Customer Reviews

Whispers at Midnight

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(12)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

Carly Linton left town years ago settling in Chicago runing a restaurant with her lawyer husband John. She's shocked when John announces that he not only is having an affair, but wants a divorce. Let pretty much penniless since he snuck all the assets out of the marriage, the only thing she has left is her childhood home, which was willed to her by her grandmother. She packs up all her belongings, as well as her best friend with the goal of turning said home into a B&B. Upon arrival, she meets up with the boy her took her virginity and broke her heart. Matt Converse, former long-haired, hell-raising, motorcycle-riding bad boy, is now the responsible town sheriff and "mother" to his three younger sisters (but still has that cycle). At first, they are antagonistic, but soon, when a burglar and a possible killer seem to have targeted her, she runs into his open arms. Of course, he makes it plain that he has no intention of a happily ever after that includes a wife, so they agree to a no-strings affair, which soon has both of them wondering what they were thinking, and the rest of the town hot and bothered when they keep catching them in compromising situations.

I typically eat up any story by Karen Robards. "Whispers at Midnight" was a hard one to get into for the first 200 pages or so. The first ten pages encompass a week; the next 190 or so are a span of a couple hours; far too much detail and little action. But once the story gets going, it does not let up. There's little mystery; the killer is kinda obvious, but once you make that hurdle over those first 200 pages, the action really starts heating up, and is non-stop until the last page. One of the highlights of the book is the relationship between Matt and his sisters - he is hopelessly whipped! Maybe a little condensing could have been done (the paperback is nearly 500 pages) to make it a tighter story.

In Whispers At Midnight Karen Robards takes us on a story of rekindled love, murder mystery, and overcoming your fears, Matt Converse is a community leader and sheriff with a bad boy past whose "I Don't Do Forever" rule is tested when Carly Linton returns to Benton, Georgia to heal from a devastating divorce and open a bed and breakfast.

Carly hasn't forgotten the magic of their prom night or the morning after when Matt withdrew from her life completely. Now the sheriff of Benton, he is a devoted brother, dedicated lawman and devastatingly handsome. Carly has sworn she has learned from her mistakes and promises herself to stay away from Matt. After several attacks on Carly, they are drawn together by necessity to find the person responsible. Can they find the love that was lost twenty years before? Who wants Carly silenced forever? Will their re-found love be strong enough for Matt to say, "For you, I do forever"

In a story with believable characters, we find that you can go back. The story brings two strong independent people together, by then learning to depend on each other. Seeing this seemingly tough man, turn to mush by his sisters was charming. I did feel that we should have seen more of the relationships of the sisters and friends to understand what was going on around the main characters. I would rate this book 4 roses and on the Sensuality Scale-Tangy. Overall a good read.

Following the divorce from her philandering husband, Carly Linton returns to her hometown of Benton, Georgia to open up a bed and breakfast. Her first view of her new home is the buns of her high school sweetheart Scraven County sheriff Matt Converse crawling under her porch.

Matt is looking into the disappearance of Marsha Hughes, whose boyfriend suffers from "raid rage" caused by steroids. The neighbors inform Matt that Marsha and Kevin had a fight, but did she just leave or did he kill her? Fearing for Carly when someone threatens her, Matt vows to keep her safe. As he carries a gun in his hand and a cocked pistol inside his underwear, Matt and Carly share sex and fall in love. However, she begins to recall her depressed memories of rape and sodomy as a child, while an unknown villain gives her the choice of leaving town alive or dying.

Readers who enjoy a romantic suspense thriller in which the hero either just shoots his wad or is in a three-legged state will want to read Karen Robards' latest tale. The story line contains tons of sex, though when Matt slept is a question as he either is investigating, protecting or lovemaking. When Matt and Carly are on stage, the plot is fun as the two argue, fuss, and share sex. However, the "Ding Dong the Donkeyman" villain requires quite a stretch to accept. Still fans of a heated southern romance with an accent on the boudoir rather than the police procedural will take pleasure in Ms. Robards' latest caper.

Harriet Klausner

In Whispers at Midnight, Karen Robards doesn't dissapoint.

Carly comes home to Georgia from Chicago to start a Bed and Breakfast in her childhood home. She never guessed that her first love and used-to-be best friend, the town bad boy Matt Converse, would not only still be there but be the county Sherriff as well.

Ms. Robards takes us through the ups and downs of Carly, who can't decide if she wants to pursue Matt and risk getting her heart broken again or just stay as far away from him as possible. Matt is torn between his passion for Carly and his passion for freedom. He has been raising his three sisters since he was in in early twenties and his mother died. As soon as his youngest sister starts college, Matt is planning on hitting the road.

The suspense in the book is pretty far out there. It wasn't believeable to me at all, but I still enjoyed this book immensely.

I am not going to get into the storyline of WHISPERS AT MIDNIGHT. It's already been said in many of the reviews here. I would rather let you know how this book made me feel. Wonderful! The dialogue between the Carly and Matt had me laughing aloud, as well as much of their silent thoughts about each other! And some of the situations were absolutely hysterical!!! This is the first book I've read by Robards that had so much humor in it. I was reading it during my son's orchestra rehearsal and tried my best not to guffaw in the auditorium ... so I sat silently reading with a foolish grin on my face! Not only did this book have great humor, but you really believed Carly and Matt had it bad for each other! There was sizzling sexual chemistry between them, hot sensual lovemaking scenes, and an evil twisted murderer who gave me the creeps, not to mention suspenseful scenes that had me on the edge of my seat! LOL ... and through it all, poor Matt was totally overwhelmed, outnumbered and surrounded by females ... 3 sisters, Carly and her friend Sandra all packed into his little house. Not to mention the adorable cat Hugo and dog Annie who also added to the smile/laugh factor. WHISPERS AT MIDNIGHT was a throughly enjoyable read!!! A definite keeper!!!

I bought this book from my neighborhood store I actually picked it up twice before laid it back down. Several days later after reading several reviews I picked it up again and bought it and I'm so glad I did. An all around fun and enjoyable read for me. Carly Litton and Matt Converse excellent main characters, but what drew me in were her secondary characters Sandra and Matt's younger sister I enjoyed all of them. The animals were excellent and I'm so pleased that she took Marcia's little dog in. My only quibble was Donkey-Man I wish she could have explained his history a little more. I will not review the story you will have to read the book yourelf, but if you enjoy excitement, humor ,action and suspense read this book. I will be looking for more of her books.

Even though I liked Matt and Carly, I just didn't love them. There was something too glib about the both of them and they seemed to lack the depth that most of Robards' characters usually have.

We are given a great deal of information about the history of their relationship, but I would have liked to see more about their own personal histories. Yes, we get some, but I felt I needed more to really make these characters tangible.

For example, we know that Carly just got through a nasty divorce, that her ex cheated, and that he was slim and wore glasses, but what else? What was their relationship like when they met, towards the end? How did they meet? Did he sweep her off her feet? I mean, he must have been halfway interesting to win her affection, since she had been in love with Matt since puberty. Or, did she ever really even love her husband?
I feel this information is needed because it was a significant portion of her life, regardless of how good or bad. It would have shaped who she is.

Carly is mostly presented as sarcastic, flippant, and, well, whiny. Don't get me wrong, at times these qualities can be, and were, entertaining, but she was like that MOST of the time! Halfway through, it became annoying and I began to lose sympathy for her. She really spent too much time doing the whole "woe-is me!" thing for me to be on her side completely.

Additionally, considering the history Matt and Carly share, there was just so much potential for more passionate, rich interchange between the characters that, sadly, Robards didn't explore this time around.

I'm still happy that I bought the book and am sure that I will re-read it several more times, as I do with all of Robards' novels--just with a little less enthusiasm than usual.

"Whispers At Midnight" is great fun. It is a fast-paced, light read with just enough action and romance to keep things from getting stale. Although there is a murder mystery to solve and some creepy suspense, it never gets heavy and bogged down in CSI details. We have Carly, our spunky heroine, who has moved from the big city to a small town after her divorce, but she is not jaded or cynical. She likes the small town. So we like it, too. And we have our hero, Matt, who is both a responsible citizen and a bit of a romantic rogue. The supporting cast is kept to a manageable size with minimum development so we are not sidetracked from the main characters. It reminded me of a Janet Evanovich novel because sometimes it was just plain corny and made me want to laugh out loud. This book is great because; the main characters are over 30; the main characters are not rich; and the people eat real food. More sexy romance than sex. A good read for a day when you are feeling a little down and want a pick-me-up.

Hurting from an ugly divorce, Carly Linton is ready for a new start, so she goes back to her beginnings, a small town in Georgia, hoping to start a bed and breakfast.

Life is never that simple. The boy she had one special night with long ago has turned from bad to good and become the sherriff. Maybe she would not have to see Matt Converse much even in a town so small, but finding a dead body on one's property tends to make the sherriff come around. Carly and Matt are thrown together, especially after the murderer targets her for his next victim. Matt is all that stands between Carly and death. As she comes under his protective wing, Carly finds her way back into Matt's heart.

***** Karen Robards has struck gold with this book. Suspense and romance will keep the reader enthralled as the pages rapidly turn. Not only is Matt and Carly's story compelling, but the suppporting cast adds color and life to this well crafted, tightly woven plot. *****
Reviewed by Amanda

Carly Linton has returned with a girlfriend to her hometown after a difficult divorce to establish a B&B in her deceased grandmother's home. They arrive to find the local county sheriff crawling around in the dark under the porch, after having received a call from a nosy elderly neighbor claiming she saw something suspicious there. He turns out to be Matt Converse, whom Carly was best friends with thru high school until prom night when they got carried away and went all the way sexually. Matt was embarrassed by his lack of control and avoided her after that leaving Carly hurt and puzzled. Now he is the county sheriff and is investigating the disappearance of Marsha Hughes. When Carly starts to get settled in someone threatens her and Matt vows to keep her safe-even if the only way is for her and her girlfriend to move into his home that he shares with 3 younger sisters. Talk about Matt being out-numbered now with a all female home. This time allows for the feelings that Carlyl and Matt both felt for each other years ago to be explored and sparks to turn into flames. And all along someone is stalking Carly. It is a romantic suspence thriller with humor thrown in at times. I agree it's not KR's best- but it's still worth the read.