Rating: 
Summary: Delicious Villians
Review: Karen Robards crafts the most deliciously evil villians and this book is no exception. Villians are people too, and it's just as important to get a sense of their goals and motivations as it is the main characters. I have yet to put down a Robards book for lack of exciting and intriguing characters.
Rating: 
Summary: Sexy Romantic Suspense with an evil villain
Review: Karen Robards is one of the leading writers in Romantic Suspense and in PARADISE COUNTY, she has done it again. Alex Haywood is recovering from her father's death (an apparent suicide) and the discovery that his fortune is gone. She has to fire Joe Welch, manager of the family horse ranch, except Joe refuses to stay fired. Joe wants to protect his family and grow his share of the ranch. Falling for a rich girl who is bound to leave (like his ex-wife did) is not on his list. Especially if she has a sister like Neely who falls for one of Joe's sons. Fortunately for the story, Joe's hormones, and Alex's, don't listen to their rational sides. All is not well in Paradise County, however. A truly evil villain (he is so bad he not only rapes and murders women, he also sets dogs on fire) is intrigued by Alex and Neely. Noone, not even Alex herself, can believe the increasing evidence that she is being watched--stalked. PARADISE COUNTY is steamy-sexy, with a believable attraction between Joe and Alex. Unlike most romantic suspense novels, this one ends the romantic conflict before the suspense--but the suspense ends in an epic struggle between good and evil. Robards penetrates deep into the mind of the 'predator' creating a far more frightening character than would have been possible if she had not. Be careful, though. The predator is not for the faint hearted.
Rating: 
Summary: needlessly cruel, needfully trite
Review: Not only was I very disapointed in this book - I was also replused by it. What is this prevailing trend in romantic suspense that predicates a really Sick and Twisted Villian??? In this particular book Ms. Robards seems compelled to up the ante by having her bad guy commit an egregious act of animal cruelty - on paper or not, it was needlessly cruel and violent and did not need to happen for the story to unfold. And what a story it is...Poor Little Rich Girl and the Virile Stablehand - there's even the predictable sub-plot romance. How trite and how not very interesting - I've read this story millions of times and 999,999 of them have been better written. Save your money and donate it to an animal cause on behalf of "Karen Robards".
Rating:
Summary: Steamy!
Review: Paradise County is a very good book because it has a variety of themes in it. It keeps the reader interested and because there is a mystery the reader will want to keep reading until the end of the book.
The story takes place in Shelby County, Kentucky. The beautiful scenery and finest horses make people call it "Paradise County". Charles Haywood is a very rich man who owns a horse farm called Whistledown, located in Shelby County. He is there visiting his horse farm when he unexpectedly dies. His death is ruled a suicide. Joe Welch, who manages Whistledown and has lived on the farm since he was younger, is the one that found Mr. Haywood. Joe has three children and raises them by himself. Their mother and his wife left them many years before. Alexandra Haywood is Charles Haywood's daughter. She and her younger sister Neely, come to visit Whistledown to oversee the selling of the horse farm. When Mr. Haywood died, Alex and Neely were left in debt. The horse farm and the horses had to be sold. While making arrangements for Whistledown, Alex also wants desperately to find answers to her father's so-called suicide. She can't believe her father would have killed himself. Joe and Alex's first meeting with each other is very unpleasant. The meeting turns out very bad, they hate one another. After a few days at Whistledown, Neely, who is a teenage wild child, starts hanging around with Joe's son Eli. Eli is Joe's oldest son and is sixteen years old. Alex and Joe also start to develop a better relationship. It seems that their hatred for each other turns into passion. While Neely and Eli get into a few mischievous situations, Alex and Joe start a romantic relationship. All of a sudden Neely and Eli disappear. Alex and Joe start uncovering a mystery while trying to find them. Soon they all become in danger. It turns out a murderer has been living in Paradise County. Throughout the book, the story goes from the characters at Whistledown to the unknown murderer. The murderer is killing his victims and keeping some prisoner. It goes into detail about his victims at different times in the book.
I enjoyed this book because it made me want to keep reading until I uncovered the mystery. I wanted to find out who the murderer was. I also enjoyed the developing love stories. Paradise County also talks about a ghost, which might appeal to some readers. This book had passion, murders, and comedy all mixed into it. Readers will want to see if eventually the murderer is caught. Most of the story is believable. It is likely that a rich man could have been murdered. It is also likely that he could have committed suicide. People who might despise each other could fall in love with each other. There are murderers around, even in what seems like a "paradise" type of place. Some might question the fact that the girls see a ghost of their father, while others might not think twice about that idea. The author does not use extremely difficult words, they are easy to understand and follow. As far as character development goes I think Alex and Joe's characters developed a lot as the story went on. I feel that they both were judgmental at the beginning. It is interesting to see the hatred they have for each other quickly turn into love. They seem to need each other very much.
I would recommend this book to anyone but especially to people that enjoy a good mystery. If someone enjoys all types of books, this would be one to read because the reader gets a mixture of different themes.
Rating:
Summary: Paradise County Review
Review: Paradise County is a very good book because it has a variety of themes in it. It keeps the reader interested and because there is a mystery the reader will want to keep reading until the end of the book.
The story takes place in Shelby County, Kentucky. The beautiful scenery and finest horses make people call it "Paradise County". Charles Haywood is a very rich man who owns a horse farm called Whistledown, located in Shelby County. He is there visiting his horse farm when he unexpectedly dies. His death is ruled a suicide. Joe Welch, who manages Whistledown and has lived on the farm since he was younger, is the one that found Mr. Haywood. Joe has three children and raises them by himself. Their mother and his wife left them many years before. Alexandra Haywood is Charles Haywood's daughter. She and her younger sister Neely, come to visit Whistledown to oversee the selling of the horse farm. When Mr. Haywood died, Alex and Neely were left in debt. The horse farm and the horses had to be sold. While making arrangements for Whistledown, Alex also wants desperately to find answers to her father's so-called suicide. She can't believe her father would have killed himself. Joe and Alex's first meeting with each other is very unpleasant. The meeting turns out very bad, they hate one another. After a few days at Whistledown, Neely, who is a teenage wild child, starts hanging around with Joe's son Eli. Eli is Joe's oldest son and is sixteen years old. Alex and Joe also start to develop a better relationship. It seems that their hatred for each other turns into passion. While Neely and Eli get into a few mischievous situations, Alex and Joe start a romantic relationship. All of a sudden Neely and Eli disappear. Alex and Joe start uncovering a mystery while trying to find them. Soon they all become in danger. It turns out a murderer has been living in Paradise County. Throughout the book, the story goes from the characters at Whistledown to the unknown murderer. The murderer is killing his victims and keeping some prisoner. It goes into detail about his victims at different times in the book.
I enjoyed this book because it made me want to keep reading until I uncovered the mystery. I wanted to find out who the murderer was. I also enjoyed the developing love stories. Paradise County also talks about a ghost, which might appeal to some readers. This book had passion, murders, and comedy all mixed into it. Readers will want to see if eventually the murderer is caught. Most of the story is believable. It is likely that a rich man could have been murdered. It is also likely that he could have committed suicide. People who might despise each other could fall in love with each other. There are murderers around, even in what seems like a "paradise" type of place. Some might question the fact that the girls see a ghost of their father, while others might not think twice about that idea. The author does not use extremely difficult words, they are easy to understand and follow. As far as character development goes I think Alex and Joe's characters developed a lot as the story went on. I feel that they both were judgmental at the beginning. It is interesting to see the hatred they have for each other quickly turn into love. They seem to need each other very much.
I would recommend this book to anyone but especially to people that enjoy a good mystery. If someone enjoys all types of books, this would be one to read because the reader gets a mixture of different themes.
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing
Review: Paradise County is not up to Robards usual standards. The book couldn't decide if it wanted to be a horror story or a romance and, unfortunately, it missed on both counts. The detailed violence was too graphic and intense for the romantic suspense genre. I suggest reading any other Robards book besides this one.
Rating:
Summary: Good Read
Review: Paradise County was much better than Ghost Moon and I liked that one. The ending was a bit rushed. Joe and Alexandra sizzled!
Rating:
Summary: GREAT SUSPENSE
Review: There is no good reason to bring blatant animal abuse (p. 73) into a story sold as mystery/romance. Return this book to wherever you bought or borrowed it and do not read it. This book deserves no stars. I will not read anything of this author's works.
Rating:
Summary: Actually zero stars
Review: There is no good reason to bring blatant animal abuse (p. 73) into a story sold as mystery/romance. Return this book to wherever you bought or borrowed it and do not read it. This book deserves no stars. I will not read anything of this author's works.
Rating:
Summary: GREAT SUSPENSE
Review: This book has it all, romance, suspense, and humor. I have just discovered the books of this author and cannot wait to read them all. Highly recommend!
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