6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A kiss to live for!, April 13, 2003
This review is from: A Kiss to Die for (Leisure Historical Romance) (Mass Market Paperback)
I really enjoyed Claudia Dain's TO BURN, but A KISS TO DIE FOR is light-years beyond that. Very strong in creating characters, leads and supporting, Claudia score of powerhouse knock out with this Western. And when you compared the two heroines it is amazing. In TO BURN, her heroine is a warrior woman in spirit, willing to die rather than be conquered. Anne Ross is precisely the opposite.
Dain's writing is mesmerizing. Let's say I am not a big fan of Westerns. Give me a Highlander in a Kilt or a Knight in Amour and I am one happy lassie. From the start, this book hooked me and would not let me go. I would get SO exasperated with Anne's "yes, ma'am"s that it about made me scream, but Dain balanced Anne's timid mouse with a gamma rouge of Anne Stuart's bad boy league quality: a bounty hunter the whole town of Abilene shuns. Jack Scullard was such a marvelous character that he kept me reading even when Anne ticked me off. Anne lets the whole town treat her like some half-wit, her grandmother demoralize her and browbeat her, so I wanted to smack her. But Anne slowly starts to change, as does the whole town, after Jack comes to stay, and her slow transformation from a milquetoast to a grown woman who will fight for what she wants keeps you spellbound to the end.
Anne Ross meets every train that comes to Abilene, watching, waiting. So she is there when Jack Scullard comes to town, shoving his latest bounty prisoner before him. The whole town is ready to jump and blame Jack for everything happening in the town, and he does little to correct this reputation. When it slowly becomes knowledge there is a serial killer following the old cattle trail, killing young beautiful women as he goes, suspicions falls on Jack. Or is it Bill doing the killing, the sly land dealer who courts Anne when he comes to town?
Anne lives in a house of abandoned women. Her grandfather left her grandmother, though we could hardly blame him. Her father left her mother; a lawman that turned bad and became an outlaw. Her uncle left her aunt, driven off by a woman too weak to stand up to her mother. And Anne, a beautiful woman too timid of her own shadow, watching the trains coming and going in her life, waiting, hoping for someone to come or to someday get enough spine to run away from a house of abandoned women, from a town that was dying.
At first, she hopes to use Jack to scare Bill away from proposing marriage, but she is drawn to Jack. But she knows to love a man is to watch him leave and never come back, to grow old before your time. Jack is on the trail of the killer and will not rest until him catching him. Jack knows he is not the kinds of a man a woman like Anne wants, but that does not stop him from wanting her, and from being determined to protect her.
Anne and Jack will take over your heart. The mystery is strong enough, but does not overpower the romance. The writing is vivid, rich in historical details, provocative, moving, mesmerizing, and once again, shows Dorchester Publishing has some of the best writers around and gives them the freedom to produce works from the heart that are fresh and original.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Couldn't put it down...twice, December 8, 2008
This review is from: A Kiss to Die for (Leisure Historical Romance) (Mass Market Paperback)
Wow. This was a truly great book. The twists were totally unexpected, several things occurred near the end that was just one shock after another. The characters were well-developed and extremely likable. And the hero's friends deserve books of their own. Unfortunately, Ms. Dain says that probably won't happen until western novels regain popularity...
I want to read it again...several times, in fact...maybe even right now... :)
(This review was written Nov 7, 2004)
Note: I did actually pick it up and read it again right after I had finished it. Although I already knew all the surprises and twists, I still loved it, still rated it a 5, and still enjoyed the suspense. It is an extremely well-written novel. There is a little too much detail in the love scenes, but otherwise, excellent story!
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Engrossing, February 17, 2004
By A Customer
This review is from: A Kiss to Die for (Leisure Historical Romance) (Mass Market Paperback)
This book kept me up until 2 AM, I just couldn't put it down. I don't usually read westerns and I've never read Ms. Dain before, so this was wonderful surprise. Though Anne's character was often frustrating, it was believable and well done--and it also made possible the efforts of an amazing hero, determined to make her stand up for herself and defend herself if it's the last thing he does. This is one of those books that really has it all--a good plot, complex characters, and lyrical writing. I'm dying to read some more of Ms. Dains books to see if she captures medieval England as well as she did the old west. Though I read and enjoy historical romances frequently, I rarely come across romances that deliver more than escape and enjoyment--this book ranks up there with Laura Kinsale and Connie Brockway in that it delivers much more than a simple escape--but a wonderful story and characters that stick with you long after the story is over.
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