9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Hooked me from the start., May 20, 2009
This review is from: Danger in a Red Dress (Fortune Hunter) (Mass Market Paperback)
Hannah Grey is a home-care RN who specializes in arthritis cases and is trained in physical therapy. When one of her patients leaves her some money in his will, the family believes she slept her way into earning it. The family uses their influence to have Hannah's New Hampshire nursing certificate suspended. Believing the lies, Carrick Manly decides Hannah is just the greedy person he needs.
Hannah is desperate for work and agrees when Carrick offers her the job of caring for his mother, Melinda, in her Maine coast mansion. Melinda has not left the mansion in fifteen years. That was when her husband crashed a multibillion-dollar business, stole the money and left the country without looking back. Carrick believes his mother knows where his father stashed the money and wants Hannah to pull the information out of her. But Carrick has read Hannah all wrong and she refuses to help scam Melinda. Hannah is getting ready to leave when Melinda comes up and asks her to remain.
Gabriel Prescott is one of Carrick's half-brothers. Gabriel plans to tell Carrick, but before he can Carrick hires his security firm. Gabriel hides monitors and audio devices all over the mansion because Carrick has convinced him that Hannah is abusing the elderly lady. But then Melinda is murdered and the video looks like Hannah is the killer. Worse, the equipment proves that Melinda had known where the money was all along and has not only told Hannah where it is being held, but all the access codes to retrieve it. Hannah finds herself on the run from the law and Carrick's unscrupulous people. Gabriel may be the only one who can keep her alive, if she can convince him of her innocence.
***** Christina Dodd proves, once again, that she has found her calling in life. This tale has a villain that readers will love to hate. He is a slimy man who seems to pull the wool over the eyes of all except his mother and Hannah (uh, and the thugs he owes money to). Full of action and suspense, this story kept me hooked from first until last. I found it to be a wild ride and absolutely thrilling! *****
Reviewed by Detra Fitch of Huntress Reviews.
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9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Innocent woman is framed and on the run. Good mystery suspense., March 8, 2009
This review is from: Danger in a Red Dress (Fortune Hunter) (Mass Market Paperback)
STORY BRIEF:
Hannah is a home care nurse who took care of Donald until he died. Donald's descendants were angry that Donald left $50,000 to Hannah. They made false accusations and had her nursing license suspended. Because she can't get work, Carrick hires her thinking she will spy for him. Carrick's father ran off with a fortune a few years earlier. Carrick believes his mother knows where the money is. Carrick takes Hannah to meet his mother. When Carrick asks Hannah to spy, she adamantly refuses. The mother overhears this and likes Hannah as a result. The mother insists Hannah stay as her nurse/caretaker. Since Hannah won't spy for him, Carrick hires Gabriel, owner of a security firm, to plant video cameras throughout the house to spy on his mother and Hannah. Carrick tells Gabriel that he fears for his mother's safety because Hannah had sex with and killed Donald - a lie. As Gabriel watches the two women, he falls in love with Hannah. Someone kills the mother and frames Hannah. Hannah is now on the run. Carrick and Gabriel both want her found.
REVIEWER'S OPINION:
Hannah being on the run reminded me of the feelings I had when watching the movie "The Fugitive" with Harrison Ford - the odds are so against her, how can she ever come out of it? She is on the run from the government, Carrick and the private detective Gabriel who has mixed feelings. He has fallen in love with her, yet he thinks she is a murderer. This story is primarily mystery/suspense. It is well done. The characters are good. Hannah is smart and does some clever things. There is not a lot of time spent with the couple interacting with each other, which is ok. But there is some romance with a feel good ending.
REVIEWER'S COMMENTS ABOUT OTHER REVIEWS:
Thank you to other reviewers who wrote some negative comments. You made some valid points, and I'm sure there are readers who will agree with you. I wasn't bothered by those issues, so I'm going to present my opposing opinions.
One person felt there was not enough romance. I agree that there was not much romance, but there was enough to place the book within the romance genre. Readers should know that this is more about suspense than romance, but it does have the required happy ending.
One person didn't like Hannah running from her problems instead of facing them. My personal reaction (I hope) would be to fight before running, but I felt Hannah's actions were believable. The author wanted to write about Hannah being on the run, and I think she came up with a reasonable way to do it. I've read worse.
Someone did not like the hero watching Hannah (via hidden cameras) do personal things. It is not unusual (in real life or fiction) for law enforcement or private detectives to put people under surveillance. And when you're under surveillance, someone's going to see you do personal things. So, for readers who don't like their hero being a voyeur, I suggest you avoid this story. He was hired to do this, by the way. The surprise was how much he enjoyed it.
DATA:
Story length: 380 pages. Swearing language: moderate. Sexual language: moderate. Number of sex scenes: 1, 8 pages long. Setting: current day New Hampshire, Maine and Texas. Copyright: 2009. Genre: romantic mystery suspense.
OTHER BOOKS:
To date, I've read one other book by Christina Dodd. My 3 star review for "Close To You" copyright 2005 was posted 2/11/09.
CAUTION SPOILERS:
I didn't buy one plot point. We know the mother was computer literate since she researched Hannah on the computer. Later, the mother asked Hannah to do something on the computer. I don't understand why the mother did not do that task herself. It was simple to do and only took a couple of minutes. In spite of this flaw, the story was still good.
I like the author's writing skills. She didn't waste time with repetition. At one point in the story, Hannah decides to tell the truth to Gabriel of everything that has happened to her. She said "I have something to tell you." The next sentence is "The next morning, ..." I liked this. The reader already knew the story, and the author didn't waste our time being repetitive. Most of the time "showing" is good, but in this case "not showing" was good.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Very Entertaining, Great Suspense, Recommended Read, May 9, 2009
This review is from: Danger in a Red Dress (Fortune Hunter) (Mass Market Paperback)
I'm so glad I didn't read the reviews for this book before I bought it, because then I wouldn't have bought it and would have missed out on a great read. It appears that this is part of a series, but I have read none of the other books in it. So if you've not read the others, you can still enjoy this one. The start of this book was not good for me. I felt like a lot of the circumstances and scenes were forced by the author. I thought I would really dislike this book. But shortly thereafter, I really got into the story and I could not put it down. Others have said this is a better mystery than a romance and that could be somewhat true. I just enjoyed the book and found it an entertaining read, both from a suspense and a romantic perspective. I definitely recommend it. 4.5
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