This book is just so bad. I listened to it on audio while at work and during my walk to the train. I checked it out from the library and typically, I am okay with less than good audio books to keep my mind occupied during mindless admin stuff I have to do at work and the walk to the train. But wow, this book had some really really bad scenes. I should say that this book has a lot of what I love in stories and movies, it involves a woman (young widow, twin 4 year old boys) who has to start over again, so she moves to a very rugged and remote area in Idaho. She buys an old Bed and Breakfast in a remote area that gets random tourists who are there to hike, rock climb and hunt. I gotta say that I love this theme. I love the self reinvention storyline – but it is done so poorly here. There are some good things about the story. There is a good inner dialogue from the heroine, a lot of great descriptions of small town life, of her life as an owner of a B&B and her life as a widow. There is decent set up for friendships and connections between the towns people. The location is described beautifully. Okay, that is the good stuff. Now the bad. Some spoilers in the next section. Just by coincidence, there are two former elite marines retired in this same area (Cal and Creed). One of them (Cal) is secretly in love with the heroine, Kate. Much of the beginning of the book involves details of Kate’s parenting her twins. Her parenting style is so over the top and it left me wondering if the author has any kids at all. I do have kids, I have 4 kids and 3 are very close in age and the stuff the author had Kate disciplining her kids for is normal play stuff that all toddler/pre schoolers do – yet she is constantly punishing them and sending them to the “naughty chair” where of course the 4 year olds sit in the chair patiently for 10 minutes each. Sure, completely believable. These scenes made me want to shout – “just let the kids play!” and if the author really wanted to include details on punishment and discipline – then have the kids actually do something worth punishing for, not silly little preschool stuff that is completely normal every day stuff. There is a dramatic scene where everyone is upset because the twin 4 year old boys …… fought! They fought! The author treats this situation as if it is horrible, mind boggling and wow – just so stressful. Has the author ever been around young siblings – or any siblings before? They fight. Everyday. The discipline aspect of the first half of the book was just very heavy handed, over the top and not realistic. The romance – so unbelievable. After being acquainted with each other for 3 years but never having any conversation or speaking beyond simple instructions that Kate gives Cal (her handyman), once the suspense and action begins Kate suddenly realizes that Cal is a MAN and realizes she is in love with him – but still they haven’t had a full conversation. I won’t spoil the fun if you plan to read this, but eventually Kate and Cal have to go off in the wilderness alone together in order to escape the bad guys. In order to keep warm, the couple decides to have sex, fine it is a romance novel there should be sex – but right before the sex Kate realizes that she wants to spend the rest of her life with Cal. What? Why? They have now had maybe 2 conversations – about climbing a huge mountain to escape the bad guys and to warm up after they are both wet and cold in the Idaho night. This is a widow who as of the previous chapter was still mourning her young dead husband – and now she wants to spend the rest of her life with a man she has never even conversed with? No personal conversations, nothing in depth and the author specifically mentions that they are unable to talk while hiking and climbing. Once Kate and Cal have sex, Cal admits to Kate that he has been in love with her for 3 years – even though he has never spoken to her. He admits that he was never a handyman before BUT he became a handyman so he could be close to her during the day and watch her. Oooookaaay ……. and then he admits that the locals in the village have been purposely sabotaging her house by cutting wires, loosening pipes to throw her (local B&B owner) and Cal (local handyman) together. Now in the beginning of the book Kate is constantly stressed about money, about the repairs to her B&B but she takes this very weird and freaky information in stride – and she laughs. This by the way, is Cal and Kate’s first personal conversation that is not about pipes, fixing a lock, climbing a rock, or drying cold wet feet. Suddenly the next morning after the sex – she talks about how Cal is a hero and how she is in love with him – where the heck did this come from? This is my first Linda Howard book and I am not impressed – I spent much of the time either fast forwarding (I am listening to the audio) or laughing out loud. I am a fan of romantic suspense involving military men or former military men and I like self remade stories – but this is just a bad story.
Read it first, and more recently listened to the narration by Dick Hill and Joyce Bean. The performance was okay, but not great. Joyce Bean's rendition of the toddler twins stole my heart, though. 3.5 or possibly 4 stars, mainly because I adored the toddlers and Cal Harris, the (seemingly) bashful handyman with the dual nature of a former Marine Force Recon hero. For three years he has been handling Cate's bed and breakfast repairs in the tiny mountain community of Trail Stop, Idaho. During those years, he's been developing a bond with Cate's little boys and waiting for her to get over her husband's death and notice him as more than "that nice Mr. Harris." It was amusing to see the townsfolk throw the two together by deliberately causing things to need repair. They all knew that Cal adored Cate, even though she was clueless. Cate noticed her handyman's hard body for the first time after two murderous thugs attacked. Next, she encountered his tough torso in T-shirt, without his coverall uniform. Is this her quiet handyman? With the town suddenly besieged like some old spaghetti western, Cate saw a very different Cal, the real Cal, the deadly "ghost" of military fame.When they first kissed....yummy. She felt like he was slowly eating her up. That kiss was steamier than the love scene, which was a tad disappointing.Loved the twins, too. Tucker and Tanner were adorable, how they swarmed all over their beloved handyman with his treasure chest of "dwills" and "hammaws." I enjoyed the secondary romance between Neenah and Creed, too, but they diluted the main romance. I wanted more time with Cal and Cate. Far too many pages were devoted to the bad guys! The story BEGAN and -- far worse -- even ENDED with them. I could care less about Goss. The book lost a full point for devoting nearly half the content to the antagonists. The plot itself is totally ridiculous! Beyond far-fetched, and there are numerous improbabilities, which earned the book another demerit. Besides the obvious insanity of (view spoiler)[ taking out an entire town to find a flash disk -- and they fired on people indiscriminately, so they could have shot Cate, even tho they thought she knew where the disk was!! Plus, I didn't understand why the townspeople couldn't make a 911 call with a cell phone. The book was published in 2006, when cells were used everywhere. Wouldn't someone have a Sat phone? Well, maybe not. I bet they do in future. ;-) (hide spoiler)]
Do You like book Cover Of Night (2007)?
A great stand-alone novel.After the small disappointment I felt when I had read Killing Time, I was a little hesitant to read another Howard novel so soon. I had read the synopsis and decided to give it a try. I'm glad I did!Cate, a regular widowed, single mom of twins, who owns and runs a B & B. I loved how she handled everything; from the normal, everyday worries about running your own business to raising her twins, four-year-old boys - especially how she handles her boys!Cal, the handyman who can fix anything, who turns into a blushing, sputtering teenager around Cate; it was the cutest thing. Then learning about his fierce, strong other side, I loved him all the more for exactly who he was.The other characters, added with the scenery, you felt like you were right there with them all, in the thick of it.Even though I found their coming together (Cate and Cal) was a little rushed, it was understandable under the circumstances.I liked the twist to the story, especially the very ending, and it makes me wonder if I may see a certain character in a futur novel. All in all, a good read.
—Gina
After 100 pages I skim read the rest of the book. It just wasn't that interesting and when the suspense kicked in it was too far-fetched and unbelievable. It felt like a bad action movie, with a lot of action that was overdone to the point where it was corny. The main reason it was unlikely is that the set up wasn't done well, the plot seemed to make leaps from a quiet, dusty small town, to a town of action heroes with no convincing links. I suggest only fans of the author or addicts of the genre pick up this book.
—Amanda
CD/Abridged/Romance: What a stinker; and a boring one too. This novel may be better as a book because the abridged CD was too vague. This version was only five discs and probably should have been six. It was very empty and the motives of the bad guys was just plain stupid. SPOILERS: The town has limited mobility of a road, a bridge, and mountains. The owner of the B&B is a widow with twin boys. She has the convenient handyman who happens to be a retired super soldier. The mysterious guest slips out with his mysterious flash drive and the mysterious bad guys show up. After getting the sleep and dash guest's luggage, they find no flash drive. Instead of going back "in the cover of night", they decide to take the town hostage. Without knowing who lives in the town, the BGs blow up the bridge, cut phone & electricity, block the road, and use high powered rifles to shoot into the town. With no bullhorn to tell the townspeople their demands, they sit around. Did I mention this takes place in Idaho. Are you stupid? You may have high powered rifles, but for all you know, the residence could be survivalist. Like the kind with a bazooka in the basement just itching to use it. The B&B owner just happens to be a former rock climber. With the help the soldier, she goes less than halfway over the mountain. During a night of snow and sex, she (who never had a problem figuring things out) realizes the BGs may want the shaving kit she forgot to give them on the first gun toting meeting. The bad guys basically turn on each other so our hero doesn't have to kill them all. Bad, very bad. One star. Skip it.
—Amy
