The conclusion of the cheerful Eclipse Bay trilogy ties things up nicely. The hero and heroine, Nick Harte and Octavia Brightwell don't have quite the richness of the earlier book's characters (especially the delightfully droll Gabe Madison of Dawn in Eclipse Bay, the best of the series) but they are more than adequate. The best thing about this series (and many of Jayne Ann's books) are the quirky,almost Capra-esque supporting characters. The grumpy grandpas, the deliciously loony Arizona, the dumb-as-dirt n'er do wells who pick a fight with Nick and his pal Jeremy, Winston the World's Classiest Schnauser, all make the book worth reading. The plot is practically non-existent, but Jayne Ann excels at making nothing into very entertaining nothing.

I'm giving this a "4", mostly because it's JAK & she's tops in my book, but was a little disillusioned by it's lackluster. Not that I don't recommend it - but the characters, most of them the spunky & strange ones from the previous 2 installments, were getting just a bit tiresome. Nick & Octavia were destined from the beginning to pair up & I "know" this going in, but it was fun seeing them through the dilemmas to the end. Carson is a charmer, and I look for JAK to dredge him up someday when he grows up and becomes an adult Harte. Winchester, as always, is a star. You won't be disappointed to buy this book and read it just to satisfy your curiousity if you read the Eclipse Bay and Dawn at Eclipse Bay, but don't expect fireworks.

We've returned to Eclipse Bay, home of the much-talked about Harte-Madison feud and the surprising romances in earlier books, Eclipse Bay and Dawn in Eclipse Bay.

This time a stranger has come to town - Olivia Brightwell, who hides a secret purpose in opening an art gallery in the little seaside town. The older generation might have a suspicion about why she's in town. But Nick Harte's main worry is whether he'll spend the entire summer collecting rejections from the new girl in town, or whether his 5-year-old son Carson will blame him for messing up Carson's relationship with his friend Olivia.

Soon enough everyone's worried about other things, like Nick's love them and leave them reputation, a valuable missing painting, and whether or not Nick has given Olivia The Talk (a lecture about keeping things light that has become famous among the females of Eclipse Bay).

This book has all of Ms. Krentz's signature touches -- family ties, down-home atmosphere, a dash of mystery, and a couple who spends enough time worrying about what the other one might do that it takes a while to figure out that they're falling in love. Highly recommended.

This book was good, but their were some major disapointments. I was hoping that the Eclipse Bay series would rekindle my interest in Jayne Ann Krentz. The first one did. This one was so so. I loved Gabe, but never felt that Lil was his passion, I felt that the business was. Absolutely no sensuality or sexual tension between these two. Don't know what is goint on there, but it just did not work. Overrall I would read this book, but thank goodness it was in paperback! I would not pay full price for this book. It just did not work for me, and I am not really anticipating the 3rd now.

The storyline of Lillian Harte, the flaky one in the Harte family, and Gabe Madison, a successful one among the Madison losers falling for each other has a lot of appeal and makes for a fun read. It comes complete with a scary stalker, breakins, people ending up in hospital as the answers to a new mystery unfold.

Unfortunately Krentz, over and over again tries to capitalize on the old Harte-Madison feud which was all patched up in the first story of Hannah and Rafe as well as the "successful" Harte vs the "screw-up" Madison, becomes tiresome. The scenes of a "coverup at the Institute" aren't much different from what we read in the first book. I think they were just rewritten with the new characters. A few mentions of Rafe and Hannah completing their Inn is suppose to make you think the story continues, but they really only appear in one scene when Gabe and Lillian first arrive in Eclipse Bay. The story ends with the two grandfathers patched up once again even though they were never split after the first book, and an introduction of the brother Nick Harte and Octavia Brightwell appearing to send out "body language" signals to the rest of the gathering of a romance to be "coming soon".

In this sequel to the delightful "Eclipse Bay" we meet the feudin' Hartes and Madisons once again. This time, Lillian Harte falls victim to the charms of Gabe Madison and love and mayhem ensue. Unfortunately, this book doesn't hold up as well against the original, in my opinion. The sparkle and wit that permeated the first book is not as prevalent (maybe I just missed Winston the dog) and because much of the Harte/Madison conflict had been resolved by Rafe and Hannah in "Eclipse Bay", the feud as a plot device was lacking! However, these comments are not meant to dissuade any potential readers - Jayne Ann Krentz is truly a master of her genre and you won't find a better lighthearted romance around than one with her name on it!! I would urge, however, that you start with "Eclipse Bay" just to keep the characters in chronological order and then, after reading "Dawn", wait, as I am, for the next book about Nick and Octavia Brightwell!

Everyone should try to learn Join Up. It works, no matter what these people say.

Thank God the cloak of kindness has been removed from this self styled equine messiah,and the real person hiding underneath has been exposed for what he was and is. The suspicions I had while reading The man Who Listens to Horses are at last confirmed, lie by lie. Nothing added up. The time line, events, box car adventures, James Dean, Nevada, Salinas Rodeo dates all were out of sync. I was there then, and my foggy memory of the events just didn't compute in my mind. A visit to the micro film archives at the Stienbeck Library backed up my suspicions. Can't beleive that anyone could annihilate their own family with so many blatant lies just to feed their ego and strengthen their bank account. Well now, thanks to the perseverence of Joyce Renebome and her daughter, Debbie Ristau the truth emerges. They have compiled an accurate documented chronology of the life and times of four generations of the Roberts family, piece by painstaking piece. An easy read, the story is truthfully told. The memory of Marguerite and Marvin Roberts is vindicated. Shame on you Monty Roberts, your time will come.

This book is definitely worth reading. It is not written as a novel, but as a point for point documentation using quotable and verifiable sources. The conclusion is that Monty Roberts' life as documented in his book "The Man Who Listens to Horses" is a fabrication from A to Z. People who read Monty's book are immersed in a sad tale of a combination of a beaten child and cruelty to horses in one package. Monty seeks to bring some legitimacy to his book by bringing in actual people and real events, but with whom and with which he had nothing to do with. Do you think he could accidentally forget that his "trip to Nevada" never happened? One reviewer said "not one piece of evidence is professionally documented" and claims it is "muckraking", but in fact the reverse is true and no Monty bashing in the sense of "muckraking" appears in the book. The evidence is verifiable. Monty is self-generating. He wrote a book saying how great he is because he communicates with horses at the same time overcame, now known to be completely fictions adversities, to triumph. He made himself into the classical heroic figure who triumphed over evil and the audience fell for it. Some reviewers say "who cares if Monty lied, it is a great horse book". Only people who cannot be objective would dismiss criticism and evidence to protect their wish for something to be true. Adults who can look from a distance would not allow themselves to be so easily swayed by Monty's fiction and claims. Perhaps they have been blinded by Monty's claims of horse brutality by his father, which are shown to be false?

Monty's methods are not "his methods" nor did he learn them through independent study. These methods have been around for 1000's of years and other horse trainers like Parelli, Lyons, etc. tell that to you straight out. Natural methods are becoming popular because the horse is no longer a tool, but a hobby and has been discovered by the urban middle class. Yet another reviewer claims the authors have no documentary evidence, but then the very numerous interviews are all documented and independently confirm each other. In fact documentary and eye witness evidence is the best type to have. If the evidence is wrong a cross examination would reveal that soon enough. The authors will never be sued by Monty. The hordes of witnesses would bury Monty and the cross examination would show Monty to be a liar and open questions on his practices themselves.

I have seen his live demo. There is no way he used an untrained horse and it was obvious to see. More than one former student (search the web) has already come forward to state that the horses were pre-trained as was the horse for the BBC special.

The obvious conclusions are: 1. "The Man Who Listens to Horses" is fiction sold as non-fiction. 2. Monty's methods were around long before Monty and he made no discoveries. 3. The evidence in "Horse Whispers & Lies" is documented. 4. "Horse Whispers & Lies" is not a novel, nor sold as one. 5. Monty's and his supporters evidence is circular reasoning by constantly referring to a book now known to be a lie. 6. Diehard Monty supporters who refuse to believe obvious evidence attack the review or reviewer and not the evidence. 7. Monty's father did not abuse horses. 8. Monty gives fake "live" demos.

The fire around Monty is burning ever higher. There will always be the supporters who will deny ever being taken in no matter what, but for the rest and the maturing it is time to move on, but never forget. If you love horses, admit Monty is a fake, but also admit he has awakened even more your love of horses. Now go and look to horse (people) trainers like Parelli, Lyons, and read Rashid. These people are where your horse future lies.

The book reads like a summary of something else, and I would guess that the something else is her book, Liturgy, the Language of Faith. I am a parish priest and looking for insight into interpreting liturgy. From the book I learned that the historical-critical method was adopted heavily by the liturgical reform to critique early church sources, redactions, rites, etc... and that now literary criticism is having its turn. But the complexities of the individual fields are still lost on me--I still would have a hard time explaining what reader-response criticism is, let alone apply it. So I am encouraged by the many footnotes to pursue additional reading. In sum, the book lays out the state of the question, but assumes a good working knowledge of the field.