were all historicals. I fell in love with the genre and no longer cared if anyone made negative comments about the covers or the genre. I have read and reread all of her historical books and many of her contemporary works. Her books are among the few that I go back to reread favorite passages when I don't have time to reread the entire book. The opening sentence or so of her books always caught you and set the tone for the book. Her characters were well developed, individuals that became quite real to me. SAVING GRACE is a favorite, but my favorite of all her books is RANSOM. All her heroines had an inner strength which allowed them to survive and face difficult situations. Now I want to find those books of hers and reread them all.
ReplyDeleteI am sad to see her passing. Thank you for letting us know. Thank you also for the link to your interview about SAVING GRACE and Johanna.
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ReplyDeleteI meant to say recommend books..so sorry.
ReplyDeleteWOW! I have situational depression and anxiety. When I am feeling less than terrific, I get books to read which make me laugh. The Bride, The Wedding and Saving Grace were each books which I could reread and be drawn back into a better place. I am so sorry to hear of her death. I wish I could have met her. I know she would have been a wonderful person to share a cup of coffee with. And I now understand why she did such a great job of writing about families and children and warmth and love.
ReplyDeleteI have written a long comment that disappeared. Another comment that disappeared, so will try one more time. Ms Garwood was an author who wrote books which provided me with comfort when I needed comfort. I reread The Bride, The Wedding and Saving Grace when I need lifts. She will be missed.
ReplyDeleteShe and Jude Deveraux were my all time favorite authors--the ones I most wanted to be when I grew up. But I loved Julie's writing just a skooch more--it was ironic and dialogue clever--and I wanted to write just like it. My favorites, I think, are the series where Pagan the pirate is featured: Guardian Angel, The Gift, and Castles. My favorite of her Scottish historicals--of which I adored them all--was The Secret, because the friendship between the two women was hilarious. Saving Grace was amazing though--just pure awesome Julie Garwood. I too wore about a couple copies of the book over the years (as I also did with The Gift and Guardian Angel *LOL*) She will be missed.
ReplyDeleteJulie was one of the first romance authors I read. A friend's granny bought all her books and let us borrow them. Her death totally caught me by surprise. The world has lost an amazing author and, from everything I've heard, human being.
ReplyDeleteI have this book, so don't enter me in the giveaway. I adored Julie's books. Several of them are comfort reads for me. Top favorites are Ransom, The Secret, and Saving Grace. I enjoyed her contemporaries, too, but I always hoped that she would return to writing historicals.
ReplyDeleteSaving Grace is by far one of my favorites - I have reread it multiple times. Did she write a follow up? At the end of “Ransom”, she referenced a potential story. Her writing will be missed.
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