Comments on: The Grand Dame of Romance, Kathleen Woodiwiss, Passes Away

By: rubi

rubi — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 21:39:41 +0000

this saddens me to the core…its like i just found out i lost a good friend..im in tears

By: melanie gordon

melanie gordon — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 00:32:27 +0000

I was very sorry to hear of her passing .I named my daughter Heather Brianna after the Heroine in The Flame and The Flower.To me she will always be one of the best EVER.

By: Phyllis Biundo

Phyllis Biundo — Thu, 20 Sep 2007 13:16:25 +0000

I’ve read all her books and own quite a few. I’ve collected them over the years, beginning with the Wolf & the Dove, Flame and the Flower, Shanna, Petals on the River, Come Love a Stranger, Reluctant Suiter, A Rose in Winter, Ashes in the Wind, So Worthy My Love, etc. My daughters read the books as well. We enjoyed reading and discussing the books. We all had our own favorite ones. I feel like a family member passed away. My condolences to all members of her family.

By: Peggy in Oklahoma

Peggy in Oklahoma — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 17:35:17 +0000

What a terrible shock. She was such a private person that the public never knew her. Maybe the mystery helped her popularity? I too remember reading her as a teenager. To this day The Wolf and the Dove is one of my foavorites. Cancer is so horrible and painful.
I hope that her family can find peace. I want thank them for sharing their mother with us. and that she changed the world . Not many people can say that.

By: Stephanie

Stephanie — Mon, 09 Jul 2007 13:36:53 +0000

Wow. Very sad. Like so many others who posted Shanna was my first romance. It blew my mind. I don’t think I put it down from the first moment I picked it up. Without it I don’t know that I would have ever become the reader I did.

All of her books are on my keeper shelf. But my favorite was Rose In Winter. In my opinion you just can’t go wrong with a Beauty and the Beast story.

By: DS

DS — Mon, 09 Jul 2007 13:16:29 +0000

I have no idea where her later writing went but I don’t think I would want to reread any of her first books. They just never had the staying power of the other historicals I had read about that time: I still have copies on my shelves of Dunnet, Gellis and Golon, but nothing by Woodiwess.

However, her books are important in the development of genre romance asweknowit.

By: Cheryl St.John

Cheryl St.John — Mon, 09 Jul 2007 03:27:46 +0000

This is sad news. Kathleen was a legend in her own time. Her gift to the romance world will be missed.

By: Kat

Kat — Mon, 09 Jul 2007 00:02:53 +0000

Woodiwiss was one of my mother’s favourite romance authors, and therefore one of the first authors I looked up when I graduated from teenage romances. I reread The Wolf and the Dove a few years ago, and while, as Janine said, it’s of an older style, I still enjoyed it a lot (and I’m not normally a big fan of medieval romances, either). I’ve never read Shanna, but I think I may have to now.

I feel for her family.

By: Sam

Sam — Sun, 08 Jul 2007 19:10:11 +0000

I read and re-read my copy of Ashes in the Wind until it literally fell apart. Maybe it’s time for a new copy. I enjoyed most of her books, but that one was my favorite.

By: Robin Bayne

Robin Bayne — Sun, 08 Jul 2007 18:18:16 +0000

Adding my sadness at the loss and sending prayers for her family. I met her at a New Jersey conference years ago–she was very nice and willing to answer questions. Flame and Shanna will always remain on my keeper shelf.

By: Janine

Janine — Sun, 08 Jul 2007 17:58:52 +0000

What sad news. I too remember reading her books from my early romance reading days. Robin, The Flame and the Flower, though iconic and worth reading for that reason, is not her best in my opinion. My favorites are A Rose in Winter and The Wolf and the Dove. I think maybe I liked A Rose in Winter best (it's a beauty and the beast themed story), but since I read the two books years apart, it is hard to be sure. The Wolf and the Dove was good too, but it's older (her next book following The Flame and the Flower, I believe) and therefore more old style.

By: Robin

Robin — Sun, 08 Jul 2007 17:44:03 +0000

I’ve never read Woodiwiss and am a little afraid of The Flame and the Flower. What is everyone’s top Woodiwiss title? Time to make a TBR list.

By: Ann Aguirre

Ann Aguirre — Sun, 08 Jul 2007 17:34:40 +0000

I’ve only read one of her books, but she really made her mark on the genre. It’s sad to hear that she’s passed.

By: DS

DS — Sun, 08 Jul 2007 16:52:28 +0000

I remember reading that her first novel came in over the transom. Luckily someone at Avon recognized the potential.

By: Monica

Monica — Sun, 08 Jul 2007 16:44:33 +0000

Woodiwiss was one of my first romance reads. She as a fav. I glommed her up waaay back in my days of innocence. What sad news.

By: Melanie

Melanie — Sun, 08 Jul 2007 16:35:37 +0000

Shanna was one of, if not the first, non-category romance I read. And re-read. And it remains one of my all-time favorites.

My condolences to the family. They’ve suffered a lot of loss recently.

By: Roslyn

Roslyn — Sun, 08 Jul 2007 16:28:54 +0000

‘Shanna’ was the first BIG romance novel I ever read. I was around 11 or 12. I’d started reading my mama’s Harlequins when I was 9. It absolutely blew my mind. She will always be on my ‘keeper’ shelf. The woman was a brilliant writer.

I guess as I age its only normal to see the passing of my fave authors, but this is getting harder and harder to watch. Its almost like a death in the family.

By: Barbara B.

Barbara B. — Sun, 08 Jul 2007 14:29:12 +0000

Very sad news. Woodiwiss’ The Flame And The Flower was the very first romance I ever read. It was the early ’70s and I was 13 years old. I didn’t even know what romance was but when I saw the cover and read the blurb I HAD to have that book! Now 34 years and thousands of books later I’m grateful to Ms. Woodiwiss for a great and thrilling introduction to romance.

By: December Quinn/Stacia Kane

December Quinn/Stacia Kane — Sun, 08 Jul 2007 12:45:33 +0000

A terrible loss. Her books defined what romance should be for a generation.

By: Angela

Angela — Sun, 08 Jul 2007 12:31:20 +0000

I’ve never read any of her novels, but based on the history of the romance genre, she was a vital and important part of its beginnings. My condolences to her family, especially dealing with a double whammy of two premature deaths.