Customer Reviews

Echoes (Berkley Sensation)

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
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Tess Carson is called from her New York home to a remote California town when her sister turns up missing. But when she arrives in Mountain Bend to look after her sister's daughter, she realizes there is more to the disappearance than appears on the surface because Tess knows her sister would never leave her daughter behind. But her sister's boss is dead and her sister is a suspect. Tess turns to an unlikely ally to clear her sister's name....the dead man's son, Grant Weston, who is haunted by his own demons. And there is something else haunting Tess. Something forcing her to experience strange, terrifying hallucinations of another time and place....over one hundred years in the past.

This is the first book I've read by Erin Grady but it definitely won't be my last. I could not put this book down and loved every minute of it. If you want an excellent read and something a bit different and also something that will keep you on the edge of your seat, don't miss this book.

What a fun read! Erin Grady has a fresh vivid style that adds intensity and intelligence to her rich plotting and smoldering romance. ECHOES is filled with extremely well written characters, a deeply evocative setting and dazzling twists that kept me guessing to the last page. I loved the way Erin intertwined the parallel stories of the present and past-and expertly managed to up the tension and stakes with every scene. This book captures the perfect blend of supernatural suspense, history and romance. I can't wait for the next one.

Tess France has once again been called upon to help Tori, her irresponsible sister, who has recently relocated to remote Mountain Bend, California. Tori has failed to pick up her seven year old daughter Caitlin after school. Rather than allow school principal Craig Weston to send her niece to a shelter, Tess immediately makes the long flight from New York to Caitlin's aid in California.

Once in Mountain Bend, Tess meets Sheriff Smith. The sheriff is interested in Tori's whereabouts, but not because she is a missing person. He believes Tori is involved in the death of Frank Weston, her employer. Frank, Craig's father, is also missing a substantial amount of money. Tess is convinced that Tori would never abandon her daughter, and she hopes Tori did not have anything to do with Frank's death. Remaining in Mountain Bend for Caitlin, Tess attempts to locate Tori and prove her innocence. She looks to Frank's other son, former Hollywood star Grant Weston, for help. While Tess finds herself attracted to Grant, she doesn't know how much she can trust him. In the midst of all this uncertainty, Tess begins to blackout and experience visions of the past. The visions are eerily similar to her current situation. Could this phenomenon enable Tess to find the truth? Is someone trying to tell her something? Will she discover the secrets of the past before they bind her to the same fate?

Echoes is a beautifully romantic suspense novel. This wonderful story drew me in, and I could not put it down. It seemed vividly real, especially the visions. I felt as if I were experiencing them with Tess. My heart was pounding, and my mind was racing to figure out what it all meant. Tess, the good girl, is a wholly likable character thrown into extraordinary circumstances. Grant is a tragic figure. The book hints throughout that he is an upstanding man, yet his motives are mysterious. I normally prefer more explicit sensual action in romances, but in no way felt cheated here. Ms. Grady delivers a spectacularly dark paranormal romantic thriller. Next Erin Grady book, please!

Cheryl
Reviewed for Joyfully Reviewed

I thought this book was a fascinating twist for romantic suspense. It is a combination of past and future without the typical time travel theme. No bump on the head, no dress, chest or mirror in the attic. The twists and turns were very well written and the unexpected was well thought out and planned.
The happy ending was the icing on the cake for this book.

This is my first Erin Grady novel, and it certainly won't be my last. I enjoyed the sizzling romance mixed with paranormal time-travel. Reminded me somewhat of my own novel, The River, although it is very different. I found the characters were 3-dimensional and satisfying. There were enough twists and turns to keep me on my toes, and all in all Echoes was a great read with an interesting spin.

~ Cheryl Kaye Tardif
Author of Divine Intervention

Mountain Bend, California elementary school principal Craig Weston calls Tess Carson at her New York City Supplies & Sales office to tell her that her sister Tori failed to pick up her daughter seven years old Caitlin. Rather than see her niece in a foster facility, Tess, used to her sibling's failures, flies to California to take care of Caitlin.

There she learns that Sheriff Smith suspects her sister stole money from her employer, Craig's father rancher Frank Weston, who just died in an apparent tractor accident. Making matters worse as she tries to comfort Caitly, Tess is attracted to Craig's brother former Hollywood superstar Grant, who has had his choice of beauties but desires Tess too. As Tess has visions of the past that she feels is tied to her missing sister, neither she nor Grant is aware of the dangers lurking in this remote mountain town from an unidentified assailant with sinister plans who already killed Frank and abetted by an ally turned that into looking like a tragic accident.

This engaging romantic suspense stars two likable protagonists both dealing with recent tragedies that seem interconnected, but neither know how until the climax. The story line is action-packed, but insures that the audience can feel Grant's loss, Caitly's uncertainty, and Tess' worries. The final twists seem over the mountainside, but the audience will still treasure this terrific tense thriller.

Harriet Klausner

This book was a delightful surprise; Erin Grady aka Erin Quinn has written a fascinating, multi-layered, mystical romance. Time shifting through earlier lives, the two stories blend to a final destination. Each character has a counterpart in both levels, and the shift to past history holds the key to the main story.

Tess Carson, a successful businesswoman in New York City, receives a call from the tiny rural community of Mountain Bend, California from the principal of the elementary school. Feeling very confused it takes time for her to realize that this must be the school her niece Caitlin attends. The caller informs her that Caitlin's mother, Tess' sister Tori France, did not pick her daughter up from school that day and seems to have "disappeared", and as the emergency contact, Tess finds herself winging her way to a remote location in California "...a couple of hours east of Sacramento or several hours west of Salt Lake". Tess knows that her sister is not particularly reliable, but when it comes to Caitlin she would never desert her.

Stories abound in this small town, much as they do in all small towns, but Tori appears to be in the middle of everything. However, it is not many hours before Tess becomes a reluctant witness to something very strange, is it hallucination or reality? That becomes her mantra as time shifts again and again, but always to the same period. Though sometimes spending days in the past, she always arrives back moments after she "leaves".

The town is full of secrets, and yet they apparently are all related to one family, the Westons, the very family Tori was working for. Is it coincidence? Did she discover something hidden? Did she kill someone? Only the story will tell but the answer will be found buried in the past. A great read, passionate, mysterious, steadily building; a story of love, deceit, and jealousy through the ages. The characters are strong and full-fledged within both levels. I really enjoyed this book and look forward to more.

So glad to find a new and talented author. Erin Grady does a great job of interweaving the past and present stories of two woman. I remember what a great find the Diana Gabaldon Outlander book was when I first read it, and this is a similar find. It's not as long and involved, but it does provide that similar rich detail that makes it a history lesson and a great read.

I thought it was a phenomenal book with an intriguing plot, cover, and characters. I hope to read her other works. She is also a beautiful, talented, funny, charming, loving, and amazing person. I adored the book.

Erin Grady's "Echoes" follows the lives of two heroines, Tess and Molly, who find themselves searching for answers to a dangerous puzzle but in different times.

While Tess sorts through the secrets of a small California town trying to find out what happened to her sister, she is haunted by visions and experiences from the life of Molly who lived in the time of real cowboys, Indians and wagon trains heading west.

Their parallel adventures test both women's courage and force them to confront the confusion and reality of their feelings for the Weston men. Which one to trust? Who to believe? In the past and in the present Tess and Molly both struggle with the age old question of "Who do you trust?".

This is a real page turner, full of wonderful characters, mystery, history and romance. A great read!