Product Description

When Jenner Redwine wins a lottery jackpot things get tough: her father rips her off and disappears; her fortune-hunting boyfriend soon becomes her ex; and friends-turned-freeloaders give her the cold shoulder when she stops paying for everything. Jenner can't imagine finding a place in the world of the wealthy. But now, seven years later, she's rubbing elbows with the privileged, despite the fact she still feels like a party crasher. When her ally, the shy, kind-hearted heiress Sydney Hazlett, invites her on a charity cruise aboard a luxury liner, Jenner reluctantly agrees, not realising that danger lies ahead. Taken hostage by a menacing stranger, Jenner must cooperate in a mysterious cloak-and-dagger scheme, or else. But as her panic gives way to exhilaration, and fear of her captor turns to fascination, Jenner rediscovers feelings she hasn't had in years - and realises she's found a life worth living. If she survives.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #6810 in Books
• Published on: 2009-10-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 432 pages

About the Author
Linda Howard is an award-winning NEW YORK TIMES bestselling author. She lives in Alabama with her husband and two golden retrievers.

Customer Reviews

Let Down
I waited eagerly for this book from my favourite author Linda Howard only to feel let down and rather disappointed. Her gift with her male characters has been that she makes you want to lift them from the page and make them your own. The hero Cael is described as handsome, sexy, good body, but he doesn't come to life as any of that. It's merely as though by telling us all he is she expects us to just buy into it kind of "trust me on this" stance which just doesn't work in fiction the craft is in making us believe it for ourselves. She settles instead for "telling" us about Cael she doesn't "show" us him. He does nothing to make to the reader think "wow what a man", his character lacks depth. Jenner the heroine is feisty I'll give her that but she's not the best heroine her little rebellions are occasionally humorous such a yoga class but she's still a bit wet. Her friendships and the dynamics of them do help to keep the book going in parts. Overall the plot and subplots leave much to be desired and loose ends. For example we don't know what happened to Jenner's mother she appears to have been raised predominantly by her no good father. Why he is the way he is? We don't know. Why did Jenner turn out so diffrently? We don't know. What did she do when discovered his final betrayal? We don't know. What was the outcome? We never find out. Which makes me wonder why Linda bothered to tell us about it in the first place she raises more questions than she answers. The main plot doesn't work terribly well no aspect properly covered or paced, it lacks the edginess to be a real thriller such as "cry no more", and with the exception of the gradual disintegration of the villain which has it's moments of humour and menance, it is weak.

The romance between Jenner and Cael is not believable. In the past the hero's "laser like focus" to use Howard's own words on the heroine is what has made for gripping romance. In this book the overall impression is he is at best disinterested if not a bit bored by her and just going through the motions. Forget the hot love scences that Howard is famous for. During a day alone at the beach the couple are standing in the water he inserts two fingers under her bikini bottoms and into her, she immediately begins to climax - cue end of love scene. Please! I am a huge and loyal fan of Ms Howard but I first wondered did she even write this book and if she did she has lost her edge. To summarise Burn is worth a read because it's Linda Howard but don't expect too much of it or a return to past form. It is not her finest hour.

BURN

This is the first review that I have ever written.
I cant believe that Linda Howard wrote this novel
It is boring, tedious, and unconvincing.
I have all of Lnda's novels, which have given me much pleasure to read again and again, through the years.
I wouldn't donate this one to a charity shop. I cant burn it ...so it is forthwith going into the paper garbage for recycling, just to get rid of it.

Something Missing
I too am a lifelong fan of Ms Howard. Yes she's changed style a couple of times but she always had that steamy romantic edge. In this one I felt that a chapter or two had been missed when printing the book. After they got together, where was the romance? the sensuality so very familiar in her books? it wasn't there. The interaction and the dialogue between them was great ... very like Mr Perfect and I laughed out loud several times but was a great disappointment romantically. Linda also seems to create almost a "How To" element in her books when she goes into far too much detail e.g., how the lottery money was eventually claimed in this one; "how to" survive an air crash; "how to" steal money and transfer it to your own account. It can become tedious. However, I'll still buy any book bearing Ms Howard's name.