In the last of my Elizabeth Lowell Summer 2009 Marathon, I'm jumping out of the historicals and into a contemporary, Remember Summer. I was hoping that I'd get closer in general flavor to the sorts of suspense novels Lowell's been writing for much of her recent career, and at least in some ways, that's what I got; it was easy to see the progression from her historicals to this novel and on up to her later work. Still, this one's got its feet planted way more on the romance side of the fence than on the suspense one.I'll give it props for the setting, though: it's the Summer Olympics, and our heroine Raine Chandler-Smith is on the US equestrian team, aiming for the gold. But OHNOEZ, her father is a government official of Unspecified but Incredibly High Rank, and there's an assassin on the loose! Our hero, the obligatory Operative of Unspecified Rank but Suitably Dangerous and Broody Competence, and who for purposes of this assignment is going by the name of Cord Elliott (side note: seriously? CORD? What kind of a name is CORD? A romance novel name, apparently), is on the case to keep Raine from getting shot right off her horse by way of being the appetizer for her father.Definitely the sort of thing Lowell sank her teeth into with later work, but here, there's way less suspense than I like and way more angsting about how OHNOEZ, Cord's job is dangerous! And he's all tired of it and burned out and Raine is all beautiful and stuff! Which was acceptable character fodder as it went, but after pages and pages of it, I was all "ENOUGH ALREADY now get to the shootings and suspense and stuff".Which the book did, eventually. With suitable suspenseful shootiness, and even a bit of a bittersweet ending that was appropriate given the Unspecified nature of Cord's secret-agenty job. All in all, though, for Lowell suspense? You'll really want to go to her later work. Two stars.
a fantastic read, that EVERY ROMANCE READER NEEDS TO READ i loved the book(no surprise there) i ended up loving and caring for the characters, the emotions were well displayed and the story line was great and uniquethe book starts out with R.Johnnstone is removed from his assignment only to be kept in another one, to take care of Raine, he uses the name Cord Elliot as his undercover identity. Raine and Cord end up having an explosion of chemistry in the book (view spoiler)[ and it ends with a HEA(yaaay!) (hide spoiler)]
Do You like book Remember Summer (1999)?
This book was published in 1984. As long as you remember that while reading it, you'll do fine. About 10 pages in I realized it was Old School and had to check the publication date. Once I did, I just gave up any requirement for "reality" and enjoyed the ride. Heh. The heroine is feisty and inexperienced; the hero is older and jaded from his years as a secretive operative. You can figure out how the romance is going to work from the first chapter on. Still, it was fun to read and a bit of a time capsule. No cell phones at all, just beepers, and since it's set at the Olympics in California, there are several mentions of the 1972 Munich Olympics and the terror attacks there, a serious security concern. Definitely enjoyed the descriptions of the dressage and other riding events.
—Rebecca
I read this book when I was young and I must have liked it because I kept it. I found it on audio and was excited. I was confused less then an hour in. I picked up the book to see if the audio book missed a few chapters, but nope, there was no mistake. It baffles me that this book made it to the shelves. In less then ten pages the two main characters meet, lust after each other, and fall madly in love. I felt like I was being punked and there was a hidden camera and soon I'd find out it was not real. The reason I've liked Lowell in the past is because of how steadfast her characters. I don't like weak people who constantly question how they feel. But this is ridiculous. It was creepy and uncomfortable. Couldn't handle one more minute.
—boemum
Audio Book #6 of 2009I first read this book back in HS. Picked up, no doubt, because of the equestrian theme. I've read it twice, I believe, and enjoyed it this time. So when I was looking for an Audio book to listen to when we went to Buffalo, and I remembered this, I tought, why not? We've listened to two other Elizabeth Lowell audio books this year, so I though it would be tolerated.What I didn't remember about the book was how little action took place. Most of the book seemed to be about the romance aspect. Which... wasn't bad, but wasn't quite what I expected.
—Amanda
