Rating: 
Summary: I just knew John would be this good!
Review: This one is definitely a keeper. Excellent romance, suspense, and total action & adventure. LH has done some excellent writing in this one. (Just a note to those it matters to: The romance is somewhat 2nd place in this one.) All of the characters are somewhat complex - but she doesn't take it so far that I couldn't get to know them.
When I read about John Medina in 'Kill And Tell', I just knew that his would be an excellent story..... it is! Although some of his decisions seemed quite cold, I just couldn't help but be glad that there is 'someone' out there to make those kinds of decisions. Although John doesn't really have a clue how to handle personal relationships, he does know how to act towards people with respect.... that's a real biggy in my opinion.
I really, really enjoyed Niema, our heroine... she is definitely heroine material. This was one of those scarce books that gives me a good reason for the changes that Niema made in her life 5 yrs ago.... & justifies the fear she has of falling for John..... didn't blame her a bit on either one. She was incredibly smart, had loads of common sense, & Did Not allow her past to be an excuse for blaming others nor for acting like a royal witch.... inspite of everything she was a very likable person.
The villian in this book, Louis Rosnard, is unlike any other I have read about. His is a very interesting twist. Yes, I had to condemn him for his actions...... however...... hmmm... can't go there or I'll give anyway part of the story. Anyway, it's a very interesting twist on a villan & I really wonder if we'll see him again in future books.
Really enjoyed it, if you like action & suspense with your romance, I think you will also.
Rating: 
Summary: Solid romantic thriller, made fun to listen to by Gallagher
Review: I enjoyed this book as an abridged audiocassette. This was quite good - and the reading voice of Megan Gallagher certainly did it justice. The storyline is pretty straightforward at first: a bug electronics expert, Niema Burdock, loses her husband on assignment as a field agent specialist during a mission that goes horribly wrong.
Now, much later, the man in charge of the mission which killed her husband needs her again - to plant a bug into the home of an arms dealer who has a new explosive on the market that can go undiscovered until the target exploded, a sort of stealth explosive.
So, partnered with this man, whom she suddenly feels a terrible attraction to, Niema goes undercover, and finds the man she is trying to bug just as interesting (and with more secrets, and sides, than she had thought).
The entanglements get more and more twisted, and Gallagher lends enough of her voice to the performance that the tension moves upward at a solid pace.
The frenetic pace sure didn't slack off in the last tape, and the story didn't quite end where I thought it would. Well done on all fronts - though some day I want to learn the secret of these heros from romance novels: How does a man fight a bodyguard, cold-clock a guy unconscious, run for an hour, hotwire a car, drive all night, and sometime the next afternoon proceed to win a gold medal in the lovemaking competition on a yacht, all, of course, with no sleep?
Better yet, where can I find me a man like that?
'Nathan
Rating:
Summary: Howard's best suspense tale
Review: Romance Suspense is a category in romance writing that is becoming more and more popular. I have been a reluctant reader of romance suspense because the action pages usually surpass the romance pages. I often find that this romance suspense writing lacks over true suspense writing outside of the romance arena and have therefore been critical of it. But I also decided to look at this increasingly popular category and read these books expecting the romance to be secondary to the action and determine if I could see the book in a better light. And I picked All the Queen's Men with this new attitude. This book has little romance and the leads spend at most one-third of the book alone together. But it was a very good CIA type story regardless, full of dangerous thrills and tension, and I did not find it at all boring or lacking. I knew from reviews that it was not as sensual a book as most Howard books. I also had been introduced to the hero in the book Kill and Tell. This is its sequel. I knew I would like a story about John Medina. Plus, after reading this book, I can safely say that this is the best Howard suspense book yet. In my mind, All the Queen's Men is superior to Dying to Please and Mr. Perfect, two of Howard's other romance suspense books. There have been many Howard books that I loved more than All the Queen's Men but those were considered contemporary romance and were primarily romance stories.John Medina and Niemi Burdock first meet when they begin a joint mission five years earlier that included Niemi's husband, Dallas. Dallas was killed on that mission and John was the one that got Niemi out of Iran safely and soothed her through the rough days that followed her husband's death. For the past five years, Niemi has lived a secluded life and works at a technical job with the CIA. She has not seen John during those five years but John has kept track of her - his CIA boss makes sure that all goes well for her at John's request. He has always cared for her and finally decides she has had five years to find someone else to marry and since she hasn't, he is going to be the only man in her life from now on. He believes she blames him for her husband's death and is greatly relieved when he finds out during their first visit after all these years that she does not blame him at all. She actually blames herself. John Medina does everything well - he is so well trained and is just so cool. But he doesn't know much about personal relationships. He has operated in the black for so many years with so many identities that he is unable to form long-term relationships. Niemi has given up her sense of adventure after losing her husband and is a very sensible and serious person now. She has kept physically fit and is a very capable woman. She was always intimidated by John and doesn't believe he thinks all that much of her. Both Niemi and John are very likable characters - possibly some of my favorites - especially Niemi. She is a great heroine. Of course, as usual, they are both very attractive people and that is important in this story since part of their future mission will rely on others noticing this attraction as well. The first days that John and Niemi spend together when he is training her for their mission are precious but there is nothing overtly romantic between them. I state that as a complaint. The romantic possibilities were so great and the chemistry could have rocked the pages had the romance been given more exposure. We are given so little time with just the two of them and even most of that time is concentrated within the pages prior to their realization of their mutual caring. There are two or three sensual scenes that come close to the end and they rate about a 3.0 out of 5.0 (see More About Me for rating guidelines). See - I still had to mourn to loss of the romance for the suspense. The villain is certainly the most different one I have ever read. No wonder it got the AAR's Favorite Villain Award the year it was published. You actually like this villain and don't want him to get hurt. Most of the villain's scenes show a man that is kind, respectful, and at times extremely touching when those scenes are about or include his daughter. The villain is actually a reason that I enjoyed this story as much as I did. I really did enjoy All the Queen's Men despite its lack of romance. What romance there is - is very powerful! The story never dragged and I really liked all of the characters. Howard was able to create some sort of magical element that made it a really good read just as it is.
Rating:
Summary: Intrigue and Secrecy
Review: The story starts out on a CIA mission that goes wrong. Neima and her husband are contract workers for the CIA deep inside of enemy territory. John Medina the legendary Black Ops leader, whom many think is a myth, blames himself for tragedy of that mission and has always felt a pull to Neima. LH pulls the reader quickly into the life of intrigue and secrecy. She also shows how people who live this life may yearn for normal lives but there are some things that they think are more important. She does a good job of pulling the reader/listener into the story and pulling for the heroes. If you have liked her other stories or those of JD Robb or Julie Garwood you will like this one.
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