Kill And Tell by Linda Howard

Still reeling from her mother's death, Karen Whitlaw is stunned when she receives a package containing a mysterious notebook from the father she has barely seen since his return from the Vietnam War over twenty years ago. Unwilling to deal with her overwhelming emotions, Karen packs the notebook away, putting it--and her father--out of her mind, until she receives a shocking phone call. Her father has been murdered on the gritty streets of New Orleans.

Homicide detective Marc Chastain considers the murder nothing more than street violence against a homeless man, and Karen accepts his judgment--at first. But she changes her mind when her home was burglarized and "accidents" begin to happen. All at once, she faces a chilling realization: whoever killed her father is now after her. Desperate for answers, Karen receives the only thing that links her to her father--the notebook he had sent months before. Inside its worn pages, she makes an unsettling discovery: her father had been a sniper in Vietnam and the notebook contains a detailed account of each one of his kills.

Now running for her life, Karen entrusts the book and its secrets to Marc Chastain. Together they unravel a disturbing story of politics, power, and murder--and face a killer who will stop at nothing to get his hands on the kill book.


LH is one of the rare authors out there who always manages to put in the right ingredients to cook up the perfect hero. And that's why this book is one of my favorite reread--much of my fave rereads are by LH, if you ask me. It's all because of those all too sexy heroes of hers. Marc Chastain is certainly among them--Marc with a C is already as sexy as hell and the rest of the character followed, thank goodness.

This book is actually one of LH's fast-paced and darker works, and I had no choice but to love it to bits. Marc Chastain and Karen Whitlaw had an amazing chemistry. The first time I really dug Marc was when he realized that Karen wasn't really the bitch he first thought she was. I love it when men get proven wrong. And Karen was one kick-ass heroine as well. She survived the many attempts on her life--including that one attack in her apartment wherein only a can of deo saved her. I'd be in a total freak-out mode had I been in her place. She's some lady that's why I forgive her for nabbing Marc in the end.

Now, if LH can make the most memorable heroes, she can also create the worst of villains. Here's another one for the books: Senator Lake might not be the most evil in the lot but the ones who commit familial crimes are, for me, the most twisted of all.

I'd probably read this book again before I put it back with the rest of my LH stash. If you're looking for a good read on the lust-at-first-sight, love-on-the-second plot (so it wasn't really during their second meeting that Marc fell for her but ya know what I mean), you must give this book a try.

Final verdict: 8/10. Great read, must-have.

Dying To Please by Linda Howard

Loyal. Beautiful. Professional. Impeccably organized. Potentially lethal. Sarah Stevens is a woman with many distinctive qualities. First and foremost a butler par excellence, skilled at running large households smoothly and efficiently. She is also trained bodyguard and expert marksman--indispensable to her elderly employer whom Sarah has come to respect and love. Then one night she thwarts an attempted burglary, a courageous act that awards Sarah her "fifteen minutes of fame" with the local press. But the exposure is enough to catch the attention of a tortured soul, who unbeknownst to Sarah, will stop at nothing to have her for himself...


It really is hard to find LH books that are not keepers. I thought that this was one the first time I saw it. I doubted for one moment if whether I'd get it or not because there was no mention of a hero in the synopsis. But I just had to get it because it was one of the very few LH titles (keepers or not) that I don't have yet.

And oh boy, did I make the right choice or what.

I don't think but declare Thompson Cahill as one of LH's sexiest heroes ever. Hot diggity damn! I'm nearly speechless about this guy only that he's so freakin' hot and absolutely sexy. And I love the way LH makes her heroines extra special. And Sarah Stevens is no different--love her to bits. Cahill plus Sarah equals one explosive chemistry that never waned through the entire story.

Needless to say, this was another one-sitter. Also because the story was fast-paced and there were no gaps in between so turning the pages was not an effort.

Some might hate Cahill for suspecting Sarah of murder, even for a millisecond. But he was a cop and he only did the right thing by getting himself out of the investigation and let the others do the work. On the other hand, I might have hated him if he let Sarah off the hook just because he was sleeping with her even if some evidence pointed at her. He would've come out a horny loser who didn't know how to do his job right. But the best thing about him was that he knew he was wrong to even suspect her of murder. Insensitive clods wouldn't have and wouldn't have cared that they'd hurt someone. And despite that, he was already thinking of ways to apologize--go down on his knees and grovel for her to take him back.

I'll stop salivating now. Lemme just say that if you want chemistry leaping right out of the pages, this is your book.

And who'd have thought strip wrestling can be sooo much fun?

Final verdict: 8.5/10. Awesome read and a must-have.

Cry No More by Linda Howard

Fueled by an obsession to fill the void in other people's lives, Milla Edge finds lost children--all the while trying to outrun the brutal emotions stemming from a tragedy in her past. Traveling to a small village in Mexico in a reliable trip, Milla begins to uncover the dire fate of countless children who have disappeared in the labyrinth of a sinister baby-smuggling ring. The key to nailing down the organization may rest with an elusive one-eyed man. As Milla's search for him intensifies, the mission becomes more treacherous. For the ring is the part of something far larger and more dangerous, reaching the highest echelons of power. Racing into peril, Milla suddenly finds herself the hunted--in the crosshairs of an invisible, lethal assassin who aims to silence her permanently.


This is my most fave of all post-Mr Perfect LH books yet. I think the plot was a powerful one and when written in LH's style of dark intrigue, it never ends to amaze me every single time I read it. I dunno how many times I've reread it (and I will also definitely read it again in the future) but I'm pretty sure I have always spent tears on it (and definitely cry some again the next time I decide to reread it). And not just at the end part. Daym!

It's just that I can't get over the fact that after having lost her son Justin to a baby-smuggling ring years ago, Milla Edge spent her life looking for the lost little ones. I can't imagine the pain of going through my own nightmare when I face a case of a lost child. And I'm sure I'd feel guilty, too--because I would start questioning why others are so lucky to have found their children again while I continue the crusade of finding mine. But I love Milla's tenacity and that made her one of my all-time fave LH heroines.

And of course LH rewarded her with one heck of a hero. James Diaz was a dark character at first glance (read). At one point, I even thought Milla was too good for him. But I was wrong. I loved it when he took care of her after she let go of her son--after finding him in conclusion to her years of search--realizing that his adoptive parents (unaware that they got a baby illegally in their adoption process) were his parents now and that knowing his biological parents was his own choice.

I'm an epilogue monster--I love HEAs so much that I want to have a peek into them every once in a while. Or all the time. And the epilogue to this book was a monster winner for me. I never expected Justin to literally come knocking on her door years later. That was beautiful to picture.

When I look back at it I think this was the first LH book that really had the wring-my-emotions touch to it. I've gone through her mushy stuff and her psychic stage releases but I think CNM is some sort of a first. Love it.

Final verdict: 8.5/10. Must read, must have.

The Cutting Edge by Linda Howard

Brett Rutland was Carter Engineering's top troubleshooter, so it was only logical for him to be sent to the L.A. office to crack a case of embezzlement.

Brett was a hard man--he had to be, in his life of work--so it hit him like a sledgehammer when he fell in love with Tessa Conway. Half of the men in the office had been in love with her for years, but Brett was the first she'd loved in return.

Their love was perfect, too perfect to last. One day Brett found the embezzler, and on that day their world came crashing down.


I dunno if now's the right time for me to review this book 'cause I'm still royally pissed at both main characters.

Take a deep breath. Inhale. Exhale.

Aight. I hate the way Brett Rutland bulldozed his way into Tessa Conway's life as if he was the best thing since sliced bread. Territorial men can make a sexy read. But the jealousy Brett displayed in this story was just absurd. But I have to say that he made up for that when, still believing that Tessa was the guilty party, he was willing to bail her out. Which, of course, he had to since he put her there in the first place.

I perfectly understood why he had Tessa arrested. All the evidence pointed to her so you really can't blame him. The story had to go that way because if it didn't, we really wouldn't know if Tessa was guilty or not because Brett's next suspect was Sammy Wallace, who was a good friend of hers. And if he hadn't had Tessa arrested, I would ultimately decide him a weak character. I liked him for actually doing that and then working on to protect her even though he still believed her to be guilty of the charge.

As for Tessa, I liked her BUT for the fact that she was willing to let the real culprit go scat-free. I never would have done that even if that person didn't cause me a lot of heartache. What she did was amazing (-ly stupid). The guilty party, Hillary, did it for Sammy so that he could work on his new computer creation, and set Tessa up because Hillary was jealous of the friendship between the two close colleagues. And knowing how Sammy felt about Hillary, Tessa was willing to forgive Hillary. But if I were a good friend of Sammy's, I don't think I'd let Hillary near him. He deserved so much better.

But despite the negative comments, I still quite enjoyed the book. It relieved my boredom for a few hours. And on the LH-meter, it 's somewhere in the middle and leaning towards her better books.

Final verdict: 7/10. Good read.

White Lies by Linda Howard

Nothing could have prepared Jay Granger for the arrival of two FBI agents at her door--or for the news they brought. Her ex-husband, Steve, had been in a terrible accident that had left him gravely injured. The FBI needed Jay to confirm his identity.

The man Jay finds lying in the hospital bed is almost unrecognizable. Almost. Exhausted and afraid, Jay tentatively declares that he is Steve Crossfield. But the man who awakens from the coma is not at all as Jay remembers her husband. And he remembers nothing of their life together. Suddenly nothing is familiar. Not his appearance, not the intensity of his nature, not the desire that flashes between them. Who is this man? And will the discovery of his identity shatter the passion they share?


And here's the answer to my Guess My Book post. And I don't think Dee's gonna like this book or liked it when she read it. I distinctly remember her saying that she's not the biggest fan of plot's involving amnesia. If I remember correctly, she was dissecting JM's Only You at the time. Right, girl?

But I have to say that this was a pretty enjoyable book. When I actually read the synopsis, I really thought it was Steve Crossfield who was laid up in the hospital and that not remembering his life with Jay Granger was just the amnesia talking. But when it turned out that he was an entirely different person, that was when I got really hooked to the story.

I have to say that I really felt bad for Jay. She was just an innocent, dragged into the fray to protect one of the Agency's, well, agents. Can you just imagine having to take care of someone who doesn't remember you? Not to mention you divorced the person years ago. And then you find yourself slowly falling back in love with that person whom you thought was totally wrong for you--because this time around, he has become a different person. And the surprises just kept coming, when Jay discovered that it wasn't really her ex-husband who was in that hospital bed but a total stranger. So then she had to carry on a charade, pretending it really was Steve because if the Agency had gone to the lengths of finding her--the ex-wife of a casualty who died in the same accident the agent was injured in, that only meant she had to protect the man she had come to love.

Lucas Stone might not remember anything about Jay or of her being his wife. But then one thing was sure, it was her and her voice that helped him pull through from his coma. Yes, he couldn't remember anything about being married to her but this time around, he was pretty sure that they have it right and wanted to gave another go at being married. And for that I forgive him for lashing out at Jay later on in the story, when after he regained his memory and learned that Jay had known the truth before him. Understandable, because he had a difficulty gaining his memory back and thinking that if only Jay had said something, he wouldn't have had such a hard time with the flashbacks.

But it was all bluster. Lucas did also keep it from Jay that he had his memory back for a couple of days, not wanting what they had to end. Kinda like why Jay didn't say anything when she learned he wasn't her ex-husband--she was afraid she'd be sent away. Although good for her for running away while Lucas settled score with the man who was after him. Make the man work, now that's my kind of girl.

Final verdict: 7/10. Good read.

Sarah's Child by Linda Howard

A tragic accident took everything that mattered to Rome Mattews -- his wife, Diana, and their two little boys. And it robbed Sarah Harper of her best friend. In the two years since the tragedy, Sarah has wanted to reach out to Rome, but she knew she needed to stay away, guarding the secret she had kept from him and Diana all those years -- that she was in love with her best friend's husband.

But now Rome needs her. And though another woman will hold his heart forever, Sarah agrees to be his wife, knowing that everything has a price, including love. Then something totally unexpected rekindles her hidden hope that a marriage of convenience will become a union of love. Now it all comes down to her husband. Will Rome keep fighting his own growing need for a woman who dares him to believe there are second chances in life . . . or will he give in to the power of love and miracles?


This is no doubt one of LH's best works. What a real tearjerker! You'd be drained by the time you're done with it. But it's a good kind of drained.

I know y'all have read this book. And I know (almost?) all of us think that Rome was cold to Sarah several times. But I could not really hate him for that. What happened to him after the death of his first wife and their two children was understandable. When we get hurt, e.g. when we lose some one special and important, it's human nature to protect ourselves from being vulnerable to that kind of hurt again.

And because Sarah was so in love with him, she was practically a martyr to the nth power when she married him knowing that he was still in love with his first wife--and her best friend. But she had to believe in the miracle that Rome would come to love her back because after all, his wanting her and wanting to marry her were already miracles themselves.

Sarah had guts, and I love her for that, when she practically handed Rome an ultimatum after she accidentally got pregnant. He didn't want to have any more kids so when it happened, he wanted her to get rid of it. But as her ultimatum went, he could stay with her--and the kid--or leave. But he wasn't stupid to just give up what he had with her--and he had fallen in love with her. He was too stubborn though when it came to the baby. I'd expected that he would give in earlier than he did. It would have been nice if he was really with her during the birth of their daughter or maybe even earlier on in the pregnancy.

Nevertheless, it was still a very good read. The end was kinda rushed. I personally would have loved if there was another chapter, or maybe even a short epilogue. That would be another crying session. But it's all good.

Final verdict: 9/10. Must read, must have.