RS Review: Shadow Woman: A Novel [Hardcover]

I've finished "Shadow Woman" by Linda Howard.

Product Description

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

From Linda Howard comes a thrilling and sensual new novel of romance, suspense, intrigue and memories that can kill.

SHADOW WOMAN

Lizette Henry wakes up one morning and makes a terrifying discovery: She doesn’t recognize the face she sees in the mirror. She remembers what she looks like, but her reflection is someone else’s. To add to the shock, two years seem to have disappeared from her life. Someone has gone to great and inexplicable lengths to keep those missing years hidden forever. But the past always finds a way to return.

Strange memories soon begin to surface and, along with them, some unusual skills and talents that Lizette hasn’t a clue about acquiring. Sensing that she’s being monitored, Lizette suddenly knows how to search for bugs in her house and tracking devices in her car. What’s more, she can elude surveillance — like a trained agent.

Enter a mysterious and seductive stranger named Xavier, who claims he wants to help — but who triggers disturbing images of an unspeakable crime of which Lizette may or may not be the perpetrator. With memories returning, she suddenly becomes a target of anonymous assassins. On the run with nowhere to hide, Lizette has no choice but to rely on Xavier, a strong and magnetic man she doesn’t trust, with a powerful attraction she cannot resist. As murky waters become clear, Lizette confronts a conspiracy that is treacherous and far-reaching and a truth that, once revealed, may silence her and Xavier once and for all.

About the Author

Linda Howard is the award-winning author of many New York Times bestsellers, including Shadow Woman, Prey, Veil of Night, Ice, Burn, Death Angel, Up Close and Dangerous, Drop Dead Gorgeous, Cover of Night, Killing Time, To Die For, Kiss Me While I Sleep, Cry No More, Dying to Please, Open Season, Mr. Perfect, All the Queen’s Men, Now You See Her, Kill and Tell, and Son of the Morning, and co-author (with Linda Jones) of Blood Born. She lives in Alabama with her husband and a golden retriever.

Product Details
Hardcover: 336 pages
Publisher: Ballantine Books; First Edition first Printing edition (January 1, 2013)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0345506936
ISBN-13: 978-0345506931

My Review:

Linda Howard is one of my favorite authors but I kind of prefer her early romantic suspense books!

This book had more suspense than romance though there is one intertwined within the story of a woman who is trying to figure out who she is and her mystery man.

Lizzy was a great heroine because she can take care of herself without knowing what is going on.  I'm just glad she wasn't a helpless heroine who needed to rely on the hero to save her.

Xavier was an alpha male who wasn't too arrogant and he always had eyes and ears on Lizzy.

3.5/5

Running Wild (Men from Battle Ridge, Book 1) [Mass Market Paperback]

I've finished reading "Running Wild" the 1st book in her Battle Ridge series by Linda Howard.

Product Description

In book 1 of this steamy new contemporary Western romance series by two blockbuster authors, a cowboy and a woman on the run take a stand and fight for love.

Carlin Reed lives in fear, off the grid, moving from place to place. So Battle Ridge, Wyoming, a small town in the middle of nowhere, seems like a good place to lie low for a while. But after becoming cook and housekeeper to cattle rancher Zeke Decker, Carlin suspects that she’s made her first mistake. Rugged, sexy, and too distracting for his own good, Zeke is pure temptation mixed with something deep and primal that makes Carlin feel almost safe. Soon things are getting way too hot in the kitchen.

Zeke doesn’t challenge Carlin’s terms: cash, dead bolts, and no questions. It is easy to see that she’s a woman in trouble. Problem is, he’s so blindsided by his attraction to her he can’t think straight. Zeke tries to stay all business, no complications — but that game plan is sabotaged the second Carlin gets under his skin. And when her terrifying past follows her to the ranch, Carlin faces a heartbreaking choice: run away from the man she loves, or put him in the crosshairs of a madman.

About the Author

Linda Howard is the award-winning author of many New York Times bestsellers, including Prey, Veil of Night, and Ice. She lives in Alabama with her husband and a golden retriever.

Linda Jones is the acclaimed USA Today bestselling author of more than sixty novels, including Untouchable, 22 Nights, and Bride by Command. She lives in Huntsville, Alabama.

Product Details
Mass Market Paperback: 400 pages
Publisher: Ballantine Books (November 27, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0345520785
ISBN-13: 978-0345520784

My Review:

Carlin Reed is named after the comedian George Carlin and she is sexy, smart, determined and scared.  She is running for her life from a stalker who has already killed her best friend mistaking them for her.

She finds herself in Battle Ridge, Wyoming a very quiet ranching community in the middle of nowhere.  She finds part-time work as a waitress at the Pie Hole for Kat then is persuaded to work as a cook for Zeke Decker at his ranch.  He is your typical cowboy with a gruff, no nonsense personality and who likes to fix things for everyone.

Zeke knows Carlin is trouble the first time he sees/meets her and he tries to ignore his attraction to her.  When he realizes she is running from something and she gets under his skin he is determined to change her mind about him and to teach her how to defend herself.

I liked how Zeke and Carlin got to know each other before falling into bed and that he was determined to show her how to defend herself by using her body as a weapon and how to shoot (it paid off in the long run).  Glad that he didn't push her in not doing what she wanted but was patient but persuasive.

3.5/5

RS Review: Prey: A Novel [Hardcover]

I've finished "Prey: A Novel" by Linda Howard.

Product Description

In this captivating novel of romantic suspense, New York Times bestselling author Linda Howard brings us deep into the wild, where a smart and sexy outdoor guide and her ruggedly handsome competitor must join forces to survive — and avoid becoming what they never expected to be:

PREY

Thirty-two-year-old Angie Powell has always spoken her mind, but in the presence of Dare Callahan she nurses a simmering rage. After all, why give Dare the satisfaction of knowing he can push her buttons and push her to the edge?

Three years ago, Dare returned home to rural western Montana and opened a hunting business to rival Angie’s. Complicating matters is the fact that Dare has asked Angie out (not once but twice) and has given her a gift of butterflies in the process. Angie has no patience for butterflies. They only lead to foolish decisions. And now the infuriatingly handsome Iraq war vet has siphoned away Angie’s livelihood, forcing her to close up shop.

Before Angie is to leave town, she organizes one last trip into the wilderness with a client and his guest, who wants to bag a black bear. But the adrenaline-fueled adventure turns deadly when Angie witnesses a cold-blooded murder and finds herself on the wrong side of a loaded gun. Before the killer can tie up this attractive loose end, a bear comes crashing through the woods — changing the dark game completely.

Luckily, Dare is camping nearby and hears the shots. Forced together for their very survival, Angie and Dare must confront hard feelings, a blinding storm, and a growing attraction — while being stalked by a desperate killer and a ferocious five-hundred-pound beast. And neither will stop until they reach their prey.


About the Author

Linda Howard is the award-winning author of many New York Times bestsellers, including Veil of Night, Ice, Burn, Death Angel, Up Close and Dangerous, Drop Dead Gorgeous, Cover of Night, Killing Time, To Die For, Kiss Me While I Sleep, Cry No More, Dying to Please, Open Season, Mr. Perfect, All the Queen’s Men, Now You See Her, Kill and Tell, and Son of the Morning, and co-author (with Linda Jones) of Blood Born. She lives in Alabama with her husband and a golden retriever.

Product Details
Hardcover: 336 pages
Publisher: Ballantine Books; First Edition edition (September 6, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 034550691X
ISBN-13: 978-0345506917

My Review:

Angie Powell is 32 years old and is managing the family business of nature guide and hunter after the death of her father.  The business has been dropping because of tough competition and she's not able to pay the mortgage. Angie blames Dare for ruining her business venture and she makes sure he knows it every time they see each other.  She powerfully attracted to him though.

Dare Callahan is 37 years old and has recently returned war veteran and manages his own nature guide and hunter shop. Dare has asked Angie out twice but both times she has rejected him but he doesn't want any other women than Angie.  She really lights his fire.

Angie has a last adventure of the season with client but her friend and lawyer Harlan doesn't think she is safe with two men.  He asks Dare to look out for her and he can't believe he's agreed to go to the hunting camp while using the excuse of fishing.   Angie hunting trip turns to hell when her client becomes a murder and is intent on killing any witnesses including Angie.  While getting away she also has to fight for survival against a rampaging man-eating black bear.

All of the characters and storyline were all well written and I enjoyed the point of view by all the characters involved including the bear's.

Really enjoyed the antagonism between Angie and Dare because it really fired up the sexual tension between them and when it finally exploded it was hot as hell.

4/5

Thanks Random House for sending me this book to review, greatly appreciated!

Veil of Night: A Novel [Hardcover]

I've finished "Veil of Night" by Linda Howard.

Product Description

Jaclyn Wilde is a wedding planner who loves her job — usually. But helping Carrie Edwards with her Big Day has been an unrelenting nightmare. Carrie is a bridezilla of mythic nastiness, a diva whose tantrums are just about as crazy as her demands. But the unpleasant task at hand turns seriously criminal when Carrie is brutally murdered and everyone involved with the ceremony is accusing one another of doing the deed.

The problem is, most everyone — from the cake maker and the florist to the wedding-gown retailer and the bridesmaids’ dressmaker — had his or her own reason for wanting the bride dead, including Jaclyn. And while those who felt Carrie’s wrath are now smiling at her demise, Jaclyn refuses to celebrate tragedy, especially since she finds herself in the shadow of suspicion.

Assigned to the case, Detective Eric Wilder finds that there’s too much evidence pointing toward too many suspects. Compounding his problems is Jaclyn, with whom he shared one deeply passionate night before Carrie’s death. Being a prime suspect means that Jaclyn is hands-off just when Eric would rather be hands-on. As the heat intensifies between Eric and Jaclyn, a cold-blooded murderer moves dangerously close. And this time the target is not a bride but one particularly irresistible wedding planner, unaware of a killer’s vow.

About the Author

Linda Howard is the award-winning author of many New York Times bestsellers, including Ice, Burn, and Death Angel. She lives in Alabama with her husband and a golden retriever.

Product Details
* Hardcover: 352 pages
* Publisher: Ballantine Books; 1 edition (August 10, 2010)
* Language: English
* ISBN-10: 0345506898
* ISBN-13: 978-0345506894

My Review:

Storyline:  The detectives have to find out who killed and why Carrie was killed.

Characters:   The characters were well written and it's like you might know them in real life.  Carrie was such a witch and I'm glad she was killed (it could happen to a nicer person)!

Romance:  You can feel the steam coming off the pages everytime Eric and Jaclyn in the same room.  Though I don't know how they fell in love because they didn't really get to know each other (never went on a date or talked about what their interests were, etc.)

Killer(s):  Eric had a suspicion who one of the killers was but didn't have any proof to prove it!

3/5

Blood Born [Mass Market Paperback]

I've finished "Blood Born" by Linda Howard and Linda Jones.

Product Description

When the human and the vampire worlds collide, there will be hell to pay.

Luca Ambrus is a rare breed: vampire from birth, begotten by vampire parents, blood born. He is also an agent of the Council — the centuries-old cabal that governs vampirekind, preserving their secrecy and destroying those who betray them.

When a cryptic summons leads him to the scene of the brutal killing of a powerful Council member, Luca begins the hunt for an assassin among his own people. But instead of a lone killer he discovers a sinister conspiracy of rogue vampires bent on subjugating the mortal world.

All that stands in their way are the conduits, humans able to channel spirit warriors into the physical world to protect mankind. Chloe Fallon is a conduit — and a target of the vampire assassin who’s killing them. When Luca saves her life, an irresistible bond of trust — along with more passionate feelings — is forged between them. As more victims fall, Chloe and Luca have only each other to depend on to save the world from the reign of monsters — and salvage their own future together.

About the Author

Linda Howard is the award-winning author of many New York Times bestsellers, including Ice, Burn, and Death Angel. She lives in Alabama with her husband and a golden retriever.

Linda Jones is the acclaimed USA Today bestselling author of more than sixty novels, including Untouchable, 22 Nights, and Bride by Command. She lives in Huntsville, Alabama.

My Review:

I can't wait to read Sorin's book which comes out next year!

4/5

Ice: A Novel (Hardcover)

I've just finished reading "Ice" by Linda Howard.

Product Description

’Tis the season for mistletoe and holly, Santa . . . and suspense. And the gift that keeps on giving is Ice: premier thriller author Linda Howard’s breathless tale of a man, a woman, and a battle for survival against an unforgiving winter–and an unrelenting killer. Oh what fun it is to read.

Gabriel McQueen has only just arrived home on holiday leave from the service when his county-sheriff father sends him back out again with new marching orders. A brewing ice storm, and a distant neighbor who’s fallen out of contact, have the local lawman concerned. So he enlists Gabriel to make the long haul to the middle of nowhere, and make sure Lolly Helton is safe and sound. It’s a trip the younger McQueen would rather not make given the bitter winter weather–and the icy conditions that have always existed between him and Lolly.

But there’s no talking back when your dad is the town’s top cop. And there’ s no turning back when night falls just as Gabriel arrives–and discovers that the weather outside isn’t the only thing that’s frightful. Spotting strangers in Lolly’ s home–one of them packing a weapon–is all it takes to kick Gabriel into combat mode. And his stealth training is all he needs to extract Lolly from the house without alerting her captors. But when the escape is discovered, the heat–and the hunt–are on. And the winter woods are nowhere to be once the ice storm touches down, dropping trees, blocking roads, and trapping the fleeing pair in the freezing dark.

About the Author

Linda Howard is the award-winning author of many New York Times bestsellers, including Up Close and Dangerous, Drop Dead Gorgeous, Cover of Night, Killing Time, To Die For, Kiss Me While I Sleep, Cry No More, and Dying to Please. She lives in Alabama with her husband and two golden retrievers.
 
My Review:
 
I do like Gabriel and Lolly but I didn't really believe their love story (they knew each other when they were teenagers) because it happened in just one night.
 
I can't believe they were making love in the shower when they were worried that a killer was still alive and just because they were both naked to keep warm.
 
3/5

Burn: A Novel (Hardcover)

I've just finished reading "Burn" by Linda Howard.

Product Description

It’s true what they say: Money changes everything. And in Linda Howard’s red-hot novel Burn, the changes come fast, furious, and filled with the kind of sexy suspense, heart-stopping romance, beautiful people, and risky business guaranteed to give you the most bang for your buck.

Money certainly changes Jenner Redwine’s life when she wins a lottery jackpot. But it also costs her plenty: Her father rips her off and disappears, her fortune-hunting boyfriend soon becomes her ex, and friends-turned-freeloaders give her the cold shoulder when she stops paying for everything.

Flush with new money, Jenner can’t imagine ever finding a place in the world of the wealthy. Seven years later, though, she’s rubbing elbows with the rich, despite the fact she still feels like a party crasher. Luckily she finds an ally–and a guide to the rarefied realm of privilege–in shy, kind-hearted heiress Sydney Hazlett, who quickly becomes Jenner’s confidante and surrogate sister.

When Sydney invites Jenner on a charity cruise aboard a luxury liner, Jenner reluctantly agrees. But while she’s expecting–and dreading–two weeks of masquerade balls, art auctions, and preening glitterati, what she gets is more like a Hitchcock movie than a Love Boat episode. Taken hostage by a menacing stranger, Jenner must cooperate in a mysterious cloak-and-dagger scheme–or else. With nowhere to run, and with Sydney’s life as well as her own at risk, Jenner is drawn into a game of dizzying intrigue and harrowing danger. But as her panic gives way to exhilaration, and fear of her captor turns to fascination, Jenner rediscovers feelings she hasn’t had in years–and realizes she’s found a life worth living. If she survives.

My Review:

I liked the chemistry between Jenner & Cael.

4/5