Customer Reviews

Her Sister's Secret (Harlequin Superromance, No. 923)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Linda Style has penned a marvelous tale of love and family that will bring tears to your eyes and joy to your heart. Definitely a keeper!

Linda Style has written a fantastic novel that touches the deepest emotions. A real page turner, Her Sister's Secret will pull you in and keep you rooting for the fresh, unique and believable chracters. Run, don't walk, to buy this one. Look for many more to come from this exciting new author.

I loved this book! The characters were real and unique, the conflict was compelling, and the story was a page turner. I couldn't put it down--except to reach for tissues for the last few pages. A wonderful story and a talented writer.

"Her Sister's Secret" is a pleasing blend of romance, unique plot twists and plenty of sexual tension. Style's characters come to life in a colorful and engaging fashion. It's a great read from front to back, and a book you definitely won't want to put down!

Linda Style weaves a compelling, can't-put-it-down romance with a colorful cast of characters, and super plot twists.

The setting is a picturesque Arizona mountain town, the story is full of family secrets, and the impetus driving the two main characters is a delightful little girl named SaraJane, who must be rescued from her uncertain fate, at any cost.

Whitney, the heroine, goes into devious mode to find the little girl. She comes up with an ingenious lie to get close to her. Throughout the entire story, she is creative, clever, and talented to boot. Did I mention she's gorgeous?

The hero? Linda Style puts a new spin on the word "bad boy." You can't help falling for Rhys Gannon, the man with the cobalt eyes and the loud motorcycle! He's bad, no wait -- he's good -- aw heck, even when he's bad, he's good!

If you like the combination of dangerous man, adventurous woman, get out the hankies and the chocolates, because this romance is one you will never forget.

I'd LOVE to see this book made into a movie. Hollywood, are you listening?

-- Eve Paludan, author of 3 editions of The Romance Writer's Pink Pages

I have to admit that Linda is my former sister in law, and that although she and my brother are no longer married, she is still a special person to us all. I am therefore not a totally unbiased reviewer. That said, I continue.

From the very first time we met, Linda has always wanted to be a writer. We share this in common, which is probably why I admire her so much. Although it has taken her a lot of hard work and through many an interesting detour, I think that much that she has learned in her own life has in fact made her a very good writer. This, her first book, illustrates that. I am generally not given to reading narrative prose. (You can tell this from my other reviews). I haven't the patience for it, probably because I work in a surgical ICU in a teaching hospital and that introduces me to more than my share of emotional ups and downs and heart tugging stories. So when I read Linda's book, I did so as a "critic" rather than a devotee of the genre.

Her Sister's Secret is well plotted and consistent throughout, with wonderfully descriptive passages that bring Arizona and the southwest vividly to mind. Linda has had a wide range of professional experiences, and I can see that she has enlisted a number of her interests to create real characters in real situations. Just as her main character Whitney, Linda worked on a degree in photography (at the University of Minnesota) and has done some first rate work: I possess several of her photos framed and on display in my own home. Just as the main romantic character Rhys Gannon, my brother was, off and on, a motorcycle enthusiast, though not as skilled or as knowledgeable as Rhys. Linda worked as a social worker for several years and has knowledge of some of the social tragedies that divide families and motivate the types of distrust that the central characters exhibit She also has children of her own to whom she is very devoted and for whom she has made personal sacrifices, so she understands the decisions one makes for the benefit of loved ones. This makes the narrative ring true. It's poignant not saccharin. Whitney, Rhys and Morgan (the sister) and the ancillary characters are real people caught up in real dramas who learn real lessons. A wonderful first book.

Disappointing doesn't even come close!

I just like reading Linda's Style books. It started with the Texas Hold'em series, that I enjoyed so much and since then I've been buying her books. To my regrets I have to say the Sister's Secrets must have been written while the author was bored or someone was after her to write something and the deadline was near. I don't think I'll be buying another LS's book any time soon.
It usually takes me one to two days to read a book, this one took me six months and in between I've read countless books. The book is simply awfully boring, and then again, you can feel that no thoughts were given to what was being put on the pages. Here is what went on in the very first chapter an up to page 79:
* The sister left when she was very young and couldn't be located; she married; had a child and wants her big sister to take care of the child. Okay!
* The older sister never saw the child, didn't even know that the younger sister had a baby. Okay!
* Then, the older sister saw the baby when the baby turned one. O-kay!!?!
* She didn't know what name the younger sister was using, yet they met, and she never asked? Then, she tells how much love she's got for her younger sister. Really! She left at 17 and you never tried to track her down to see how she was living and you love her so much!?!
* Then, the older sister never saw the baby, didn't know her name, and didn't know when she was born. o-o-okay!!! Then, she didn't know in which hospital the baby was born. She didn't know in what city? etc..., etc... When they met, why didn't she ask? If you love your sister and her baby you want to know everything about them. No? Now, you can see that the author was writing in her sleep. I don't blame her. I blame the editing, for they should have caught up with the inconsistencies.

The story is repetitive and filled with contradictions. Could it be because the author had a deadline to meet? I said enough, already! And put the book to sleep for weeks, then I picked it up again. I've struggled to finish it and skipped through the pages. It still took me a long time to finish, for every time she mentioned knowing and then not knowing about the baby; I got annoyed and put the book down.

Okay! We got it! She knew but didn't know what she didn't know! We got it! Let's move on. The heroine is a millionaire, yet, she couldn't use some of that money to locate her sister, that she professes to love so much. Nowadays, there are ways to locate someone from the wombs of Erebus. You truly have to stretch your imagination to keep up with the story line.

Here is a stunner: the hero is 30 years olds. He has a son who is 21 who was married and with a child of his own. The hero was married to the mother of his son for 5 years; you do the math!

A second one: on page 121 "only men sleep after having sex." Hum! O-o-okay! It must be news to some of us women!

As I said earlier, the story is awfully dull and flat, with underdeveloped and one-dimensional characters. The plot is rather predictable for you know they were going to jump into bed.

There was never one endearing word between the child and the hero, who the heroine assumed was the father of the child, so much so, that when she learned of their true relationship she was surprised. I guess this information was supposed to rock the reader, but it left this one cold, because, when you think about it, the hero must have been too young to marry.

I like Linda Style's books, which is the reason I'm giving this one 2 stars!

Disclaimer: this isn't really a book review as usually books review is supposed to be character development, etc... It is rather about what I think of a book that I've struggle to read.