Can ya help a sistah out?

Saturday, September 30, 2006

Michelle Willingham confesses in the post below, she's never read a Linda Howard book!

Grrrrrl, you are in for a treat! Plus you made it way too easy for me to find a blog topic today. (ha!) And to prove just how lazy I am, I'm inviting everyone to post their favourite Linda Howard book(s) in the comments.

I'll start with 2 suggestions:

1. Heart of Fire. I think this is my all-time favourite of LH, *so far* (I've got a ton of her books in my tbr pile.


Heart of Fire takes place in the Amazon Jungle, which was a major plus right off the bat. It has a real Romancing the Stone/treasure hunt vibe. Love the hero, the setting is well done. Very pacey, and the love scenes--IIR, and I think I do-- Wooot! Hawt-tat-tat-tat!

Here's the review/blurb from Publisher's Weekly (as for the last bit, obviously the reviewer doesn't read romance. duh! But it does give you a sense of what I was talking about re Romancing the Stone. HoF is a really fun read!):

"Archeologist Jillian Sherwood attributes her lackluster professional reputation to the fact that her late father, also an archeologist, was notorious for his supposedly crackpot theories, such as one about a lost city in the heart of the Amazon jungle that was home to a band of Amazon women warriors. Equipped with a map from her father's papers, Jillian is determined to find the lost city, thereby salvaging her father's reputation and her own. She is accompanied on the two-month expedition by Rick, her half-brother, who still resents her being daddy's favorite; Steven Kates, an unprincipled crook who has money to fund the venture and plans to steal anything valuable that turns up; Ramon Dutra, a jungle-wise thug; and Ben Lewis, an experienced guide who is more macho than any human being needs to be. Unfortunately, the more intense their adventures, the less realistic they appear because the characters have charmed lives. A pirate attack, an encounter with a jaguar and a hazardous walk along the side of a mountain give Howard's ( The Touch of Fire ) romance an adventure-yarn feel, but since Jillian seems to be virtually indestructible and Ben, as her only possible love interest, is inevitably guaranteed survival, the book lacks real suspense"


2.

Mr. Perfect. To be honest, the suspense/mystery part wasn't a complete success for me, prettymuch peg the villian from the start. But I loved the romance part. The hero was el primo Howard Nuturing Alpha Hero. The h's relationship with her girlfriends was well done also.


Bonus: 3. er, you can always try Sarah's Child. *g* People either love it or hate it. Believe it or not I think I'm in the former group, if for the simply fact that it got a very strong reaction from me. Too many 'meh' reads out there.
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9 comments:

Amie Stuart said...

Mr. Perfect was my first LH book and it's a keeper!!! Another fave is Open Season. But some of her newer stuff has been hit or miss for me *sigh* hate when that happens

vanessa jaye said...

You know, I honestly can't remember if Heart of Fire is my first Linda Howard, but I suspect it is. Interesting how the first book you read by an author usually becomes your favourite one.

I read Open Season, I found it enjoyable, but it didn't live up to its hype, for me. Same with that one that takes place in 'Nawlins. The balcony/first love scene in that one deserved all the buzz, but I think that book ended up a dnf for me. :-P Yeah, even favourite authors don't always hit the mark. ::shrug::

Amie Stuart said...

the NO book pissed me off because I bought it as a full-sized hardcover reissue--yeah not happy. I had other issues with it as well but it's been a while so i don't remember what.

vanessa jaye said...

wow. No LH recommends? Or no one coming by? ;)

Well, although I haven't read these next two (they're in the tbr pile), they always pop up on the list of favourites by Ms. Howard:

Son of the Morning (it's a time travel, Templar Hero story)

and, Mackenzie's Mountain.

Anonymous said...

My favorite is still A Game of Chance. I think in large part it's because AGoC was my first LH and I was wowed by her style.

Then there's the love/hate/can't help but admire reaction I had to Shades of Twilight. The romantic relationship, once they were adults, was amazing. But some of the other stuff…

I haven't read LH for a while now.

vanessa jaye said...

I haven't read GoC, yet (in tbr pile). What I find interesting, though, is that in each instant, you, me, and Cece, our favourite LH is the first book we read by her. ::raised eyebrow::

Tara Marie said...

Definitely Open Season. After the Night, Son of the Morning, even her historicals are worth a read, that is if you can handle over the top controling men. And of course the anthology I blogged about this week--The Way Home. She has a couple of other good anthologies, but their titles escape me right now.

Gee, can you tell I'm a LH fangirl?? LOL

charleneteglia said...

Oh, I love Mr. Perfect! And Open Season. Hilarious, fast-paced, strong stories. All The Queen's Men is another fave. And yes, of course, the Mackenzies.

vanessa jaye said...

I'm about 100 pages into Dream Man and loving it! I think.... even more than Mr. Perfect (which it reminds me of). There are two authors who hit the mark for me just about every time when it comes to their Alpha Heroes: Linda Howard, and JAK, it think that's partly why they're both comfort reads with a number of books on my tbr and/or keep shelves. I know I'm either going to get an entertaining story and(or) a hero I'm gonna swoon over.

For all over-the-top cave man behaviour their Heroes might exhibit, they still have these wonderful caring, protective, even domesticated (to a certain point) side. And they fall ass over scowl in love with the heroine. Completely. *sigh*

Now back to Dane and his semi-permanent erection. ;-) lol.

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