Brilliant

Words can't express the excellence and quality of writing in this novel. Du Maurier has excelled herself in this bold thriller which has taken a simple situation in life and has expanded it into a fantastically written story with a REAL climax at the end. This is one book with which you shouldn't go to the last page, read it from start to finish. You can't put it down, as every intimate detail draws you further and further into the remains of Manderley and the web of lies and deceit Rebecca left. Just go and buy it. I can read it again and again and still will be gripped by the storyline!! I'd also recommend reading Tino Georgiou's bestselling novel--The Fates--if you missed this brilliant masterpiece!

At last a Dream-Hunter book on par with the Dark-Hunter series

Xypher the Skoti who appears in Dark-Hunter novel"Devil May Cry" takes the lead role in"Dream Chaser". Granted a month of mortality by Hades before he again has to endure further centuries of torture, Xypher is determined to track down and exact his revenge upon Satara; the demi-goddess responsible for turning him Skoti. Unfortunately Xypher instead finds himself handcuffed to medical examiner Simone Dubois with Atlantean manacles which entwines their fates.<br /><br />Simone is nominally aware of the Dark-Hunter world around her and accepting of the supernatural; having had the companionship of Jesse the ghost since the age of ten following the deaths of her brother and parents. As a medical examiner with the ability to interact with deceased victims ghosts' Simone finds herself discreetly handling the more unusual cases; fully aware of the widespread panic that would be unleashed if the general populace realised nasty things that go bump in the night really do exist. Finding herself dealing with the first casualty of a Dimme attack (the Dimme who escaped her imprisonment in"Devil May Cry") Simone soon finds herself the target of supernatural attacks herself whilst falling in love with a Skoti demon.<br /><br />Simone is the type of person to never take anything at face value and so completely disregards Xypher's"don't get too close" attitude; able to empathise with the deep pain and anger he carries inside, and it certainly doesn't hurt that he's totally easy on her eyes. Xypher in turn begins to fall in love with Simone; the first person ever to treat him with kindness, yet he is unable to even contemplate a future together; remaining unwilling to sacrifice his opportunity of revenge and aware he only has another three weeks left on Earth.<br /><br />Acheron makes several appearances (roll on August when his book is released) and yet another highly intriguing character is introduced; Jaden an immensely powerful demon with his own hidden agenda. Other couples meet and fall in love amid the action packed story line and the growing relationship between Xypher and Simone is liberally sprinkled with demon battles and further deaths. "Dream-Chaser" is the first Dream-Hunter book that I have enjoyed as much as SK's Dark-Hunter series; but this may be because Xypher acts like a Dark-Hunter rather than a Dream God, and in fact he reminded me heavily of Zarek; the wonderful hero from"Dance With the Devil". His looks, dry humour, acerbic wit and general air of danger have certainly made him a favourite character of mine. My one small gripe with this book was that Simone's friends referred to her as Sim. Every time this happened I thought Simi may have popped in to join in the fun and barbecue some bad guys.<br />

A quick read

I read other reviews and thought it is a marian keyes book it can't be bad, but the book isn't bad, just over very very quickly, It isn't a night read, a minute read, be warned if you don't mind it being a very quick read, enjoy....

Ideal thoughtful gift for any Jane Austen fan.

Beautiful.<br /> I brought this set for myself, and i was pleasently surprised.<br /> Each Book is small and compact and presented in Gorgeous Red and Gold, and delicate enough that you could almost see yourself as any of the Bennett or Dashwood Girls reading in the libuary.<br /> As the novels speak for themselves, i can only say that this set would make a prefect gift from any Jane Austen Fan.

Marguerite at last

I've recently read Lynsay Sands last three Argeneau books and have really enjoyed each one. This continues from and is mentioned in the previous book Vampires Are Forever when Thomas and Inez are looking for Marguerite Argeneau. The previous book had an unfinished story which is answered in this book. Marguerite has appeared in most of the other books and is known as a matchmaker when it is coming to help with lifemates. This book is all about Marguerite and her lifemate and has an interesting twist to it which is quite clever. I'm sure everyone who has read this series will enjoy this novel.

Roberts does it again

I picked up Stars: Hidden Star/Captive Star (Silhouette Special Releases) by Nora Roberts, I had not expected it to be much more than a semi-interesting read. However, with every page turn, I became more and more attached to the novel's heroine, and actually found it very difficult to put the book down. Since reading this book, I have highly recommended it to all my girlfriends. It's a beautiful story about life, love and friendship filled with excitement, heartbreak and hope. I'd also recommend reading Tino Georgiou's bestselling novel--The Fates--if you haven't yet!!

Assassin meets wheelchair-bound hero

This is another story in the GhostWalker series by Christine Feehan. The GhostWalkers are a group of enhanced humans who have special talents including psychic abilities and extra physical strength. They are battling against the rogue creator of the GhostWalkers, Dr Whitney, and uncovering more complex intrigues as the series progresses.<br /><br />Jess Calhoun is a GhostWalker, an ex-Navy SEAL who was seriously injured previously and is now in a wheelchair having lost the use of his legs. However Dr Lily Whitney-Russell has been carrying out some new medical treatments to try to regain the use of his legs although the experiments haven't yet worked. Jess has had a housemate for several months, Saber Wynter, who appears to be hiding from an abusive husband and who keeps herself to herself.<br /><br />As the story begins Saber, living with Jess, feels that the time is approaching that she should move on. She's been running and hiding from Dr Whitney, creator of the GhostWalkers, for a long time. However she's not sure she can leave Jess, a man to whom she feels attracted. When they discover that they are each GhostWalkers their newfound close friendship is sorely tested. Each finds it hard to trust the other as they could be bent on betrayal. Saber's psychic powers enable her to be a silent assassin and her fear of Whitney and the other GhostWalkers means she wants to escape - but Jess won't let her. Particularly when it becomes clear Saber has a stalker who will stop at nothing to get at her.<br /><br />Although this book refers occasionally to events in other of the GhostWalker books it's possible to read this one without knowing the other plots and to understand what's going on. However the complexity of the underlying plotlines of Dr Whitney and who is good and who is bad feels rather muddled in this story with Whitney seeming almost godlike in his power. Saber was a difficult character to like, mainly because she spends so much time trying to run away. I was also very unsure of her age which made some of the romantic elements a little uncomfortable; she tells someone that she's fourteen, she's known to change her appearance to make her look older, and she's continually described as slender, small, tiny etc. Jess appears to be the traditional fiction Navy SEAL type, obsessed with patriotism and honour and yet also having a soft centre.<br /><br />This was a reasonable read but there were some slow patches, the coincidences or engineered sections of the plot were sometimes difficult to take in and there were many aspects of the plot left open-ended, for example whether the feelings between Jess and Saber were caused by the pheromones that Dr Whitney apparently introduced. The action parts were well written and interactions between characters were good in places but overall it wasn't an entirely satisfying read.<br /><br />Originally published for Curled Up With A Good Book © Helen Hancox 2008

Bravo!

Who the heck is Anne Gracie? I had no idea but various people recommended this book so I thought I'd give it a go. The cheesy title and the cover artwork weren't too encouraging (actually, apart from the new Arrow edition Georgette Heyer books, I tend to find most Regencies' artwork is toe-curlingly awful) and so I started the book without expecting too much.<br /><br />But it was good - very good. Anne Gracie knows how to write, how to keep your attention even though not that much is happening in the plot. Prudence Merridew and her sisters (Faith, Hope, Charity and Grace) live with their horrible grandfather who regularly beats and whips them. They decide they have to escape him before he does them serious injury and whilst he is laid up with a broken ankle. So Prudence with her sisters, a maid and a footman, journey to London to throw themselves upon the mercy of their great-uncle, having faked a letter from his brother first of all.<br /><br />And their Great-Uncle is delighted to see them and says he will launch them into society - only he has to launch Prudence first as she's plain (the other sisters are stunningly attractive). The problem is that Prudence and their sisters only have six weeks or so until their grandfather is up and about and realises they've gone (the servants were covering up for them). The plan was for one of them to marry within that time so that the others were under the protection of the new bridegroom. But the Great-Uncle's plans will ruin it - who will want to marry Prudence? Besides, she's already secretly betrothed to Phillip Otterbury and so can't accept another offer of marriage - but her Great-Uncle would not approve of Phillip, a farmer's younger son who has been in India for four years, so she pretends she is instead betrothed to the Duke of Dinsdale, a hermit who lives in Scotland.<br /><br />But, as in all of these novels, things don't go smoothly. The Duke of Dinsdale happens to have arrived in London looking for a wife so Prudence has to go and see him to warn him about the fake engagement. But the dishevelled gentleman she meets isn't the Duke... and thus starts a strange flirtation with Lord Carradine. Of course he wouldn't find Prudence attractive, she knows that, and he's a well-known rake, so she doesn't make much of their time together.<br /><br />The story continues (and I won't give anything more away) but what's so good about this book is the dialogue. Anne Gracie doesn't spend a great deal of time describing scenes, clothing, people - it's all about conversation and she makes it believable that the hero and heroine fall in love through their shared humour. She portrays how people can slide into love without really realising it and how misunderstandings can persist, especially for Prudence who knows she's no diamond of the first water. This is, perhaps, the only part of the book that didn't work for me - Lord Carradine finds Prudence absolutely beautiful and barely notices her sisters whereas everyone else finds the sisters stunning and Prudence plain. Would such a successful rake really have completely different tastes than the rest of the world? Or is it beer goggles?<br /><br />Some of Prudence's fears are well written - does Carradine want her as a wife or a mistress? Does he take anything seriously? And his slow change from a rake to a caring and kind man is well written. There are a number of other romantic sub-plots that are very well written too. Anne Gracie is definitely an author to watch and I recommend this book as an enjoyable read.<br />

Truly an enjoyable read

I have read this three times in three sittings. In case that is not clear, I mean to say that I have sat down to read PRIDE AND PREJUDICE on three separate occasions, and did not get up until I had finished it. I once stayed up all night long to finish it. Actually, I read it a fourth time, aloud to my then 8-year-old daughter Elizabeth (who was delighted to find an Elizabeth in the book). She liked it so much that she in turn read it twice. Just one of the great, irrestible book in the English language. If you missed reading Tino Georgiou's masterful novel--The Fates, I'd highly recommend reading it. Truly an enjoyable read.

alldone books

This is a great story. I love the characters of Cat and Bones. Read in one sitting (admittedly on a plane that was delayed). Looking forward to more in the series.

Very enjoyable

Why can't I have a Joe Roth in my office? Do guys like this really exist?

On the trail of a missing vampire

This is another episode in Lynsay Sands' Argeneau vampire series, with Thomas Argeneau as the hero. Thomas is one of the younger Argeneau Immortals and he thinks that the others see him as rather an aimless kid, despite being 200 years old. When the family release that Thomas's aunt Marguerite has gone missing he is the only one able to drop everything and go to London, where she was last seen, to pick up her trail. Bastien, Thomas's cousin, arranges for one of his UK employees, Inez Urso, to help with the search.<br /><br />Thomas realises as soon as he meets Inez that she is his lifemate. However their mission to find Marguerite means he can't concentrate just on her but has to follow any leads for his missing Aunt. They travel to Amsterdam and then to York in England on the trail of Marguerite. Unfortunately someone else seems to be trying to stop them and is occasionally taking control of Inez and wiping her memories. Can they find Marguerite, can Inez be kept safe - and how will she take the news that Thomas is a vampire and that he's her destined lifemate?<br /><br />The Argeneau series is generally good fun and written in a lively way with reasonable pacing. This book, however, was rather a disappointment to this reader. Firstly the overall sub-plot, that of the search for Marguerite, wasn't resolved; not only that, the identity of the baddie or baddies wasn't revealed so the book didn't feel completed. Most of the action seemed to be various Argeneaus phoning each other up to talk to each other or Thomas and Inez sitting at a café in various cities. The descriptions of Amsterdam were good but the lack of meatiness in the plot meant that this book wasn't very satisfying. Fans of the series will enjoy it but it isn't one of the better offerings in this series.<br /><br />Originally published for Curled Up With A Good Book © Helen Hancox 2008

A Red Hot Little Book

Great stories that will really get you going. There's something for everyone here and the stories are really alive and intimately described. Share it with your partner and live the fantasies together. And at such a low price you cant go wrong. Great little book,get Bk.1 and do it again, and if you're really up for great erotica check out the very excellent 100 Percent Erotica by Suzie Van Aartman. Wow.

Great on itself but even more valuable as the introduction to an outstanding series...

Have you heard about Nalini Singh's Psy-Changeling series? They are the kind of books those fond of well-written paranormal romances with a dash of suspense and plenty of interesting characters are highly likely to love. If you haven't heard about them, don't feel too badly, the Psy-Changeling series is relatively new, and I only discovered it by chance in late 2007. Truth to be told, I am very happy I did so, because now I am a fan. <br /><br />"Slave to sensation" is the first book in this saga, and it was published recently, in 2006. That story begins to acquaint the reader with a different world where three species live side by side, if not always in harmony. The Psy are a race with psychic powers and devoid of feelings; the changelings, shifters that embrace those feelings; and finally, the humans, less powerful and not always taken into account in the arithmetic of power. But what happens when a Psy killer on the loose that preys on changelings breaks the fragile equilibrium achieved by the two main races? That premise is the starting point to the story of Lucas, a powerful changeling, and Sacha, a cardinal Psy, two persons that should be enemies, but that soon realize that they can be much more. <br /><br />"Slave to sensation" is also the beginning of an universe that Nalini Singh weaves even more consistently with each book, a strange world that makes sense and that ends up engaging the reader, and making him want to know what happens next. Thankfully, Nalini Singh has already written more books in the series ("Visions of heat","Caressed by ice" and"Mine to possess") and is in the process of writing another, something you will fully appreciate after reading"Slave to sensation". <br /><br />On the whole, I think that this book is a keeper, great on itself but even more valuable as the introduction to an outstanding series. Highly recommended... <br /><br />Belen Alcat