Rating: 
Summary: Save Yourself the Trouble!
Review: Although the introduction was quite promising, the rest of the book left much to be desired, like an interesting plot, developed characters, and other trivial matters.This book reads like a dumbed-down mystery (think "Mystery for Romance Fans 101"), and the plot crawls along oh-so-painfully. The first half is spent detailing just HOW Irish the Kelly family is: multiple renditions of the song "Danny Boy," the truth and the fairy tale of St. Patrick, Irish politics, leprechauns, banshees, fairies, etc. In fact, everyone would be content to be coated in green paint, except for the heroine, who cannot let a day go by, without insisting that she's American and not Irish. No insight is given as to WHY she feels the need to make such a distinction, although an embarrassing childhood episode might have helped to give the character SOME dimension. Save yourself the trouble and pick up one of her historical romances. Mystery is NOT where this author's talents lie.
Rating:
Summary: BIG Disapointment
Review: Big Disappointment I am normally a big fan of this author's historical romances but her mysteries leave much to be desired. Poor character development and worse plot. The heroine is supposedly an intelligent woman and yet she doesn't even know the most basic of information about the man she has supposedly loved all her life, her grandmother and her own mother! Did this women never ask a question when she was growing up!? The story lines involving her brother and friends are weak and very contrived. It's a bad sign when halfway through the book I STILL don't care who did what or why. Read some of her older books like One Wore Blue, One Wore Gray and One Rode West, but do yourself a favor and stay away from her mysteries.
Rating:
Summary: BIG Disapointment
Review: Big Disappointment I am normally a big fan of this author's historical romances but her mysteries leave much to be desired. Poor character development and worse plot. The heroine is supposedly an intelligent woman and yet she doesn't even know the most basic of information about the man she has supposedly loved all her life, her grandmother and her own mother! Did this women never ask a question when she was growing up!? The story lines involving her brother and friends are weak and very contrived. It's a bad sign when halfway through the book I STILL don't care who did what or why. Read some of her older books like One Wore Blue, One Wore Gray and One Rode West, but do yourself a favor and stay away from her mysteries.
Rating:
Summary: Her weakest effort
Review: Every time I read this author, I'm amazed that she could be a "best-selling author." This book was probably one of the worst I've ever read. Since her stories are usually good for a light read, I continue to read them. However, this one was so full of politics and history that I skipped over a lot of it, something I rarely do. And her attempt to authenticate it with the Irish dialect was distracting and made it even harder to follow. One thing I wish this author would get a grasp on is the basics of writing. I'm a writer and one of the first things I was taught was that "said" is the best way to describe conversation - it's short, sweet and to the point. This author should be used as an example of what not to do by every writing professor in the world as far as this subject. The characters wailed, breathed, muttered, responded, cried, questioned, murmurered, retorted, and just about every other word you can possibly think of to excess. It was very annoying, as were the pages and pages of "filler" that really said nothing and did nothing to move the story along (i.e. "Where were you?" "What are you, my mother?" "I asked where you were." "I was out." "Out where?" "Why are you questioning me?" etc.) Another thing that's very annoying with this author is her overuse of characters. She packs so many into each story that it's nearly impossible to keep track of who's who. And in every scene, the details are painstakingly described, and every character must be accounted for. Frankly, I really don't care who sat next to who at dinner, who rode in whose car to church, what everyone wore to sleep and where each member of the family was while Grandma was cooking breakfast. A very poor effort from a very mediocre author.
Rating: 
Summary: Passable Fiction
Review: I did not feel that this tale was one of Heather Graham's best. I felt that it contained too much background and historical information. I found myself skipping over parts of the detail to get to the "meat" of the story. All in all, it is passable fiction, even if it is a little slow.
Rating: 
Summary: Had a hard time.
Review: I have a hard time following this book. I felt like she could have got to point sooner.
Rating:
Summary: too much detail
Review: It's nice when romance authors do research, but sometimes I'm left with the feeling that they think that they must use it all in a single book. That happens here. Great characters, good plot, then - we keep getting sermons and history lessons. I agree with the author's views on the Irish situation, but I was looking for entertainment, not a seminar.
Rating:
Summary: too much detail
Review: It's nice when romance authors do research, but sometimes I'm left with the feeling that they think that they must use it all in a single book. That happens here. Great characters, good plot, then - we keep getting sermons and history lessons. I agree with the author's views on the Irish situation, but I was looking for entertainment, not a seminar.
Rating: 
Summary: Divided loyalties - Very highly recommended
Review: Kelly's Pub, a family-owned establishment in Boston, becomes the center of a family reunion and possible terrorist plot during a St. Patrick's Day celebration. When her mother calls warning that her father's health isn't well, TV producer Moira Kelly changes her plans and brings she show to Boston. The plans for the pub and her family provide insight for viewers into the way of the Irish from recipes to lore. When Moira learns that a certain Belfast politician plans to celebrate the holiday with Bostonians, she also decides to invite him to her show. Soon Moira finds herself thrust into danger and intrigue, as she learns that "Blackbird" represents more than the name of the band or Kelly invented beverage, it also seems to be a code word linking pub patrons to political ideologies and dangerous plots. In addition to professional concerns, Moira also finds her loyalties challenged in her private life. She brings her new love, Michael McLean to Boston, despite the fact that her old flame Daniel O'Hara is also visiting her family. Torn between stability and passion, Moira struggles with her common sense and her heart. Worse, she also feels her loyalties challenged by her brother's frequent mysterious absences, secrets whispered in the darkness, and new revelations about Danny's past. Add a killer of prostitutes that seems connected to the conspiracy, as well as her father's best friend's death, and Moira finds herself in imminent danger. Heather Graham strikes the perfect balance between romance and suspense in NIGHT OF THE BLACKBIRD. While terrorist plots may be a bit difficult to read in the wake of the recent US bombing, for those with an appetite for intrigue, NIGHT OF THE BLACKBIRD will prove quite satisfying. The complexity of plot, richness of historical detail, and multitude of suspects keeps the reader enthralled. Further, the heroine struggles with first generation Irish-American, including family idiosyncrasies, political entanglements and multiple loyalties, thereby adding tremendous richness of this novel. Combined with a beautifully written love story and thought provoking philosophical asides, NIGHT OF THE BLACKBIRD comes very highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Her weakest effort
Review: Moira takes her new boyfriend, Michael, to a family reunion. Doing that causes tension enough in Moira's life, but her old boyfried Daniel, is also at that reunion. Using the Irish conflict as the suspense part of Heather Graham's romantic suspense, was intriguing. And, the book starts off very well. There's an early murder that sets up the feeling of menace, at Moira's family reunion. Unfortunately, my full enjoyment of the book, probably ended at that point. Moira's mixed feelings about her two men, Michael and Daniel, caused me, as a reader, feelings of distaste. When she eventually decides on one of them, the romance felt short-changed. Not the sex, just the romance. Also, although there is another murder in the book, and Moira's life is threatened by accidents, for me, the culprit seemed rather obvious. So, not only did I feel the romance was short-changed, so was the suspense. Add those facts to the heavy details about the Irish conflict and the weak romance, I really felt disappointed by this book. It really had a very good beginning.
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