Search - Dream Man

I LOVE Linda Howard books. I haven't read a book by her that I haven't liked, and boy can she write an alpha male. Her stories are rich, full of emotion and she really connects to the reader. This story in particular was so well written, you feel the struggles of both Dane and Marlie and when the end of the book comes, LH rewards the readers with a great HEA. I am really looking forward to reading her MacKenzie family.

LH is an author I don't even question if her name is on the book. I just grab it and enjoy. Plus I keep her books--this one is a duplicate I can share.

Linda Howard is one of my favorite authors. I will pretty much read anything with her name on it. Still, you have to like her style of writing. The story lines tend to change, but the basic premise is always there. Heroine meets man, he usually has a few issues, and they must learn to love and trust each other with whatever plot Ms. Howard has thrown in. I personally like the way she maneuvers these types of novels.
In Dream Man you meet Marlie Keen who is a psychic trying to live a quiet life away from everyone she knows. She is very much a loner with no friends or relatives that she enteracts with. Although Marlee used to work in the psychic field, she left because she was almost killed while helping the police solve a crime years ago. Guess what? Marlie witnesses "psychicly" a murder and feels compelled to go to the police. At the police station she meets hunky Detective Dane. Dane is your basic gruff workaholic cop who at first believes Marlie is nuts, and then believes she's a suspect. As he follows her around town and has her investigated, he ultimately comes to believe in her ability. Now he will have to work with her as they try to track down a serial killer. The characters are good, the story line flows and I read this book in one sitting. Highly recommended.

one of my favorite

This is the second book in the Blair Mallory series (the first one is To Die For). I listened to both of them on Audio Book. I know I liked the story "To Die For" but I didn't care for the reader, her voice grated on my nerves and got in the way of my being able to appreciate the story. This one was excellent! The reader was great and that Blair Mallory is an absolute hoot! This one was so good that I'm going to purchase "To Die For" in paperback so I can read it for myself and appreciate the great humor that almost every book I've read by Linda Howard has... I just love her!!

This book was sold as a romance but it felt more like a thriller with lots of sex. The romance was only so-so, though some of the sex scenes were pretty steamy. I was more entertained by the general premise of the book. The heroine, Marlie Keen, is a clairvoyant empath. She's been living alone for six years after an encounter with a crazed killer seemingly wiped out all of her psychic powers. Now, out of nowhere, she winds up "linking" with a serial killer with powerful mental energy. She watches his killings through his eyes. These "visions" cause her to go into an almost catatonic state, and afterward she is exhausted to the point of nearly being comatose for 12-24 hours. At first she thinks this vision is just a dream, but when she hears about the murder on the news, she reluctantly approaches the police. She knows that they'll treat her like a fraud and dismiss her as a crazy kook, which they do, but one of the detectives in charge of the case falls instantly in lust with her.

The detective, Dane Hollister, almost reminds me of one of the Brothers from the Black Dagger Brotherhood. He's huge, dominant, and possessive. Basically, he's an alpha-male with a capital 'A,' although he's missing the tortured past that seems to be a prerequisite for being a member of the Brotherhood. He and Marlie get off on the wrong foot, but one thing leads to another and the next thing you know they're having lots of hot sex nearly every other page. Their emotional connection came second to the physical stuff and the vicious murders going down, but they fell in love, of course. This was technically a romance novel, after all.

Still, the romance element felt secondary to me. It would have been better off as a thriller, I think. Also, it was a bit predictable and I didn't particularly care for the ending.