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Shades of Twilight is the story of Roanna Davenport, who grows up in a wealthy southern family but never quite fits in. She isn't pretty or popular, and she has a real talent for saying the wrong thing at precisely the wrong moment. She's in love with a distant cousin, Webb Tallant. But Webb marries their cousin Jessie, the bane of Roanna's life. When Jessie is found murdered, Webb is blamed for her death, even though there isn't enough evidence to charge him.
For Morgan Yancy, an operative and team leader in a paramilitary group, nothing comes before his job. But when he's ambushed and almost killed, his supervisor is determined to find out who's after the members of his elite squad - and why. Due to worries that this unknown enemy will strike again, Morgan is sent to a remote location and told to lay low and stay vigilant. But between a tempting housemate he's determined to protect and a deadly threat waiting in the shadows, keeping under the radar is proving to be his most dangerous mission yet.
A talented painter in her early thirties, Samille Sweeney has achieved enviable success. Her work sells at an exclusive New York City gallery and her popularity is at an all-time high when she begins to experience lush, vivid dreams drenched in vibrant hues that influence her artwork. When Sweeney paints a graphic murder scene that mirrors a recent real-life murder, she is thrust into suspicious light.
Still reeling from her mother's recent death, Karen Whitlaw is stunned when she receives a package containing a mysterious notebook from her estranged father, whom she has barely seen since his return from the Vietnam War decades ago. Then, a shocking phone call: Karen's father has been murdered on the gritty streets of New Orleans.
Marlie Keen was trying to lead a quiet, ordinary life. She thought the knowing - the clairvoyance that allowed her to witness crimes as they happened - had been destroyed in the nightmare of her past. Then one night it returned with a vengeance, and she desperately needed to find someone to make it stop.
In the charming rural town of Trail Stop, Idaho, accessible to the outside world by only a single road, young widow Cate Nightingale lives peacefully with her four-year-old twin boys, running a bed-and-breakfast. But one day, Cate is shocked when armed men storm the house, demanding the mystery man's belongings.
Shades of Twilight is the story of Roanna Davenport, who grows up in a wealthy southern family but never quite fits in. She isn't pretty or popular, and she has a real talent for saying the wrong thing at precisely the wrong moment. She's in love with a distant cousin, Webb Tallant. But Webb marries their cousin Jessie, the bane of Roanna's life. When Jessie is found murdered, Webb is blamed for her death, even though there isn't enough evidence to charge him.
For Morgan Yancy, an operative and team leader in a paramilitary group, nothing comes before his job. But when he's ambushed and almost killed, his supervisor is determined to find out who's after the members of his elite squad - and why. Due to worries that this unknown enemy will strike again, Morgan is sent to a remote location and told to lay low and stay vigilant. But between a tempting housemate he's determined to protect and a deadly threat waiting in the shadows, keeping under the radar is proving to be his most dangerous mission yet.
A talented painter in her early thirties, Samille Sweeney has achieved enviable success. Her work sells at an exclusive New York City gallery and her popularity is at an all-time high when she begins to experience lush, vivid dreams drenched in vibrant hues that influence her artwork. When Sweeney paints a graphic murder scene that mirrors a recent real-life murder, she is thrust into suspicious light.
Still reeling from her mother's recent death, Karen Whitlaw is stunned when she receives a package containing a mysterious notebook from her estranged father, whom she has barely seen since his return from the Vietnam War decades ago. Then, a shocking phone call: Karen's father has been murdered on the gritty streets of New Orleans.
Marlie Keen was trying to lead a quiet, ordinary life. She thought the knowing - the clairvoyance that allowed her to witness crimes as they happened - had been destroyed in the nightmare of her past. Then one night it returned with a vengeance, and she desperately needed to find someone to make it stop.
In the charming rural town of Trail Stop, Idaho, accessible to the outside world by only a single road, young widow Cate Nightingale lives peacefully with her four-year-old twin boys, running a bed-and-breakfast. But one day, Cate is shocked when armed men storm the house, demanding the mystery man's belongings.
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....
"Of all of my novels, After the Night remains one of my personal favorites – and Faith Devlin and Gray Rouillard are two of my favorite characters. Faith is strong, proud, and fearless, and Gray – well, he’s just downright sexy. Faith’s search for the truth about the devastating scandal surrounding her mother and Gray’s father blazes with intrigue. Add some sultry Southern hear, and you’ve got a real scorcher of a listen." (Linda Howard)
Bailey Wingate's scheming adult stepchildren are surprised when their father's will leaves Bailey in control of their fortune, and war ensues. A year later, while flying from Seattle to Denver in a small plane, Bailey nearly dies herself when the engine sputters - and then fails.
Daisy Minor is bored. Worse than that, she's boring. A plain, small-town librarian, she's got a wardrobe as sexy as a dictionary and hasn't been on a date in years. She's never even had a lukewarm love affair, let alone a hot one. So when she wakes up on her 34th birthday and wonders how it is that she still lives with her widowed mom and spinster aunt while her friends have all gotten married and started families, she decides it's time to get a life - and a sex life.
A fabulous lost Amazon city once inhabited by women warriors and containing a rare red diamond: it sounded like myth, but archeologist Jillian Sherwood believed it was real, and she was willing to put up with anything to find it - even Ben Lewis. Ruffian, knock-about, and number one river guide in Brazil, Ben was all man - over six feet of rock-hard muscles that rippled under his khakis, with lazy blue eyes that taunted her from his tanned face.
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.
Blair Mallory lives the good life. She's pretty, confident, and the owner of a thriving upscale fitness center. But in the shadow of success, a troubled member of the club develops a strange fixation on her, imitating her style and dress. Matters take a darker turn when the look-alike is shot dead - and Blair witnesses the horror.
Loyal. Beautiful. Professional. Impeccably organized. Potentially lethal. Sarah Stevens is a woman with many distinct qualities. First and foremost a butler par excellence, skilled at running large households smoothly and efficiently, she is also a trained bodyguard and expert marksman - indispensable to her elderly employer, a courtly gentleman Sarah has come to respect and love. But her perfectly ordered life is shattered when tragedy strikes.
A romance in the jungle - Grant Sullivan, tough, masculine and handsome, is a retired military expert entrusted with a mission in the Costa Rican jungle - to find hostage and socialite Jane Hamilton Greer. When Grant rescues her in a rather cavalier and physical fashion, no love is lost between them. But gradually, their mutual attraction and passion becomes apparent and the jungle smolders in more ways than one.
Reese Duncan wanted a wife, pure and simple. Someone to have children with, someone to help him rebuild his ranch, someone uncomplicated...and someone very different from his first wife, the woman who'd destroyed his life. But he hadn't bargained on Madelyn Patterson.
With an astonishing blend of savvy, instinct, and passion, Milla Edge displays an uncanny gift for finding lost children. When all seems helpless, desperate souls from across the country come to her for hope and results. Traveling to a small village in Mexico on a reliable tip, Milla begins to uncover the dire fate of countless children who have disappeared over the years.
What would make the perfect man? That's the deliciously racy topic that Jaine Bright and her three girlfriends are pondering one night at their favorite after-hours hot spot: Mr. Perfect. Would he be tall, dark, and handsome? Caring and warmhearted - or will just muscular do? As their conversation heats up, they concoct a tongue-in-cheek checklist that becomes an overnight sensation, spreading like wildfire at work and sizzling along email lines. But what began as a joke among friends turns deadly serious when one of the four women is murdered....
A scholar specializing in ancient manuscripts, Grace St. John never imagined that a cache of old documents she discovered was the missing link to a lost Celtic treasure. But as soon as she deciphers the legend of the Knights of the Templar - long fabled to hold the key to unlimited power - Grace becomes the target of a ruthless killer bent on abusing the coveted force.
Determined to stop him, Grace needs the help of a warrior bound by duty to uphold the Templar's secret for all eternity. But to find him - and to save herself - she must go back in time...to 14th-century Scotland...and to Black Niall, a fierce man of dark fury and raw, unbridled desire.
Spoilers ahead, but not everything! ;-)
I think this is one of Linda Howard's best, perhaps because it is quite different from her other titles. The romance is usually the main plot in her novels; in this case the romance was really secondary to the suspense plot and the character development is much deeper than most of Howard's stories. Grace starts of as a plump scholar, fond sister, and loving wife in a comfortable marriage to her husband who is not only her lover but also her dearest friend. They are all involved with archaeology and study of history working for the Foundation. When Grace begins to study some recently discovered documents regarding the Templars, it triggers swift and terrible repercussions that force Grace to flee for her life.
The next section of the book involves Grace's character development as she deals with grief and her activities in learning how to hide from authority as she stays on the run. She goes from suburbia to life off the radar and has to develop new skills and a new way of thinking. Unable to eat due to emotional turmoil, she loses weight and becomes not only physically but mentally honed into a weapon against the Foundation. She is focused on uncovering the secrets that Foundation will kill to hide and avenging those she loved.
She makes friends along the way, each of whom helps her with some aspect of her growth and learning the skills she needs to survive. In the meantime, we begin to see snippets of Niall's life as they connect in dreams. Niall was a Templar who evaded the October 13th massacre. Just as Lucifer is a fallen angel, a "Son of the Morning", so Niall has been released by the Templars from all his vows except one. Eventually Grace's research leads her to Niall and together they take action, which I loved!
I really enjoyed this story. I could empathize with the things Grace went through when thrust into a hostile world she was ill equipped to handle. The book has been criticized for too much of Grace's internal musings, but she is on her own for much of the story so the chances for dialog are slim. I really enjoyed the research she did on the Knights Templar and I thought it was well integrated into the story. I enjoyed the various plot lines and how they converged. Others have also criticized the quick connection between Grace and Niall, but they had been bonded through dreams long before their meeting. I particularly loved the ending and the circular cause and effect of the time travel. There were enough plot twists and turns to keep me engaged until the very end.
My paperback copy of this novel is tattered from re-reading and the pages are starting to loosen. I was thrilled when this came out on audio and thoroughly enjoyed the listen! I know I will listen to this story again and again; Grace is one of my favorite Linda Howard characters.
12 of 12 people found this review helpful
I like Linda Howard's female characters, because they are vulnerable, yet resilient and ultimately strong enough for the intense circumstances to which they are subjected. I'll admit, on my first listen it was frustrating to hear all the mistakes Grace is making after the shock. Of course, the decisions and errors make perfect sense in the situation. An excellent and fascinating story with very good narration.
6 of 6 people found this review helpful
Fantastical and erotic. Charged with suspense and survivalism. This time-travel tale is set in USA 1996 and Scotland 1322, and told in 3rd person. Howard weaves a tall tale involving the Knights Templar, Nazi Germany, Napoleon Bonaparte, and the ominous Foundation, led by a present day fictional villain dubbed Parish.
Themes of Divine Will and Faithful Trust shine through fairly brightly when not overpowered by bloody murder and explicit erotic sex. This made for an odd pairing. Moreover, Howard inserted a great deal of reflection and rumination, frequently revealing the plans, thoughts, and fears (and erotic dreams) of the heroine, aptly named Grace St. John. So much internal dialogue slowed the pace, drastically.
The historical basis:
On October 13, 1307, King Philip of France — coffers nearly empty — ordered the immediate mass arrest of all Knights Templar within French domains in Europe, including the Grand Master. He had them tortured severely until they confessed to heinous blasphemy, sodomy, etc., so he could declare their order heretical and confiscate their vast treasury. Several Knights were burned at the stake. Pope Clement V — living in France at the time, not in Rome — was "persuaded" to support the French king, so in 1312, Catholicism officially abolished the Templar Order. However, King Philip never got his hands on their treasury. Where did it all go?
Natalie Ross is a gifted narrator, but she needs better material, and her Scottish accent grew a little tiresome at times.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful
Frankly, this was just a so-so book. It wasn't a good romance and it wasn't a particularly interesting murder mystery either. If you're looking for time travel or historical fiction, there are better choices. (Try Moning's Highlander series, for example.) There is a looong stretch of boring repetition and detail for several hours in the middle -- if it had been a book with pages I would have skipped them by the handful. The heroine and hero don't even meet until 3/4 through. An abridged version would be a better listening choice.
The whole set up upon which the rest of the story is built is less than logical and you spend a lot of time frustrated with why characters are not making logical choices. The author makes random observations about some of the characters that don't really have any bearing on the story and you spend time wondering what "that" was all about. They never really further the plot although at the time you think that they must.
The book would have been much more interesting if more time would have been spent with the hero's story, he could have been a very fascinating character. As it was, I still don't know the point of the title.
The author did have a unique way of time travel that I haven't read before, so that was appreciated, but so little time is spent in the past it's moot.
If you just can't find a time travel that you can listen to or you've read every other romance and historical fiction out there, then spend the credit, otherwise you may be disappointed.
11 of 15 people found this review helpful
This is a very well researched and written book with such a great story that you will get lost in time. The narrator did as good a job as anyone else could have with all of the languages involved. I hope the next book from that I select from this author is as well received.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful
This book is a classic! Much in the vein of Outlander. Not to be missed!
1 of 1 people found this review helpful
By Angie(Jamestown, TN)
Hmm, how do I describe this book?
Well, it wasn't horrible, but it's a far cry from Moning's Highlander series, which I found a lot of similarities. And it can't hold a candle to the Outlander series, which also includes a highlander & time travel.
Spoilers may be ahead, but I'll try to keep them low key:
At times, I found myself very bored with the story & it was extremely predictable. Much to my dismay, the actual time traveling doesn't occur until around hour 12. (I may be off on my hour a little) But the highlander doesn't play a big role in the book until later into the second half. Up until then, it's just Grace's life & experiences, which got boring after a while. And oh my gosh, I rolled my eyes so many times. Like when Parish is in her house, who in the world would react like Grace? And Niall(pronounced as Neal) & Grace's first meeting..........come on! Even the sex scenes came up a little short for me.
Ugggg, & I sware....why do all of the women in romances have to be petite, dainty, no more than 100lb, short, frail, fragile, translucent skin(rolling my eyes), protruding bones, thick wavy hair, big blue eyes, etc.? You get the point! In the beginning of the book, during one scene, Grace was described as 5'10 & 180 pounds, & I actually whooped out loud! "Yah! About time they made a REAL woman!" But I was left disappointed, because it was a false description given to the police.
OK, to sum it up, the book was just ok for me. It was predictable and boring at times. I guess it's worth a credit, if you've run out of other books, but I'd like to have my credit back. It's not worth paying $15 for. I guess some people will love it, but I'm critical when it comes to my paranormal romance, having listened to over 40 in the past 6 months. And this one falls far behind in comparison to Gabaldon,Moning,Ward,etc
7 of 11 people found this review helpful
Exciting story. History, Si-Fi, and a love story to span the ages. Wow! Nice read.
2 of 3 people found this review helpful
I read this book and it was better because I loved it. The person reading it can't get a Scots accent correct and she does't make the characters seem real enough. I think my imagination was better. It seem to take to long to get to the point of the story in this long listening version. If I hadn't already read it I would hate it.
5 of 8 people found this review helpful
This book has mystery, suspense, time travel, a gorgeous highlander and a smart protagonist. A wonderful book!
5 of 8 people found this review helpful