Linda Howard

Surfing the web, I saw where Linda Howard has 2 books coming out in 2007 so far - Raintree: Inferno May 1, 2007. It's supposed to be a Silhouette Nocturne. Up Close and Dangerous a Ballantine hardback on June 19, 2007.

I've been seeing a lot of mentions of Linda Howard on the board lately, which has inspired me to read more of her books. I have All the Queen's Men, and as far as I know, that's the only one of her books I've read (loved it btw). Some of her other ones sound familiar though, and I've often realized halfway through a book that I know everything that's going to happen because I've read it before. So my question is, what's your favorite book by Linda Howard and what do you like the most about her writing?

Oh wow - my favorite of hers, that's a hard one to pin down. I guess the first one that comes to mind is Dream Man.

In my opinion, she just has great character development of both the main and secondary characters. She is excellent at blending in the romance with the story & the suspense.

I'm afraid I'm not very good at putting into writing my thoughts about things like this. Some of the others on the board can probably express it much more eloquently. I'm better at gushing, "Oh, I just love her books!" :)

I have many favorite Linda Howard books. I love her heroes, especially John Medina from All The Queen's Men. They are alpha males, protectors, amazing lovers...physical and dangerous in the best sense, but very real and believable. Her writing is sharp, and her love scenes are the best. Howard created some of the best heroes ever written in John Medina, Kell Sabin, James Diaz, Lucas Swain, and Zach MacKenzie.

Some of my favorite Howard books, all of which I highly recommend: Angel Creek and A Lady Of The West (Historical Westerns), Heartbreaker (Contemporary Western), MacKenzie's Pleasure, White Lies, Diamond Bay, All The Queen's Men, Kiss Me While I Sleep, Cry No More, Sarah's Child, After The Night, Shades of Twilight.

Sarah's Child is one of those books that divide people. You'll either love it or hate it. The hero Rome is at times unbearable, but his big redemption scene had me sobbing. You can't read this book and not be strongly affected. It is intensely emotional.

CC

There you go! See? Eloquent. Thanks, CC, well said.

Me? You must be kidding! I am always afraid one of you is a big time English professor who might correct my grammar! LOL

CC

"amazing lovers...physical "

There should be a space after the final dot.

;)

Okay, big time English Prof! LOL

CC

Hey, listen. I had to really stretch to find that one!

bookbeat, I agree with you about Dream Man. It is definitely one of her best. I've read about 85% of her books & I would put all of them at 4 stars or more. Yes, even her Silhouette books. (think about the MacKenzie series).

Since I said 85% (estimated), I will admit that I haven't read ALL of LH's books. Some of the suspense / thriller / mystery just didn't appeal to me at the time. I have a few on my bookshelf that I have been meaning to read, but put off until I'm in a better mood to read them, but I will read them. There are some days that I just don't want to read a book that makes me want to lock all the doors & windows twice!! Sometimes I need the adrenaline rush, but not every day.

Thanks for reminding me about LH. Now I'm going to check my shelf for All the Queen's Men

I just finished Sarah's Child last night, and I'm not sure how I feel about it yet. I didn't love it, didn't hate it. It's not something I'd reread a lot, but those books that I do reread a lot tend to be funny, like Jennifer Crusie, Susan Elizabeth Phillips, or Lisa Kleypas. This book obviously was more serious and didn't have too much quirky dialogue, or really any now that I think about it.

I have Bluebird Winter and Almost Forever being transfered to me through the library right now. I know they're connected to Sarah's Child but I'm not sure how much yet.

#11 kristinmm: they are sequels... first Almost Forever, then Bluebird Winter.

I did like Sarah's Child. I really liked it, but I understood the conflicts within it & the grief involved. Grief in its different forms can be very difficult to live with.... as is shown in SC.

I loved Sarah's Child. It's one of my favorites, but it was hard to read. I cried on practically every page.

CC

I just finished re-reading Lake of Dreams for probably the thousandth time... I love that story. It resonates within me.

from reading the posts here, I finally read All the Queen's Men & hope to read Kill and Tell soon.

I loved Dream Man & the Mackenzie Family series. Duncan's Bride & Loving Evangeline are stories that grabbed me & kept me.

And need I say anything about Son of the Morning? Yum?

You have got to love a writer who is not afraid to have heroes with big you know whats! Before I ever read a LH novel I was told that all her heroes have one and LOL it's true. The last few haven't been as good...the time travel one was horrible but every body has a bad book sometime... |;-)

#15 BB: "You have got to love a writer who is not afraid to have heroes with big you know whats!"

EGOs?? Hat sizes??

I'm sorry that you didn't like Son of the Morning... although, I'll admit there were some things "missing" and disjointed, I did like the story.

There are some books that people rave about that I have found lacking or not interesting... if we all liked the same thing, there would be an awful lot of writers out of work!! and think of the lack of variety that libraries & bookstore would have.... just like the book department at "MegaMart"

#13
I also loved that book. It is hard reading and the hero, Rome, can be so stubborn and a jerk but it's so realistic. He's suffering from the loss of his first family and that scene where he is curious about his daughter is just such a tear-jerker, you can't help but cry!

My preferred among the books of Linda Howard are Dream Man, The way home (A Mother's Touch anthology) and Mr. Perfect. Also Tears of the Renegade and Duncan's Bride. And Loving Evangeline... oh, ok, I think I loved every book of Linda Howard I have read...

Hi elisa,

I am a hugh Linda Howard fan. I just started re-reading her books from the very beginning. I didn't much care for All That Glitters; re-read An Independent Wife last night & it was a little better. Started Against the Rules this morning & so far, it's much, much better. My favorite of one of hers is Dream Man. Really looking forward to her new books coming out soon.

Fortunately, Linda Howard is translated in italian, so I can read some of her works in my language. Those not translated I bought in english. I re-read often Dream Man and The Way Home. Dream Man in italian is very rare, I'm a really proud owner of an original copy. ciao, elisa

Read an excerpt of Raintree" Inferno today, & though I'm not much for the paranormal genre, it sounds really good; sexual tension from the get-go.