Customer Reviews

Return to Me

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Return To Me by Shannon McKenna has all the hallmarks you love in her books' passion, laughter and suspense.

Simon Riley is returning home to tend to his late uncles estate. When he was just a young man, he couldn't get out of town fast enough. Everyone had labeled him a bad seed, all but Ellen Kent.

Ellen thought she had put her young love for Simon behind her. She is engaged to another man and running a successful inn. But seeing Simon again has made her question her true feelings.

As Simon works his way back into her life, danger is lurking in the wings. Simon's uncles death was ruled a suicide but things are not adding up and someone wants to keep the truth quiet.

Ellen and Simon have an attraction that is incredible. Each time they connect is more erotic and passionate then the last.

Shannon McKenna tells a tale that will make you reach for the fan to cool off. She is an auto-buy for me and will be looking forward to her next book.

This story to date has been my favorite by Ms. McKenna and I've read all of her stories. We meet a whole new group of people and the storyline is entertaining. So if you have read all of her full length novels your in for a treat. This book is very different from "Behind Closed Doors" and "Standing In The Shadows". This is more of a downhome story with the characters all having had a past history together. They grew up experienced good times/bad times...you get the picture. There is a slight suspense storyline in the background. The main focus of this story is the renewed relationship between the towns "bad boy" Simon Riley and the "good-girl" Ellen Kent.

The chemistry between Ellen and Simon is both sweet and explosive. It was very entertaining to read how these two very different people managed to face that which scared them the most and how they each could be the strength for the other. While at the same time trying to figure out if Simon's uncle killed himself or was murdered.

This was a fast paced read that kept moving. There were no slow spots to drag down the story. Secondary characters and flashbacks help with the background that was missing. Ms. McKenna is a truly gifted storyteller and one that I highly recommend!

Now I've read some of the negative reviews and I honestly don't get it. I didn't see Simon as a neanderthal or as being into dominance sexually at all.

In fact, I saw Simon as one of those people who has opened himself up a few times to other people and has been kicked in the teeth because of it. He's lonely and lost and needs love but he can't bear to get hurt or lose another person. He takes pictures because you can watch life through the lens but you don't have to live it that way.

Ellen is a woman who has loved this wounded man for most of her life. Yes, he walked out 17 years before and she's always held him in the back of her mind but she gets him in a way that others don't.

So it seems to me, utterly natural that they'd both be fumbling around, messing things up over it. Simon in his defensive mode and Ellen, feeling frustrated at that defense but understanding it all the same.

I liked the tension between Ellen and Simon better than that between Connor and Erin in Standing in the Shadows and the story caught me much quicker than SIS did. In fact, Ellen is much less a damsel in distress than Erin was and I liked her more although there was a point at which I wish she'd told her future mother in law to shut up.

One thing that did puzzle me was the 180 degree change in some of the characters like Brad. He starts off a jerk but ends up a hurt boy who fights to get his real love back, I couldn't really find the logical place where that happened.

Overall though, Return to Me appealed to me more than Standing in the Shadows but I've loved all three of McKenna's full length books as well as the short stories she's done. All hail the misunderstood bad boy.

This is the fourth or fifth book I've read by Shannon Mckenna. I've loved them all, and this one is just as good as the others. Basically, hot bad boy Simon is back in town to investigate his uncle's mysterious death, and he hooks up with the girl whose heart he broke 17 years ago. There's a little mystery and some danger, and Simon does some struggling with his inner demons, but it's mostly love story and love scenes and overall, pretty convincing. And very, very hot.

Simon is a bit different from the author's other heros - not as needy, and he doesn't whine as much. He does speak in slightly too flowery prose for a studly bad boy on occasion, but it's not as bad as some of the out-of-character moments in the author's other books.

There is the usual bad guy stalker plot going on in the background, but for once it stays in the background, which was kind of a relief since the hot love scenes were more interesting anyway. And although the bad guy is yet another whacko serial killer, he's ever so slightly more believable than the author's other whacko serial killers, who are always a bit too evil to be taken seriously.

Another plus for this book is that there is less conversation in the midst of the love scenes - this author has a tendency to have characters speak in whole paragraphs while making love, which is always a little annoying. It's more toned down, here.

To sum up, I couldn't put it down and read the whole thing in about two days.

This book was such a disappointment, and I'm beginning to suspect that Ms. McKenna was a one-hit wonder. Her full-length-novel debut, Behind Closed Doors, was absolutely sensational, even if her alpha male hero was a bit overdone. Her next effort, Standing in the Shadows, was mainly a rewrite of the first book, with the main characters' names changed. It had the same villain, same plot, same schizophrenic, insecure hero, and insecure, wimpy heroine. But at least the second book had a plot that made sense. Return to Me has only the weaknesses of her first two books (schizophrenic hero, wimpy heroine, etc.) but none of the plot strengths. The plot, in fact, made almost no sense. The main characters were incredibly two-dimensional and, therefore, extremely irritating. Simon was the small town bad boy who was essentially run out of town when falsely accused of burning down a barn. After seventeen years of serving in the Marines and working as a photojournalist in some of the world's hell holes (Bosnia and Afghanistan), you'd think he'd have gained some perspective, and gotten over his past (which really didn't seem that bad to me). Alas, Simon seems only to have gained an even more bleak, self-absorbed conviction that he is some sort of bad luck charm who can only wreak havoc on his hometown upon his return. It's really quite pathetic, and the fact that he's gorgeous and has a great bod and is generous in the oral sex department doesn't help make him appealing. He's quite pitiful really, and the only thing more pitiful is watching Ellen attempt to help him get over himself. Why does she bother? is what I kept asking, over and over.

Also, we get no sense of who Ellen is, and how she got there. She's a pushover, but we don't know why. She's never stepped foot out of their hometown, but we don't know why. Also, she's never read a single one of Simon's famous pieces on Bosnia or Afghanistan, but we don't know why. Does this woman never read magazines? She's supposedly compared every man she's met for the past seventeen years to Simon, but she's never discovered that he was an award-winning photojournalist? Even her mother is painted inconsistently: at first she's an overbearing bitch to Ellen, then she's all nice and accepting of Simon, for no good reason. These are the types of details that are consistently missing from Ms. McKenna's books. This was essentially a Harlequin-esque romance novel that should have been 200 pages, but was stretched to twice that length with extra sex scenes, and extra Simon-feeling-sorry-for-himself scenes. I'm getting the sense that Ms. McKenna's strength is writing short stories like those found in the Bad Boy series. If she's going to continue writing full-length novels, I hope she takes more time to conceive and flesh out more interesting plots and characters.

Inexplicably, I found the characters of Cora and Brad to be the most interesting and best written. Unlike Ellen and Simon, you got a good sense of who they were in their pasts, why they made the mistakes they did, and how they're trying to change. That's why, unlike Ellen and Simon, you find yourself rooting for them, and hoping that things work out for them.

One last thing: like many of other reviewers, I thought the sex scenes were hot. But, I'm getting tired of the author's hero's bull-in-a-china-closet approach to sex. Would it kill them to use some finesse once in a while? Does sex with these guys always have to be a full-on assault? And must the heroes in her books talk so much during sex? It was actually quite distracting, and detracted from the affect in my opinion. I kept hoping Simon would just shut up, already.

My advice: buy this one used or, better yet, check it out at the library for free.

By now you are probably aware of Ms. Mckenna's incendiary style of writing from her first two novels Behind Closed Doors and Standing In The Shadows.It's a definative style that you will either love or hate.

In Return To Me Ms.Mckenna keeps tradition and the heat well and truly turned up. The mystery/plot in this one is not as strong as her previous novels but for pure erotic escapism you can't buy a better read. The characters are appealing and sexy and my only quibble would be the naivete displayed by the heroine at the age of 32, it was slightly unreal in places ~ namely with her fiance at the start of the story.

However, overall it was a really enjoyable and sexy read and I look forward to the next one.

Seventeen years ago Simon Riley fled LaRue, Oregon because of his crazy uncle and a stable fire he caused to become a famous photojournalist. He finally comes home to learn what happened to Uncle Gus, who five months ago apparently committed suicide. However, the email Gus sent that same day to Simon sounded paranoid not suicidal as his uncle mentioned he has proof that will shock everyone. Simon wants to find out what Gus alluded to though returning hurts.

When Gus' house is not fit to stay in Simon takes a room at El Kent's B&B. She was his girlfriend when he left town and is angry with him for never returning for her. El treats Simon like a guest, not the person she always dreamed would come back for her. Simon is upset that she is engaged to Brad Mitchell as the attraction between him and El is still hot. She informs him that she never forgot him, but no longer lives for dreams. Neither realizes that the person who Gus was trying to expose is crazy and willing to kill again.

This is an interesting romantic suspense due to the strong attraction between the two lead protagonists and a wonderful mystery involving the hero's uncle as holding proof of something or was delusional. Simon can become irritating with his saying that he only causes trouble and his constant leaving, but readers will root for him and the courageous heroine to make it. Though the villain is so crazy he could not hide his insanity as he did for decades, fans will enjoy this you can come home for a second chance at love.

Harriet Klausner

What an utterly fantastic book! I wasn't sure what to expect from it since it was a book I randomly picked up the library. It just looked interesting, and since I love romantic suspense (and that's what it was labeled as) I thought, what the hell, why not? And I ended up loving the book, even though it was completely not what I expected.

Return To Me is best described as a thoroughly primal, raw, passionate, story. It's extremely erotic. It might not be the most sophisticated story in terms of language, style, and plot, but it more than makes up for it with bold sexuality, strong characters, and an interesting storyline. Though the book is classified as a romantic suspense, it is not on the level on your typical book of that genre. The suspense plot is subtle, more of a background aspect, and there's not a lot of guess-work involved. The story is more focused on the characters themselves, but it works for the book.

Simon is the typical tortured, bad boy hero and I was instantly fascinated by him. He's so internally conflicted about what he wants, what he deserves, and the demons from his past, but yet he doesn't lost that Alpha male personality. I just wanted to give him a big hug. Ellen is the polar opposite...the shy, wealthy, good girl. It's one of my favorite dynamics in romance books. The depth of the characters is fairly thorough. There were a few points I thought could have been better explored, but for the most they had nice dimension. They had a powerful chemistry together, but were constantly fighting themselves over preconceptions, deservedness, and a host of other issues. Their relationship was very push-pull. I was rooting for them from the beginning.

The book - though I adored it - isn't for everyone. With such a strong, in-your-face sexuality throughout the entire story, there are a lot of people who won't care for it. There's nothing pretty or tame about the sex in the book. It's down and dirty and raw, but passionate at the same time. It's one of the things I loved most about the story. I've always wanted to read a romance book with a high level of eroticism but yet a complete romance. It's just not something you tend to find in the mainstream. Sex is more pretty and mild in those and more about the romance, which is fine most of the time. There's a lot of erotica on the 'net, but those are generally just gratuitous sex with no romance or just a smidge. So it was exciting to find a book with a bold sexuality and yet a wonderful romance to go with it. But with that said, like I stated previously, Return To Me won't appeal to everyone. If you like your sex on the vanilla side and sporadically occurring, then you'll hate the book so DON'T READ IT!, but if you like some chocolate with your sex you'll love it as much as much as I did.

So...fantastic book in my opinion. I can't wait to go find more of McKenna's stories.

This book is similar to Hot Night and Jaid Black's One Dark Night in that the villain is a psychotic sociopath. Simon is a photojournalist who is convinced that he brings disasters with him where ever he goes and a child hood lover of El who is very beautiful and engaged to the son of wealthy socialites; Brad but the engagement is in trouble because they thought she owned the mansion her bead and breakfast is in when she paid her mother for it and owes the bank big time. The problems are compounded by Brads overbearing ways and his bitch of a mother. The plot is OK but not nearly as well done as Hot Night and Simon's inability to commit to EL is not convincing. The characters are alright and the sex scenes well written with a little Ds (Simon and El both switch roles).

Flawed but not horrid and a decent read.

I am a huge Shannon McKenna fan after reading her first novel, which was excellent. Great story, great hero and heroine and the love scenes were incredible! I also enjoyed her second novel which was a continuation of the first.

This third novel is a letdown. The plot is underdeveloped; our hero, Simon, is very annoying and actually so is our heroine, Ellen. The only characters I really like are Brad and Cora who should have been developed more, and Ellen's mom who becomes likable about half way through the book.

Simon is a bad boy who left town 17 years ago after a barn burned down and he was accused of the crime. The entire town thought he was guilty back then and when he returns to town, they still think of him as a "bad seed" even though now he is a famous photojournalist. Simon is not only smart, tall, dark and sexy, but he is also very rich. So knowing all this about our hero, it is very annoying that throughout the entire book he lets every loser in town intimidate and upset him from the local sheriff to the local backwards townsfolk still living there. He has more issues than most women. And every time he gets upset he runs away.

Now the girl he left behind is Ellen. She has never left town and has opened up a successful bed and breakfast. She is about to be married when Simon returns. Once Simon returns and meets Ellen again, they are instantly attracted to each other. At the same time, Simon is insanely jealous of Ellen when he finds out she is about to be married. He is crushed and heartbroken but spends many moments whining that he is not good enough for her and will bring her bad luck. The remainder of the plot is Simon cleaning out his uncle Gus' home, trying to determine if Gus' death was a suicide, and trying to figure out what to do about Ellen.

This character was very weak and I usually get major pleasure from the love scenes between Ms. McKenna's characters, and even that seemed watered down in this novel.

This book is an average read but I still like her novels and will be looking forward to the next one.