JOHNNY HARRIS: BAD BOY
One Summer by Karen Robards (Dell, 1993) We’ve had a couple of posts on motorcycles and whether a hero who rides one should automatically be labeled a bad boy. There’s no question that Johnny Harris is a bad boy, and the fact that he rides a motorcycle is actually just icing on the cake.
STATS:
Johnny has been in prison for ten years for a murder he didn’t commit. When he returns to the scene of the crime-his home town-the only person willing to give him a chance is his former English teacher, Rachel Grant, whom he’d always had “the hots” for.
THE LOOK:
Scuffed cowboy boots, beat up jeans, and a white t-shirt. Wide shoulders. “The sullenly handsome boy she remembered was still sullen, still handsome, but no longer a boy. He had matured into a dangerous-looking man.”
LEADING LADY:
Rachel Grant is a well-respected woman who takes on the disdain of the town by giving Johnny both a job and a place to stay-the apartment over her store. She believes in his innocence and remembers him as one of her “success stories” as a teacher. She’s loyal, making sure that her ailing father is taken care of, and hates injustice, which she proves when she drags Johnny back to a restaurant that refused to serve him.
The Bad Boy With A Heart:
There are several instances when Johnny Harris shows he has a heart. One of the most dramatic is when he goes to see his abusive father and sees a dog. At first glance, all he saw was a “mangy cur like all the other mangy curs, a little bigger than most. Underfed, bred for meanness, probably dangerous.” But then Johnny realizes the dog is his beloved pet, Wolf, the one he missed so much while in prison. He’s so overwhelmed to see him that he weeps.
The first time he’s able to get really close to Rachel is when they’re out for the night (separately) and he teaches her that she can enjoy dancing. “He shimmied with her, turned her, dipped her back and pulled her up into his arms. All the while the friction of his leg moving between hers stole away the last vestiges of her good sense.” He ends the dance with one statement-”You can run, teacher, but you can’t hide.”
Finally, Johnny telegraphs his love for Rachel loud and clear when he recites a poem by Robert Burns, one he memorized long ago because it had been her favorite.
BOTTOM LINE:
This book has great suspense, great passion, and a message of tolerance, forgiveness, and bucking the odds. Johnny is the younger bad boy coming back to claim the slightly older woman he’s always loved, and the reader cheers when he finally gets Rachel on his bike with the promise that she’ll “love it.”
QUESTION OF THE DAY:
Have you ever dated a younger man? What is the maximum age difference that you would be comfortable with and why?
February 19th, 2008
Virna 
in
Bad Boys, Hero Files, Virna's Heroes |
Everyone loves a good hero, but what do readers, agents, editors, and writers love most? Join us as we delve under the covers and find out!
February 19th, 2008 at 10:17 am
Johnny sounds intriguing–and Karen’s premise, also. With all the teacher/student relationships popping up all over the place, this book might have been a potential hotbed of controversy. I wonder if it was when it came out. It sounds like Karen did it well, however, focusing on Johnny and the man he grew up to be. You’ve got me interested and I want to read it! As to the younger man question, I never have, and don’t know that I’d be comfortable with it beyond a year or two.
February 19th, 2008 at 10:23 am
I tried to. I was 30, he was 24. But it was just to silly. I was at a realling driving point in my life and career, and he was still into thinking that a date was me meeting him and his friends at a hamburger place, and then he and I going back to his house to make out. I couldn’t help but laugh, and told him I’d better just go on home because I had to get up early for work and that it was way past his bedtime.
I’m 40 now. I don’t think I would be interested in going out with a man younger than me by more than two years. I like a take charge, dominant type of man, and I tend to be that way myself. So a younger man usually ends up feelig like a little brother to me.
February 19th, 2008 at 12:20 pm
I haven’t read the specific book, but the “appears to be a bad boy then something happens that makes you wonder” is a great effect to be hit with. I watched the movie Eastern Promises with Viggo Mortensen last night and this reminds me of that. I won’t spoil the movie for those who have not seen it but Viggo’s character appears to be a specific way early on then there is a scene (with the hooker) where he does something so out of character you suddenly wonder if you have been wrong about him all along. Gotta love it when a writer can do that, I especially like it when the writer leaves clues all along and only once you know can you go back and see them and realize it was obvious all along!
February 19th, 2008 at 12:53 pm
I believe age shouldn’t be a consideration as long as everyone is legal. LOL But when I was a senior in high school I dated a sophomore because I could be the dominant in charge person. Very heady stuff when you are 17. hahahahahahaha I’ve read several older woman/younger man books and I enjoy them. Why should men have all the fun?
February 19th, 2008 at 2:31 pm
I passed on a younger guy once, probably only a 2- or 3-year difference, but he seemed so YOUNG. I was a single mom of a toddler, working my butt of to make ends meet, and he was all bright and shiny and full of optimism, still in college. He was very cute and very good with my daughter, and putting him off was probably one of life’s huge mistakes, but I really felt at the time there was too great a gulf in life experience to end well for either of us. Now that Fun Kerry is let out of her cage almost as often as Responsible Kerry, I’d probably be a little more receptive.
I think the deciding factor for me is maturity level. I don’t want to be The Boss in a relationship if it entails taking all the responsibility. I already have a child to take care of, in other words, and I don’t need or want another one with a five o’clock shadow. Younger-yet-reliable could absolutely work.
So could older-yet-playful. ;p
February 19th, 2008 at 2:54 pm
Misa, you are so right about the greater controversy this issue might have caused today given the greater focus on females who prey on young boys. In One Summer, Johnny is five years younger than Rachel–she obviously started teaching right out of school! It’s not a huge focus in the book, because the concentration is on their present relationship, like you said, but Karen doesn’t ignore the issue either.
February 19th, 2008 at 4:23 pm
Lone, good for you for at least exploring the relationship. It sounds like you learned a lot about yourself and what you want from a partner. The key is just to find a mature, driven man who likes to make out too!
Mark, I love V.M. and I loved that movie. He was such a complex, surprising character to the very end. He can project goodness without flinching from the character’s dark side.
Jill, I’ve always sensed a wild side in you! I’m sure you made that sophomore’s year. I’d love to know what are your favorite younger man books — I haven’t found a lot of them.
Kerry- you’re so right. It’s the sum total of the man, not the age that makes the difference. That’s why keeping an open mind is so important. My brother (who is not the most mature person to begin with :)) is 12 years younger than my sister-in-law and they just celebrated their 19th anniversary. Every man and every couple is unique, and it’s all about where two people happen to be at that moment.