Close to You (Lost Texas Hearts, Book 3) [Mass Market Paperback]

Christina Dodd (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 22, 2005

Who knows the truth about her family?

Who wants to keep her past hidden forever?

Caitlin Prescott was only a baby when her parents disappeared. Adopted by a wealthy Texas oil family, she became Kate Montgomery, and grew up with no memory of her parents or her two older sisters and brother, who have been searching for her, hoping to right a terrible wrong that was committed twenty-two years ago in a small Texas town.

Now an ambitious young news reporter, Kate realizes she is being stalked soon after landing her dream job at an Austin TV station. Why did a car try to run her down? Who would want to kill her? Turning her precarious situation into a story, she takes on a bodyguard and follows him on the job. But she didn't plan on the cool, blade-sharp strength of Teague Ramos or the attraction that sizzles between them. When Teague connects the death of an Austin socialite to unanswered questions about Kate's childhood, she finds herself unlocking dangerous doors to her past. Now, with only her mysterious bodyguard to protect her, Kate is on a high-stakes chase that may lead her to the family she has never known -- or into the trap of a ruthless killer.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. Bestseller Dodd (Almost Like Being in Love) delivers a high-octane, blow-out finale to her series chronicling the adventures and reunions of the Prescott sisters, who were separated as children. When up-and-coming TV reporter Kate Montgomery (née Caitlin Prescott) lands a high-paying job in Austin, where she quickly acquires a stalker, she never suspects that a powerful figure is pulling her strings behind the scenes—or that her handsome and deadly new bodyguard, Teague Ramos, will turn her life upside down, both professionally and personally. The stalker is soon nabbed, giving Teague the chance to flee emotional entanglement, but a suspicious death brings Teague and Kate back together in an investigation that will reveal the secrets of Kate's birth, the identity of the person who tore her from her siblings when she was just a baby and the reason one man must keep those secrets quiet at all costs. White-hot action and sizzling sensuality power Dodd's tale from its gripping first chapter to its supremely satisfying finale. While some may find Kate's near-instant realization that she could fall in love with Teague a trifle hard to swallow, the rest of this romantic suspense novel is a delicious concoction that readers will be hard-pressed not to consume in one gulp. Agent, Mel Berger at William Morris. (Apr.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

"Bestseller Dodd delivers a high-octane, blow-out finale to her series."
-- Publishers Weekly (Publisher's Weekly ) --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: Pocket Star (March 22, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1416514651
• ISBN-13: 978-1416514657
• ASIN: 074345619X
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #196,498 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #5 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Romance > Authors, A-Z > ( D ) > Dodd, Christina

More About the Author

Chat with Christina via Facebook and Twitter, and even better, join her mailing list to have her news delivered right to your inbox! http://christinadodd.com/lists/?p=subscribe

Readers become writers, and Christina Dodd has always been a reader. She reads everything, but because she loves humor, she likes romance best.

A woman wants things like world peace, a clean house, and a deep and meaningful relationship based on mutual understanding and love. A man wants things like a Craftsman router with attachments, undisputed control of the TV remote, and a red Corvette which will miraculously make his bald spot disappear. So when Christina's first daughter was born, she told her husband she was going to quit work and write a book. It was a good time to start a new career, because how much trouble could one little infant be?

Ha! It took ten years, two children and three completed manuscripts before her first novel, CANDLE IN THE WINDOW, was published. In the twenty-two years since, her novels have been translated into 25 languages, won Romance Writers of America's prestigious Golden Heart and RITA Awards and been called the year's best by Library Journal. Christina Dodd herself has been a clue in the Los Angeles Times crossword puzzle (11/18/05, # 13 Down: Romance Novelist named Christina.) Publishers Weekly praises her style that 'showcases Dodd's easy, addictive charm and steamy storytelling.'

Christina's 2011 releases include TAKEN BY THE PRINCE, #9 in the Governess Brides series, and in the tradition of Nora Roberts, a new romantic suspense series starting with SECRETS OF BELLA TERRA and REVENGE AT BELLA TERRA.

Christina Dodd is married to a man with all his hair and no Corvette, but many Craftsman tools.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Worth the Wait, March 30, 2005

By 

Jennifer Banker "Avid reader" (Il United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Close to You (Lost Texas Hearts, Book 3) (Mass Market Paperback)

I got this book as soon as I saw it and read it as soon as I finished what I was reading, read it in one day. The first book in this series was my first book by Dodd but not the last. I now have a collection, which this book will be added to.
I loved this book. It had the right amount of everything. Tension, suspense, love and laughter. Although the author gives away more to the readers and the readers figure out what is going on way before the characters. Thats the good tension.
This was a wonderful third story and I only have one complaint. This story seems to be the end of the series. But I am hoping it is not as we still have the foster brother Gabriel, who really needs his own story. So, this just cant be the last, but the tone says it is. It wraps up most issues in the story, but I am keeping my fingers crossed.
I likes most everything else and cant think of anything else to complain about. Wonderful story. 5 stars and highly recommended!! Enjoy

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Close to Perfect, March 23, 2005

By 

Anne Fleming (Alexandria, Virginia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Close to You (Lost Texas Hearts, Book 3) (Mass Market Paperback)

This was a really great book, though I was a little disappointed that the villain was revealed early on, and the romantic conflict was a bit weak. Kate's story is the third in a trilogy (?), tracking the fate of four children, orphaned by the death of their parents and scattered to the wind in the wake of their parent's alleged embezzlement.

The story begins when Kate lands a new job reporting on Capitol politics in Austin for a local TV news station, but bodyguard Teague Ramos is soon enlisted when a stalker's attention turns violent. The heat between Kate and Teague is immediate and stays strong as the stalker's threat is replaced by a lascivious senator and his ties to the small town where Kate's birth family was divided.

Teague was an impressive hero, big, brooding and sexy; he also came across as smart, and fell in love with the standard reluctance Dodd's hero's usually display. Kate was likeable, intelligent, and assertive enough to be admirable without being too aggressive. The villain was appropriately slimy, though he was not developed in any depth.

But at times throughout the novel the hero's big brood seemed a little manufactured--he claimed to be hung up on an incident in his past (surprise), and worried revealing it would send Kate running. The incident itself was moderately inventive, but it just didn't seem bad enough to keep the two at odds; and Teague did very little to fuel the separation throughout the book (unlike in Pepper's story where Dan did asinine things throughout the book just to keep it interesting). So the conclusion to the romance was a little anti-climactic.

Likewise, while I was glad to finally learn a little more about the mystery surrounding the death of Kate's birth parents, the little glimpses into the villain's mind peppered throughout the book undermined the suspense and the ending was not particularly surprising. Also, the book was written like the end of a trilogy, and I would be a little disappointed if we never get a chance to hear Gabriel's story.

Overall, however, it was a very entertaining book with snappy dialogue and loveable characters; a satisfying end to a wonderful series.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great finish to the series, September 1, 2005

By 

castlereader (San Jose CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Close to You (Lost Texas Hearts, Book 3) (Mass Market Paperback)

Christina Dodd did a great job with CLOSE TO YOU - but then, I love books where the hero is a bodyguard for the heroine. It wasn't a mystery because we know who done it, but the suspense to see if the bad guy gets Kate is riveting and the ending tied up all the loose ends left in the oother two books. That scene in the graveyard is positively spooky - I got chills. Teague was a great hero, a bodyguard with a past. He's intense, handsome and driven, and the love scene during the storm was the hottest I've ever read. I recommend this series. Start with JUST THE WAY YOU ARE, then ALMOST LIKE BEING IN LOVE, then CLOSE TO YOU.