Tender Is the Storm by Johanna Lindsey: Discussion and Book Review

If you’ve spent any time around old-school romance covers, or romance reader social media, chances are you’ve seen Tender Is the Storm. You know the one. The cliff. The gold dress. The extremely naked man. This is the cover that makes you wonder what is happening here?

We’re reading it as part of the Ripped & Ravished Book Club, where we discuss vintage romances through a modern lens. And we talk about it allL the tropes, the drama, the publishing context, the consent issues, and the moments that still explain why these books stuck around and helped build the foundation of the romance genre.

This post will be your hub for the podcast discussions, reader comments (jump in and share yours), and final thoughts once we finish the book.

Want the club emails? Sign up for the book club emails here.

This post contains affiliate links. That means we receive a small commission at no cost to you from any purchases you make through these links.

Listen to the podcast discussion:

This cover may be more iconic than Fabio’s entire career. ~ Under the Covers

Content warnings: Before we get into it, this is an older romance and it comes with a lot of the things you might expect from the era: questionable consent, power imbalance, forced proximity that does not always feel fun, violence, outdated gender roles, hurtful language around groups of people and some very alpha male behavior. Not the hot kind.

We’re reading this for the bodice ripper book club as part of a larger conversation about bodice rippers and romance history, not because every choice on the page works for a modern reader. Read with care, skip what you need to skip, and come share with us in the comments.

What is Tender Is the Storm by Johanna Lindsey about?

Tender Is the Storm starts with family drama, because apparently no one in old-school romance was allowed to have a peaceful morning.

Sharisse Hammond is a wealthy New York heiress whose family is making her life increasingly complicated. She gets pulled into a mess involving unwanted marriage plans, and eventually a mail-order bride to help her sister that sends her west.

And once she gets there? Things do not exactly become less dramatic.

She’s hiding secrets, Lucas, the hero, is also hiding his motives, and now she has to work at a struggling ranch and learn how to chores.

Grab Tender is the Storm on Amazon

Why we picked this for Ripped & Ravished Book club?

How can we talk about bodice rippers and ignore Johanna Lindsey, first of all? Icon. Legend. She is one of the foundational big names of vintage romance. And Tender is the Storm particularly was our selection because of the cover. Think of it as the memefied cover that pops up once in a while because it’s one of the most unhinged and yes, iconic, clinch cover of the time. Romance readers know this cover even if they haven’t read it.

The cliff. The gold dress. The naked man. What is even happening here?

So yes, part of the reason we picked this is because the cover is iconic it demands discussion.

Reading Notes & Discussion

This post will be updated as we go through the book. Since Tender Is the Storm is a shorter book club pick for us, we’re only doing two podcast discussions instead of five.

Part 1: Chapters 1–21

Listen / watch here

For our first discussion, Becky from Too Stupid to Live joins me again, and naturally we spend a very normal amount of time talking about the cover. Which is to say: not a normal amount of time at all.

We had questions. Many questions.

Why is he naked?
Why is she dressed?
Why does he look like a giant?
Was this just sitting there in a grocery store checkout line in 1985?

Once we moved past the cover, we talked about how different Johanna Lindsey’s writing feels compared to Kathleen Woodiwiss. The Flame and the Flower had that very long, sweeping, almost saga-style feel. Tender Is the Storm moves faster, but the chapter transitions can be jarring. Sometimes it feels like one scene ends, and then suddenly we are somewhere completely different with very little warning.

The POV choices are also interesting. We get little moments from characters outside the main couple, which is something modern romance does not always do as much anymore. I actually liked that. It makes the world feel bigger, and it gives us a different view of what is happening instead of keeping everything tightly locked on the romance.

We also talked about the mail-order bride setup, which is funny because both Becky and I realized we’ve probably read alien mail-order bride romances before reading a human one. Make of that what you will.

So far, this book feels very soapy. There is family drama, secret identity and motives, but it’s lacking depth and is doing a lot of “telling” not “showing”.

Things we talked about in Part 1

• The original cover and why it is impossible to ignore
• Whether this cover is more iconic than Fabio’s entire career
• Johanna Lindsey’s writing style
• How this compares to The Flame and the Flower
• The pacing and time jumps
• Side character POVs in older romance
• Mail-order bride romance tropes
• The Old West setting and movie vibe
• Why this book already feels like a telenovela
• Reading old-school romance with modern expectations

Part 1 discussion questions

If you’re reading along, tell me in the comments or reply to the email:

• Did you know this cover before you knew the book?
• Is this your first Johanna Lindsey?
• What did you think of her writing?
• How are you feeling about Sharisse and Lucas so far? And lets throw in Slade too.
• Do you like the side character POVs, or do they pull you out of the romance?
• How does this compare to The Flame and the Flower for you if you’ve been doing book club since the beginning?
• Have you read a mail order bride book before?

Part 2: Chapters 22–End

Listen/watch here

There are big reveals, questionable choices, a lot of secrets, and several moments that made us wish the book had actually shown the drama instead of telling us about it afterward. We also talk about whether the romance itself worked, if the ending felt earned, and why this read felt more like a soap opera/telenovela than we expected.

Things we talked about in Part 2

• The big reveals and whether they worked
• All the lying and secret-keeping
• The revenge plot
• Sharisse’s character growth
• Whether the HEA felt believable
• Final ratings and overall thoughts

Part 2 discussion questions

• Did the ending work for you?
• Did you see the reveals coming?
• Was this fun or just chaos?
• Would you read more Johanna Lindsey?

If you’re a modern reader and you’re wondering if it’s possible for your to dig into one of these books, we’ve gone down the rabbit hole of how to read vintage bodice rippers without gaslighting yourself. Hope that helps a bit for you too.

Final thoughts – Tender is the Storm by Johanna Lindsey Book Review

I liked the idea of Tender Is the Storm more than the execution.

The setup has everything: a spoiled heiress, a mail-order bride scheme, a Western revenge plot, fake identities, and a very unforgettable cover. It should have been exactly my kind of messy.

And it was messy. Just not always in the most satisfying way.

This was easy to read and very bingeable, but I kept feeling like the book skipped over the scenes I actually wanted. Big moments happen off-page, emotional scenes are rushed, and by the end I wasn’t fully convinced by the romance itself either.

I actually compared this book to a Harlequin Presents for the ease of reading and yes, a true soap opera!

I ended up enjoying talking about this book more than I enjoyed reading it, although it was a fun palate cleanser read for me. Honestly, I think it made for a great book club pick.

Who this is great for:
If you want something easy, fast, and a little unhinged. This is very much a “read in one sitting with a glass of wine” kind of book. If you like soap operas, telenovelas, or just want a fun palate cleanser between heavier reads, this works.

Who this isn’t for:
If you’re looking for deep emotional connection, strong character development, or a romance that really makes you feel the relationship building, this probably won’t hit the mark.

So overall? Fun chaos. Not a favorite, but definitely an experience.

Final rating: 2.5 stars

Join the discussion

Are you readingTender Is the Storm with us? Leave a comment or reply to the email and tell me what you think so far. And if you want the book club emails, reminders and discussions, sign up for the Ripped & Ravished Book Club newsletter here.

If you missed our first book club pick, lets go back and dive into the first bodice ripper that was foundational to the romance genre. Deep dive into The Flame and the Flower by Kathleen E. Woodiwiss.

Pin It for Later