Above and Beyond [Abridged, Audiobook] [Audio CD]

Sandra Brown (Author), Kate Forbes (Reader)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 2, 2004

LETTERS OF LOVE

The letters Kyla sent to her husband, Sergeant Richard Stroud, stationed a world away, spoke of a love that stretched across the ocean and held the young couple together. But when tragedy ended their marriage too soon, Kyla was left a widow with a newborn son. And Richard left behind only a metal box filled with his wife's declarations of love.

Trevor Rule had been Richard's best friend. Returning home from military duty, he carried with him the letters Kyla had sent. And with each one he read, he fell more in love with the gentle, passionate woman who had penned them. Now he needs to convince Kyla of his feelings, and that they both have the right to be happy, to move past the tragedy of Richard's death.

But Trevor is harboring a secret, one with the power to destroy the love he is trying so hard to protect.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Sandra Brown is the author of fifty-six New York Times bestsellers, most recently Play Dirty which was published in August 2007 by Simon & Schuster and debuted at number two on The New York Times hardcover fiction bestseller list. Her other recent bestsellers include Ricochet (2006), Chill Factor (2005), White Hot (2004), Hello, Darkness (2003), The Crush (2002), Envy (2001), all of which have jumped onto the Times bestseller list in the number one to five spot. Her new novel Smoke Screen will be published on August 12, 2008.

Brown began her writing career in 1981 and since then has published nearly seventy novels, most of which remain in print. As of 1990, when Mirror Image made The New York Times bestseller list, each subsequent novel, including reprints of earlier books, have become Times bestsellers. Her novel The Witness was recently optioned by Twinstar Entertainment for a major motion picture. Brown now has seventy million copies of her books in print worldwide, and her work has been translated into thirty-three languages.

A lifelong Texan, Sandra Brown was born in Waco and raised in Ft. Worth. Before embarking on her writing career, she worked as a model at the Dallas Apparel Mart, and in television, including weathercasting for WFAA-TV in Dallas, and feature reporting on the nationally syndicated program "PM Magazine." She is much in demand as a speaker at book festivals and charity functions throughout the year. Court TV (now tru TV) also sought Brown to host the 2007 premier of its popular series "Murder by the Book."

Awards and commendations include a 2008 honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Texas Christian University, the 2007 Texas Medal of Arts Award for Literature, the American Business Women's Association's Distinguished Circle of Success, B'nai B'rith's Distinguished Literary Achievement Award, and the A. C. Greene Award. Brown is a member of the Writers Guild of America, the Authors Guild, Mystery Writers of America, Literacy Partners, and is a founding member of International Thriller Writers. She will be honored as the ITW's "ThrillerMaster" in 2008.

She and her husband live in Arlington, Texas.

From AudioFile

Kyla Stroud is widowed after her husband, a marine stationed in Cairo, dies in a terrorist attack there. In Texas Kyla meets Trevor Rule, a handsome builder who forms a friendship with her and her young child. But secrets from his past threaten to destroy their chance at happiness. Kate Forbes instills each character with a range of emotions by varying the intensity of her voice. Her narration is crisp and clean as she creates unique voices for all of the players. Kyla's resonates with a sweet honesty while Trevor's voice is filled with sensuality and self-assuredness. All in all, Forbes's narration creates an engaging listening experience. S.M. © AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

Product Details

• Audio CD
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio; Abridged edition (February 2, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743537432
• ISBN-13: 978-0743537438
• Product Dimensions: 5.7 x 5 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (35 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,933,494 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #62 in Books > Books on CD > Authors, A-Z > ( B ) > Brown, Sandra

More About the Author

Sandra Brown is the author of sixty New York Times bestsellers, including RAINWATER (2010), TOUGH CUSTOMER (2010), SMASH CUT (2009), SMOKE SCREEN (2008), PLAY DIRTY (2007), RICOCHET (2006), CHILL FACTOR (2005), WHITE HOT (2004), HELLO, DARKNESS (2003), THE CRUSH (2002), ENVY (2001), THE SWITCH (2000), THE ALIBI (1999), UNSPEAKABLE (1998) and FAT TUESDAY (1997), all of which have jumped onto the Times bestseller list in the number one to five spot.

Brown began her writing career in 1981 and since then has published over seventy novels, bringing the number of copies of her books in print worldwide to upwards of eighty million. Her work has been translated into thirty-three languages.

A lifelong Texan, Sandra Brown was born in Waco, grew up in Fort Worth and attended Texas Christian University, majoring in English. Before embarking on her writing career, she worked as a model at the Dallas Apparel Mart, and in television, including weathercasting for WFAA-TV in Dallas, and feature reporting on the nationally syndicated program "PM Magazine."

She is much in demand as a speaker and guest television hostess. Her episode on truTV's "Murder by the Book" premiered the series in 2008 and she was one of the launch authors for Investigation Discovery's new series, "Hardcover Mysteries."

In 2009 Brown detoured from her thrillers to write Rainwater, a much acclaimed, powerfully moving story about honor and sacrifice during the Great Depression.

Brown recently was given an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Texas Christian University. She was named Thriller Master for 2008, the top award given by the International Thriller Writer's Association. Other awards and commendations include the 2007 Texas Medal of Arts Award for Literature and the Romance Writers of America's Lifetime Achievement Award.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is one of her best books and my favorite!, April 13, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Above And Beyond (Paperback)

This was one of Sandra Brown's best! The story line was excellent and the characters of Trevor and Kyla became almost real to me. Trevor is the kind of man that every woman dreams about.

Trevor has in his possession all of Kyla's letters that she had written to her dead husband. He had been stationed with her husband and had been sent these letters along with his other belongings. While healing from very serious wounds in the hospital, her letters give him the will to live. He would read them over and over until he had them memorized word for word.

He falls in love with Kyla through these letters and how he arranges to meet Kyla after he is released from the hospital is one of the best story lines that I have ever read.

It is worth adding to your book collection.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Worth the read!, March 20, 2003

By 

janlouise (Ruston, LA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Above And Beyond (Mass Market Paperback)

Great storyline, great characters, sweet love scenes that don't get gross with graphics- a great read! It will be a keeper for me! Kyla's husband, Richard- a marine who is guarding the embassy- dies during a bombing, the day after the birth of their little boy. Trevor, also a marine, survives the bombing losing his left eye as well as his left side being crushed. He survives the extensive pain, surgeries, and rehab by reading and rereading letters that were in with his belongings returned to him. Sweet love letters written by Kyla to Richard. He decides he wants to meet the women of such love. When he finally gets out of rehab 1 1/2 years later he heads to where Kyla & son are now living with her parents. She's a "knock-out!" Love at first sight for Trevor- so he starts finding ways to meet Kyla and get to know her better, become a part of her life and introduce her to the man he has become. He can't just go up to her and introduce himself to her because he was known as "Smooch"- if that tells you anything. Richard had shared "Smooch's" adventures with Kyla & she detested him. But life has given Trevor a 2nd chance. And he wants to prove that to Kyla before she finds out the truth of who he was.

A great love story! Trevor is a doll and Kyla is a sweetie that has to finally give up her husbands ghost to love another. It is easy for us to say "Kyla get real and go after Trevor!" But until Trevor she has been living for her son, convincing herself that there will never be another love for her. It is easy as a reader to say give it up but put yourself in her place. It's a keeper of a book!

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Decent read, but could've been better, December 9, 2004

By 

S. Soltoff "Stacey Soltoff" (Northern VA, United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Above And Beyond (Brown, Sandra) (Hardcover)

the writing was a little choppy, but I found the characters both likeable and human. Kyla's loyalty to her late husband is frustrating because this is a romance novel and she's one of the obstacles to the HEA the hero and heroine are seeking, but her reluctance to move on is entirely understandable. Everyone grieves at her own pace and Trevor is incredibly understanding, despite how hard Kyla makes it for him.

At first, Trevor's obsession with Kyla was a little creepy, but, under the circumstances, believable and after Kyla finds out who he really is, Babs does put a positive spin on it and shows that he hasn't really done anything all that awful. I think it's more complicated than that, but this is one of Sandra Browns earlier books and she was restricted by the limits of a category romance.

It was interesting reading this reprint nearly twenty years later and seeing the way the military and the Middle East were presented in popular fiction after the Marine barracks bombing. It wasn't the thrust of the book, but for me it was enticing.

The only thing I didn't like about this book was that Trevor's injuries were never an issue. Yes, superficially they sort of affected the plot. There were a couple instances where people stared and he was a little self-conscious with Kyla about the damage to his leg. But Brown presents him as just so sexy that it's not really an obstacle for him. I think I would have liked him more if he had not been a ladies man suddenly changed by this terrible tragedy into a one-woman man but who still has all the charm and charisma and sex appeal that make him the town's most eligible bachelor. I think of all our servicemen who weren't incredible ladies' men before terrible injuries in Iraq and Afghanistan and find their story to be missing here.