March 17, 2003
On Christmas Eve, Julie Barenson, 25 years old and newly widowed, finds an unexpected present—a Great Dane pup that her late husband, Jim, had arranged for her to receive after he died from a brain tumor. On that melodramatic note, bestselling author Sparks (Nights in Rodanthe) begins his latest love story, one in which he combines elements of romance with those of a thriller. Julie's new dog, Singer, turns out to be a better judge of character than she, which is unfortunate because the dog nearly gives away the book's ending when he growls warily at Richard Franklin, the new man in Julie's life. On the other hand, the pooch loves to be around Mike Harris, Jim's best friend, who has grown to love Julie. Richard's increasingly bizarre behavior causes Julie to break up with him, and his subsequent stalker tactics make for compelling action, especially when he plots to destroy the budding romance between Julie and Mike. But the writing is lax at best, with multiple point-of-view shifts in the course of one page or even one paragraph. Secondary characters are two-dimensional, such as Pete, the dumb cop who is taken in by the scheming Richard, and Andrea, Julie's co-worker at the local hair salon, a low-class broad from the wrong side of the tracks who might as well have "next victim" tattooed on her forehead. Yet Sparks fans clamor for his brand of love story, and, with the added punch of suspense, this one will be another bestseller. Agent, Theresa Park.
Starred review from April 28, 1997
Gripping, suspenseful first-person narrative from top-ranked Regency historical author Wolf (The Deception) will remind readers why they love the genre. Cool, self-possessed beauty Annabelle Grandville's privileged world is shaken when her first love, Stephen Grandville, returns to Weston, the family estate on the Sussex Downs, as guardian to new earl Giles, his nephew... and her young son. Stephen's five-year Jamaica exile had sent Annabelle into his now-deceased brother's arms. Can their once-passionate love affair be rekindled? Annabelle barely has time to ponder the possibilities before murder attempts are made on Stephen's and Giles's lives. Suddenly, every Grandville family member stands suspect, and Annabelle's no longer sure whom she can trust. Smartly plotted, with funny, believable dialogue and a large, consistently well-drawn cast of characters, this is romance writing at its best.