Heartbreaker

Rating:
Summary: A Surprise
Review: I've read many of Julie Garwood's historical (medieval) books and enjoyed them - but they were very lightweight fare, great for a quick read. The subplots were always rather thin, with the romantic story holding the book together. Heartbreaker is the first contemporary book of Garwood's that I've read (and for all I know, her first contemporary book) and it's pretty darn good. As with her historical romances, she develops characters that are compelling - flawed, but lovable. And, as always, her male supporting characters are strong and move the story along (she doesn't do so well with female supporting characters, I might add). My gripe with Garwood has been that her dialog is occasionally insipid and flat, but there's some improvement here. (*Hint - her dialog gets much better in the sequel to this book, Mercy.) The good news? She does write a top notch mystery/suspense! This story moves along and keeps you guessing - it's really very good. I'll be honest - early on I thought I figured out who the killer was, but then she threw me off the trail - I won't reveal who it finally was, though. The action and pace were fabulous - although I'm not sure how accurate all the FBI stuff was (I'm not usually a suspense thriller reader) but it seemed plausible. Final verdict - read it, and then grab Mercy to continue the story of the wonderful Buchanan brothers.

Rating:
Summary: Good but not that good
Review: I'm a newcomer to Julie Garwood, and though this book will lead me to pick up others books by her, I don't think it was all that good of a book. You have the romance aspect, no doubt about it. Laurant and Nick are a nice little couple, Nick was definitly fun to read about. However, I picked the book because the blurbs hyped it up to be a "...good thriller." The thrill aspect of the book was horribly shadowed by the romance aspect. The investigation... well wait, what investigation? You didn't get any of the police work, crime scene evaluations, or even the profiler that was introduced disappeared before literally revealing anything. So if you like romance stories, pick it up, it's worth the read, but I suggest renting it from the library and saving your 8 bucks.

Rating:
Summary: A suspenseful and heart-stopping novel
Review: This is the first time I can recall Julie Garwood writing a suspenseful novel ~~ and since I love reading her romance novels, I thought I'd give this a try. And I have to say, she is a talented lady! She writes beautifully and cleanly as she did with her romance novels, maybe even better.

Laurant is the target of a stalker who threatened to kill her to her brother, Tom, a priest who heard the killer "confess" during a confession. Tom gets his best friend, Nick Buchanan from the FBI on the case to protect Laurant. And this is just the beginning of a fun novel with twists and turns of a murder case going awry.

It is a quick and easy read. Like her other novels, Julie Garwood keeps the reader enthralled to the last page ~~ keeping her on her toes while she's guessing who the murderer is. If you're looking for a quick weekend read, be sure to pick this one up after locking all the doors and leaving the lights on ~~ and be sure to tell the hubby and kids to go away so you can sink into her novel without any interruptions! It is just a perfect weekend read!

Rating:
Summary: YES!
Review: I'm pleased to see Ms. Garwood branch out into this genre. I used to read her historical romances years ago, I finally got burned out on her Montgomery lineage of characters. I recommend this book to all readers. The book has a good mix of the suspense/drama/romance storylines currently popular. The characters are well fleshed out, and their personalities come across effectively providing believable situations as the story unfolds. I enjoyed the book tremendously, and would enjoy seeing a sequel with the Noah Clayborne character as a follow up. Are you listening Ms. Garwood?

Rating:
Summary: A great first time read into Garwood!
Review: This is my very first Garwood book and I must say...WOW are the only words that can describe this well written book. I am in awe of her talent. I am normally not a fan of contemporary romance, but this book definately changed my views on that. This is a perfect mix of romance and suspense, my two favortites types of books all rolled into one masterpiece! This will have you guessing who the "Heartbreaker" is until the very end! Nick Bucchanan, (the lead male)the FBI agent that is summoned to protect the lead female, Laurant and her brother a priest, from a madman bent on stalking and killing Laurant. Father Tom is listening to confessions one afternoon when a deranged man threatens his sister's life and then leaves without a trace. Tom calls on his best friend and FBI agent Nick to help. Soon Nick realizes they are not dealing with a simple case of obsession, but a serial killer who wants to stalk and mutilate Laurant. Things soon heat up as Nick is to be with her 24 hrs a day in a little town in Iowa called Holy Oaks, where everyone knows one another and their business, but is the killer amoung them? They soon find they are falling in love with one another as they are forced to spend more and more time together to keep Laurant safe, but IS she really safer in Nick's arms than if she wasn't? Its a fast-paced thriller/romance that keeps you guessing who-dunnit until you think you've figured it out and to find that you've no idea! The tension between Nick and Laurant is real and you feel for them and find yourself hoping they survive. Heartbreaker is a sure pleaser and I highly recommend it! The follow-up story to this is Mercy...

Rating:
Summary: Shallow, slow and lacks focus
Review: "Heartbreaker" was mediocre, and drawn out. It started very slowly, and the author spent way too much time describing people, events and other details that end up being irrelevant to the plot.

There were quite a few superfluous characters. For example, the role of Pete could have been eliminated, as he's just an older non-priestly version of Tommy. And, the sub-plot involving Jules Wesson never really went anywhere and eventually just fizzled. What was the point of including Jules at all?

My final gripe is that, although FBI agents are a big part of the story, she never delves very deeply into the actual investigation. We're rarely told anything about suspects, clues, etc. She mentions an FBI profiler was working on the case, but we never find out anything about the results of his investigation, nor do we hear anything about the results of the crime scene investigation. This would have been interesting and would have at least given me, as a reader, clues to the ending.

Overall, I think the book lacked adequate depth, focus and direction. I'm disappointed, as I generally like Julie Garwood's books very much.

Rating:
Summary: First book i've read by this author - won't be the last
Review: I wasn't too sure I'd like this book when I started reading it - but I'm definitely going to read more books by this author.

I like the humor sprinkled throughout and even though some the characters were the stereotype small-town type (does that make sense?!) I like the way the characters interacted.

I like that this book reminded almost of the drama/romance novels I read as a teenager, only this was grown up and not so syrupy. I like the hero and heroine and I thought the "lesser" heroes were good too.

I like the fact that I can recommend this book to my girlfriends as interesting, funny, dramatic, and not gross ---- we all know that usually a book with a -pick your own...- stalker/killer/
pyscho in it means that there's a queasy scene every other chapter (thank you thomas harris).

I didn't like that the story almost got too big - I mean that the aside from the main plot of the stalker/killer/nut there was a hinted at financial crisis the heroine was dealing with; there was a sideline of dealing with the brother's illness that just seemed not to ring true; there was a conflict with the hero and a fellow FBI agent; there was a local BigFish who was into shady deals and may/maynot be the stalker/killer; and, well, I just think she could've pared it down a bit (like I'm doing here in not listing everything).

Is this the best book I ever read? No.
Is this a book I'd loan out and want back? Yes.
Is this an author I'm going to buy from again? Yes.

Is this an author I'm hoping won't let me down by lowering her standards? Yes.

(btw, i'm ordering the new book by this author. those buchanan men sound like they're very, very interesting.)

Rating:
Summary: Excellent--As Always!!!
Review: I own and have read every one of Julie Garwood's books. I would rate just about every one of Ms. Garwood's books with 4-1/2 to 5 stars -- I have NEVER been disappointed. I truly enjoyed Julie's new contemporary novel. Her transition from historical romance to contemporary "thriller" was terrific -- she never missed a beat. Now I am really looking forward to her new book -- Mercy. I adored all her characters, and look forward to meeting them again in her new book!!! Thanks, Julie, for making my long train ride home easy and enjoyable!!!!

Rating:
Summary: Julie Garwood is the best!
Review: I loved this book! I'm used to reading Julie Garwood's historical romance and I was not sure how this one would compare to the others. But like always, Garwood did not dissapoint me. The characters are funny, the dialogues are great. I just could not put it down. The story takes place in a little town in America's heartland. With Laurant and her brother who is a priest. The priest is hearing confession when a serial killer confesses to him that his sister Laurant will be next. Enter in the story his best friend Nick, who happens to be an agent with the FBI. The sparks start flying between Nick and Laurant. I highly recommend this book!

Rating:
Summary: A very nice surprise
Review: My wife loves Romance, and has read many of this author's other works. She picked up this audio book recently and started listening in the car one afternoon while we were running errands. Within a few minutes, I was hooked. Other reviewers have said all that there needs to be said about the plot. Let me just add that the character development is excellent. These folks become real people, not "cardboard" as another reviewer put it. If Garwood does another suspense novel, I'll pre-order it.