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Dark Paradise
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New Eden, Montana, is a piece of heaven on earth where one woman died in her own private hell. Now it’s up to ex-court reporter Marilee Jennings to decipher the puzzle of her best friend’s death. But someone has a stake in silencing her suspicion. Someone with secrets worth killing forâ and the power to turn this beautiful haven into a . . .Â
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And as Mari digs deeper beneath New Eden’s picture-perfect exterior, finding the truth is suddenly no longer a matter of justice.Â
   It’s her only hope of staying alive.
New Eden, Montana, is a piece of heaven on earth where one woman died in her own private hell. Now it’s up to ex-court reporter Marilee Jennings to decipher the puzzle of her best friend’s death. But someone has a stake in silencing her suspicion. Someone with secrets worth killing forâ and the power to turn this beautiful haven into a . . .Â
Â
And as Mari digs deeper beneath New Eden’s picture-perfect exterior, finding the truth is suddenly no longer a matter of justice.Â
   It’s her only hope of staying alive.
560 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1994
827 people are currently reading
4435 people want to read
About the author
Tami Hoag
99 books6,132 followersTami Hoag is the #1 internationally bestselling author of more than thirty books published in more than thirty languages worldwide, including her latest thrillers—BITTER SEASON, COLD COLD HEART and THE 9TH GIRL. Renowned for combining thrilling plots with character-driven suspense, Hoag first hit the New York Times Bestseller list with NIGHT SINS, and each of her books since has been a bestseller.
She leads a double life in Palm Beach County, Florida where she is also known as a top competitive equestrian in the Olympic discipline of dressage. Other interests include the study of psychology, and mixed martial arts fighting.
Visit her at www.tamihoag.com, Facebook.com/TamiHoag and on Twitter @TamiHoag
She leads a double life in Palm Beach County, Florida where she is also known as a top competitive equestrian in the Olympic discipline of dressage. Other interests include the study of psychology, and mixed martial arts fighting.
Visit her at www.tamihoag.com, Facebook.com/TamiHoag and on Twitter @TamiHoag
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 326 reviews
October 11, 2020
Great books!
August 26, 2019
Poor heroine, she gets the hero. He’s a reject from the Diana Palmer Hall of Heroes. As bad as they are they appreciate the heroine in the end and even more in the next book. It’s like pulling teeth with this guy to the bitter, bitter end.
Three stars for a suspense/thriller story, but minus for some serious ick and a hostile hero who has nothing other to offer than being a hunk.
The heroine has come to Montana to track down a close friend as she has left her privileged past behind. So behind we never hear a peep from her ex, her mother or two sisters. She arrives to find out that her BF was shot in the back and the case is all tidied over and the accidental killer has confessed. He was elk hunting and shot the woman by accident. The h smartly points out that it’s June, not autumn and not only is it NOT hunting season, but her friend hardly resembles an elk. The sheriff is sympathetic, but as she’s an outsider he’s ready to put this behind him. The not so underlying theme of the book is Big City Slicker outsiders coming to the west, buying up land and driving up land prices. Hoag even mentions Ted Turner by name as a much hated Hollyweird.
As the heroine tries to find out who killed her friend, a variety of offices and houses are broken into, she’s attacked and secrets about the area and her best friend unfold and none of it is pretty. Hoag has a way with words and not always in a good way. She describes the local big wigs incestuous mistress in distubingly gross details.
It’s hard to recommend this as there are so many unpleasant elements, but it held my interest and I was compelled to find out what happened. Triggers if you are an animal lover.
Three stars for a suspense/thriller story, but minus for some serious ick and a hostile hero who has nothing other to offer than being a hunk.
The heroine has come to Montana to track down a close friend as she has left her privileged past behind. So behind we never hear a peep from her ex, her mother or two sisters. She arrives to find out that her BF was shot in the back and the case is all tidied over and the accidental killer has confessed. He was elk hunting and shot the woman by accident. The h smartly points out that it’s June, not autumn and not only is it NOT hunting season, but her friend hardly resembles an elk. The sheriff is sympathetic, but as she’s an outsider he’s ready to put this behind him. The not so underlying theme of the book is Big City Slicker outsiders coming to the west, buying up land and driving up land prices. Hoag even mentions Ted Turner by name as a much hated Hollyweird.
As the heroine tries to find out who killed her friend, a variety of offices and houses are broken into, she’s attacked and secrets about the area and her best friend unfold and none of it is pretty. Hoag has a way with words and not always in a good way. She describes the local big wigs incestuous mistress in distubingly gross details.
It’s hard to recommend this as there are so many unpleasant elements, but it held my interest and I was compelled to find out what happened. Triggers if you are an animal lover.
December 19, 2018
I am banning this novel and banning any Tami Hoag novels from my reading list. This is in spite of the fact that she is a very good writer who can weave a great tale of suspense and mystery. However, her portrayal in this book of a sexual abuser as just “an honest, truthful, and good man” who was flawed, is beyond unconscionable.
The first time the main character met this man, JD, he verbally and sexually intimidated her by getting up in her face and declaring he was going to f**k her. The second time she met him he continued to verbally abuse her and then grabbed her and kissed her to prove he meant what he said. Yes, he was honest about his intentions, which just said he showed his true colors as a sexual predator. I continued reading thinking the guy would become the evil villain of the story, but no, Hoag has the main character attracted to him!
I realize that this happens in BAD romance stories, which can even have a guy rape a woman and she still falls for him and a torrid romance ensues. This idea that an abusive man can turn out to be a good guy is criminal brainwashing that has to be eliminated from our culture.
Hoag does go on to try to develop the character as a tortured and repressed man, but it was tainted by her opening scenes with the guy. The fact that a best-selling author would do this and get the book into the hands of thousands (millions?) is heinous. We women, and men, have to stop believing it is okay for men to behave that way, ever. No truly good man would ever do what Hoag has this character do at the beginning. DO NOT READ THIS BOOK.
The first time the main character met this man, JD, he verbally and sexually intimidated her by getting up in her face and declaring he was going to f**k her. The second time she met him he continued to verbally abuse her and then grabbed her and kissed her to prove he meant what he said. Yes, he was honest about his intentions, which just said he showed his true colors as a sexual predator. I continued reading thinking the guy would become the evil villain of the story, but no, Hoag has the main character attracted to him!
I realize that this happens in BAD romance stories, which can even have a guy rape a woman and she still falls for him and a torrid romance ensues. This idea that an abusive man can turn out to be a good guy is criminal brainwashing that has to be eliminated from our culture.
Hoag does go on to try to develop the character as a tortured and repressed man, but it was tainted by her opening scenes with the guy. The fact that a best-selling author would do this and get the book into the hands of thousands (millions?) is heinous. We women, and men, have to stop believing it is okay for men to behave that way, ever. No truly good man would ever do what Hoag has this character do at the beginning. DO NOT READ THIS BOOK.
April 23, 2011
4.5 stars
Marilee Jennings has spent her whole life as a square peg trying to fit into the round hole created by her family. Always the outcast, she has pitched the job she detests and the fiance she doesn't love, hopped into her car and set out from California to the wilds of Montana. When she arrives she finds out that her friend Lucy is dead, her home has been ransacked, and no one seems to care. She's told that a hunting accident is what killed Lucy and her big-city suspicions are raised. The more she tries to find out what happened to Lucy, the more she discovers that no one is what they seem - least of all her late colleague and drinking buddy.
Remember in the early 90s, when movie stars by the dozens bought big chunks of land out in Montana and North Dakota? I think Ted Turner started it all (followed by Kevin Costner after Dances with Wolves). I'm sure they meant well, raising buffalo and elk, preserving nature - wildlife and the prairie. What they did was drive up the taxes, piss off the locals and mess with more than a century's worth of farming and ranching history.
That's the setting to this excellent book. New money and fancy rich folk set against ranchers and cowboys struggling to maintain their way of life. It draws you in from the first chapter, and doesn't let you go until the last page. I've read this book countless times, and I still couldn't put it down today when I read it.
The romance is believable, the chemisty between J.D. and Marilee is palpable and the love scenes are smoking hot. Hoag certainly writes it like she means it. Her story is full of characters so realistic they practically jump off the page and by the end of the book you feel as though you're right in the thick of it with them. The mystery/suspense is carefully plotted and keeps you guessing almost to the very end. Even if you think you know who did it, odds are you'll be surprised.
It's held up quite well in the 17 years since this book was written -- it's a bit dated with the references to the clothes people were wearing (Bryce wears tight jeans and chambray shirts buttoned halfway down, and Mari favours filmy skirts, boots and tshirts with oversize jean jackets) and Mary Chapin Carpenter figures largely in the music mentioned. I was roughly the same age as the heroine the year the book came out, so rather than notice that the styles have changed, it made me nostalgic for them. Other than that, I barely noticed the lack of cell phones or mp3 players.
I don't normally like cowboys that much, but I LOVED J.D. Rafferty. How I would have loved to have tripped over a man like that in real life. YUM. I identified strongly with Marilee. I liked her, wanted to be her, right down to her wardrobe. Which like I said, is kinda dated, but I loved that look so much in 1994.
I only have one beef and it's with the book business rather than the book itself. Here is my question, to Tami Hoag, Linda Howard and others: Why do romance authors who write perfectly good, steamy, well-developed, compelling, character driven, believable stories, pitch it all to write crime/suspense fiction????? Tami Hoag was one of my favourite authors in the early 90s. She wrote big, meaty, romantic suspense novels with really hot men in them, and women that I could identify with.
Dark Paradise is one of her best.
Marilee Jennings has spent her whole life as a square peg trying to fit into the round hole created by her family. Always the outcast, she has pitched the job she detests and the fiance she doesn't love, hopped into her car and set out from California to the wilds of Montana. When she arrives she finds out that her friend Lucy is dead, her home has been ransacked, and no one seems to care. She's told that a hunting accident is what killed Lucy and her big-city suspicions are raised. The more she tries to find out what happened to Lucy, the more she discovers that no one is what they seem - least of all her late colleague and drinking buddy.
Remember in the early 90s, when movie stars by the dozens bought big chunks of land out in Montana and North Dakota? I think Ted Turner started it all (followed by Kevin Costner after Dances with Wolves). I'm sure they meant well, raising buffalo and elk, preserving nature - wildlife and the prairie. What they did was drive up the taxes, piss off the locals and mess with more than a century's worth of farming and ranching history.
That's the setting to this excellent book. New money and fancy rich folk set against ranchers and cowboys struggling to maintain their way of life. It draws you in from the first chapter, and doesn't let you go until the last page. I've read this book countless times, and I still couldn't put it down today when I read it.
The romance is believable, the chemisty between J.D. and Marilee is palpable and the love scenes are smoking hot. Hoag certainly writes it like she means it. Her story is full of characters so realistic they practically jump off the page and by the end of the book you feel as though you're right in the thick of it with them. The mystery/suspense is carefully plotted and keeps you guessing almost to the very end. Even if you think you know who did it, odds are you'll be surprised.
It's held up quite well in the 17 years since this book was written -- it's a bit dated with the references to the clothes people were wearing (Bryce wears tight jeans and chambray shirts buttoned halfway down, and Mari favours filmy skirts, boots and tshirts with oversize jean jackets) and Mary Chapin Carpenter figures largely in the music mentioned. I was roughly the same age as the heroine the year the book came out, so rather than notice that the styles have changed, it made me nostalgic for them. Other than that, I barely noticed the lack of cell phones or mp3 players.
I don't normally like cowboys that much, but I LOVED J.D. Rafferty. How I would have loved to have tripped over a man like that in real life. YUM. I identified strongly with Marilee. I liked her, wanted to be her, right down to her wardrobe. Which like I said, is kinda dated, but I loved that look so much in 1994.
I only have one beef and it's with the book business rather than the book itself. Here is my question, to Tami Hoag, Linda Howard and others: Why do romance authors who write perfectly good, steamy, well-developed, compelling, character driven, believable stories, pitch it all to write crime/suspense fiction????? Tami Hoag was one of my favourite authors in the early 90s. She wrote big, meaty, romantic suspense novels with really hot men in them, and women that I could identify with.
Dark Paradise is one of her best.
August 22, 2012
This book, I'm sorry to say wasn't very good. It was okay at best. Her later writing is much better in my opinion.
Here is my synopsis:
Rude, harsh, cowboy has rapist-like thoughts about his new neighbor. The two hate each other passionately. They end up making out.
He talks tenderly to her, they fight, vowing to never engage again in the best sex they ever had.
The meet again, fight and end up having sex again.
Okay, there was more to the story than that, but it is so annoying to me, that now, I'll always remember this forgettable book. It is a mystery, a mild 'thriller', but honestly, even if you are a Tami Hoag fan, skip it. It's very predictable and cheesy.
Here is my synopsis:
Rude, harsh, cowboy has rapist-like thoughts about his new neighbor. The two hate each other passionately. They end up making out.
He talks tenderly to her, they fight, vowing to never engage again in the best sex they ever had.
The meet again, fight and end up having sex again.
Okay, there was more to the story than that, but it is so annoying to me, that now, I'll always remember this forgettable book. It is a mystery, a mild 'thriller', but honestly, even if you are a Tami Hoag fan, skip it. It's very predictable and cheesy.
January 25, 2012
I loved this book, the town, the characters, the unexpected twists, and who doesn't want a rough, sexy cowboy with hands of steel? Hot and steamy - J.D. wins my vote!
July 16, 2013
I only made it one third through.
Couldn't take it anymore.
Don't waste your time with this book.
Couldn't take it anymore.
Don't waste your time with this book.
February 19, 2015
I've read a number of Tami Hoag novels because I enjoy a quick read and a good thriller plot. This novel made me wonder if I had picked up a Harlequin Romance novel instead. It didn't feel like a thriller until the last 1/4 of the book and then it picked up like the style I'm use to reading with Tami Hoag. Maybe because this is an older novel, maybe she hadn't found her groove...? I don't know, but was disappointed overall.
February 16, 2011
I really enjoyed this book until I reached the halfway point. The storyline was good, but how many times does Hoag have to tell me that the character is stubborn/lonely/loyal/a misfit? I get it already! I didn't lose my memory from the prior chapter. Or the one before that, either. I would have rated this book much higher if not for the annoying repetition.
June 23, 2019
2 stars - Romantic Suspense
January 25, 2020
”It started out as a bad hair day and went downhill from there.”
This book was way more than a bad hair day; it was a garbage fire from the depths of hell.
The only sole positive thing I can say about this disaster is that it showcased my profession. Court reporting is not an occupation that many people even know about; so finding a protagonist in a story who is a court reporter is like finding a freaking unicorn. The author did a fantastic job accurately portraying the profession I am so proud to be a part of.
That being said, the rest of this book was fucking awful.
With an infuriating love interest who was supposed to be sexy but came off as horrifically abusive and an ending to a mystery that made my blood boil. (authors; please for the love of God stop using the “Pissed off Native American who murders people because they are taking over his land” trope.)
I wouldn’t recommend this book to my own worst enemy.
This book was way more than a bad hair day; it was a garbage fire from the depths of hell.
The only sole positive thing I can say about this disaster is that it showcased my profession. Court reporting is not an occupation that many people even know about; so finding a protagonist in a story who is a court reporter is like finding a freaking unicorn. The author did a fantastic job accurately portraying the profession I am so proud to be a part of.
That being said, the rest of this book was fucking awful.
With an infuriating love interest who was supposed to be sexy but came off as horrifically abusive and an ending to a mystery that made my blood boil. (authors; please for the love of God stop using the “Pissed off Native American who murders people because they are taking over his land” trope.)
I wouldn’t recommend this book to my own worst enemy.
January 7, 2013
I liked Marilee Jennings who left her old life in California to hopefully start anew with her friend Lucy MacAdams in Montana. Unfortunately when she arrives, she finds out that Lucy has been accidentally killed doing something very un-Lucy-like. Marilee is positive that Lucy was murdered and sets out to prove it. Unfortunately the bad guys have issues with her snooping into their affairs. Her neighbor and sheriff J.D. Rafferty thinks she's barking up the wrong tree but he desperately wants to get laid so he capitulates and reluctantly helps her investigate.
I enjoyed this book but not as much as her other books. It just didn't have the same feel...maybe too much sex between people who dislike each other. I like Tami Hoag's mysteries where the characters have sex but it's not in-your-face and doesn't interfere with the plot.
I enjoyed this book but not as much as her other books. It just didn't have the same feel...maybe too much sex between people who dislike each other. I like Tami Hoag's mysteries where the characters have sex but it's not in-your-face and doesn't interfere with the plot.
July 9, 2010
I usually love Tami Hoag books, but I was very dissapointed in this one. It was too naughty for my taste (I probably should have quite reading it, but it is hard for me to put down a book once I start...I know excuses, excuses). I thought the story line was stupid. And the ending...Just not a very good book. Good thing this wasn't the first Hoag book I read or I would probably wouldn't try her again.
May 30, 2017
Lucy and Marilee Jennings became friends when they were both court reporters in Sacramento. Lucy quit to buy a home in New Eden, Montana a year ago. Marilee decided to surprise Lucy by driving up to Montana for a vacation. Unfortunately, the surprise is Marilee's when she learns Lucy was killed 10 days ago in a hunting accident. A doctor who was hunting confessed that he didn't even see her. Marilee is not so certain that Lucy's death is an accident. Lucy left Marilee her home and ranch and the neighbor JD Rafferty is very interested in the property. As Marilee starts digging into Lucy's life in Montana, she wonders if blackmail was involved.
I liked the western feel of the book with its cowboys, horses and great outdoors. Marilee finds sizzling romance but other seedier encounters are going on with the wealthy crowd in New Eden. Tami Hoag did a good job with her descriptions of the Montana countryside.
I liked the western feel of the book with its cowboys, horses and great outdoors. Marilee finds sizzling romance but other seedier encounters are going on with the wealthy crowd in New Eden. Tami Hoag did a good job with her descriptions of the Montana countryside.
March 5, 2018
Loved it! Good vs Evil, old ways vs new ways, old money vs new money. This one had me turning the pages like crazy. Definitely need to start reading more books by this author.
September 25, 2009
It has been a while since I read anything by Tami Hoag but I had this one in the TBR pile so I picked it up, as it seemed an interesting romantic suspense.
I am happy to say that I really enjoyed. The book opens with the crime being committed. You know who the victim is but during that scene, the identity of the killer is not revealed.
We then proceed to get to know the heroine, Marilee, a court reporter who has decided she needed a change in her life and travels to Montana to be with her friend Lucy. However, when she arrives at Lucy’s home in the mountains she finds the place ransacked and a mysterious and overbearing man who warns her away and tells her that Lucy is dead. Shocked Marilee decides to stay and find out what happened to Lucy.
There are several mysteries surrounding the town but the one about who killed Lucy is apparently solved to everyone’s satisfaction having been labeled a hunting accident. Marilee sees it as ironic the fact that the death of her friend only brought a slap in the wrist to her killer. Surprisingly she is informed that she is Lucy’s heir and the letter she left for her leads her to think that someone may have been behind the accident.
Undecided on what to do with her life and the property Lucy left her while at the same time intrigued by the people she meets Marilee decides to stay in town for a while. She soon develops a relationship with JD Rafferty, the owner of a neighboring ranch who has been feeding Lucy’s animals and keeps thinking of Marilee as just another Lucy. JD wants to buy the property and is determined to fight the Hollywood crowd who has recently invaded Montana leading to the prices going up and the ruin of local ranchers. This is the crowd Lucy ran with, so Marilee is also interested in them and what are they really involved in.
Things are not what they seem and when more people die the tension between the locals and the newcomers rises while at the same time Evan Bryce, the Hollywood tycoon who has been buying land, seems to have found a way to get to Rafferty’s lands through JD’s brother’s wife.
We do know who the bad people are from the beginning, it is more a question of why and how then of who. Marilee and JD are not new as characters in the sense that we have read about the city girl who meets the lonesome cowboy before but I liked how Hoag wrote them and their story worked for me. This is a romantic supense that is very heavy on romance, Rafferty was a bit overbearing and Marilee had to fight for every inch of his heart. Some people might have a problem with him as this feels as an old fashioned romance. I liked how the tension builds near the end when we find out what is really happening and the final confrontation scene. For me it was an interesting and compelling read.
Grade: 4/5
I am happy to say that I really enjoyed. The book opens with the crime being committed. You know who the victim is but during that scene, the identity of the killer is not revealed.
We then proceed to get to know the heroine, Marilee, a court reporter who has decided she needed a change in her life and travels to Montana to be with her friend Lucy. However, when she arrives at Lucy’s home in the mountains she finds the place ransacked and a mysterious and overbearing man who warns her away and tells her that Lucy is dead. Shocked Marilee decides to stay and find out what happened to Lucy.
There are several mysteries surrounding the town but the one about who killed Lucy is apparently solved to everyone’s satisfaction having been labeled a hunting accident. Marilee sees it as ironic the fact that the death of her friend only brought a slap in the wrist to her killer. Surprisingly she is informed that she is Lucy’s heir and the letter she left for her leads her to think that someone may have been behind the accident.
Undecided on what to do with her life and the property Lucy left her while at the same time intrigued by the people she meets Marilee decides to stay in town for a while. She soon develops a relationship with JD Rafferty, the owner of a neighboring ranch who has been feeding Lucy’s animals and keeps thinking of Marilee as just another Lucy. JD wants to buy the property and is determined to fight the Hollywood crowd who has recently invaded Montana leading to the prices going up and the ruin of local ranchers. This is the crowd Lucy ran with, so Marilee is also interested in them and what are they really involved in.
Things are not what they seem and when more people die the tension between the locals and the newcomers rises while at the same time Evan Bryce, the Hollywood tycoon who has been buying land, seems to have found a way to get to Rafferty’s lands through JD’s brother’s wife.
We do know who the bad people are from the beginning, it is more a question of why and how then of who. Marilee and JD are not new as characters in the sense that we have read about the city girl who meets the lonesome cowboy before but I liked how Hoag wrote them and their story worked for me. This is a romantic supense that is very heavy on romance, Rafferty was a bit overbearing and Marilee had to fight for every inch of his heart. Some people might have a problem with him as this feels as an old fashioned romance. I liked how the tension builds near the end when we find out what is really happening and the final confrontation scene. For me it was an interesting and compelling read.
Grade: 4/5
November 13, 2014
2.5 stars
This book stumbled over formulaic writing in a very unfortunate way. It didn't help that I read Lucky's Lady just before reading this book, but even so the romance in this story was quite simply, and point for point, identical to the romance in Lucky's Lady.
1. Lust at first sight.
2. Mutual dislike.
3. Man wants sex for the sake of sex.
4. Woman doesn't think of sex that way.
5. They can't help themselves and have wild, unprotected sex.
6. She decides she loves him.
7. He pushes her away because she's getting too close.
8. He saves her life and realizes he does love her.
9. He pushes her away again.
10. She goes to him and puts her heart on the line.
11. He pushes her away again.
12. She realizes she's pregnant, a fact that has nothing whatsoever to do with the plot of the book.
13. After a random amount of time passes he comes back to her.
Actually I have to say, this formula fit Lucky and Serena pretty well. It did not, however, fit JD and Merilee. JD's rejection of love wasn't as natural as Lucky's, and given his love of tradition and of the land his persistence in pushing her away felt extremely forced. But mostly there was the formula, and seeing the formula so, so clearly kept me from believing its application to this pair. I didn't feel the chemistry. I didn't buy the initial lust or the initial attraction, and I frankly didn't like JD at any point in this book.
This book wasn't all romance -- if it had been it would have gotten a 1 star. But the mystery and suspense elements were pretty good.
This book stumbled over formulaic writing in a very unfortunate way. It didn't help that I read Lucky's Lady just before reading this book, but even so the romance in this story was quite simply, and point for point, identical to the romance in Lucky's Lady.
1. Lust at first sight.
2. Mutual dislike.
3. Man wants sex for the sake of sex.
4. Woman doesn't think of sex that way.
5. They can't help themselves and have wild, unprotected sex.
6. She decides she loves him.
7. He pushes her away because she's getting too close.
8. He saves her life and realizes he does love her.
9. He pushes her away again.
10. She goes to him and puts her heart on the line.
11. He pushes her away again.
12. She realizes she's pregnant, a fact that has nothing whatsoever to do with the plot of the book.
13. After a random amount of time passes he comes back to her.
Actually I have to say, this formula fit Lucky and Serena pretty well. It did not, however, fit JD and Merilee. JD's rejection of love wasn't as natural as Lucky's, and given his love of tradition and of the land his persistence in pushing her away felt extremely forced. But mostly there was the formula, and seeing the formula so, so clearly kept me from believing its application to this pair. I didn't feel the chemistry. I didn't buy the initial lust or the initial attraction, and I frankly didn't like JD at any point in this book.
This book wasn't all romance -- if it had been it would have gotten a 1 star. But the mystery and suspense elements were pretty good.
June 12, 2012
I was pretty disappointed with this book. I couldn't get through to page 50. I was skipping through paragraphs only reading the when there was talking. Probably one of the most boring books I have ever read.
November 17, 2014
A complete and utter bore.
February 10, 2019
4.5 Stars
February 11, 2017
AUTHOR..
TAMI HOAG...
CHARACTERS..
Marilee Jennings, Lucy MacAdams, J.D.Rafferty, Will Rafferty, Del Rafferty, Samantha Rafferty, Edwin Bryce, Tucker, Miller Daggrepont, Sharon Russell, Judge Townsend and others.
LOCATION...
New Eden, Montana, USA..
GENRE..
Thriller.
PLOT..
Considered as Mari the Misfit, by her family, dumped by her boyfriend Bradford Enright for his secretary and fed up by her court reporter job, Marilee Jennings reaches New Eden Montana to spend some time with her friend Lucy, to "clear her mind" and to start fresh.
New Eden, Montana, is a piece of heaven on earth, where Lucy had moved after she had come into some money, chucked her job and started living there in a log house isolated from the city.
Mari, after reaching Lucy's log house was shocked to find the vandalized state of it and learns from a neighbouring rancher J.D.Rafferty that Lucy was dead in a hunting accident ten days ago.
J.D , describes Mari that her friend Lucy had been killed by a city boy named Sheffield mistaking her for a deer, and her body was found by his uncle Del Rafferty, who lives deep in the wilderness in a fractured state of mind.
Now, it is up to ex-court reporter Mari to decipher the puzzle of her best friend's death.
From Lucy's attory Miller Daggrepont, Mary learns that Lucy had left everything, her log house, bank account to Mary thereby making her as Lucy's legal heir. Mari slso receives a final letter written by her friend before her death and a foot tall old tin containing the ashes of Lucy from Miller Daggrepont.
In her journey to decipher her best friend's death, Mari comes across some dangerous people at New Eden, who has a stake in silencing her suspicions.
Her rancher-neighbour J.D.Rafferty, a dangerous cowboy and the owner of The Stars and Bars ranch, with a motive "Never love a woman. Love the Land". He resents outsiders living in Montana. He considers his ranch as his heritage, his land as a history entrusted to him by three prior generations to protect the land. He took that duty to heart. He had to preserve his ranch Stars and Bars without a distraction from the outsiders like Lucy and Mari.
Evan Bryce...a Powerful man from California with powerful friends. He always has a host of celebrities of one variety or other tagging him. Actors, directors, models, politicians,lawyers. Many of them having second homes at New Eden as well. He starts purchasing everything from local ranchers by offering huge prices and thereby making New Eden his own playground.
J.D's uncle Del living in a fractured state of mind after his Vietnam war days. His world was peopled by ghosts. His days were nightmares and he clung to the ragged edge of sanity by callused fingertips.
J.D hates his little brother Will Rafferty and his wife Samantha. Will happens to be a complete loser by drinking and gambling the ranch money, and a problem-maker for J.D., His wife Samantha hates a life with out Will. Samantha slowly falls in Bryce's trap, as she believes in his promise to make her a renowned model. So she stays permanently in Bryce's house ignoring Will and his brother JD.
Finally there is Sharon Russell., wicked,cunning and psychopathic cousin of Bryce who is very possessive about him. Because of Bryce's intimacy with Samantha, she hates her and insults her.
Though Marie considers J.D.Rafferty a complex man, she slowly starts liking and can't help falling herself in love with him. She understands J.D's pains and longing to preserve the land that had been his family's home for a hundred years, which was taken away piece by piece by outsiders. She likes the gentleness of his big, rough hands when he touched an animal.She starts adoring the fierce tenderness of his lovemaking. She respects the loyalty and affection shown to his uncle Del Rafferty, who is living in fractured state of mind, most people would have preferred to ship him out of sight and mind.
CLIMAX....
After reading Lucy's last letter given to her by her attorney, Mari finds a mention about California's attorney dairy containing two volumes, and the second part is missing.
Mari finds the second part secretly tucked in the animal's bin, while feeding the Illamas at the backside barn. Mari also finds a video cassette and a number of blackmail letters demanding money to various Bryce's friends attached to the volume.
Mari finds that her beloved friend Lucy was hard core blackmailer, receiving money by threatening the Friends of Bryce at various levels. From the letters, Mari discovers that Lucy had successfully blackmailed California's leading judge, a famous actor and the log house was brought from the blackmailed money.
From the video cassette, Mari learns the reason for Lucy's blackmail. The video explained how Bryce's little hunt club consisting of his powerful friends worked, how Bryce arranged for the purchase of exotic animals through a black market network. How the wild animals were hunted ruthlessly by his friends supported by wild dogs. The tape showed the illegal hunting team consisting of California Judge Townsend and Sheffield.
Bryce's game was to video tape the illegal hunting event and then to hold the tape as security to ensure future favours from businessmen, politicians and Hollywood players. Lucy, Without a hint of conscience managed to get a copy of Bryce's hunt tape and started tormenting his friends with the threats of mailing the cassette to CNN.
Bryce's cousin Sharon Russell wants to get rid of Samantha because of Bryce's obsession towards her. She wants to kill her the same way she killed Lucy, by making her run naked in the wilderness, Sharon following her in horses and hunting and tearing with wild dogs and finally killing her with hunting rifle. While Samantha was running for life, Marie rescues her with the help of J.D and Will. In the final battle Del Rafferty kills Sharon and saves Marie and Samantha.
Bryce and his hunting team was arrested for hosting illegal hunting game, with video cassette given by Marie to the local Sharieff. Overall evidences for holding 29 illegal hunts were discovered in Bryce's house and case was filed against him. In order to avoid unwanted publicity, Bryce shifts to California.
Will and Samantha starts a fresh life . Marie settles permanently at New Eden with JD.Rafferty.
My Comment...
Though this book falls under murder-mystery category, only last 100 pages has the momentum and thrill. Major part of the novel is devoted to Marie-J.D Rafferty love , Romance and their bedding times. Though this part is likeable and romantic, this has nothing todo with the main storyline.
DARK PARADISE....ROMANTIC SUSPENSE
.
TAMI HOAG...
CHARACTERS..
Marilee Jennings, Lucy MacAdams, J.D.Rafferty, Will Rafferty, Del Rafferty, Samantha Rafferty, Edwin Bryce, Tucker, Miller Daggrepont, Sharon Russell, Judge Townsend and others.
LOCATION...
New Eden, Montana, USA..
GENRE..
Thriller.
PLOT..
Considered as Mari the Misfit, by her family, dumped by her boyfriend Bradford Enright for his secretary and fed up by her court reporter job, Marilee Jennings reaches New Eden Montana to spend some time with her friend Lucy, to "clear her mind" and to start fresh.
New Eden, Montana, is a piece of heaven on earth, where Lucy had moved after she had come into some money, chucked her job and started living there in a log house isolated from the city.
Mari, after reaching Lucy's log house was shocked to find the vandalized state of it and learns from a neighbouring rancher J.D.Rafferty that Lucy was dead in a hunting accident ten days ago.
J.D , describes Mari that her friend Lucy had been killed by a city boy named Sheffield mistaking her for a deer, and her body was found by his uncle Del Rafferty, who lives deep in the wilderness in a fractured state of mind.
Now, it is up to ex-court reporter Mari to decipher the puzzle of her best friend's death.
From Lucy's attory Miller Daggrepont, Mary learns that Lucy had left everything, her log house, bank account to Mary thereby making her as Lucy's legal heir. Mari slso receives a final letter written by her friend before her death and a foot tall old tin containing the ashes of Lucy from Miller Daggrepont.
In her journey to decipher her best friend's death, Mari comes across some dangerous people at New Eden, who has a stake in silencing her suspicions.
Her rancher-neighbour J.D.Rafferty, a dangerous cowboy and the owner of The Stars and Bars ranch, with a motive "Never love a woman. Love the Land". He resents outsiders living in Montana. He considers his ranch as his heritage, his land as a history entrusted to him by three prior generations to protect the land. He took that duty to heart. He had to preserve his ranch Stars and Bars without a distraction from the outsiders like Lucy and Mari.
Evan Bryce...a Powerful man from California with powerful friends. He always has a host of celebrities of one variety or other tagging him. Actors, directors, models, politicians,lawyers. Many of them having second homes at New Eden as well. He starts purchasing everything from local ranchers by offering huge prices and thereby making New Eden his own playground.
J.D's uncle Del living in a fractured state of mind after his Vietnam war days. His world was peopled by ghosts. His days were nightmares and he clung to the ragged edge of sanity by callused fingertips.
J.D hates his little brother Will Rafferty and his wife Samantha. Will happens to be a complete loser by drinking and gambling the ranch money, and a problem-maker for J.D., His wife Samantha hates a life with out Will. Samantha slowly falls in Bryce's trap, as she believes in his promise to make her a renowned model. So she stays permanently in Bryce's house ignoring Will and his brother JD.
Finally there is Sharon Russell., wicked,cunning and psychopathic cousin of Bryce who is very possessive about him. Because of Bryce's intimacy with Samantha, she hates her and insults her.
Though Marie considers J.D.Rafferty a complex man, she slowly starts liking and can't help falling herself in love with him. She understands J.D's pains and longing to preserve the land that had been his family's home for a hundred years, which was taken away piece by piece by outsiders. She likes the gentleness of his big, rough hands when he touched an animal.She starts adoring the fierce tenderness of his lovemaking. She respects the loyalty and affection shown to his uncle Del Rafferty, who is living in fractured state of mind, most people would have preferred to ship him out of sight and mind.
CLIMAX....
After reading Lucy's last letter given to her by her attorney, Mari finds a mention about California's attorney dairy containing two volumes, and the second part is missing.
Mari finds the second part secretly tucked in the animal's bin, while feeding the Illamas at the backside barn. Mari also finds a video cassette and a number of blackmail letters demanding money to various Bryce's friends attached to the volume.
Mari finds that her beloved friend Lucy was hard core blackmailer, receiving money by threatening the Friends of Bryce at various levels. From the letters, Mari discovers that Lucy had successfully blackmailed California's leading judge, a famous actor and the log house was brought from the blackmailed money.
From the video cassette, Mari learns the reason for Lucy's blackmail. The video explained how Bryce's little hunt club consisting of his powerful friends worked, how Bryce arranged for the purchase of exotic animals through a black market network. How the wild animals were hunted ruthlessly by his friends supported by wild dogs. The tape showed the illegal hunting team consisting of California Judge Townsend and Sheffield.
Bryce's game was to video tape the illegal hunting event and then to hold the tape as security to ensure future favours from businessmen, politicians and Hollywood players. Lucy, Without a hint of conscience managed to get a copy of Bryce's hunt tape and started tormenting his friends with the threats of mailing the cassette to CNN.
Bryce's cousin Sharon Russell wants to get rid of Samantha because of Bryce's obsession towards her. She wants to kill her the same way she killed Lucy, by making her run naked in the wilderness, Sharon following her in horses and hunting and tearing with wild dogs and finally killing her with hunting rifle. While Samantha was running for life, Marie rescues her with the help of J.D and Will. In the final battle Del Rafferty kills Sharon and saves Marie and Samantha.
Bryce and his hunting team was arrested for hosting illegal hunting game, with video cassette given by Marie to the local Sharieff. Overall evidences for holding 29 illegal hunts were discovered in Bryce's house and case was filed against him. In order to avoid unwanted publicity, Bryce shifts to California.
Will and Samantha starts a fresh life . Marie settles permanently at New Eden with JD.Rafferty.
My Comment...
Though this book falls under murder-mystery category, only last 100 pages has the momentum and thrill. Major part of the novel is devoted to Marie-J.D Rafferty love , Romance and their bedding times. Though this part is likeable and romantic, this has nothing todo with the main storyline.
DARK PARADISE....ROMANTIC SUSPENSE
.
August 7, 2019
Interesting and entertaining read for Tami Hoag fans.
Marilee Jennings goes to new Eden, Montana for a vacation from her court reporter job in California. She intends to surprise her friend and former court reporter who left California for the wild unknown. The surprise is on Marilee when she finds that her friend is dead. What happened seems cut and dried and done to everyone besides Marilee who is determined to find out. Along the way, other folks are being murdered, adding to the suspense and intrigue.
The story contains gratuitous sex scenes, some violence and vulgar language. Not a book for kids, but as noted, Tami Hoag fans should LOVE it!
Marilee Jennings goes to new Eden, Montana for a vacation from her court reporter job in California. She intends to surprise her friend and former court reporter who left California for the wild unknown. The surprise is on Marilee when she finds that her friend is dead. What happened seems cut and dried and done to everyone besides Marilee who is determined to find out. Along the way, other folks are being murdered, adding to the suspense and intrigue.
The story contains gratuitous sex scenes, some violence and vulgar language. Not a book for kids, but as noted, Tami Hoag fans should LOVE it!
October 15, 2019
I have enjoyed reading Tami Hoag's novels in the past but this is the 2nd novel I have read in recent days and I have relatively the same commentary. This novel did not need to be >500 pages. It also begins in the same format as "Guilty As Sin" and I would assert that a prologue is not effective in every novel. In the span of a few chapters, I don't forget the personality and traits given to the main characters and yet the repetition for friends Marilee Jennings and Lucy MacAdam, brothers J.D. Rafferty and Will Rafferty, Uncle Del Rafferty, and Samantha Rafferty become almost unbearable.
October 26, 2022
if this book’s goal was to make its reader want to visit Montana, mission accomplished.
April 13, 2021
4.5 stars from me. A satisfying read with cowboys, murder, sex, heartbreak and re-awakenings all set under the Big Skies of Montana.
April 26, 2012
This is a story of a court reporter from Sacramento who drives to Montana to visit a friend (and to escape her old life). It is also a story of the modern West and the conflict between the local residents and wealthy invaders from the jet set. There is murder, intrigue, and lots of sex. I have never read a Harlequin romance (and never intend to on purpose); however, this novel appears to be a cross between a suspense story and what I imagine a Harlequin romance (or even a chick porn novel) to be. Some of the characters are interesting (albeit rather stereotyped) and the plot is exciting in spots, especially near the end. However, the outcome is predictable and the writing is second rate. I could generously give it a 2 1/2 stars, but not much higher.
April 12, 2010
This is one of her earliest novels, before she wrote thrillers. I consider it a romantic suspense. It has all the drama of a thriller and passion for a romantic suspense novel. Mary Lee Jennings leaves California to meet her friend Lucy in New Eden, Montana. Little did she know, she discovers her friend's dead, and learn the shocking truth of her secrets, putting herself in danger on living on a ranch life, and falling in love with a stubborn cowboy. A great read to enjoy any day of the year.
July 5, 2010
I'm amazed I got as far as I did in this book. It's only because of the respect I have for Tammy Hoag's writings that got me this far.
I simply cannot stomach cheap, sleezy "rommance" novels even disguised as a mystery. Overall, I believe I picked this book up & attempted to read it three different times but it is just not to be.
I simply cannot stomach cheap, sleezy "rommance" novels even disguised as a mystery. Overall, I believe I picked this book up & attempted to read it three different times but it is just not to be.
September 28, 2011
I read this book a while ago. The setting of the plot and characters evokes interest and the tale is woven well. Romantic scenes are interestingly written. Though the book seems bit lengthier than it should be. Some instants feel repetitive. But some metaphorical comparisons used in the language are noteworthy and amusing. Overall a commendable read.
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