Rating: 
Summary: Trite and dull
Review: After the stunning steaminess of Behind Closed Doors, this author has just got worse and worse. Her second novel didn't have enough sex, ditto this book. Also, like the second book, the premise of the couple already being in love means there is no heat, no tension.
The best thing about Behind Closed Doors was the sexual tension, with the couple literally not knowing who they could trust on any level. In both of her last two books, the couples have practically grown up with each other, so there is little mystery. And who on earth marries the guy next door all that often? It is just too safe. Mildly edgy public sex on a motorcycle and at a waterfall does not make for a hot book.
I liked Simon more than I liked her. McKenna can write men..
Alas, they are usually Neanderthals, toying on the edge of S/m games dominance, and totally challenged by any thinking woman with a bit of independence who desires the more sensual in life. Simon's moods swung so rapidly and unaccountably that Ellen ended up sounding like she had a perpetually bad case of PMS trying to keep up with his snippiness.
As for the mystery to be solved, well, the author gives away so much at the start of the book there is no suspense-we know exactly how it is all going to play out. The secondary plot with Ellen's fiancee and the town laundry woman is just too unbelievable to be true, and pads out an already well padded book the author no doubt struggled to sustain for about 100 k words. The author should stick to her guns and write sexy stories if that is what she likes to do. This was dismally dull.watered down pulp.
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointed
Review: I am a huge Shannon McKenna fan after reading her first novel, which was excellent. Great story, great hero and heroine and the love scenes were incredible! I also enjoyed her second novel which was a continuation of the first.
This third novel is a letdown. The plot is underdeveloped; our hero, Simon, is very annoying and actually so is our heroine, Ellen. The only characters I really like are Brad and Cora who should have been developed more, and Ellen's mom who becomes likable about half way through the book.
Simon is a bad boy who left town 17 years ago after a barn burned down and he was accused of the crime. The entire town thought he was guilty back then and when he returns to town, they still think of him as a "bad seed" even though now he is a famous photojournalist. Simon is not only smart, tall, dark and sexy, but he is also very rich. So knowing all this about our hero, it is very annoying that throughout the entire book he lets every loser in town intimidate and upset him from the local sheriff to the local backwards townsfolk still living there. He has more issues than most women. And every time he gets upset he runs away.
Now the girl he left behind is Ellen. She has never left town and has opened up a successful bed and breakfast. She is about to be married when Simon returns. Once Simon returns and meets Ellen again, they are instantly attracted to each other. At the same time, Simon is insanely jealous of Ellen when he finds out she is about to be married. He is crushed and heartbroken but spends many moments whining that he is not good enough for her and will bring her bad luck. The remainder of the plot is Simon cleaning out his uncle Gus' home, trying to determine if Gus' death was a suicide, and trying to figure out what to do about Ellen.
This character was very weak and I usually get major pleasure from the love scenes between Ms. McKenna's characters, and even that seemed watered down in this novel.
This book is an average read but I still like her novels and will be looking forward to the next one.
Rating: 
Summary: It's even better than McKenna's previous books!
Review: I like Shannon McKenna's other books, mainly because she draws a great, conflicted--gentle but excitingly forceful--hero who really comes to love the innocent, loving heroine. Yeah, it's been done lots of time (99% of romance books), but there's something fundamentally appealing about this set up. Her erotic scenes are great, great, great! What I also liked about "Return to Me" was that there wasn't a lot about the villain (there was too much, I thought in her past books) , but he was interesting. His having only a few public faces that didn't ring true was fascinating. However, note to Shannon: although you didn't go into it much, the villain's past sadism involving animals (yeah, I know it's true in real life) was painful, and I was grateful that you did not go into any detail about his past burn victims. However, I never really understood how pictures were taken of the Vietnam atrocity and what the uncle had done to deserve the thanks of Vietnamese guide. To be fair, it may have been my fault: I inhaled this book. I also would have liked to see Brad's actual courtship of Cor and an epilogue for Simon and El, but then, when I like a book, I always want to know more. So, if you like a tortured, but loving and sexy hero who finally totally commits to the heroine, this is the book for you. Buy it: it's worth the money!
Rating:
Summary: I rate it top notch, along with her first book!
Review: I must say that this book by Ms. McKenna grabbed me and drew me in from the first chapter to the last, I couldn't put it down. At first I thought it was going to involve a character from her second book STANDING IN THE SHADOWS, but I was glad it did not. I have to rate this book up there with her first book BEHIND CLOSED DOORS, with her second book, STANDING IN THE SHADOWS in a close third place. Seth and Raine were totally made for one another in BEHIND CLOSED DOORS, so erotic, passionate and in tune with each other. In this book, I think Simon and Ellen's, love affair mirrors Seth and Raine's. I also have to give props to Cora, she was hilarious. The book was wonderfully written. Keep'em coming Shannon!
Rating:
Summary: One out of three.............
Review: I you want to read a book about hot sex, a weak plot and really poor dialogue, then this is the story for you. If not, spend you money on something wrttien by Sandra Brown.
Rating:
Summary: Breaking the rules in style...
Review: is the gift of both Shannon McKenna and her characters. Return to Me is no exception, and while it has some of the trademark McKenna elements, it is also a new story with new characters, once again showing the talent of McKenna in writing outside the box and turning tired stereotypes on their head.The story of Return to Me has been summarized by other reviewers, so I will merely add my voice to the chorus of readers who admire McKenna's creation of the highly sensitive, highly intense hero, whose isolation and socially rebellious nature are combined with a rampant sensuality that is strong but never cruel. She is a master at creating a unique inner voice for her heroes. Her heroines, who are sometimes mistaken for being passive or insipid, are also written against type - they are nice women who are often out of touch with their own feelings, and who, even as they gain strength, remain decidedly female. Even in the moments her characters are not likeable, they are compelling and realistic in their insecurities. In Return to Me, McKenna lays waste to all sorts of romantic stereotypes, from the "archetypal wolf" to the "virgin sacrifice," all the while writing unapologetically about the differences between men and women and the ways in which those differences continue to draw us together and create balance in our romantic relationships. McKenna's development of a romantic relationship between two emotionally complex characters - besides including very earthy, very explicit, very erotic sex - means that her characters are working out their own issues in the process of developing an emotionally intimate, and often overwhelming connection with each other. Her characters don't follow a straight trajectory toward HEA happiness; instead they move forward, back, sideways, and upside-down in their romantic dance. Return to Me contains all of the hero-angst her fans have grown to love, and a nicely fleshed-out heroine, as well. This story takes place in a more isolated fictional world than her previous two books, with less larger than life evil and more personal trauma. And because the two main characters share a past, the quickly intense dynamics between them seem realistic and allow McKenna to hint at things without having to spell everything out. Simon is a character who, even after tremendous success as a photographer, still suffers from the effects of childhood psychological trauma and is wholly unprepared for the vulnerability he feels in opening himself up to the heroine's love. Ellen leads a life of superficial calm, but is emotionally shut down, and in opening herself up to Simon, she struggles to understand her own needs, and discovers that what some perceive as her greatest weakness - her care-taking personality - is also the core of her emotional strength and self-confidence. There is also a very interesting secondary romance between two characters who also share a past - and a number of traumatic memories -- and whose own windy path toward reconciliation provides a nice counterpoint to the primary romance. In many ways, this is a book about how people learn to forgive, accept and give love freely, and reconcile past with present. This book is, in my opinion, much more cleanly written than her first two, with prose that is often evocative and emotional without sounding melodramatic or overwrought. I agree that the relationship dynamics here are closer to those of the first book than the second, and that if you enjoyed Seth and Raine, you will likely enjoy this book, as well. If you enjoy complex and emotionally dark heroes, earthy eroticism, intense psychological interactions, and the blending of romance, erotica, and suspense, give Shannon Mckenna a try.
Rating: 
Summary: McKenna does it again
Review: Now I've read some of the negative reviews and I honestly don't get it. I didn't see Simon as a neanderthal or as being into dominance sexually at all.
In fact, I saw Simon as one of those people who has opened himself up a few times to other people and has been kicked in the teeth because of it. He's lonely and lost and needs love but he can't bear to get hurt or lose another person. He takes pictures because you can watch life through the lens but you don't have to live it that way.
Ellen is a woman who has loved this wounded man for most of her life. Yes, he walked out 17 years before and she's always held him in the back of her mind but she gets him in a way that others don't.
So it seems to me, utterly natural that they'd both be fumbling around, messing things up over it. Simon in his defensive mode and Ellen, feeling frustrated at that defense but understanding it all the same.
I liked the tension between Ellen and Simon better than that between Connor and Erin in Standing in the Shadows and the story caught me much quicker than SIS did. In fact, Ellen is much less a damsel in distress than Erin was and I liked her more although there was a point at which I wish she'd told her future mother in law to shut up.
One thing that did puzzle me was the 180 degree change in some of the characters like Brad. He starts off a jerk but ends up a hurt boy who fights to get his real love back, I couldn't really find the logical place where that happened.
Overall though, Return to Me appealed to me more than Standing in the Shadows but I've loved all three of McKenna's full length books as well as the short stories she's done. All hail the misunderstood bad boy.
Rating: 
Summary: Pretty awful plot and characters, hot sex scenes.
Review: This book was such a disappointment, and I'm beginning to suspect that Ms. McKenna was a one-hit wonder. Her full-length-novel debut, Behind Closed Doors, was absolutely sensational, even if her alpha male hero was a bit overdone. Her next effort, Standing in the Shadows, was mainly a rewrite of the first book, with the main characters' names changed. It had the same villain, same plot, same schizophrenic, insecure hero, and insecure, wimpy heroine. But at least the second book had a plot that made sense. Return to Me has only the weaknesses of her first two books (schizophrenic hero, wimpy heroine, etc.) but none of the plot strengths. The plot, in fact, made almost no sense. The main characters were incredibly two-dimensional and, therefore, extremely irritating. Simon was the small town bad boy who was essentially run out of town when falsely accused of burning down a barn. After seventeen years of serving in the Marines and working as a photojournalist in some of the world's hell holes (Bosnia and Afghanistan), you'd think he'd have gained some perspective, and gotten over his past (which really didn't seem that bad to me). Alas, Simon seems only to have gained an even more bleak, self-absorbed conviction that he is some sort of bad luck charm who can only wreak havoc on his hometown upon his return. It's really quite pathetic, and the fact that he's gorgeous and has a great bod and is generous in the oral sex department doesn't help make him appealing. He's quite pitiful really, and the only thing more pitiful is watching Ellen attempt to help him get over himself. Why does she bother? is what I kept asking, over and over.
Also, we get no sense of who Ellen is, and how she got there. She's a pushover, but we don't know why. She's never stepped foot out of their hometown, but we don't know why. Also, she's never read a single one of Simon's famous pieces on Bosnia or Afghanistan, but we don't know why. Does this woman never read magazines? She's supposedly compared every man she's met for the past seventeen years to Simon, but she's never discovered that he was an award-winning photojournalist? Even her mother is painted inconsistently: at first she's an overbearing bitch to Ellen, then she's all nice and accepting of Simon, for no good reason. These are the types of details that are consistently missing from Ms. McKenna's books. This was essentially a Harlequin-esque romance novel that should have been 200 pages, but was stretched to twice that length with extra sex scenes, and extra Simon-feeling-sorry-for-himself scenes. I'm getting the sense that Ms. McKenna's strength is writing short stories like those found in the Bad Boy series. If she's going to continue writing full-length novels, I hope she takes more time to conceive and flesh out more interesting plots and characters.
Inexplicably, I found the characters of Cora and Brad to be the most interesting and best written. Unlike Ellen and Simon, you got a good sense of who they were in their pasts, why they made the mistakes they did, and how they're trying to change. That's why, unlike Ellen and Simon, you find yourself rooting for them, and hoping that things work out for them.
One last thing: like many of other reviewers, I thought the sex scenes were hot. But, I'm getting tired of the author's hero's bull-in-a-china-closet approach to sex. Would it kill them to use some finesse once in a while? Does sex with these guys always have to be a full-on assault? And must the heroes in her books talk so much during sex? It was actually quite distracting, and detracted from the affect in my opinion. I kept hoping Simon would just shut up, already.
My advice: buy this one used or, better yet, check it out at the library for free.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful!
Review: This one was my favorite book from McKenna. While I loved "Behind Closed Doors" and "Standing in the Shadows", "Return to Me" wasn't as dark as the other books. I enjoyed it. My only complaint was the hero had long hair ;-)
Rating:
Summary: My Favorite By This Author So Far!!!
Review: This story to date has been my favorite by Ms. McKenna and I've read all of her stories. We meet a whole new group of people and the storyline is entertaining. So if you have read all of her full length novels your in for a treat. This book is very different from "Behind Closed Doors" and "Standing In The Shadows". This is more of a downhome story with the characters all having had a past history together. They grew up experienced good times/bad times...you get the picture. There is a slight suspense storyline in the background. The main focus of this story is the renewed relationship between the towns "bad boy" Simon Riley and the "good-girl" Ellen Kent. The chemistry between Ellen and Simon is both sweet and explosive. It was very entertaining to read how these two very different people managed to face that which scared them the most and how they each could be the strength for the other. While at the same time trying to figure out if Simon's uncle killed himself or was murdered. This was a fast paced read that kept moving. There were no slow spots to drag down the story. Secondary characters and flashbacks help with the background that was missing. Ms. McKenna is a truly gifted storyteller and one that I highly recommend!
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