Nightshade was closer to 5 stars, but Night Smoke brought it down to the 4 star rating. Both stories were good, but Nightshade was the better of the two reads. I liked that they had some of the same characters in both of the stories, nice continuity.The reason I gave Night Smoke a slightly lower rating is because of the heroine. In too many mystery/suspense/romances, the leading lady is out of her depth in the situation, but she is written as a smart, successful and likeable lady. Now, if this is true, when the leading lady is out of her depth, she should have the brains and common sense to stay out of the way when someone that does know what they are doing becomes involved. The heroine in Night Smoke is an Executive Officer in a multi million dollar company, yet she acts like she should be involved in knowing everything about the investigation...which is kind of irritating when it causes undue delays. Also, the hero is a firefighter, yet Natalie feels compelled to run into fires, not once but twice, following Ryan. Ryan is a trained professional, yet she gets mad at him for running into the fire. It's like telling a cop not to try to save a hostage, or a doctor not to perform surgery...it's what they do and it's rather irritating to have a civilian not only do the opposite of what the professional tells them to do, but then admonish the professional for doing what they were trained to do.Overall, both stories were well worth reading and I would recommend them to anyone. The action stays prett consistant, whether it be the action of the mystery or the action of the passion between the main characters.Good read!
maybe even 3.5, what I liked most about the whole series is it gives you a glimpse into the development of the J.D. Robb series, you can see the development of main characters in the first 5 of this 6 novella series. If I'd read these at the time they were written I'd probably have rated them higher, but there is some of the formula writing of the era in there that bugs me more now than it did then. so read it with the era it was written in, in mind. and that is Lieutenant Althea to you... Humor argh argh...
What do You think about Nightshade / Night Smoke (2005)?
NIGHTSHADEWhen renegade Colt Nightshade is paired with lietuenant Althea Grayson to locate a missing teenage runaway, it's like mixing oil and water. He doesn't follow the rules and she's by the book... but opposites attract. Everytime Althea makes it clear things need to remain professional between them, Colt is there daring her to deny the desire swirling between them. When all circumstances point to the missing girl being in over her head, the rush to bring her home safely is on. Despite their differences they make a good team, and Colt now has a new mission, to convince Althea to take a chance on him. Book #3 in the Night Tales's series, this is a quick read and a suspenseful romance with humor and wonderful characters!NIGHTSMOKERyan Piasecki can't get Natalie Fletcher out of his head after investigating the fire at her building. She's everything he's not; sophisticated, wealthy and use to the fine things in life. That doesn't stop him from goading her into a date. No matter their differences in lifestyle there is definite passion burning between them. When a series of fires makes it clear someone has a personal vendetta against Natalie's business, he makes it his main priority to not only catch the arsonist but keep her safe. This book #4 in the Night Tales's series is intriguing from beginning to end!
—Book_recs4u
Finished this one this morning while I was waiting for the frost to magically melt off the windshield of the van before work :) That's how good this book was.. had to read a few pages whenever I could... waiting for my order at Sonic, waiting for the windshield to defrost... waiting in the checkout line at the grocery store.... etc. Just not enough time to read anymore...Anyway this seems to be book 3 & 4 of a 4 book series having to do with 'night'. Loved the Colt Nightshade character... where does she come up with these names?!?! and 'Ry' in Night Smoke was a real hero fire fighter, so whats not to love there!http://www.bookcrossing.com/journal/3...
—Sonja
