Rating:  Summary: Not Disapointed Review: Let's see where do I begin, Okay we'll go for the girlie stuff,Once again, she hit, I've had enough experiences w/makeup to relate. I frankley love her shopping "scenes" and her characters opinion in what they have bought. Now I've noticed she emphasises on safety issues and how certain things work, she does a good job with this, anyone who has ever been exposed to Female safety issuses recognizes what she is doing, she is feeding info to her readers, Not just in this book, but in others as well, Very Smart Mrs. Howard! Now I liked the interaction between the hero & heroine, but not so much between the "evil dooers" they bored me. Her ending had my eyebrows raised, not in shock, but in interest at her little twist. The READ tended to get stale in areas but Mrs. Howard, Always bounces back! She has interesting people with personality, in unusual circumstances. You Want a good twisty, mind-bending mystery? Go to Stephen King. You want a good predictable drama? Danielle Steele is your girl. You want good romantic suspences with fun characters, that you can relax with? Howards your writer. So kick back with a late night snack, comfy pajamas and this book & enjoy.
Rating:  Summary: A cute story Review: I was really hoping for a lot with Open Season. I loved Mr. Perfect. It was my first Linda Howard novel. Anyway, Open Season was not quite a Mr. Perfect, but it definitely wasn't An Independent Wife book. In other words, it didn't totally stink. I thought Daisy was a cute character and I did like Jack. The plot was good too. It is definitely worth a read. There were some cute scenes, like the condom part, which I thought was funny. Anyway, if you like Linda Howard, check it out.
Rating:  Summary: This book is a precious romance to treasure Review: Hillsboro, Alabama is a small sleepy town with a population of nine thousand people. It is a place where everybody knows their neighbors and doors are always unlocked. Daisy Minor has lived there all her life and is viewed by the town as a straight-laced spinster, who dresses down and acts prissy. Daisy is aware of the townsfolk’s opinion of her, but on her thirty-fourth birthdays, she decides she wants a life. She moves out of the house she shared with her mother and her aunt, gets a complete make over and hits the night club scene. Even before Daisy transformed herself into a good-looking woman, she caught the attention of Jack Russo, the town’s police chief. He finds the new Daisy adorable and goes all out in his pursuit of her. When she witnesses a murder and Jack fears the murderer will come after her, he puts a wall of protection around her and her family. When they can catch the killer, Jack intends to take his relationship with Daisy to the next level. OPEN SEASON is a humorous tale of a woman who wants a family of her own and does what’s needed to gain one. The situations she finds herself in are so hilarious readers will burst out laughing at odd moments. The suspense adds depth to the relationship between the lead characters yet demonstrates that not every book Linda Howard writes has to be intense to be quite good. OPEN SEASON can be summed up in one word: adorable.
Rating:  Summary: linda howard does it again Review: For those of us who are sick of picking up romance novels that all follow the same basic plot, "Open Season" is a welcome change. Linda Howard combines a compelling love story with witty character dialogue, and a plot that is full of supense and intrigue. It is wonderful to read a book that offers an enjoyable romance and a mystery in which it is easy to become totally engrossed. This a wonderful read for romance and mystery readers alike. Enjoy!
Rating:  Summary: Wonderful Romance Review: Daisy Minor, spinster librarian of Hillsboro, Alabama, awakens on her thirty-fourth birthday and decides that she needs to change her image and find a man to marry. Tired of her frumpy clothes and drab hair, she seeks the help of her friend Todd to aid in her transformation. With her newly blond hair and classically stylish clothes, Daisy takes on the nightclub scene. Jack Russo, former NYC cop and Hillsboro Chief of Police, notices Daisy at the Buffalo Club and helps her out of a tight spot. Jack and Daisy find themselves attracted to one another, but Daisy is at first reluctant to continue a relationship with Jack for fear that he isn't the relationship type. Jack finds himself in the role of protector for Daisy, as he becomes suspicious when too much attention seems to be paid to his little librarian. The reasons for his suspicions become clear when he discovers that Daisy saw something that she shouldn't have and was definitely in the wrong place at the wrong time. What a wonderful suspenseful novel! The twists and turns will keep the reader hooked, and the romance will keep the pages turning. Daisy is such a likeable heroine, the perfect combination of innocence and intelligence, and a wonderful match for hardened cop Jack Russo. Linda Howard has penned a sure-fire winner.
Rating:  Summary: Close the book on "Open Season" Review: Linda Howard used to be my all-time favorite writer. Anyone who can write "MacKenzie's Mountain," as well as her other fabulous books, is a talented, talented writer. However, like many romance writers, in the past few years she has shifted to mysteries, sometimes combined with romance. This combination worked A LOT better in "Mr. Perfect" than it did in "Open Season." In her earlier novels, the tension between the eventual lovers was fun and made me call the book store daily to find when they had arrived. I, as a romance reader, feel as if Linda Howard has abandoned her loyal fans, but maybe she's all written out in the romance genre. One of my two biggest complaints about "Open Season" was the total lack of tension between the two lovers. I really didn't care whether they got together. The book lacked something I can't put my finger on--a little spice (and I'm not talking about sex). It was bland. My most important complaint, though, was the final couple of pages. Not only does Linda Howard let the major criminal who imports foreign girls (all virgins, some very, very young) into sexual slavery get away with it, she even has him show up to "cure" the sexual trauma of the wife of his partner! And we, as the readers, are supposed to be touched by this disgusting, arrogant sleaziness! Linda: what ever could you have been thinking?
Rating:  Summary: The master does it again Review: Over the last five or so books, Linda Howard has become a master at combining suspense, romance, and humor. "Open Season" is no exception; it combines many of the elements that made "Mr. Perfect" such a wonderful book. The heroine of "Open Season," Daisy Minor, is a tremendously charming character. Her honesty, forthrightness, sense of humor, and family reliance all make her an unusually strong and well-developed character. The reluctant hero, Jack, has the bone-deep strength combined with incredibly dangerous effectiveness that always make Linda Howard's heroes so incredibly appealing. The suspense/mystery in "Open Season" is well-done, as usual with Howard. It's interesting enough to provide tension but not so overwhelming as to detract from the characterization and relationship development. As in Howard's previous effort, "Mr. Perfect," we get quite a few laugh-out loud moments, which add tremendously to the appeal. My only criticism is that the relationship between Jack and Daisy somehow lacks the intensity normally found in Howard's books. The relationship lacks both the "immediate sensing of mate" basis typical to Howard books and the "gradual deepening of romance" generally found in romance novels. "Open Season" is a tremendous demonstration of all that has made Howard a leader in the field of romantic suspense. The wonderful humor, great suspense, and intense sexuality combine to make this another masterful effort by Howard. It was a lot of fun to read!
Rating:  Summary: A NICE READ Review: THE PAST FEW MONTHS I STARTED READING AND HAVENT BEEN ABLE TO STOP. I LITERALLY PICK UP A BOOK AND WITHIN 2 DAYS ITS FINISHED AND THEN PICK UP ANOTHER ONE. THIS BOOK WASNT SUSPENSEFUL OR TWISTED IN ANY WAY. JUST A NICE BOOK TO READ. IT WAS NICE STEPPING AWAY FROM SOME OF THE HARSH STUFF I'VE BEEN READING. READ THIS ON A RAINING DAY.
Rating:  Summary: Cute, but lacks the substance of a Linda Howard book Review: I've probably read every book Linda Howard has written. She's always been one of those authors that I automatically buy without reading about the plot or checking other people's opinion. This was a "cute" story, but it lacked in-depth character development and history. I think she spent the majority of her time trying to write funny or clever passages. I wasn't expecting 336 pages of cute. Actually, the first passage in the book (which is about a Mexican girl of 17 crossing the border illegally to start a new life in the US) is more of what I was expecting. I cared more about this girl than I did about the main character. That's not to say that cute and funny make for a bad book - but it's less than I expect from Linda Howard. If you look at some of her better books (Mackenzie's Mountain, Sara's Child, All the Queen's Men) you will find a lot more to the main characters than you will find in the characters in this book. This book is worth borrowing from someone or waiting for the paperback. It is not worth the hardback price.
Rating:  Summary: Standard fare from the queen of romantic suspense. Review: If you're a fan of Linda Howard's (and if you're not, you should be), you will find "Open Season" to be a satisfying read even though it doesn't offer anything new. If fact, I thought this book was VERY similar to Howard's "Dream Man" without the psychic elements. But hey, "Dream Man" was a great book, so a repeat isn't completely uncalled for. The core story is about a small-town librarian, Daisy Minor, who wakes up on her 34th birthday and realizes that her hair is boring, her clothes are boring, her job is boring, she's boring. Not to mention lonely. Daisy decides that if she doesn't want to spend her life alone, she needs to get busy, and the fastest way to get results is to do a complete make-over into a "party" girl. Sure enough, there is a beautiful, sexy woman under all her frowsiness. Before she even starts her transformation, she butts heads with the new police chief, Jack Russo, an apparent fish-out-of-water Yankee in this sleepy southern berg. He's big, he's intimidating, he's rude. He's also very sexy . As Daisy ventures out to strut her new stuff at the local bars, he becomes concerned that she's way too naive to realize when she's attracted the wrong kind of attention. Daisy wants him to get out of her way so she can continue her man hunt. Dane - I mean Jack - decides that he needs to stick close for her own protection. Then he decides that he just needs to stick close. Somewhere along the way there's a crime to solve and Daisy becomes a target for bad guys. Which means, of course, that Daisy and Jack need to have some hot love scenes. Howard's unique style and humor are evident throughout the book. Daisy's schemes to get the word out that she's available are hysterical, and you will never see colored condoms in the same light. Both of the lead characters are appealing, but Daisy is the more finely drafted of the two. Her ernest attempts to be a party girl are charming. I particularly appreciated that she isn't one of those ninny romantic heroines who has to go do something foolish that she's been warned not to do in order to prove how independent and spirited she is. In fact, when Jack thinks she's left a safe haven he's found for her, she lets him have it. Her response: "I'm safe here; why would I leave? That's what always happens in movies; either the woman or the kid disobeys instructions and does exactly what they've been told not to do, thereby putting both themselves and everyone else in danger. I've always thought that if they were that stupid, then let them die before they have a chance to breed." Hallelujah! The mystery plot is good, but the romance is better. The secondary characters are well-developed, especially the bad guys. All in all, this is a quick read, but a good one.
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