5 comments about Play Dirty.

1. Reviews over Sandra Brown's PLAY DIRTY weren't exactly glowing here, causing me to be a bit skeptical prior to getting this book. For this reason, I went with the audio format. Normally I can stick with a bad book longer this way. But it turns out, this wasn't necessary.
   
   When the book opens, Griff Burkett has just been let out of prison where he'd spent five years. He'd been a Cowboys quarterback, but threw a game in order to pay off gambling debts. From the getgo, he's not a likable character and maybe this was a turn-off to readers. Personally, I thought this was a brazen move - one that I appreciated.
   
   Add to the story, Foster Speakman, owner and CEO of SunSouth Airlines, and his wife, Laura, a wealthy, successful and wealthy couple. Early in their marriage, tragedy struck in the form of an auto accident, leaving Foster in a wheel chair. He's unable to have children, and this is where Burkett comes in. He is offered a job of impregnating his wife and not through vitro fertilization, but the old fashioned way. The catch is this job must remain secret.
   
   The bad guy in this story is Stanley Rodarte. He's a cop whose mission is to tag Burkett for an unsolved murder that happened prior to Burkett's incarceration. Rodarte won't rest until Burkett is back behind bars, even if he has to play dirty to do it.
   
   Even though I knew early who the murderer was, it was a great read with good solid characters. Sandra Brown never fails to entertain!



2. I read and love all of Sandra Brown's books, and this is no different. I'm not looking for a perfect hero or heroine. Sandra Brown writes about real people who have real flaws. Her stories draw you in and make you feel like a part of the story. Even if you can't sympathize with the characters, you understand what makes them tick. Highly recommended!



3. Play dirty but don't deceive on purpose with intent to hurt an innocent person. G. Burkett committed sin, and no one is forgiving. Money can buy any and everything, including a surrogate dad. After spending time incarcerated, he is disgraced and all alone until Laura Speakman, wife of a barren man, and Griff like Marc is a randy one who'll do anything for money. It doesn't matter who gets hurt along the way. The clock, Marc's cell phone purchased at Dollar General, is tickiing down on another felon who now has much to lose, more the second time because of a woman's interest and need for him. Selfish like most men, he thinks he's invincible and won't be caught again. He kept her money,k saying only I don't want to hurt you. He was like a young Gid with cultivated muscles going to pot. Out of jail, he's let his figure go and the beer he consumes is showing up as fat, while eating the wrong foods. His fate is in the hands of a man who became his fierciest enemy. Read this Brown version of love gone bad. She is an expert at perversion under wraps.



4. Diana: Some things are not for sale.
   John: Such as?
   Diana: Well you can't buy people.
   (Quotation from the movie "Indecent Proposal")
   
   This book pulls a switcheroo on the "Indecent Proposal" plotline, where a wealthy man offers a cash-strapped couple one million dollars in exchange for certain favors.
   
   Short Attention Span Summary (SASS):
   
   1. Ex-quarterback Griff Burkett has just been released from prison
   2. He's admitted to receiving a payout for influencing the outcome of a game to facilitate some unsavory characters
   3. He may also have murdered somebody
   4. He's definitely not a nice guy
   5. A wealthy businessman is desperately seeking an heir
   6. He's confined to a wheelchair
   7. His young wife is prepared to go to any length to fulfill his wish
   8. The businessman makes Griff an indecent proposal in exchange for a decent cash payment and his silence.
   9. Apparently, some people CAN be bought
   10. Griff has a dangerous and ruthless enemy who enjoys seeing him suffer
   11. Griff suffers
   12. Intriguing premise turns absurd, and despite some page-turning action, the ending is rather preposterous
   
   If you can get past the fact that all the major characters in the book are unlikeable, the beginning and middle sections of the book are entertaining, albeit unbelievable and unlikely, but when you get down to the ending, the story unravels untidily while attempting to tie off the loose ends.
   
   
   
   
   Amanda Richards, May 30, 2008



5. I borrowed this book in the UK, where it was published as a paperback in 2007. If you are thinking of buying this in hardback, I'd suggest you visit the library for a copy or wait until it is published in paperback, as it isn't worth the hardback price.
   
   It is not terrible, but is departure from Sandra Brown's usual style as there are no heroes or heroines, and the writing is not up to Sandra Brown's usual standard. Parts of the book were good to very good, but not enough to give more than a three star rating. I didn't warm to any of the characters; they are not believable, but this isn't the greatest flaw. The plot is ludicrous. Read on, if you want to know more, but be aware there are some spoilers.
   
   A successful businessman (Foster Speakman) crippled in an auto accident 2 years previously, wants his wife (Laura) to have a baby. The wife also wants a child, and goes along with the man's plan to have the a baby using a donor "as God intended", meaning not using any of the medical breakthroughs now available to assist couples with fertility problems.
   
   I don't believe God would condone adultery, but conceiving a child in this manner is the basis of the plot. I am not going to make moral judgments, but it started shaky and then got absolutely ridiculous with a predictable eventual outcome in order to wrap up all the loose ends.
   
   SPOILERS FOLLOW:
   The husband summons a handsome, ex-football star (Griff Burkett) on this first day out of prison and offers him a deal. Griff clearly is a man who can be bought - he was imprisoned for throwing a championship game for which he is paid $2 million from the mob. For total confidentiality involving no one other than Foster, Laura and Griff, Foster offers $100k up front to sleep with his wife, $500k on successful conception and $1 million per year for life. Griff is broke, widely reviled and has little chance of finding employment, so he accepts Foster Speakman's offer with alacrity.
   
   The wife, acting CEO of her husband's airline, is totally insipid and the husband obviously suffering from some form of mania. In fact, in order to make him seem less of a cuckolded victim, Sandra Brown turns him from a loving husband into a manipulating maniac to make Griff and Laura seem the wronged parties. She writes Foster's OCD as a stepping stone to madness, which is both incorrect and irresponsible.
   
   Griff, Laura and Foster all come across as seriously flawed. Throw in a detective (Stanley Rodarte) with a huge grudge against the disgraced football star, a mysterious manservant (Manuelo), a tart with a heart (Marcia) and a couple of other minor characters (coach & wife, sports' reporter, lawyers, used car dealer), but although some showed promise, they were all lacking in character development.
   
   The husband meets a grisly end in totally ridiculous manner, and Griff is Number 1 suspect, so he goes on the run, then kidnaps/cajoles the wife to join him in order to clear his name by threatening to expose the agreement between himself and the Speakmans, which seemed very sleazy as Griff had given his word to keep the "arrangement" confidential. The detective also gets his comeuppance.
   
   The epilogue is a bit syrupy where everything is smoothed over and Griff declares his love for Laura, but at least they didn't walk off into the sunset together, although there is the potential for a new beginning for them. Griff appeared to redeem himself over both the money and caring for people, but it didn't really ring true.
   
   This book felt as if the author had to rush it to meet a deadline, and did not have time to strengthen the characterizations. The editor should have ensured whole passages were rewritten before publication, so I attribute some the weaknesses to the editing.
   
   If you like Sandra Brown's later work as I do, "White Hot" is a much better book. If you like her romances, you will be very disappointed, so try Linda Lael Miller's novels instead.

5 comments about Breath of Scandal.

1. Jade Speery returns to her hometown fifteen years after a brutal gang rape at the hands of three of her classmates, led by Neal Patchett, the sadistic son of the self-proclaimed town patriarch. Once a proud virgin, she was saving herself for her boyfriend Gary, and was devastated when even her mother didn't believe she was raped. As Neal bragged that it was consensual, Gary couldn't handle the thought of her with another man and killed himself. When she left Palmetto, she was a broken and pregnant teen; she returns Hell-bent on vengeance against the men who forever scarred her.
   
   As her plan for vengeance takes on a life of its own, she discovers that each man and his family has a reason to want to lay claim to her teen son Graham. She's aided in her elaborate plans for retribution by builder Dillon Burke, whose construction project could put an end to the Patchett's reign of terror on Palmetto. Dillon is also scarred by a lost love. As the two grow closer, love unexpectedly sneaks up on them both. But in dealing a one-two punch on the Patchett family she doesn't realize the lengths that Neal will go to secure his "heir."
   
   Though dated in some aspects, Brown's compelling and heart wrenching story will grab the reader and keep them glued as the story unfolds. More than a tale of vengeance, Brown tells a sweeping story of redemption and a mature second chance at love.



2. I recently decided to reread this book when I found it in my library and saw that I had written, "Good - save" in the front of the book. I guess my tastes have changed somewhat because although the book held my interest for the most part, I didn't find it to be particularly gripping. I would probably give this book 3.5 stars if I could, but that wasn't an option so I went with 4. I found the main characters of the book to be likeable and I thought the love story part of the book was good. The storyline was also reasonably interesting. I would say that if you read the plotline for this book and think it sounds interesting, you would probably enjoy reading the book.



3. I've read about 5 or 6 Sandra Brown novels, and this one was my favorite yet. A lot of Brown's novels follow the same template especially for the mystery/suspense ones. Where the killer/bad guy turns out to be a very minor charactor who you know nothing about until you find out who he is and then it goes into this big explaination about why he was the bad guy. Then of course the happy ending with the unprotected sex that they hope results in a pregnacy..haha. It gets kind of old. But this one isn't like that AT ALL. I'm not going to summarize it or anything, but if you are like me and enjoy reading Sandra Brown but find her books a little repetive, you should really read this one.



4. I personally thought this was her best work. That said, the format was a MP3 audio. If I had to read it, then maybe I wouldn't have felt so strongly. But I have no way of knowing.



5. Jade Sperry is a happy high school senior with her whole life ahead of her. She thinks she is blessed and has more than anyone could hope for. She is pretty, popular, smart, and has a boyfriend that truly loves her. In one moment Jade's life takes a drastic turn when she is brutally raped and left for dead by three of her peers. This event shapes all her decisions and how she lives her life. Jade decides that she will extract her revenge on those that harmed her.
   
   This is a really well written story. The one thing that was hard to deal with was that just when you thought Jade's life couldn't get any worse, it does. It is very intense and emotionally draining.

5 comments about A Kiss Remembered.

1. I like Sandra Brown but this book should have been rewritten. I have been listening to it on audiobook and also have the actual book. I didn't realize until I was actually listening to it how badly written it was. It was as if Sandra wrote it with a thesaurus well utilized. Shelley came across as SO immature, even at age 26. And she describes Grant as if he as 45 instead of around 35. I would LOVE to see her rewrite this and create a better female lead, instead of the wimpy Shelley that we have. I really liked Grant and would like to have had him placed in a much better story. It would have been so much more interesting seeing Shelley interact with her ex-husband more (so he could get a better comeuppance). Instead, we get vascillationg between Yes and NO and Yes and NO...and her reasons were wimpy too. As someone who does teach on the university level, NO, I would not date someone I was teaching, no matter how attracted I was to them. It is not ethical and, to me, Grant was very ethical. So much more could have been done to bring them together. It moved too slowly AND too fast at the same time. Now that takes talent! Thankfully, Sandra has written much better books since.



2. In the 80s and 90s, it wasn't against the law for teachers to carry on with a student of whatever age. In the 50s, we were all crazy about our choir director, and his suffering through a divorce made him all that much dearer to us. He'd sung with a famous group before coming home to our school to direct the music program. The only reason I passed the auditions for the Girls' Glee Club was my popularity on local t.v. talent shows. Not once did he ever touch any one, as he had principles, never patted any student on the back. Nowadays, you go to jail if you are seen alone with an underage person not related to you. From news reports, it figures more that middle aged female school employees are abusing the boy students.
   
   When this story took place, it was not abuse unless a man abused a boy. Shelly was only sweet sixteen when the male teacher with the roving eyes singled her out for a real embrace along with a kiss to remember. He was sent packing in a discreet manner, no charges, no publicity, only heartbreak for young Shelley. Was it only a teenage crush or infatuation. She somehow overcame her hurt from what felt like desertion and got on with life, marrying right out of high school as many girls do.
   
   After she was divorced ten years later, like Charlotte did, she went to college so as to get a degree and not have to depend on a man. Like Valerie, she decided on a political science major (Charlotte went into education and became a teacher), and sparks flew between Shelly and her professor -- the very same high school heartthrob. It built into a full-fledged affair, and their kisses became kisses of fire. He'd been the man of her dreams for many years, but this was no fairy tale. No man, whom a woman loved and desired came back into her life like a knight on a white charger. Nothing worked out that easily. A price had to be paid.
   
   She wasn't sure she'd be able to pick up the pieces of her life again. She no longer was an emotional teenager but an experienced divorced woman. Grant was a lot like my first love, but he loved me in a different way and let me spread my wings like a blue butterfly and fly away to my destiny. Grant was good at using double entendre, and proposed that she be his assistant, grading his exams and such. Like Bill, he held her on his lap. The silver in his hair only heightened his attractiveness. Had he changed so much, or had she merely grown up and was ready for a real man. Like a master conductor, you've got all the different parts of your life playing in harmony and making absolutely beautiful music together. Sit back and enjoy the symphony -- you deserve it and the benefits of first-time motherhood. I will always remember the Nashville Symphony that Oct. when Michael Feinstein sang my request. Now, that's love of the first rate. A kiss is merely a prelude to the real thing.



3. I just finished listening to this book in the car. My need to finish any audiobook that I start was the only reason I made it through this garbage. In a nutshell: Shelly was kissed by her civics teacher, marries the wrong guy, gets divorced, meets her civics teacher 10+ years later when he is her college professor, he still has the hots for her, they fall in love, get married, have a child, and both earn the big bucks in some far-fetched, "don't ask questions" sort of way. True to romance novel form, the male lead teaches the female protagonist EVERYTHING about passion and she sits there like a log and "experiences" it. I never want to endure another sentence where the male lover "praises her [...]" and "worships her perfect stomach" etc. Why couldn't Sandra Brown challenge herself and write passion and romance the way it really is? In a give-and-take, two-way street fashion? In short: awful, unrealistic, terrible, with about two pages of conflict. Save your money and check it out of the library. But if you want to save your time, check out something else. PS: As an English professor, let me say that it is NOT kosher to date your students. ALL universities have problems with this, not just private or religious ones.



4. Earlier piece from Sandra Brown, but with the familiar twists. And very hot one indeed.



5. I listened to this in the car thankfully...so I could fast forward through all the long drawn out sexual scenes...which is what the bulk of the book is made up of. It bored me to tears....not much of a plot..just some dialouge between 'lusty' scenes. Dont waste your time.

5 comments about A Whole New Light.

1. I really enjoyed the book, however, I wish it would have stated that the book was re-issued from years ago. I read the book when it was written, and did not remember. You have to be very careful with Sandra Brown's books, and also Nora Roberts, they re-issue books from when they were not so famous. Thank you.
   Mary Loris



2. Sandra Brown never lets me down. A Whole New Light was just another one of her many, many great books. She makes you really get into the character like you are the one in the book. Great, great book.



3. The original story was released in 1989 as a paperback. It recently came out in a hardback edition. So really, I read an old story in a new format, right? Anyway, I typically do not read this style of book even though I do like Sandra Brown. This is one of those lover stories where couples of course end up happy. It is actually a good story and requires no thought whatsoever. Quick read with a light story. Sometimes I need a no-brainer book and this is one of those. Besides, the author lives nearby in Arlington, Texas. How can I pass up a book by a local author?



4. This book is remniscent of the reason I got hooked on romance novels. It is not a deeply emotional, complex read with multidimensional characters like the books that I read today, but it is nice to be reminded of the simplicity of romance and how sometimes less is more.
   
   I am an ABSOLUTE sucker for "friends turned lovers" books. This is that, but it is also about a man falling for his deceased best-friend's widow. An icky premise, but one that is entirely acceptable by the end of the book.
   
   This is a light read...think about laying on the beach with a book that doesn't require all your attention as you look out on the ocean...this is THE book for you. It's short, can be read in no time, and is very sweet and believable. Mostly though, it's romantic. What else is there to say?



5. I have read two other books by Sandra Brown- Ricochet and Playing Dirty and liked them very much especially Ricochet. However, was totally disappointed with A Whole New Light. Rarely do I NOT finish a book but this was one. It went on and on about nothing inparticular- VERY boring. Left it on an airplane!

1 comments about Sandra Brown CD Collection 2: A Treasure Worth Seeking, Shadows of Yesterday, Prime Time.

1. When you are doing mindless typing and have the ability to listen to audio books for something uplifting and entertaining this collection has just that. In most cases after I have read a borrowed book from my best friend or the public library I am finding that I will also purchase the unabridged audio book. This works great when you can not sleep at night.
   
   For the people who enjoy detailed writing, a multitude of characters and just a great emotional roller coaster, well Sandra Brown's romance collection has everything. Thank you for keeping me entertained.
   
   An avid fan of excellent "Romance Stories"

5 comments about Treasure Worth Seeking, A.

1. First off what man in their right mind kiss someone only minutes after you meet them, oh wait what am I talking about? Besides that further into the story Erin needs help zipping up her dress and of course Lance is the only one around to help her. He does more then zip up her dress he fondles and gropes her and then comes to his senses and helps her with her dress.
   He knew pretty much from the beginning that she wasnt helping her long lost brother with the robbery yet he keeps her around to mess with her sexually.
   The end of the book was even worse. Lance comes to see her at her office and she doesnt even bother to tell him she is pregnant with his child. Then of course some who they live happily ever after. blah blah blah
   dont waste your time



2. This storyline was really lame! I can't even say anything good about the characters because they were all really annoying! I am a huge Sandra Brown fan, but this one is one I wish I had skipped!



3. This was an excellent suspense story about a missing person and bank embezzelment. I was spellbound to learn what happened to Ken and the money. The friendship that developed between Ken's wife Melanie and his long-lost sister Erin was very endearing, as they comforted and supported each other through the crisis. These storylines should have been better developed as the main focus of the story.
   
   However, as a romance novel, there was nothing romantic at all about the male protagonist. Upon first encountering Erin, Lance treated her with such brute force that it crossed the line into to abuse of his power as a law enforcement official. The way he interrogated her, spoke down to her, searched her personal property without a warrant, physically man-handled her, and held her against her will was surely a violation of her civil rights (I kept wondering why she didn't insist on having a lawyer or other advocate present.) He also forced himself upon her in more intimate ways, in almost rapist fashion. I was repulsed to read about Erin's physical attraction to him in spite of his abusive man-handling of her. Yes, Lance did have moments of tenderness in the second half of the novel, alternating with obnoxious behavior, but it was impossible to imagine that Erin would even consider entering into a relationship with him, regardless of how sexy and attractive he was. Yuck!



4. Veteran narrator Joyce Bean spices A TREASURE WORTH SEEKING: a thought-provoking audio story of Erin, who has searched for the brother she'd never known and at last finds some clues to his whereabouts - only to find herself confronting family lies, secrets, and even new romance. Her love and discoveries about her family will shake her world and change her life in a moving romance which comes alive in audio under Bean's practiced voice.



5. Like other reviewers, I thought the romance in this one was too little and too late. The mystery was never really explained and had an unpleasant resolution. Not exactly what I'm looking for in a book primarily marketed as a romance book. But Brown's later suspense/romance novels Chill Factor, Envy, Slow Heat in Heaven, and White Hot are unsurpassed.

5 comments about White hot (Brown, Sandra (Spoken Word)).

1. WHITE HOT wondrously written by none other than the legionary talents of a True trail blazer& Gifted prodigy ...SANDRA BROWN!
   (((much)) props to the beautiful the eloquent....SANDRA BROWN...!
   
   You'll notice specially while listening on AUDIO....
   WHITE HOT flames sparkles ...Tenaciously & Teasingly and yummmm what a nice savory Intense Kick it has!
   ..Yes indeed...Most definitely some will find that the AUDIO is the way to go if you wanna be Carried away...
   After a hard consuming rat race of a day and your Inner self screams a Sweet Rapturous release YOU can find it in Relaxing with this READ.
   WHITE HOT is your Remedy to get Carried away Audio Utopia Style..teeheee!
   
   This reader experience..a soothing Cure or so to speak a bliss of pure listening pleasure that jumps starts ones entire Being with rthymic vibrations ,also it can best be describe as.."OOOH Snap, what a wild Rush...WOWWEE..!!!"
   
   As the Story line un folds into separate entities or piece by piece of life forces ups and downs struggles,plus survival of the fitness,who ,why what and How the HECK..?!!!
   it delicately weaved into a it Story.
   It's story is...ATTENTIONNNN...SIT UP TAKE NOTICE.. demanding while it peaks little by little then show signs of revolving,and at the same time blends into sharing portions of it's secrets.
   The story teller makes it seem with little of ease(what a season Writer!) to connect,cross,and joined everything together...all as ONE all proper like.
   Yet and still the climaxes kept being reborn with Bursts of explosion, dissolving in to colorful arrays of real life fast pace suspense ,romance & drama.
   I didn't want it to end..but the ending was on POINT..holllaaa!
   WHITE HOT subconsciously made me have thoughts &desires of reading RICOCHET also..yuppp by Sandra Brown...hmmmhh..what a nice touch!
   
   Prolonging the story for me would've continue to be a pleasurable intriguing delicious treat!
   this Reader's deepest thought was..," noooooo...don't end...PLEAZZZE more....Mr. Victor Slezak.......aaha a don't Stop!"
   Then again,That's ONLY the Magic, the talents of SANDRA BROWN...affects on you.
   This is one Reader whose glad to have thrown caution to the wind....
   As I Listen I heard and took in the Story with an...OPEN MIND. Heyyy that's sooo American to demonstrate...my Freedom Choice!!
   
   The Hero/Heroine blend&jellied very well together!
   The Hero-BECK was smart,sexier than he had a right,also Tough too!
   You know,this Reader was not at all taken back by the character,disposition of the Heroine.
   
   It was different cause usually it's the HERO who act ornery,because of sigma's society places on us...we don't say much about it..men acting out how they feel..it's the NORM. but when WOMAN...acts ornery she gets persecuted.
   
   It's a wonder SAYRE...what a lovely name didn't have a breakdown...what a tough Cookie;O)
   All the lemons that what smacked up side SAYRE head,and knives diggers thrown into her heart her feelings,however her actions&feelings were justifiable,also how her own blood/relatives mistreated her It sunk!
   I felt Sayre's pain.
   
   What a passionate Spitfire Sayre was and I give kudos to her for taking a stand for the TRUTH cause some folk wouldn't nor couldn't separate themselves from family the way she did!
   Sayre was such a TRUE... SHE-ROE ,
   like most STRONG BRAVE COURAGEOUS woman she endure hardship liken to a good solider.
   I Champion for the love Sayre & Beck shared...even in the mist of sooo much pain,suffering&death...Love prevail in the end...!
   THANKS once again Ms. Brown for entertainment at it's very,very BEST!
   Best wishess!
   susieQ



2. Sayre Lynch returns to Destiny, the home town that she left 10 years ago and swore never to return. Danny, Sayre's brother has commited suicide and she feels compelled to go to the funeral.
   
   Sayre has not talked to her brother Chris, and her father Huff since she left Destiny.
   
   After the funeral, she meets Beck Merchant, the corrupt lawyer that works for her father. She knows that if he works for her father, Beck must be as underhanded as her father is.
   Beck pursuades Sayre to come back to Huff's home after the funeral, even though she wants to go back to to LA.
   
   Huff Hoyle runs a foundry that is the only place in town for most of the population there to work. Even though there has been accidents and deaths at the work place, Huff will not make security changes. He is out for money and nothing else matters.
   
   Chris Hoyle, Sayre's brother, who has already been on trial for one murder, is suspected by the police in Danny's suicide. There are too many factors that don't look like suicide and the evidence points at Chris.
   
   While wanting to leave and go back home Sayre is torn between leaving and making sure the murderer is caught if her brother was killed by someone.
   
   Things keep happening that makes Sayre think Chris has killed Danny.
   
   People keep getting hurt at the foundry and it just gets covered up by Huff and the police.
   
   This book was hard to put down once you start reading. I liked the characters of Sayre and Beck, even though Sayre did some dumb things at times. Beck is attracted to her, but he still reports everything she does back to her father.
   
   I didn't like Beck at first, but he grows on you. The characters of Huff and Chris were so mean that you wish they would get what is coiming to them.
   
   This is a good book, you will learn how a small town has to survive under the strong arm of a man that is ruthless.
   
   It is a keeper.
   
   
   



3. Such a compelling story! Very well written, with amazingly well-drawn characters, and an intriquing plot, set against the important background of factory safety issues. I was spellbound, and couldn't put it down until I got to the end and everything was resolved.



4. *This is a review based on the abridged audiobook so some of the names might be misspelled.
   
   There's only one thing that could bring back Sayer Lynch to her birthplace in Destiny, Louisiana, the funeral of her younger brother. At first, his death is ruled as a suicide, but when one cop starts to suspect that it was actually murder, Sayer decides to prolong her visit in Destiny until she could learn the identity of the killer. While in Destiny, Sayer learns of tragic accidents that have happened at her father's company, accidents that could have been avoided had her father given enough thought to employee safety instead of money and profit. But her father, who rules everything in his life like a dictator, has ruined her life and the lives of his many employees.
   
   Out of all the author's out there, Sandra Brown has got to be my absolute favorite, with her unique writing style, her flawed characters, and her surprise twists. This novel is no different. In the beginning of the novel, I wasn't impressed with any of the characters, or the plot, but as the book developed, it got better and better. At first, I was unimpressed with Sayer's hate for her father, but soon as the reason for the hate was explained, it added to the emotional status of the character as well as the plot. The novel was full of surprise twists, some of which were obvious, others not so much. By the end of the novel, the reader gets to see the villain's good side, his love for his oldest son. You get to see Sayer's attempt to escape her family's influence only to realize that she can't escape her gene pool and also has some of those manipulative traits. The book also explores the power of revenge and the need for justice. It's a clever novel and brilliantly written.



5. Sayre Lynch never intended to return to Destiny until she receives word that her brother Danny has committed suicide. Immediately she feels like an unwelcome presence as nothing has changed even though she has had no contact with her brother Chris and father Huff since she left. When it comes to light that Danny may have been murdered, Sayre decides to stay until the mystery is solved.
   
   Beck Merchant is the attorney that handles the family business, and the one that clues Sayre in on the suspicious events surrounding Danny's death. He and Sayre clash every time they are together, but they are undeniably attracted to one another. Sayre doesn't know what to make of him because she suspects he has to be corrupt to be working for her family.
   
   Her family runs the foundry, and when she sees things haven't changed there, she is horrified. There are constant accidents and even deaths that are glossed over by the locals. Sayre wonders if her brother's death is just one more incident being covered up.
   
   This is a very well written suspense. As we are taken on Sayre's journey to come to terms with her past, so that she can have a future, it may be more of a burden than she can handle.

1 comments about Sandra Brown CD Collection 1: Bittersweet Rain, Sweet Anger, Eloquent Silence.

1. Sandra Brown CD Collection was something I had to purchase after reading Bitter Sweet Rain. This writer takes me away from reality for a moment in time when I very much need it. All of the elements are in her stories, it touches base with sadness, joy, and laughter which is one of the best medicines a person could use in the coarse of a hectic day. A very detailed oriented writer that won me over several months ago.
   
   Thank you for entertaining me while I work.

No comments about Smoke Screen: A Novel.

5 comments about Ricochet: A Novel.

1. Sandra Brown's books are usually very engrossing and enjoyable. However, this was the one exception. Except for the opening scene, there was very little in the way of drama or action. It was mainly police interrogations followed by the "he said...she said" type of stuff. And I grew weary of reading about Detective Hatcher's hard-ons for the victim/suspect (who happens to be married) on every other page. I normally finish a good book within 4-5 days and I had reached the point where I was dreading having to pick this one up. It took two weeks for me to make it only halfway through the book before I decided to put it down for good.



2. Yuck factor with the personalities of the characters and their choices. Not into the theme that Sandra Brown has taken in a couple of her books - suffering wife needs a real love/lover outside her marriage. The book seemed to drag with the lack of action. Motivation and justification at the end of the book didn't work.



3. I had typed up a longer review of this snoozefest, but it must have self-destructed from the novel's dullness!
   This is a lightweight 'crime drama-legal-thriller-romantic page-turner', which doesn't do justice any of those three genres.
   Yet another tired, cliched mess, filled with characters who are either unlikable or forgettable...much like the story itself! It's amazing how stories that read as if they were written in a few days can be so dull, they take weeks to finish!
   Once again, I find myself reading an author for the first time, disliking the story, and reading a lot of apologetic reviews from 'diehard fans' claiming that 'she's usually so much BETTER!' No offense, but I find Sandra Brown 'in contempt of readable fiction', and will not 'bail her out' by reading another one of her books.



4. This book was a disappointment. I couldn't get drawn in because I didn't like the main characters. Duncan Hatcher was especially hideous. I don't know which was more disturbing, his involvement with suspect Elise, or his total disregard of police procedure. The story never seemed to end, and didn't have the expected drama and suspense.



5. Keep you guessing until the end. One of her better books. Still get a bit into the bedroom scenes a bit much. Could have done without that. But was a fast and enjoyable mystery. With suspence.