Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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67 of 89 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Best Linda Howard in Years!!!, July 4, 2008
This is truly a story of redeeming love, and I loved it. Linda Howard has taken some truly unlikeable characters and because of a life changing miracle given us two truly memorable characters. The first few chapters led me to believe it was like some of her other books and I started to put it down. But the cover said something about a miracle so I kept reading and am I glad I did.
Drea Rousseau is the mistress of a mobster. She is smart enough to act very dumb. She was raised poor and determined to have the best in life she could get. She has been his mistress for two years. At the age of 15 she got pregnant and when she lost the baby she lost her self. That was when she decided to go for everything she wanted. Using her body and her wits she has climbed to the penthouse of a mobster.
The assassin is unknown and we don't learn his name until the end of the book. The mobster uses him for the most deadly hits on his competitors. He always gets the job done and his very cold deadly glance gives even Salinas cold chills.
As the book starts he is facing Salinas, who wants to give him a bonus for his good work. A hundred thousand extra dollars, but the assassin asks for Drea for one time. He is testing how far Salinas will go to humor him. Drea considers herself a mistress not a ho. Now however she can't believe Salinas will give her to this man.
Drea spends four hours with the assassin and her life is changed in ways she doesn't understand. She asks him to take her with him, but he laughs and leaves. At that time her hatred for Salinas is unstoppable and she puts her get away plans into motion.
Salinas naturally calls on the assassin to take her out. From this point on I could not put it down. It is truly one of the best books by Howard I have read in many yrs. Do not miss this one.
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19 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Two Books In One, July 19, 2008
Drea Rousseau has been the mistress of a drug lord, Rafael, for almost 2 years. She sits and paints her nails, shops and in general, acts like the stupidest woman in the world. Simon Goodnight is a hit man that is occasionally hired to kill people by Rafael. All 3 main characters are pretty dark with little redeeming qualities. At the beginning of the book Simon is asked to make a high profile hit by Rafael. Simon tells Rafael it's a little risky, so as a bonus he wants to sleep with Drea. Rafael casually agrees and leaves the apartment for 5 hours, so that Simon can collect his bonus. What follows is one of the few sex scenes in the entire book, but it is an essential one, because the entire book's plot rests on it. And what a scene it is! You should be required to read the book with pot holders. Anyway, after Simon leaves, Drea is completely and totally furious and decides it's time to show Rafael the woman he has REALLY been living with for two years. Drea proceeds to rob Rafael of 2,100,000 dollars plus jewelry and almost gets away until Rafael hires Simon to find her and kill her. The whole thing is just great.
The first half of this book is a romantic, sexy suspense, and what a book it is. I was absolutely and totally in love with both Simon and Drea. They were crooked, callous and unapologetically bad. It was great. The problem with the book was the second half. We went from realistic suspense to a romantic fantasy on page 162. From that point on the author brought in supernatural details, visions, psychic powers and in general, redeemed both characters and totally whitewashed them to bring about the ending. I absolutely hated it (and I am normally a huge fan of paranormal romances). These two were so absolutely different from any other characters and their motivations were so priceless, that changing them was like destroying a work of art. If Linda Howard was my neighbor, I would have been banging on her door at 3:00 a.m. last night to tell her how great the first half of her new book was and how bad she took a truly excellent, excellent book and screwed it up in the 2nd half. (Only half joking.)
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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Death makes angels of us all and gives us wings where we had shoulders smooth as ravens claws.-Jim Morrison, October 6, 2008
Drea Rousseau has not lived a good life. At a very young age she learned about heartache and as a result has gone through great lengths to make sure she would never feel that again. Using her wits and her body she has spent her years manipulating men into getting what she wants and playing whatever role is needed.
As an arm-charm to a ruthless drug lord and criminal, Drea thought she had it pretty good. She had no delusions about what their relationship was or was not, she was just taking one day at a time always knowing the end was coming. One afternoon he surprises her by treating her rather callously and for Drea that makes the end of their relationship come a lot sooner than expected.
But even as she makes her escape life throws yet another monkey wrench in the works and Drea's life and outlook is irrevocably changed, forever. What once seemed so important isn't anymore and she works hard to make every moment of this second chance count.
I thought this book was incredible; filled with twists and turns and completely unpredictable. From page one it was clear that this tale was going to be daringly different from any other romantic suspense novel I have read. The two main characters aren't nice people and I really shouldn't have cared for either one, but the way they are written, despite their flaws, I felt and fell for both. These aren't two people that you expect to be stars in a romance novel, but it is their unique characters that make this book so great. Both had led shallow and selfish existences and aren't very apologetic about it. But with the second chance that Drea faces, they both rediscover life, one another and are struck by the power of love.
Truly a wonderful story filled with some heartbreaking, fantastic and miraculous moments; I loved ever word of it.
Cherise Everhard October 2008
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