Taming the Night [Mass Market Paperback]

Paula Detmer Riggs (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 26, 1998

The award-winning author of twenty-five beloved romances, Paula Detmer Riggs now turns her superb talents to a compelling new love story.  

Dr. Summer Laurence knows the horror of addiction from the wrong side. But after life-changing therapy, she becomes a drug counselor, hoping to help young kids before they get into trouble. When Summer's dear friend Dottie offers her an old house to convert into a counseling facility, Summer jumps at the chance to make her Phoenix Ranch dream come true.

There's only one problem:  Dottie's suspicious nephew, Brody Hollister, the local chief of police.  Brody despises drug users and thinks counseling is useless for most of them.  But there is something about Summer he can't ignore.  Her smile touches a place in his heart that was damaged on a terrible night years ago. He no longer believes in second chances, least of all for himself. Yet when he's in Summer's arms, he is tempted by possibilities. . . .

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Psychologist Summer Laurence has survived emotional devastation by focusing solely on her career. Her dream of opening an inpatient treatment home for teenagers struggling with substance abuse is about to come true, thanks to a wonderful woman with a generous heart. Unfortunately, her benefactor has a nephew--and that nephew has a past that is as traumatic as Summer's. Policeman Brody Hollister doesn't want Summer anywhere near his aunt and he definitely doesn't want her opening a treatment home next door. Summer and Brody's careers place them squarely at odds even as they are drawn together by a powerful attraction, and just when Summer allows herself to hope for a future with the handsome cop, Brody's concerns about the safety of her treatment center are tested. In his worst nightmares, however, he could never have imagined the danger that threatens the women he loves. Can Brody solve the mystery and save the people that he holds so dear? Compelling characters and a well-structured plot that includes a surprise twist make Taming the Night an entertaining read from an author to watch. --Lois Faye Dyer

From Booklist

Dr. Summer Laurence will never forget when she was 17, pregnant, and abandoned by her wealthy family. A drug user, she was sent to prison on trumped-up charges brought by her lover, an undercover cop who used her for his advancement on the force. She emerges from her ordeal determined to keep other kids from using drugs, and so she becomes a psychologist specializing in treating teens with addiction problems. After presenting a lecture, she meets Dottie Hollister, who offers her an ideal house for her rehabilitation practice in a small Washington tourist town, but when she arrives, she finds opposition in the form of Dottie's nephew, Brody, the chief of police. Summer and Brody are drawn to each other in spite of their mutual dislike and distrust of each other's professions, and their love, a cast of complex characters, and a realistic approach to teenage addiction all make this an interesting and enjoyable contemporary romance. Patty Engelmann

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback
• Publisher: Ivy Books (December 26, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0449150194
• ISBN-13: 978-0449150191
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,175,707 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A winner by Paula Detmer Riggs!, June 11, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Taming the Night (Mass Market Paperback)

Taming the Night was the first book I've read by Paula Detmer Riggs, and I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised. This was a story about two stuboorn, inperfect people finding love.

When Summer Laurence was only 17 years old, she falls in with the wrong crowd and becomes pregnant and addicted to drugs. After she spends 30 months in jail and has her baby taken away, Summer is deYtermined to turn her life around. Armed with a PHD, Dr. Summer Laurence finds herself in Osuma, Washington getting ready to start her dream, opening a counseling facility for drug addicted children. What she didn't count on was her benefactor's nephew, Brody Hollister, the local sherrif.

After Brody's wife is killed by a drug addict out for revenge, Brody vows never to trust drug addicts again and as chief of police, he will not tolerate Phoenix House. Neither Brody or Summer expected the strong attraction they felt for eachother. The two must work through their problems to find love.

I highly recommend this book. The only question I have is this: Coming from the Pacific Northwest I know exactly what area this book is set in. It's called Leavanworth, Washington, not Osuma! The only thing I could guess was that the author didn't want more hoards of tourists coming to the most beautiful area in the state of Washington.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Probably One of The Best Books This Year, March 5, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Taming the Night (Mass Market Paperback)

Paula Detmer Riggs has joined the Full-Length Novel World! Pop the champagne - "Taming The Night" is fabulous!

The emotional sizzle in this book is hot enough to barbeque a thick slab of steak. Both the characters have very heartwrenchingly-painful past, but to the author's credit, there are no self-pitying or long winded hate-you-love-you quarrels. No, this is a wonderful story of the healing power of life. A reaffirming testimony on the strength of the human soul.

The secondary romance of Brody's aunt is equally poignant, while the suspense is good - the author had me smugly assuming I know who the bad seed is, but I was so wrong!

I can't wait for her next book. Write faster, Paula!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Splendid!, February 3, 1999

By 

C. Jager (Northern Pacific USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Taming the Night (Mass Market Paperback)

Paula Detmer Riggs has made a splendid move from category to single title romance. TAMING THE NIGHT is a wonderful book with real-life characters who have seen more than their share of tragedy. Still, they keep trying, until the day that fate (in the form of a wonderful secondary character, Aunt Dottie) steps in to pit them against each other. Life has taught both Summer and Brody some hard lessons, putting them on opposite sides of the same issue.

What makes this book stand out is the deft way Paula Detmer Riggs crafted real characters with a full range of emotions--and the ability to love. Summer, especially, is open and loving and willing to take a chance on a man who has never had the love he deserved. In Brody, we have a hero whose gentler nature has been buried by the need to survive. His struggle to rediscover that part of himself for the woman he loves reminded me of exactly why I read romances in the first place.

An admittedly cynical reader, I was thrilled to be surprised by the ending. If you're looking for a book to keep you turning the pages until the very last one--and then you're sorry it's over--TAMING THE NIGHT is for you. Bravo, Ms. Riggs!