Customer Reviews

Danger in a Red Dress (Fortune Hunter)

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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.

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.

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

This is the final book in Christina Dodd's Prescott/Manly brothers series and it is fantastic. It was easy to jump into even though I hadn't read the last book in one of the series.

Hannah Grey is a terrific, strong heroine-a caregiver-which made her instantly likeable. And the tension in the story is fabulous. She is under continual video surveillance by Prescott who is the half brother of the man whose mother Hannah cares for. There is a fortune involved and killers looking for it. I won't say more as I don't want to give out any spoilers.

Dodd is great at drawing characters and making you feel for them. The plot is terrific and fast-paced. I can't wait for Dodd's next series!

4 stars for the suspense because I enjoyed the book, 2-3 stars for the romance. This is what I'd consider a novel of romantic suspense, but the romance didn't work for me as well as the suspense. The structure of the suspense aspect of the plot worked against the romance. I have read all the Lost Texas Hearts books and at least some of the Fortune Hunters books and think the romance is better in those books than in this one.

The problem with the romance is not the characters. Even though she is not perfect, Hannah is easy to like and the reader really wants her to succeed. Gabriel has had several prior books (where he was a minor character at most) to build up good will and even the reader who has not read those books will find him a likeable hero.

But the plot structure keeps them from getting to know each other until almost the end of the book and so they each become infatuated with a fiction of their own creation and the lies and secrets surrounding them rather than a real person. It didn't feel real to me that Hannah would fall for Gabriel so soon after meeting him in his real identity nor did it feel real to me that Gabriel would fall for Hannah while believing all the bad things Carrick told him about her.

Despite my issues with the romance, the book was an entertaining and fast read and I enjoyed it overall, mostly because of the satisfying ending to the suspense part of the plot.

Great fast pace novel! I typically do not read modern day stories but am a fan of Christian Dodd's novels so was willing to give this one a try and I loved it. The story is filled with mystery, adventure, integer, danger and romance. It was a quick read and I found the plot and location interesting. If you want to get away from the day to day, not worry about the stock market for a few minutes or read something that has nothing to do with the economic crises this is the book for you as Hannah's and Gabriel's crises is enough to filled these pages and your imagination.

You quickly endear yourself to Hannah and root for her throughout the book. I wanted every one of her patients to live just a little longer as I also enjoyed these crotichy old character and Hanna's kindness and patients towards them. The other characters also all play along well with the story line. How can you not hate Carrick through and through and want Gabriel to trust his heart and not his mind! The end has a fun twist and I was not wanting when it ended.

Thanks for a great read Christina!

This book is awesome!!! Ms. Dodd keeps you on the edge of your seat as usual. The dialogue is great, and Gabriel is one of her best heroes ever! So tough and sexy. Sometimes you're just in the mood for a good fun page turner, and this is it.

As soon as I knew she was writing another story to this series, I put it on my buy list and rushed out to buy it when it hit the shelves. Now, it kept me on the edge of my seat...but it also let me down.

Gabriel didn't feel right to me. I remember how he was all about business in Tongue in Chic, and in this one...it just felt off. Why did he realize that Hannah was the girl of his dreams when he saw her picture? His obsession gave me an icky vibe. And the spying on her, especially in her private moments...that's kind of unforgivable. I could understand being entranced and not being able to look away when you know you should...but you should at least have the decency to feel bad about it. I just didn't feel like I knew the characters well enough to care about them in the end.

I felt like it took too long to set up the big fortune secret. Because so much time was spent on that, the rest of the actual romance felt rushed.

And I'm so disappointed about Carrick. I felt like his story would be the best of the series...but I guess not, eh? And I always felt he was older. This book kind of felt like a cop-out, neat and tidy ending.

And not that I'm a total perv or anything, but the love scenes were severely lacking in this one. The one time is basically a fade out. I expected Hannah to be on the run, Gabriel to find her. The two to be holed up together, ALONE, for a while. The angst coming from her trying to run again, but him always finding her. But alas.

I loved this book. It is so hard for me to find interests in books and i found this one in a waiting room and could not stop reading it. Definitely loved reading it, wish it didn't end ever.

The Story:
Hannah Grey is a home care nurse, she is kind and compassionate. She works for the head of a rich family who is a lonely man. He's children and grandchildren are only interested in how much money they'll get when he dies. Hannah was his friend and for that he left her money. The greedy family took insult and claimed she gave him sexual favors. They got her nursing licensed pulled. Unable to find a job without her license a man comes along and offers her a job. His mother is agoraphobic, diabetic and arthritic. Upon meeting Mrs. Manly, who abruptly pushes her away, Hannah meets with his son Carrick Manly. Carrick tries to blackmail Hannah to get Mrs. Manly to tell her where Mr. Manly stored his billions. Hannah tries to refuse, unbeknownst to Carrick his mom is listening and takes Hannah under her wing. Without any allies, except Hannah, Mrs. Manly confesses her sins. Carrick strikes again and Hannah is forced on the run. Gabriel Prescott is one of Mr. Manly's sons, he wants to meet Carrick and be a family with all his brothers. First he has to fix the situation with Hannah to gain Carrick's trust and get closer to him.

Thoughts
This book is fast paced, and a great romantic suspense/mystery. The romance part didn't happen to the second half of the book and it wasn't really strong element, but it didn't cause a hindrance in any way. Hannah just couldn't catch a break. She is very likable and relatable. You want to be in her corner, because no one else is. All the characters adapt and grow throughout the story, well except Carrick. Spoiled brat he is. I never understood the need of money over family, love or anything else. Greed is a horrible beast. This was the first romantic suspense I've read by Dodd, I'll have to look into more of her works now. Anyone who enjoys any other RS author will enjoy this.