I picked this up in the airport for light reading and was very amused by these 4 short story/mystery/romances. Karen Robards tale about a Country Western singer and the DEA agent who saves both their lives in a rather chilling, exciting chase was very good.
Andrea Kane's story about an inheritance that really messes up a family plan was interesting.
Linda Anderson's tale about a small town librarian and the handsome professor boarding at her mother's Bed and Breakfast was scary and chilling. I was kept guessing for a period of time on who the bad guy was. Mariah Stewart's story I found was the weakest. It just did not do it for me. But I finished the whole book by the time I got to Atlanta and it was a fun read.

Charlotte Bates wishes for adventure in Karen Robards' MANNA FROM HEAVEN, and boy--does she get it! Jake Crutcher falls to her from the night sky, and soon drug smugglers are hunting Charlie and Jake, fighting river currents and falling in love.

In Andrea Kane's STONE COLD, Lindsey Hall is being threatened. Someone doesn't want her the keep the mansion she has just inherited. Could it be Nicholas Warner? He wants the land and he wants Lindsey...but which does he want more?

Addie Rivers, the beautiful librarian in Linda Anderson's ONCE IN A BLUE MOON, has a crush on Will Court, the handsome professor who's staying at her bed and breakfast. Addie's book club friends have been turning up dead and she may be next. Is it coincidence that the murders start up just when Will arrives in town?

In 'TIL DEATH DO US PART by Mariah Stewart, model Valerie McAllister is attacked by a stalker. She goes home to Montana and to Schuyler Hollister. Sky and Val never had the chance to get together, first Sky always saw her as his friends' little sister, and then her job took her away. Now they finally have the chance, but will the stalker come between them?

I enjoyed all four stories in the WAIT UNTIL DARK anthology. Great suspense, intrigue, adventure and romance in all. I especially enjoyed Linda Anderson's ONCE IN A BLUE MOON. I was lying in bed reading it last night, and I kept looking around my room making sure I was really alone. I felt so silly, but that just goes to show that Ms. Anderson has created an exceptionally atmospheric story.

If you are looking for a romance book that is heavy on the suspense and will keep you on the edge of your set, then you've found it in this anthology. Go out and get your copy today!

Karen Robards' first short story was so enthralling I couldn't put it down until I was finished. The others were equally entertaining. I am definitely going to explore more of the novels of Karen Robards !! Highly recommended for summer reading.

This hero had a lot of baggage, and I guess we're supposed to excuse his mean attitude (which doesn't improve much over the course of the story), out of sympathy for him. It doesn't work. The writer does keep you on the edge with the story line itself. I just prefer a hero, with or without past ghosts, to still be portrayed in a better light. He could have been abrupt and still have had a conscience. After the second time he calls the heroine a b---h, I knew what I was in for. It was as if we're never supposed to like him. And there were many "emotion" repetitions. Like "I wish I had a penny for every time he said..." This was an interesting story, but I did contemplate putting it down for something that makes you feel good. It's definitely not a keeper.

This is a hot one! You will love the story, the romance and the ending!! This is one of Karen Robards best romance books. Highly recommend!

Loved this book. It was my first Karen Robards and got me hooked on her.

Kidnapped children, a ghostly presence, repressed memories, a passionate love affair and an evocative Louisiana setting are just some of the elements that make Ghost Moon and exciting and satisfying read.

Olivia Morrison returns with her young daughter Sara to her childhood home after a disastrous early marriage. As she quickly renews the once close ties between her and her many step-relatives, she also fights an attraction to her step-cousin Seth, now engaged to the superperfect Mallory. As Olivia grows more confident and relaxed in her new home, she begins to remember confused scenes of an early trauma. Meanwhile, the reader is aware of a teriible danger nearby.

I read Ghost Moon in one day and highly recommend it to all lovers of contemporary romance. The characters are believable and the plot is fast-paced. The kidnapper's modus operandi may be over the top but Robards keeps his identity a secret until the final chapters.

When Karen Robards writes good (i.e. Heartbreaker) she writes good and when she writes bad (i.e. The Senator's Wife) she writes bad. Ghost Moon, thankfully, is in between and a terrific read. I wanted to give it a five due to the wonderful story that involves a complex family. Olivia Morrison has returned to her family after several years of supporting herself and her eight-year-old daughter. She, in a moment of teenage rebellion gave up everything an affluent child could want, to run off with a cowboy who eventually dumped her. After struggling to make ends meet, she puts away her pride and returns home at the request of her aunt. Upon her return, her appearnace shocks her grandfather into a heart attack and the story takes off as Olivia and her daughter, Sara, try to make their place in this huge family. There is good romance as Olivia and her step cousin, Seth, struggle to regain the relationship they once had while Seth also copes with his daughter from a previous marriage. What kept me from giving this book a five is the suspense component. The book opens with one of the scariest abduction scenes of a child that you can read. It gave me chills. Every so often through the book, another scene of a child's abduction is repeated, each one just a little scarier. What made me give the suspense a three was the fact it is isolated and dragged out until the end of the book, then Ms. Robards tries to tie it up within the last twenty pages. By the time I got there, I could not have cared in the least about the suspense part. Anyone who reads these types of books will have already picked up on who is abducting the little girls. By putting the romance and suspense scores together, I came up with a four. It's a good book and you'll get your money's worth of entertainment out of it.

This book is an awesome read. It starts out with the mystery of a stalker and then moves to the story of a young women 30 years later. The author then intertwines these two plots and it makes for a great read. The character Olivia, is strong and loveable as is her stepbrother, Seth. You fall in love with these two, laugh and cry with them and discover what love is all about with them. I encourage you to read this book because it is a wonderful masterpiece. Robards should be highly praised for it.

Believe me when I say I would love a sizzling romantic suspense -yet Paradise County by Karen Robards failed to enchant.

Alexandra Haywood, daughter of billionaire Charles Haywood returns to Paradise County, Kentucky distraught over the death of her father. She prepares herself for the firing of one of her father's employed manager at his Whistledown establishment. Joe Welch runs his stable and has dreams of bringing his fine horses to tournaments but they are shattered. His livelihood along with his son Eli and daughter Jenny is threatened and he blames it on Alex.

Yet their chemistry cannot be denied and when the killer who claimed her father returns for her, Alex has no choice but to reach for safety in the arms of Joe. When stunning relevations about Joe's long-lost wife are made and Alex's sister Neely together with Eli has disappeared, the danger becomes more treacherous than ever....

Karen Robard's contemporary romance is hot and sexy with Joe and Alex but the suspense leaves readers cold. It is contrived and unimaginative with cliches of chasing scene ripped off from a Scream horror movie. The pages can be skipped to the next hot sex outing because it is exactly the author's intention. The mystery is there to provide lame excuses to the passionate scenes and is embarrassingly distasteful. The killer's identity is hastily revealed and the motive is an insult to the intelligence of any mystery readers. It can be summarized in a page - so why have the mystery in the first place? It is made unneccessarily violent with the killer burning dogs and threatening young girls.

This book is vile and save for the chemistry between Alex and Joe, it rambles on without any clever plotting and leaves readers disappointed beyond words.

A vintage whodunit from one of the Romantic Suspense genre's consistent stars! The story revolves around the presumed suicide of a millionaire, whose less than legitimate business practices are revealed after his death, propelling his company into bankruptcy. His oldest daughter Alexandra finds herself handling the liquidation of all of the family holdings (including a horse farm in Paradise County Kentucky), dealing with a very interesting younger half sister, the crusty young horse farm manager and his family, and unbeknownst to her a serial killer.

The book was refreshing, and a shear pleasure to read. So many of the Romance turn Romantic Suspense writers, including Sandra Brown, Tami Hoag and Nora Roberts have turned away from their roots with their hardcover novels (to be fair to Nora Roberts, however, her niche books in the "Romance" genre remain pretty steamy). I've begun to wonder, however, if editors have convinced these once best selling authors that a good hardcover book shouldn't focus on romance, but down play. If that's the case, they've done it, to the extent that this element of their stories has become bland and uninteresting, and in most cases, so have the stories themselves.

Karen Robards and Linda Howard are two authors who haven't made this change in their hardcover books. Both Robards and Howard have only become better, maturer storytellers in the Romantic Suspense genre; remaining true to their strengths-great romantic tension in the middle of a plausible mystery.

In Paradise County, the predator is as evil as they come, and the suspense leading up to the climax is well handled. Paradise County is one of Ms. Robards' best. It's an engrossing, suspenseful read.

This book was very good and has an exciting, fast paced storyline. I was kept guessing as to who the serial killer was, which is usually obvious. Which might be because I did take the advise of a previous reviewer, who forewarned reader's about graphic animal cruelty scenes in the beginning of the book, by skipping those sections of the story. I really wish authors who used sadistic villains in their stories would leave more to the readers imagination. I really have no need to be "in the mind of a killer." Especially when trying to enjoy a good romance. But, after having skipped that bit of the story, I really don't feel that I missed a thing. The relationship between all the characters, first and secondary made this book well worth the time I spent reading. The story is very realistic, I kept thinking, "Thank goodness, that's exactly what I would do!" Unlike most portrayals of truly frustrating characters that never do the obvious.

This was my 5th book from Robards and although, not exactly my favorite, it was pretty good. It was a tad slow-moving at first, in comparison to the others I've read by her, but the pace picked up toward the middle. I probably had such a hard time reading it because I had just finished "Desire in the Sun," a very fast-paced and action-packed historical romance by Robards. Scandalous, definitely not my favorite, but it's good enough to recommend...I liked the characters and the story, and I look forward to reading "Irrestible," the second installment to the trilogy.

Karen Robards' books are wonderful but as all romances, some are better than others. I have to say that this is one of my favorites. If you like an uncommon heroine, one that is not afraid to battle her economic woes by deceiving everyone as her last alternative then you'll enjoy the book. If you like the time frame and English setting you like it even more. A well-rounded heroine who is plain looking but shines in spirit. The storylines are definitely worth the read!

I have read the author's contemporary novels and liked them, but to me, this historical romance was even more entertaining. I loved the verbal sparring between Gabriella and her tormentor/hero. The romantic scenes were very well done and kept me awake until 1:00 a.m. on a work night just so I could finish the book. I do agree with an earlier review that the ending was a little rushed and the other characters were not as well developed, resulting in four stars instead of five. But I guess more will be revealed in the next in the series, "Irresistible", and I, for one, can't wait!

But I guess i love jerks. Any way I could suspend disbelief for a few hours and enjoy this book. It is not PC but so what. It was a fun read for me. I really liked the whole african experience but the american part didn't live up to snuff. I hated the rushed end but still it was o.k. Nothing great but good for an escape from the norm.

Ok....I really loved this book and read it in three days...I was swept up in the way the Karen Robards describes in erotic detail between the Sam Eastman character and Lisa Collins...She seems to know what women want....on the other hand I to did not have much respect for the female character. I don't like the fact that she was portrayed as wimpy at best... But I will keep on reading Karen's books.

This was my first romance novel I had ever read, and it took me a long time to track it down once more. Its been awhile sense I had read this wonderful Romance novel, but I alway catch myself compareing this very book to many others. I hope I get a chance to read it once more, for it will always be a favorite. And I apploude the Author of this book, great job!!

I recommend this book to whom ever likes action and romance ( the kind that gives you goose bumps and makes you want to bite you nails) this is the book for you. Might I remind you that it starts out ruff, but it turns into the the best book I have ever read, in the 4 years of reading romance.

As an author, Karen Robards is like the nursery rhyme about the little girl who had a little curl, right in the middle of her forehead. When she is good, she is very, very good, and when she is bad, she is horrid.

IRRESISTIBLE is, indeed, very very good. This evaluation applies only to the novel's place within the genre of historical romances, however; one cannot judge romances by the same yardstick as is used for literature.

Still, IRRESISTIBLE is about as good as this category of writing can get. Robards tells an interesting story against the background of the Napoleonic Wars, and she creates a true feeling of the period. As always, her heroine is beautiful beyond words, her hero is to drool over, and her sex scenes are hot, hot, hot. In acknowledgment of modern values, there are no rape scenes, unlike the historical romances of decades past--and this change is a real improvement in the genre.

Any reader who enjoys historical romance will find IRRESISTIBLE to be... irresistible!

Karen Robards is one of the best writers of historical romance on the market. I am also an avid reader of romance novels and I look forward to the next book in this series. Scandalous was one of my all-time favorite books and this one would certainly place high on that list.

The wait is over -- Karen Robards is back. This book is pure romance-- very reminiscent of Robards early historical romance novels! (it's not a contemporary murder thriller like all the previously great romance authors-- ie. Robards, Catherine Coulter, Linda Howard, Sandra Brown-- are now churning out by the dozens-- it's a ROMANCE-- yeah!!)
There's romance in this book, lots of suspense, tons of sexual tension, a beautiful heroine, and a hero to die for-- in short, everything a romance reader looks for in a romantic novel. This book is intense and satisfying, and is the kind of book by a great romance author that romance fans have been yearning for and not getting in recent years.

My reviews of this authors books are consistently harsh with the same complaints, but apparently I'm hooked. This book made me want to scream and throw it across the room countless times. These two characters were thoroughly frustrating! Come on! Yes, most people are driven to push each other away by stubbornness and relentless pride after a misunderstanding. But, that is the only thing that carries the story. I can't believe any two people that love each other as these two had, after having endured such gut wrenching hardships on both parts, would not afterward swallow their pride and cling to one another searching for comfort in each other's arms. They have an argument that lasts over eight months while confined in close quarters and never make up, never make an effort to speak rationally about any of their plights. It's a totally unbelievable scenario. No, instead they argue, and hurt each other throughout the whole book. I can accept a good suspenseful wait, but as they have the same emotional "revelations," I kept thinking, "Alright, be honest already. And start going after those who wronged you, together, as a team." keeping the reader up and down, then up again to no end, it's pure torture. Why not bring them together and allow them to fight their adversaries by each other's side. At one point, for the first time in hundreds of books I didn't want reconciliation. She seemed better of without him. He was portrayed in a terrible light. I have to say it was an addictive story, with constant turns, but only if you can take the aggravation.

Ronnie must be the most unlikeable character of all the Karen Robards books that I have read. The author kept highlighting how incredibly beautiful and sexy Ronnie was that all men were drawn to her like bees to honey. However, beyond the surface, she was selfish, vain, snobbish, materialistic and displayed a questionable level of intelligence and common sense. There was little character development of how she attracted Tom, except through dressing up sexily and flirting shamelessly. All I could see was that Ronnie was irresistible to the organ on the lower part of Tom's body. She found herself pitiful that there was no love in her marriage, that her husband was sleeping around from the first day of their marriage. Come on! Ronnie did not marry the Senator for love in the first place! She tried to believe that her husband loved her so that it would be less unpalatable to marry him for money. So there was nothing to lament about, she got what she wanted. But Ronnie wanted more from the bargain, she wanted good sex and love but still wanted to enjoy the glamorous lifestyle and money of being the Senator's wife. I really despised her so much that I didn't think she deserved to get what she had in the end.

Tom had the potential to be a real intelligent, magnetic and sexy character. But the author failed to demonstrate how good he was as a political consultant, worse, he appeared to just fall for Ronnie for her looks and body, not to mention his double standard with his wife's adultery and his partner's fling.

All the unmoral and irresponsible actions were almost justified because the characters fell in love with each other. I failed to see love between them other than lust. All I could say that perhaps they really deserved each other, very superficially. For a relationship which lust formed the basis, the sex scenes were unimaginative and stale. If the author decided to write a trashy book, at least make it hot and erotic.

The plot was very amateurish, especially coming from Karen Robards. The sub plot of the murder on board the ship was distracting and converged with the main story too late and too weakly. I always love her books but this one was too disappointing. My advice is: give this book a miss.

This is one book by Karen Robards that I cannot whole heartedly recommend. I just could not get past the fact that the "heroine" has an affair and then tries to justify that fact (to the son of her lover) by saying she has not slept with her husband in over a year. If the marriage is that bad, you move on. Ronnie doesn't because she is so materialistic and doesn't want to give up all those millions. Oh, eventually she decides that she is so in love with her lover that she will divorce, but for me that decision came to late. I just did not have a lot of empathy for these characters. Ronnie was supposed to be an intelligent and educated person, so I did not see the need to make her so dependent on her louse of a husband to "keep" her. If you have never read a Karen Robards book, please do not read this one first! Find one of her earlier books and you will see how capable she is of writing, strong, intelligent characters who are worth reading about. I will get off my soapbox now.
Ree-views

I read the reviews and then read the book afraid that this was going to be one that I put down before finishing. But I didn't come out with the same results as other reviewers. Ronnie was raised in a poor, torn-up family, with little love. She set the goals of marrying wealthy so she would never have to do without again. She was even careful with her reputation and didn't date just anybody. In her college years she met a wealthy older man that had it all. His first marriage had had problems and was in its final stage (all that was left was signing the papers). He offered Ronnie a job in his political arena and started pursuing her heavily. Finding out that it was going to take marriage before he could get her in bed he made the offer. Marriage! Thinking he would have a young, beautiful, "trophy" wife. He continued having other woman, though. By their third year Ronnie was on longer giving him rights to her bed due to his other affairs. Divorce wasn't a question, though, due to her husband's political career for re-election. A 2nd divorce would ruin his chance for re-election.

I do feel that KR made her characters rather shallow for the reader, not giving us enough information to feel some warm for them. But I did not come away feelig like other readers did about Ronnie and Tom. Ronnie was young & beautiful, with her guard up since she was the 2nd wife, accused of breaking up a marriage (though it was on the rocks before she even showed up). She thought having material things and money would feel the void of love until she found someone that showed her kindness and later on love. Remember (if you have already read it), that Ronnie had not reached out to any other man during her marriage until Tom came on the scene. So she was trying to deal with it.

Tom was hired by Ronnie's husband as a campaign adviser to help get his campaign back on track. He, himself, was in the process of rebuilding his business with his partner and was good at his business. He started working with Ronnie, seeing right off a woman that was being treated harshly by the public as well as being alone in her private life. He reached out to her with lust in his mind when they first got together sexually- but then it turned into love, realizing that they cared for each other. Doesn't that happen in a lot of relationships?

Then there is the murder of the senator and Ronnie is accused of doing it. It turns into a "who done it" story. It's not the best I have read, but it sure isn't the worse, either. I really wanted to judge it with a 3 1/2 stars but felt bad about all of the other low reviews that I went with a 4 stars. Read it for yourself and see what you think!

I am a real Karen Robards fan, and was shocked at how TERRIBLE this book was. I could not get past the numerous rapes and beatings. Even when Kathy saves Jon from hanging, his first words to her are abusive. I couldn't even figure that scene out. He kissed her goodbye, got captured, she saves him from the hangman, and he calls her a -itch! I don't even think it was because he had to marry her. He had been thinking of marrying her already. Then the final rape scene at nearly the end of the book was the worst of all. She had born him a son, and this is how he treats her? I read romance novels all the time. I'm accustomed to the brooding, anti social heroes who eventually learn to love, but the rapes and physical abuse in this book were horrible. It has nothing to do with being PC and everything to do with enjoying romance stories because the heroes are sexy and/or attractive. I wouldn't let this man near me with a 10 foot pole. Karen Robards is a GREAT author, but do NOT read this book. Get her "One Summer" if you want a great love story.

I love Karen Robards' novels and don't let this one keep you from getting all the others but i must say this one was a disappointment. I kept waiting for him(jon) to actually make love to her but i reached halfway through but he never did i could not even finish it but i reccomend all the other karen Robards books, she is the only reason i am buying of the internet since i cannot find all her books elsewhere.

THIS IS THE FIRST HISTORICAL ROMANCE I EVER READ. IT HOLDS A SPECIAL PLACE IN MY HEART BECAUSE OF THIS. I WOULD RECOMMEND THIS BOOK TO ANYBODY.