He likes her but rejects her because he wants his freedom and he doesn’t want to hurt her. It was ok, a little different.STORY BRIEF:Carly was abandoned by her mother when 8 years old. She was placed in an orphanage for a short while until her grandmother came to get her and raise her. As a teenager, Matt worked odd jobs to help support his single mother and sisters. He was around Carly a lot since he worked for her grandmother. He and Carly were good friends growing up. He was always like a big brother to her. In a moment of weakness Matt took Carly’s virginity the night of her Senior prom. Matt felt so guilty he avoided her afterwards. Carly was in love with Matt, and she was hurt by his avoidance. She moved away and married a lawyer who eventually cheated on her. Twelve years later, divorced Carly returns to her hometown. She inherited her grandmother’s home and plans to turn it into a bed and breakfast. Matt is now the county sheriff, a job he took so he could support his three sisters after his mother died. Matt dreams of being free of responsibility. After his sisters are gone, he plans to quit his job and take off on his motorcycle for a life of freedom from responsibility for awhile. Carly and Matt are physically drawn to each other. Matt fights his attraction since he knows Carly is the marrying kind. He doesn’t want to hurt her when he leaves town later. Carly still loves Matt and tries to convince him that sex with no strings is what she wants. I takes awhile, but he finally gives in and they have hot and passionate sex.Meanwhile, a man killed two women and wants to kill Carly. His initial attempts are thwarted due to Carly’s luck and her pets. Matt is investigating.REVIEWER’S OPINION:I liked it, but I can’t say I really liked it. The best parts were the interesting characters. However, I was hesitant about Carly. For much of the story she is mad at Matt. She calls him names and acts like she doesn’t like him. He knows she has always loved him and still loves him. More than once, he kisses her and then says we can’t do this. So she gets mad and hits him or stomps off. Even after they have sex, she gets mad at him. If you can get past her snits and hissy-fits the rest of the story is ok. I think the author is a pretty good story teller.I loved and agree with another reviewer’s comment. DW “Love to Read” wrote: “After raising his three sisters after their Mom died, all Matt wanted was to experience a little freedom and ride off into the sunset on his Harley. And you know what? I really wanted that for him too. Instead he gets caught by ex-bestfriend Carly and ends up proposing to her out of duty/honor and because he doesn’t want to break her heart again. Oh be still my heart.” Although I would have liked seeing Matt have some freedom for awhile, it’s the author’s story, not mine, so she gets to choose. However, she should have at least shown us why Matt changed his mind and decided to marry Carly. An unexpected heroine is the dog Annie who more than once saves the day. Annie was an abandoned, starving dog that Carly took in and loved.CAUTION SPOILER:It's the middle of the day. People are inside and outside the church, including a security guard. The bad guy is near a door inside the church. He grabs the victim and holds a chloroformed cloth over her face. He then carries her to his vehicle. How is it that no one sees him carry her out the church and over to his vehicle? I wish the author would have used a more logical method for the bad guy to kidnap her.DATA:Story length: 456 pages. Swearing language: strong. Sexual language: mild. Number of sex scenes: 3. Total number of sex scene pages: 28. Setting: current day Benton, Georgia. Copyright: 2003. Genre: romantic suspense.
I am such a sucker for the "second chance/I've loved you since I was a kid" theme. What this says about my own deep-seated psychological issues I'm afraid to guess, but I gobble these romances up like candy.Whispers at Midnight is one of my all-time favourites - a comfort read that I know will keep me entertained for a few hours. Every time I read it I wish that I lived in Georgia and had a 6'1", black-haired, coffee-eyed slice of serious hotness to fight/flirt with. My GR friend Catherine used a phrase once when talking about romance novel heroines and readers who like to "self-insert" into the book (I thank her every time I use it, I like it so much). Yup, I like to "self-insert" into this story every single time I read it. ;DOf course, this can't be all about the Hero (well, it could, but who wants to hear ME talk about him when you could just read the book?), so I'll tell you that there is a decent little romantic suspense thrown in here as well. Nothing really grim or dark or tightly wound, just enough to keep the plot skipping along (and the heroine forced into the Hero's protective custody, natch). The chemistry between the H/h is spectacular and the biggest reason this book is one of my favourites. When Karen Robards is on, she is on fire and imo this is one of her best. The story begins with our heroine returning to her hometown to lick her wounds and start over after a nasty divorce. She and a friend plan to open a B&B in her grandmother's old Victorian, where she grew up. Things get off to a jumpy start right from the time they pull up in their UHaul and surprise what they think is a burglar. Turns out the burglar is Matt, he's now the sheriff, and it takes him tackling her in her driveway before they recognize each other. Sparks fly, the real prowler shows up, and you're in for 450 pages of flirting, fighting, friendships, family, a couple of promising secondary romances, and a mystery centered around a sweet stray dog named Annie. And chemistry that almost sets the pages on fire.A great way to spend an afternoon -- preferably while holding down a lawnchair, drinking iced tea. :)4.5 stars
What do You think about Whispers At Midnight (2003)?
This book was surprisingly good. I wasn't expecting much since I randomly picked it. Its abouta women named Carly who is starting over after a divorce from her lawyer husband. She moves back to her home town to turn her grandmothers house into a bed and breakfast with a friend. Thats where the hokiness ends. She is haunted by memories of a girls home she spend time in when her mother abandoned her at age 5 or 6. She doesn't connect that to the recent stalker who is trying to kill her. She is slowly falling back in love with her childhood crush who happens to be the sheriff of this small town and a pretty big commitment phobe. Who hasn't had one of those lol. Anyway I reacommend it.
—Brandy Hankinson
Really good read kept me guessing till the end as to who the killer was. Carly could be a little whinny but the interaction between her and Matt was great, it didn't matter if they were fighting or all over each other it was fantastic. My only complaint with this book was it seemed to be a little drawn out with really detailed discriptions of everything I understand that it's good to set a scene but some things were discribed repeatedly, take some of that away and the book probarbly could have lost a least 20 pages but other than that a fun and thrilling read.
—Cherie Phillips
My second Karen Robards book, and I have to say I get it. I see her style, and I really like it. This is romantic suspense that doesn't sacrifice either. Much. Some scenes drag on, yes, but when crazy/scary/murderous things are happening they're cut throat and blend perfectly with the romance that she does not skimp on. Charged, super sexy scenes between the leads; Matt and Carly who grew up together. Matt was the town's bad boy, from the bad side of town, a house full of sisters, and a Mexican mother that had been abandoned and slept with a deck of tarot cards by her bed. When she passed away 10 years ago, Matt came home from the Marines, the first things he'd done to get on the right path, to take care of his three younger sisters. Now two are in college, and one is on the way, but this summer they're all at his house, in his hair reminding him why he's looking so forward to them moving out so he can finally set off on his motorcycle and stop being responsible for everyone and everything. Then a call takes him out to an old, empty house and he thinks there's a prowler but it turns out it's Carly Linton moving back home. Curls, as he calls her, was a tiny, mouthy, reformed orphan who followed him around with doe eyes and who he took care of like another sister even taking her to her senior prom, which messed everything up because for the first time he saw Carly as something more, and after a bump and grind he avoided her until she moved away. Now she's back, divorced, and pissed off to see him. This sets up the fun, push and pull, of an undeniable attraction. What I didn't like? When Matt pissed her off I wish Carly was more of a spitfire about it. I get danger would present itself and she'd run into his arms, but for all his assured cockiness of her feelings for him, I wish she'd make him run after her for a minute. There were moments, where she played at that, but he was such an arrogant, lovable thing I wanted to smack sometimes. The end made up for everything although, so once I saw how the book tied together I lost my hang-ups and fully boarded the Karen Robards fan train.
—Willow
