1. By far, Count To Ten is her best work of the books I've read. Perfect balance of developing romance and suspense. There were a couple of plot twists that I enjoyed and didn't see coming. The characterization for even the most minor character was well done. Word craft was much more polished in this one too. I *totally* believed that these characters fell in love and will stay that way. Good conflict at the begining of the book between the H/h. I particularly love the meet! Kinda reminded me of Linda Howard's Mr. Perfect, but in reverse.
2. You Can't Hide. The hero will appeal to those of us who love Linda Howard's Alphas. Not saying that Aidan was as over the top as some of Linda's heroes can be, be he was definitely the manly man. Sorry for the constant referencing to LH, but I think if you liked early LH rom/sus you'll like KR, except I'd say that KR's suspense bit is tighter/stronger than early LH. The hero for Karen's next book is the brother of the heroine in this one. (squee!!!)
3. Have You Seen Her. I'm not sure if this is KR's second book, but it's my second least favourite (can you guess which is my least favourite? *gg*) But, really, ranking KR's books is like ranking my favourite ways to have chocolate. ;-) Why was this not as enjoyable as the other two? I felt the writing wasn't as tight. The hero didn't *feel* quite as truly male as I'd like. The portrayal of the romance, that is certain phrasing, wasn't as fresh as the other books. It was just a little too *romancey*, for me, in tone in certain places. Still... I quibble. All the hallmarks of KR's writing--emotion, characterization, setting, sexual tension, etc-- that I find enjoyable was here, just not as polished. This book is still worth reading. The villian was a surprise when I realized who it was.
4. Yep. Least favourite here: Don't Tell. This was her first book and I think that's the reason why, she wasn't as polished in her writing as she became in later books. All my quibble's with Have You Seen Her will be found in this book also, maybe more so. Particularly the hero who read a bit more like a shero in places. (Bearing in mind I have a definite bias towards Alphas). I have a sneaking suspicion that this is the only KR that I didn't keep. At least I can't find it anywhere. So while it's definitely worth the read I guess it didn't make the cut to keepersville.
The only Karen Rose I have left in my tbr pile is Nothing To Fear. The heroine shows up as a secondary character in two other books: Don't Tell (which takes place before her story) and Count To Tell (which happens after she gets her HEA). Obviously I'm reading out of order.
I have to track down I'm Watching You, and Hot Pursuit, then that's it for her backlist. *waaaah*
Although.... Chapters has Kill For Me, release date February 2008 listed! ::snoopy dance!::
Now that I'm turned on to romantic-suspense I got to snooping around the ol' UBS the other day and picked up a couple of Maureen McKade romantic/suspenses that looked good. Hope I lucked out on another auto buy author.
2 comments:
Thanks SO much. I had plans to start with her first book and go from there, but nahhhh, I'll start with her latest! Thanks again. This was helpful. ---Keishon
You're welcome! A small repayment for all the wonderful books/authors you've recommended over the years. :-)
I *almost* want to say read the early ones first, because they won't suffer in comparison to her later books. :-P But, hey, I read her out of order and I just picked up I'm Watching You today (squeee!) so reading her first books last didn't put me off none.
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