Linda Howard

Linda Howard is another one of my favorite authors. There are quite a few books of hers that have stuck with me since I bought them years ago. I could not find an author website for her, however, I did find a little bio from the publisher. Linda Howard is an award-winning author whose New York Times bestsellers include Open Season, All the Queen¹s Men, Mr. Perfect, Kill and Tell, and Son of the Morning. She lives in Alabama with her husband and two golden retrievers.

I could spend all day telling you what books I love by her but I want to be able to get other books in later, so i have picked a few to talk about.

Open Season is the story of Daisy Minor, a 34 year old librarian who is ready to love. She lives with her mother, walks to work when it is nice, and is a typical townsperson. Daisy has decided the only way to fall in love is to become someone else. Changing her appearance is the easy part, it is trying to get a certain sexy sheriff off her back so she can find the love of her life. Even as Daisy starts a new life, in a new house, and sexy new clothes, someone else is trying to find a way to terminate her permanently.

I love how wacky the sheriff comes off, and how Daisy is so innocent and naive in a time when no one else is. The sparring between the main characters is hopelessly funny and the scenarios these two get into will have you cracking up. With just enough passion, suspense, and tons of comedy, Open Season is a definite read.

After The Night is the story of how two people come together even as their pasts hold them back. Faith Devlin grew up knowing her mother was “the town punch”. Having a man like Mr. Rouillard as her mother’s lover is bad enough, but having the whole town assume you are the same as your trashy mother is even worse. Having a crush on Gray Rouillard, her mother’s lover’s son, is horrible, but the night he calls her white trash and just as bad as her missing mother, leaves Faith feeling inept and unlovable. Now, years later Faith has come back to the small town to find out what happened the day her mother and Mr. Rouillard supposedly ran off together. The only ones who stand in her way are Gray, who wants her for a mistress, and someone else who is willing to kill her to keep her silent forever.

For me, Faith is the typical underdog in a story. The one who everyone roots for. Her mother was a mistress, her sister slept with everyone, her father and her brothers were the town drunks. Yet here she was the good one, the one who excelled in school but because her last name was Devlin, she had a bad reputation. The suspense scenes are thrilling and intense, the emotions both characters emulate are brilliant, and this is a not to miss book for anyone!

Cry No More is a story of one woman’s fight to find lost children, even as she searches for her own. When her child was just a few weeks old, Milla Edge lost her son while in the marketplace. While her son was being ripped from her arms, Milla fought back, tearing out a man’s eye and scarring him for life, even as she felt her side being ripped open. Waking up in the hospital with a missing kidney was bad enough, finding out that she was not able to keep her son from being kidnapped was the worst scenario. Now years later, Milla has started a company that helps people find their children, hoping to have her son back in her arms some way. As she searches for a man with a missing eye and a scar on his face, she comes face to face with a man known as Diaz. A man who the worst murderers fear, he starts to help in the search for Milla’s missing son. As new facts are uncovered, opponents are discovered, some closer to Milla than she thought possible. People who she has known, who she thought were friends, but in reality are murderers, kidnappers, and much more.

This book is so different than many of Linda Howard’s other novels, but it holds a special spot in my heart. Milla’s character represents every mother’s response to her child being in danger. The fight instinct instilled in Milla was so realistic and the sorrow she felt after losing her son broke my heart. I cried throughout this book, and I can guarantee you will too! Even though this story is filled with sadness, there is such an overwhelming feeling of hope from Milla that you cannot help reading until the end, just hoping to get that HEA! Not to forget about Diaz, who is such a bad boy hottie, sigh! This is definitely one of my favorite books by Linda Howard, and if you have not read Cry No More, I suggest you do!

Danielle