Rating: 
Summary: Beware!
Review: Aristide Pompasse is a renowned artist. He paints stunning portraits and collects young mistresses as his muse. It is harder to tell which is greater, his talent or his ego. Pompasse has done many despicable things in his life, few things that he regrets. The only thing he truly regrets, however, is letting his young wife, escape. He regrets it not because of his deep love for her, but because he has never found anyone who can inspire him to create the way she did. Pompasse dies and now Charlie Thomas, his widow, must come home to close his estates and face her own ghosts.Charlie married Pompasse when she was seventeen to his sixty something. He'd been everything to her. He was her father, protector, someone who needed her. He provided the one thing she craved the most. A home and stability she had never had. Five years later after being immortalized in a series of paintings, Charlie realized Pompasse owned her body and her soul. It was time to leave and try to find the person she was. Returning is as hard as Charlie thought it would be. Even though Pompasse is dead, he stills controls and manipulates the lives of people around him. Charlie has to contend with the malicious behavior of Gia, the mistress that took her place. Also in the picture is Connor Maguire, a journalist who was once respectable, but now burnt out and working for a tabloid. Maguire is posing as an insurance investigator trying to find the goods to write an expose on Pompasse. There were several things I liked about this book. Most notably was the relationship between Charlie and Maguire. But, there were several things I did not like. I personally found the character of Pompasse repulsive which is probably the way the author intended. I had trouble dealing with the fact Pompasse; a man in his seventies usually had mistresses around the age of seventeen. The second thing I had trouble with was the fact that Charlie was engaged to man twice her age. I mean you get rid of a controlling manipulative husband three times your age then get engaged to someone twice your age? Yes, I understand the author was trying to show a pattern, but it was still repulsive to me. I guess my final thoughts are if you want something different, this book definitely fits the bill. Yes, it is intriguing in way. Maguire starts out as slime and become likeable as a leading man, Charlie works through emotional problems and becomes a likeable leading lady. For me, however, I found the thought of Pompasse and his young mistresses repulsive enough that it took away from the book. Read at your own risk.
Rating: 
Summary: Mystery and romance abound.
Review: Aristide Pompasse, the world's greatest living artist, wasn't living any more. The circumstances surrounding his death were just as mysterious as he was, and the Italian villa where he lived and painted provided few answers to that mystery. Charlie Thomas, his widow, was looking for answers of her own. Who was she, really? Was she Pompasse's widow, or merely one of a succession of his models? Connor Maguire thought he had answers. With the largest story of his journalistic career about to break, he found himself attracted to Charlie, but would she return the advances? With the glamour of the Italian art world, mystery across two continents, and a romance full of conflict, Anne Stuart's latest effort has something for everyone. Her characters are very believable and lifelike, and the mystery is a real page turner. Sit down with a good cup of tea...and this very good In spite of that, Penelope Miller's characterization is well thought out and realistic. Nicholas has to be the man he is because of the boy he was. Brianna's inherent goodness shines through everything she has been forced to endure. The chilling thoughts of the man stalking Nicholas add tension yet never reveals his unexpected identity until the very end. The story is worth the effort it takes to read through long narrative passages.
Rating:
Summary: Mystery and romance abound.
Review: Aristide Pompasse, the world's greatest living artist, wasn't living any more. The circumstances surrounding his death were just as mysterious as he was, and the Italian villa where he lived and painted provided few answers to that mystery. Charlie Thomas, his widow, was looking for answers of her own. Who was she, really? Was she Pompasse's widow, or merely one of a succession of his models? Connor Maguire thought he had answers. With the largest story of his journalistic career about to break, he found himself attracted to Charlie, but would she return the advances? With the glamour of the Italian art world, mystery across two continents, and a romance full of conflict, Anne Stuart's latest effort has something for everyone. Her characters are very believable and lifelike, and the mystery is a real page turner. Sit down with a good cup of tea...and this very good In spite of that, Penelope Miller's characterization is well thought out and realistic. Nicholas has to be the man he is because of the boy he was. Brianna's inherent goodness shines through everything she has been forced to endure. The chilling thoughts of the man stalking Nicholas add tension yet never reveals his unexpected identity until the very end. The story is worth the effort it takes to read through long narrative passages.
Rating: 
Summary: Who is The Widow?
Review: Astride Pompasse was a famous painter from Tuscany. Charlie was his child bride, his favorite model, his inspiration. Charlie eventually leaves Pompasse, due to her disenchantment with him, and her own growing lack of self respect. Pompasse had many vices, and one of them causes his murder. Connor Maguire is a burnt out war correspondent. Due to his wishes for escape from a career that took too much from him, he becomes a reporter for a scandal magazine, THE STARLIGHT. His new career will send him to cover the murder of Pompasse, and the women who have surrounded the famous painter, including Charlie. He will go to Tuscany undercover, and meet Charlie on her return for Pompasse's funeral. As sparks fly between Charlie and Connor, they will fight a mutual attraction, as well as try to solve the mystery of the murdered Pompasse. Due to the painter's desire to be surrounded by very young, attractive women, there will be several suspects to choose from. Charlie's mother, Pompasse's latest model, and even some of his now older, previous models will all be suspect. For me, the strongest part of THE WIDOW is the personification of the two leads, the tension between them, and a very sexy consumation. The supporting cast is interesting, but I was really caught up in the drama between Charlie and Connor. By the end of the book, I really felt like I knew them. The weakest part of the book, for me, was the mystery. Aristride Pompasse, most of the supporting cast are so unlikeable, that I didn't really care who the killer was. For that reason alone, I would have given THE WIDOW 4 1/2 stars, instead of 5. Connor is not one of Anne Stuart's darker heroes, but he is a charmer. I would read this book again, just to read about him. (But, I do want to read about those dark heroes again, too.)
Rating:
Summary: Typical Stuart...
Review: Charlie Thomas has returned to Italy after five years to settle the estate of her dead husband. As a famous painter, her husband preyed upon young girls, herself included, because he believed they gave him inspiration to paint. Charlie was the only woman that has ever escaped him and had made her own life for herself in New York. Returning to Italy brought to life ghosts that she had thought she laid to rest. Then there is the presence of Connor Maguire, who makes her feels things she didn't think she was capable of feeling. Connor Maguire is after a story of the most one of the most famous painters of the century. He had heard stories of his frigid widow, and had always believed the stories. Until he met Charlie Thomas. For Maguire knew that there was a sensual woman underneath the icy exterior and he was determined to uncover it. There is evil lurking at the villa, however, evil that may destory the fragile feelings that Charlie and Maguire feel for each other before they even blossom. A good romantic suspense.
Rating:
Summary: Typical Stuart...
Review: Charlie Thomas has returned to Italy after five years to settle the estate of her dead husband. As a famous painter, her husband preyed upon young girls, herself included, because he believed they gave him inspiration to paint. Charlie was the only woman that has ever escaped him and had made her own life for herself in New York. Returning to Italy brought to life ghosts that she had thought she laid to rest. Then there is the presence of Connor Maguire, who makes her feels things she didn't think she was capable of feeling. Connor Maguire is after a story of the most one of the most famous painters of the century. He had heard stories of his frigid widow, and had always believed the stories. Until he met Charlie Thomas. For Maguire knew that there was a sensual woman underneath the icy exterior and he was determined to uncover it. There is evil lurking at the villa, however, evil that may destory the fragile feelings that Charlie and Maguire feel for each other before they even blossom. A good romantic suspense.
Rating:
Summary: Fused suspense saved by charged romance
Review: Charlotte Thomas upon receiving the news of the demise of her husband - the iconic French artist Astride Pompasse in Italy, decides to return back to his Tuscan Villa for his burial after years of seclusion. Never did she expected that the villa is besieged by erstwhile enemies and intruders - the intriguing reporter, Connor Maguire disguising as an insurance investigator, Gia - the spoilt model and Astride's addition of flings, the imperious Madame Antonelle et al. Mayhem enshrouds as Astride's death could be murder - and before Charlotte can finds out, she finds her life threatened... Ms. Stuart, whose credits include the erotically-charged thriller Moonrise and Shadows at Sunset, shows her forte in judiciously juggling with suspense and romance. Her romance characters are hard-edged yet vulnerable; Charlotte is a fallen angel who is hopelessly tormented by love and kinship with her mother while Conner loses his beloved to the Kosovo War. Their chemistry is explosive as it is cryptic. It's a pity the suspense and mystery element fuses. Ms. Stuart gives a sepulchral mood of the villa - but in her manipulation of the characters, she has betrayed who the murderer is - and the sabotage is too meek to stir much fear. THE WIDOW thus falls short in creating the high-voltage suspense in the thriller. But as a quick read for exciting romance, THE WIDOW can certainly make the mark.
Rating:
Summary: NOT HER BEST BUT GOOD ENOUGH
Review: I love Anne Stuart's books and this one's no exception. Her 'heroes' are always so deliciously anti-heroic yet heroic despite themselves if that makes any sense at all. Dark, romantic and suspenseful they always think they're much worse than they are - and in actual fact, an Anne Stuart hero will always be willing to sacrifice everything in the end for his love. Great book!
Rating:
Summary: Guilty pleasures
Review: I love Anne Stuart's books and this one's no exception. Her 'heroes' are always so deliciously anti-heroic yet heroic despite themselves if that makes any sense at all. Dark, romantic and suspenseful they always think they're much worse than they are - and in actual fact, an Anne Stuart hero will always be willing to sacrifice everything in the end for his love. Great book!
Rating:
Summary: NOT HER BEST BUT GOOD ENOUGH
Review: I'm a die hard Anne Stuart fan and have even gone to great (and sometimes expensive) lengths to purchase her earlier works (get RITUAL SINS at all costs!). While this was not her best book, even AS's almost perfect books are great. I really liked SHADOW LOVER better than this one - better mystery and character development - but AS gives us our dark anti-hero and that's why we buy her books. Right? AS fans won't be disappointed. We need more writers like her and Linda Howard.
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