Ties riba

by Anne Stuart, Rūta Burbaitė (Translator)

Po automobilio avarijos Molė Vinters nubunda ištikta amnezijos, o išgirstos naujienos dar labiau išgąsdina – ji kaltinama žmogžudyste. Iš ligoninės Molė grįžta pas Patriką Vintersą – vyrą, su kuriuo, regis, yra susituokusi. Ji nepajėgia prisiminti Patriko, bet negali ir nusikratyti nuojautos, kad mylėjo ir troško šio vyro. Negana to, kažkas kėsinasi Molę nužudyti.

Ką ji darė tą lemtingą naktį, kuri buvo išplėšta iš atminties: mėgino pabėgti nuo savo vyro, o gal skubėjo į jo glėbį?

Šis Anne Stuart romanas apdovanotas prestižiniu Romance Writers of America RITA prizu už geriausią romantinį trilerį.

Genres: Romance, Contemporary, Contemporary Romance, Romantic Suspense, Harlequin, Suspense, Mystery

314 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 1995

About the author

Anne Stuart is a grandmaster of the genre, winner of Romance Writers of America's prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award, survivor of more than thirty-five years in the romance business, and still just keeps getting better.

Her first novel was Barrett's Hill, a gothic romance published by Ballantine in 1974 when Anne had just turned 25. Since then she's written more gothics, regencies, romantic suspense, romantic adventure, series romance, suspense, historical romance, paranormal and mainstream contemporary romance for publishers such as Doubleday, Harlequin, Silhouette, Avon, Zebra, St. Martins Press, Berkley, Dell, Pocket Books and Fawcett.

She’s won numerous awards, appeared on most bestseller lists, and speaks all over the country. Her general outrageousness has gotten her on Entertainment Tonight, as well as in Vogue, People, USA Today, Women’s Day and countless other national newspapers and magazines.

When she’s not traveling, she’s at home in Northern Vermont with her luscious husband of thirty-six years, an empty nest, three cats, four sewing machines, and one Springer Spaniel, and when she’s not working she’s watching movies, listening to rock and roll (preferably Japanese) and spending far too much time quilting.

Anne Stuart also writes as Kristina Douglas.

Reviews

[Alp · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Dina · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've read - and loved - several books by Anne Stuart lately, so I was more than excited to read this one even though amnesia stories aren't that attractive to me. But, hey, Lisa Kleypas made it work in Someone to Watch Over Me so I trusted Ms. Stuart to pull it off too.

Oh boy, I'm afraid to say she didn't - not for me, anyway.

Ms. Stuart can write, there's no question about it, and that's what kept me turning the pages, but there were too many holes in the plot to prevent me from fully enjoying this book.

First off, the amnesia plot device itself... I could have bought it without much of a problem, but the complete change that it brought on Molly's behavior was unbelievable! At one point, Patrick himself said, "amnesia is only supposed to cause memory loss, not total personality change." One could argue that Molly had been acting out of character during the ten months before her accident but, really, a ten-month temper tantrum doesn't qualify as an out-of-character behavior. If you could keep this trait that long, it wasn't acting, it was who you were. And that shouldn't have changed only because you lost your memory, IMHO.

Then, the hero and the heroine... I just didn't get either Molly or Patrick. Both of them were imature and I couldn't believe how they failed to communicate with each other - during ten whole months, no less! And, sin of all sins, it all started with a lie told by his jealous lover. Young, naive and gullible Molly bought it all and, from that moment on, a Big Misunderstanding was established and all lines of communication between Patrick and her were severed. Why they stayed married for so long when they couldn't even stand to stay in the same room, I'll never understand. I truly believed they hated each other and, quite frankly, I couldn't buy their HEA because they didn't spend enough time together patching things up after her accident.

As it was, Patrick turned out to be one of my least favorite heroes ever. He was cruel, cold, distant, refused to listen to Molly and never did anything to help her. Okay, she'd hurt him badly before the accident, but he was no innocent either. He cheated on her and had no qualms parading around the house with his lover by his side! He might have thought he was just getting even with Molly, for he believed she was cheating on him too, but that doesn't fly with me. My heroes don't do that! And what about when he finally realized Molly had lied about all the lovers? Why didn't he try to find out why? Since it all started on their wedding day, why didn't he try to find out what happened that day that made her act like that? I could only guess he didn't love her enough to care.

As for the mystery, I guessed from the beginning who the master villain was and couldn't understand why Molly didn't see it. He was so stereotypical and obvious that Ms. Stuart would have had to pull a hat trick if she decided to convince me it was someone else. The other "villains" came as a surprise but, at that point, I really didn't care anymore. I just wanted the story to end.

I was very disappointed with this book, but I still hold Ms. Stuart as one of my favorite authors. With a backlist as huge as hers, it was a given I wouldn't end up loving all her books, so I'm not concerned. I know there's still a lot of goodies in store. :)

[*CJ* · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Winter's Edge" is the story of Molly and Patrick.

Heroine wakes up after a horrible accident with amnesia, and with possible accusation of theft and murder. She is then told she's married to a man she hates, and left at her home. It is there she meets various characters, one of whom might be trying to kill her.. Mixed with the mystery is a slight romance.

Ms Stuart does thrillers very well and this is no exception. Spooky, but with strong characters, I was able to solve the mystery but still enjoyed it.

Unsafe
3/5

[Jacqueline J · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love a good amnesia story. This one was pretty good. The heroine was pretty good. The hero was not as well developed as I would have liked. It felt very much like a melodramatic old Harlequin Presents. Familiar story of a younger girl who has loved the older hero since she was sixteen. There's the older woman who steers her wrong in order to ruin her chances with the hero etc. Here though we find out her history as she does rather than in explantations or flashbacks. Really good if you like the amnesia theme. Comfort food.

[Heather ~*dread mushrooms*~ · Rating 2 out of 5]

Why do I do these things to myself.

Review

Apparently, if I see an Anne Stuart novel, I have to pick it up.

I don't actively seek out amnesia stories, but I'm curious enough to read them every now and then. This one started off strongly and I thought I was really going to like it, but it started to fall apart around the 40-50% mark.

I did like the heroine, and the romance was actually kind of heartwarming. I must have been in a sappy mood.

2.5 stars.

[Preeti ♥︎ Her Bookshelves · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mystery - 3.75*
Romance - 1* or not even.
Winter in the title may very well be for the romance and Edge, the suspense.

*Spoiler caution*
This begins as a great amnesia story.
In fact, I wasn't sure if it wasn't a case of a doppelgänger or even a switched body/soul plot (having recently read such a book).
The h, as par for the course for amnesia plots, wakes up in hospital with zero memory and lots of unanswered questions - for herself, doctors and the police. She's recovering from an accident that killed a man (who has no apparent connection to her) and few hundred thousand dollars cash on them.
Her husband of a year doesn't come to get her as he hates as do most people that she meets. Because she's been an ungrateful, selfish tramp who's been cheating on her husband. The h/H are cousins few times removed as also foster siblings as his father took her in when she was 16. The old man bequeathed his farm to his son but his money to the h, pressuring them to marry apparently.
The h doesn't remember anything - especially not being the spoilt, spendthrift and troublemaking girl she's painted out to be. And she feels that her ‘old’ clothes or her room don’t really suit her personality.

But there's actually no romance here that I could feel - either in the past or in the present. Only a silly angry obsession on her part and a supercilious and contemptuous tolerance on his. I thought the past would give us some tenderness or courting. But all we get is his convenient lay, the ow maliciously poisoning the silly young bride while he keeps his sullen distance. And here we have a guy who loves playing the martyr.
You know, (pre-amnesiac) 23 is not that young that you don't understand nuances or half-truths. How can she run so wild, so stupid just on hearsay? And the H doesn't even have any such excuse. He marries her God knows why, and then watches from afar letting her self-destruct. While he keeps having sex with his gf right under the wife's nose. He's the least likable character in the book. Few others have the excuse of being batty or loony.
I like how she snarks back at the ow and the H those few times.
But it starts getting old soon as the H's continuing contempt and apathy doesn't make her give up on him. Rather she keeps panting after him.
No, there's no love here. A bit of underage obsession maybe.
His martyr act continues far into the epilogue.

*Bigger spoilers* Moreover, his doubting her over and overt even when there are clear signs and proofs of someone trying to kill her makes him a louse.
Yes, he had reasons to be a d-b to her, before he discovers her miraculous v-card but his behavior post-that-night is as bad as ever. Shouldn't he have revisited all his old accusations and realized things were not adding up. Even a half intelligent person would have tried to get to the truth - especially in face so many 'abnormal' things happening around them.
“Someone just tried to kill me,” she said in a hoarse, raw voice.
“That’s impossible,” he said flatly, doubting blue eyes narrowed against the sudden light.
“You must have had a nightmare.”
In her place, I'd have walked.

The Suspense is still the best part of the book.
The hostility, contempt and menace keep coming off in waves, making the h jumpy but she's too confused and amnesiac to work out what's right in front of her. I like how the confused does her best to piece together things but really failing, or her memory fails her.
The secondary characters are all hateful. They include, apart from the motherly housekeeper and her husband, the two permanent and unpleasant houseguests - Uncle Willy and Aunt Ermy, a sulky but smitten om who's also the H's friend (why I don’t understand), a glamorous and poisonous ow who's also so apparently the H's off-on lover. And these are the people labelled as ‘friends and family’ in the book and who are usually present for dinner.
Yes, they are all suspects and the author throws her red herrings this way and that but I got stressed just imagining living with and meeting such people on a daily basis.

And that cash found in her car? Does the explanation even make sense? Blackmail happens if you have a secret. It’s not even explained what or why.
Also I hoped we'd get some explanation for this --
“He’d gone places, seen things, done things he still hated to think about, and he felt dirty, cruel and worthless.”


Poor Beastie! A truly wasted doggo character. Having a Newfoundland in the house should keep one safe, no? Why's he even in the book? Just because the setting is a farm?

[Jess · Rating 2 out of 5]

One of my least favorite Stuart novels. The hero was a total douche. And I'm judging him in comparison with other Stuart heroes here -- not very appealing at all. The heroine grew on me over time, but a lot of her development was built around slut-shaming, which I'm not really down for. Even the amnesia plot was less wackadoo-fun than I would expect from this author.

[Mara · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Gothic feeling was spot on. The mystery as such wasn't that strong as the hints were clear, still that paranoid thread kept it good. Pity for the lackluster romance and the abrupt ending. It deserved more.
She's spot on her review too
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[thadine · Rating 2 out of 5]

Molly Winters wakes up one day in hospital with total amnesia. She doesn't know who she is, where she is, or why she's there. She is informed that she was in a car accident, and has been waking up with varying degrees of amnesia. A man who had been strangled to death was found in the car with her, along with $350,000. The police don't believe she killed the man, but they do believe that she is involved in his murder. Apparently she has been refusing to tell the police anything, so no one believes her convenient (and late onset) amnesia. To top it all off, she is married to an older man who hates her, and can't be bothered to pick her up from the hospital to take her home.

I really enjoyed this book until the end when everything is resolved. The resolution was sloppy and unsatisfying, leaving many points unanswered.

1. The police are useless. Molly was hit on the back of her head and had a concussion. Surely it would have occurred to someone that she may have been knocked out prior to being placed in the car.

2. I expect it is highly unusual for the driver to be hit on the back of the head in a car crash.
Throughout the book, people keep commenting on how improbable Molly's amnesia is. "That only happens in romance novels, not real life," seems to be a common response. It's as if the author thinks that if you acknowledge how trite and clichéd the whole amnesia plot device is, no one will notice. I believe it's called "hanging a lantern on it".

3. Molly has no friends. She has lived in there for 7 years, and has absolutely no friends. Patrick (her husband) tells her nobody likes her because of the way she treats him (the implication being that every body likes him). I find this hard to believe when we discover that she's lived there since she was 16. So she had no friends in school? Romance novels do tend to isolate the heroine, and I suppose this books already has a lot of characters without the added complication of giving Molly friends, but it's fairly unbelievable.

4. Lisa Canning is the Evil Other Woman, yet another romance genre cliché. The woman who pretends to be the heroine's friend whilst secretly plotting to steal her man. She invariably does this by giving the heroine bad dress advice. The question of course, is why does Molly follow her advice? We find out that Lisa taunted Molly about her affair with Patrick on their wedding day, thus setting in motion the ruin of their marriage before it even started. It's obvious that Lisa is no friend, so why does Molly take her advice on fashion and home redecorating? Maybe those things were done prior to her wedding day, but it doesn't really sound like they were. Molly and Patrick got married soon after she came into her money, so there wouldn't have been time for her to redecorate her room and purchase a new wardrobe prior to marriage.

5. Patrick admits that he has indeed "given in to temptation" with Lisa Canning several times. Yet he obviously has no problem with keeping her around and making Molly eat and shop with her. He has no problem with the fact that everyone assumes he is going to marry her as soon as he is divorced from Molly. Does he do this just to get back at Molly for her supposed infidelities? We will never know, because it's never addressed.

6. Finally, we come to the crux of the matter. The wedding night. Why does Patrick not go to Molly? She never asks, and we never find out. This whole issue is just never resolved at all, and really is the cause of their marital problems. His continued rejection made Molly pretend to have a slew of lovers (when in true romance genre fashion she was a virgin - yet another cliché!). Well, what did he think was going to happen when he never even kissed her, but kept his sometime lover hanging around?

Oh, and I haven't even brought up the whole mystery whodunnit part. The less said about that the better.

As I said earlier, I did start out enjoying this book. It certainly had potential, and I generally like Anne Stuart's writing. The loose ends just ruined it for me, and the fact the Patrick is just not much of a hero.

[Romanticamente Fantasy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mari Riss - per RFS
.
“L’inverno era finalmente terminato.”

Ciao a tutti, amanti della lettura!
Anne Stuart è un’autrice che ha abituato il suo pubblico a opere di alto livello; il suo talento spazia tra i generi e ogni suo romanzo è una perla rara. Per questo motivo Senza Memoria mi ha lasciato l’amaro in bocca.
La vicenda si svolge negli Stati Uniti ai giorni nostri. Una donna si sveglia in ospedale, priva di memoria, ma nessuno le crede. Parlando con l’infermiera, scopre di essere sposata con Patrick, un uomo che odia, ricambiata, e che è stata ricoverata a seguito di un incidente stradale nel quale è rimasto ucciso un uomo. La donna, scopriremo che il suo nome è Molly, non serba alcun ricordo di tutto ciò, né della sua vita passata, ma è costretta a tornare nella “sua” casa in attesa dello svolgimento delle indagini.
Una volta arrivata a destinazione, potrà saggiare direttamente il disprezzo che il marito prova per lei e incontrerà le altre persone che abitano nella casa: la signora Morse, la governante e suo zio Willy.
Molly vuole a tutti i costi recuperare la memoria, ma nel frattempo, inizia a restare vittima di strani malesseri e di oscuri incidenti. L’unica persona di cui paradossalmente sembra potersi fidare è proprio il marito; quest’ultimo la aiuterà o il suo odio è la goccia che farà traboccare il vaso?
Lo scopriremo solo leggendo.
Ho trovato questa novella troppo breve e poco coinvolgente; lo svolgimento degli eventi è rocambolesco, la psiche dei protagonisti meno approfondita di quanto a me piaccia e il pathos che ci si aspetterebbe da un giallo, quasi inesistente.
Il tema della giovane ereditiera circondata da parenti serpenti e sposata a un uomo che all’apparenza l’ha fatto solo per i suoi soldi è di per sé un cliché, sul quale però si sarebbe potuto costruire un avvincente psicodramma.
Anne Stuart ha scritto sicuramente di meglio.
Un thriller senza impegno da leggere comodi sul divano, avvolti da un plaid

[SmittenKitten · Rating 5 out of 5]

Molly left her home five weeks ago and was found in a car crash with an unidentified dead man. She wakes up in a hospital with amnesia, so her husband, Patrick, brings her to the home she left. Patrick believes Molly is lying about the amnesia and he is angry about their farce of a marriage. His treatment towards her is quite harsh. Molly tries to uncover why her husband hates her, what happened five weeks ago that made her leave, and who is still trying to kill her.

I was reluctant to read this book due to the cheesy amnesia plot and the god awful cover. But, I loved the story and learned a valuable lesson… never doubt Anne Stuart!! Yes, it was melodramatic and unbelievable. But, I don’t care! Sometimes you just have to enjoy a book for what it is and not try and dissect it. The only part that really irked me was how nonchalantly both hero and heroine took the evidence that someone was trying to kill her. Otherwise, this was a great, suspenseful read.

[Killian · Rating 4 out of 5]

I quite liked this story. The villan was obvious but the other mystery details weren't so it was a fun read. Definitely stayed up way to late a few nights to read it so I count that as a win.

[Veronica · Rating 2 out of 5]

Poche idee e molto confuse. Non è solo la protagonista che ha dei buchi nella memoria, anche la trama ha delle voragini pazzesche. Molly è una persona antipatica e fastidiosa, Patrick è inquietante, passa dalla dolcezza al gelo più assoluto in tre secondi. I personaggi sono quattro in croce quindi non era così difficile capire chi fosse il cattivo di turno. Ma si fa una fatica a seguire il filo logico, forse l’autrice aveva un limite di pagine da rispettare perché spiegazioni su come si sia arrivati lì e poi si corre verso la fine, dove ho trovato una delle dichiarazioni più patetiche mai viste. Da dimenticare in fretta.

[ᗰ.ᑕ. ❄️ O͎L͎D͎E͎R͎ ͎&͎ ͎W͎I͎S͎E͎R͎ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read twice many years ago, during my "Anne Stuart" phase. During this long phase, I read most of her books.

Winter's Edge, is one of the few that I've been able to reread in recent years. It's no longer a favorite, though.

3 good reads = ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

August 2023 - Reread & Review Written

A Harlequin book that is very Harlequin-esque. Written dramatically, with an unbelievable story that's a little OTT, but still entertaining nonetheless.

Molly (23), suffers from amnesia after a car accident. The unknown man she was traveling with is dead. There's a lot of cash in the trunk. What happened? No one knows but the killer and Molly (once she remembers).

So the story begins with Molly recovering from the accident, going back to a home filled with hostility and secrets. Apparently, Molly out of hurt & anger, lied a lot and made foolish decisions. She's been infatuated/in love with Patrick since she was 16, when his father adopted her.

Patrick (33), her husband of 10 months, is full of anger and accusations. He doesn't trust Molly at all. While I could understand his anger, he was partly to blame. If he as a mature adult, would have taken the time to talk to Molly and work things out with her, then there would have been a lot less drama. But then it would have been boring.

As amnesia stories often go, Molly becomes a better person as a result of her memory loss. Even though it is highly improbable, it was one of the reasons why I originally liked the book. Seeing Molly make better decisions and improve as a person. She's a likable h for the most part.

😆 It was funny b/c it's true, when Patrick said: "Your so-called amnesia is only supposed to cause memory loss, not total personality change."

Patrick's dad died, and left him the farm. Molly got the money needed to operate it. Patrick's dad wanted the two of them to get married. Patrick resisted at first, b/c he never got along with his autocratic father. But secretly, Patrick did want Molly, which is why he married her. Even though Patrick pushed her away much of the time, it was obvious that he cared about her. He's a classic A.S. hero: brooding, bad-tempered, and slow to show his feelings.

Lisa (a friend/possible lover), added to the drama. Seems that Patrick had a relationship with her, and may still be involved with her. The housekeeper tells Molly, about the rumors of their impending marriage. Patrick did turn to Lisa a few times, when Molly was running wild for a few months. However, he doesn't love her and isn't with her after Molly returns home.

While Molly is trying to figure out her life, she realizes that someone is trying to kill her.
🕳️ In the burned-out barn, she's pushed into a hole.
🐎 Her horse is spooked and she's thrown.
🍷 Her juice is spiked with arsenic. She's sick several mornings afterwards, throwing up. At first, she thinks she may be pregnant. A visit to the doctor leads to the truth.
🙌 She's choked by an unknown assailant during the night.

When the first clue was given, I had some of it figured out. (Probably because I read this before, but it won't stump anyone who reads mysteries.)

It's all about the money.
Several minor characters were part of the nefarious plan: Molly's dad (the unknown man found dead in her car), Aunt Ermy, and Toby (he's infatuated with Molly & later killed). There's only one mastermind though: Willy (another stray picked up by Patrick's dad). He planned to kill Molly and then later Patrick, to get his hands on the property and the money. Willy is arrested at the end, after he gives his long villain speech. It gave Molly enough time to thwart him, and enough time for help to arrive. Like all of A.S.'s villains, he's quite inept.

Alls well that ends well: The MCs are finally together, in love, with no one left around to interfere in their HEA.

Biggest Complaint:
Patrick wasn't satisfactory enough of a hero for me. (Not alpha enough). He often ran off, leaving Molly behind (sometimes alone). He didn't believe her about someone trying to kill her. Even in the epilogue, he's still attempting to push Molly away. While they're in bed together, he says that he took advantage of her. That it's not fair to her. That she'll find someone better. That he won't hold her there. Ugh, enough already! 😬☹️ Molly has to talk to him, and convince him that she's never leaving. Until the very end, she's unsure of his love and acceptance. Until a final display of affection and I-love-yous are exchanged.
Last sentence: And winter was over at last.

[CiCi · Rating 2 out of 5]

The synopsis has a great potential to be a better novel. Sadly, too many plot holes were invested in these story and it didn't carry the Stuart's trademark of GAMMA heroes with their SPITFIRE heroines. I was presented with both spoiled brat characters with cold and detached demeanor.

The hero, Patrick Winters was a cold, womanizer, bastard husband while Molly was the supposed to be the stupid, slut bitch of the family with an unexplainable amnesia turning her into a different person, a sudden case of OOC.

Both characters were not likable (except for Molly's change of heart after the accident) and they didn't ooze any love aura between them. Sometimes, I felt the young love of Molly for Patrick due to her amnesiac behavior but Patrick turned it down like a cold turkey. Molly became the boy who cried wolf and Patrick's heart became as hard as the stone on the land of Winter's Edge.

Let's not forget the secondary characters which became the most important part of this story. They've filled the gaps in between the amnesiac thoughts of the heroine and supplying the reader with some of their cunning treacherous minds. The hints to which was the true criminal was easily spotted like a zebra among the tigers. In the end, you'll get irritated on Winter's family because they're one hell-lot of insane creatures.

A bad case of trusts to unworthy people lead their love story into a tragic one.

[Twiggy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mystery romance with amnesia, horses and a gloomy hero all thrown in.

Molly wakes up in hospital with total amnesia to find herself under suspicion by the police as she was found with a dead body and a load of cash. She is told by a nurse that her husband is gorgeous but kind of hates her.

Of course none of this bothers Molly and she flings herself into the hostile home environment with no anxiety what so ever.

There are various stereotypical family hangers on and associates out to cause trouble; including the stylish neighbour who's after Molly's husband, the drunken uncle, the mean spirited aunt, the mysterious young farm hand and the warm hearted housekeeper. Some one in the mix is out to kill her - oh who can it be?

As for Molly herself, well unfortunately it turns out that she hasn't been very likeable for the last year and has been running around with other men...but are appearances quite what they seem?

Patrick the so called hero is a real non event who is a bit player in the book and only turns up to glower and act scornfully towards the so called heroine.

Overall none of the characters were particularly likeable ; the villain was red flagged from the start and by the end it was just pretty hard to care.

Not a keeper.

[TINNGG · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think calling this a romance is a stretch, Harlequin stamp notwithstanding.

The heroine has amnesia. And she's not liking what she sees, either in herself, or in others. Even better, someone is out to get her, and her husband doesn't believe her.

The hero's reason for marrying the heroine seems to be a business arrangement gone awry. Basically, his dad left him the property, and her the money.

Problems arose when a married chick he'd been screwing around with (makes face) and his/the heroine's distant aunt plant all sorts of seeds of doubt in the heroine's mind while she's getting ready for the wedding. And then problems start. The heroine runs in fear for her life.

She awakens in a hospital with no memory of what happened, but she was found in a car with a dead man, and a lot of cash. The dead man, as it turns out, was her father, and he was strangled.

Eventually the culprit outs himself, the H/h get together, the end.

[Myfanwy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m generally not a fan of amnesiac romance, since the trope relies on the hero or heroine being completely in the power of their love interest and most romance authors usually ignore or downplay the bad power dynamics this creates.
While Winter’s Edge hasn’t completely reversed my position on amnesia, I do think Anne Stuart is an author perhaps uniquely suited to dealing with the bad power dynamics of the trope, since bad power dynamics and a kind of neo-gothic psychological pressure on the heroine are kind of an inherent parts of her books, so she can acknowledge the issues in a way a lot of authors can’t.
That being said, Winter’s Edge feels very much like a first draft; the pacing is super weird, lots of places lack detail, and the ending feels pretty haphazard. If this were a uni paper the professor would have written ‘interesting. Tell me more’ at least two dozen places in the margins.

[🥬 ab · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 STARS

I was very entertained even if the mystery was not up to par. Anne Stuart’s prose takes you on a ride and you don’t ever want to get off. There is just enough suspense and tension to keep you on your toes.

Molly wakes up in a hospital with amnesia after a deadly car accident. She finds herself married to a man (Patrick) who seems to hate her. Her reputation seems to be in tatters as everyone assumes she’s been with other men. Her aunt and uncle detest her, while other sketchy characters follow her every move. She slowly discovers more about herself as she stays in the house with Patrick.

I like Stuart’s writing enough to stay with this. There’s some weird character moments that are not resolved and simply remain…weird. But I still liked it for Molly’s character, the dialogue, the Gothic-esque atmosphere… the barely-there romance was basically teased throughout which I didn’t mind.

[**Sognatrice di libri** · Rating 4 out of 5]

Una lettura davvero avvincente e scorrevole mi ha totalmente catturata sin dalle prime pagine e mi ha tenuta incollata ad essa fino alla fine.
La storia è piena di colpi di scena davvero accattivanti e le vicende di Molly e Patrick davvero interessanti che mi sono piaciuti davvero molto.

[Phylisha Stone · Rating 2 out of 5]

A kind of gothic feeling romance. A young woman who has amnesia from a head injury, is being stalked and threatened.

[Knyga be viršelio · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pabaiga galėjo ir įspūdingesnė būti. 90% knygos su įtampa, ir likę 10% knygos - staigi, gan nuspėjama pabaiga.

[Eglė · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lengvas, bet tuo pačiu ir įtemptas romanas/ detektyvas

[María · Rating 2 out of 5]

Too Many things are absurd. The protagonist’s refusal to take his bride as a real wife, the biggest. The mystery is entertaining but expected.

[Cherrie Apple · Rating 5 out of 5]

one of my favorite books i read years ago as a teen. I loved it and have been looking for it everywhere but it doesn't show up on my kindle for me to buy so I'm sad about that. 10/10 would recommend.

[Bri · Rating 1 out of 5]

I wish this was a story that wasn't written with a HEA.

The hero sucked as a love interest.

[ANGELIA · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was pretty good, though the h seemed to be in one of those "can't win for losing" situations, with everyone (including the H, her estranged husband) doubting her amnesia, and accusing her of being a 304, the H, despite the chemistry between them, acting like he can't stand the sight of her, the OM insisting they'd been involved before and pressuring her to pick up where they left off, the OW refusing to let go and making it clear she'd be taking the h's place, a suspiciously hostile aunt and uncle, and (sour icing on the bitter cake) several attempts on her life! I'd say that's a bit too much on one plate!

I guessed the whodunit part, but I admit I was blindsided by the identity of the mystery dead man, I never guessed that one!

Read this one more for the mystery/intrigue than the romance, because the H and h spend too much time at cross purposes for it to be much of a love story.

[Sönïa Dhillion · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a good read it delivered what it promised. This is suppose to be a romance with a heroine with amnesia and a hero that doesn't believe her which was what happened in the book. I enjoyed the fact that M.S Stuart kept true to the amnesia bit. What I mean by that is sometimes with amnesia related themes authors forget the whole process and extent of confusion or fear, the rollercoaster feelings but this was not the case with winter's edge so that was good.

Whoever I personally hated the fact that the characters lacked passion aspect in the story. At the start I somehow loved the undercurrent of longing and fear in the atmosphere. Which lead me to believe that their would be a big explosion of feelings emotionally and physically meaning affection wise but nope nothing. That was a let down I could forget the fact that the mystery of killer felt more like a historic - time game of clue due to the time of the book publication. Or even the whole mistakes made by the characters were due to their adolescence age or someone's stubbornness which was not fully explained in the entire story.

Why did it happen?. Was a million dollar question in this book. The heroine reasons where explained and the hero's reactions to the heroine actions where explained but why did the hero had so much hesitation before not so much explained at all. There was alot of empathise on that very fact that the hero had hesitated from the very start about his feeling towards the heroine . But why part not explained it felt their was a strong reason behind it but we never found out what?.

And I don't understand why the feelings, emotions aspects was ignored in this book. I mean those aspects never have anything to do with when a book was written even if it is past or now. If you find a great author who has a way of writing, Making their characters like real human beings with emotions instead of the clone form emotionless bullshit we get. Is that too much to ask?. I find it strange that authors try to write a story which is fictionalise but still everyday life kind of way but forget emotions?. For example the characters will do routine things such as brushing their teeth or washing the dishes. Yet some authors still forget you cannot be vague in regards to feelings . Yes some folk in real life are cold or vague at some extent but they still have feelings?.

Don't mistake me of wanting and ranting because I want a happily ever after no I understand vagueness in a epilogue or just the end in some cases but not in the freaking whole book in regards to characters. That irritates me a lot especially if the plot is promising. That's like watching a movie with a marvellous, award -winning plot but the actors acting skills are incredibly crap that the film turns out to be a flop.


My Molly and Patrick Winters would be seen as:

Christian Bale

and

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/....

[Natasha · Rating 1 out of 5]

Dissapointment. This is the first anne stuart book i actually cannnot read any more of. Did not finish at chapter eight. I felt absolutely nothing for the charachters, the plot was more than slow and it reminded nothing of the anne stuart i have come to love through the years. I love a good amnesia ridden hero/heroine but this was not it for me.Off to another one!

[Anne Holly · Rating 1 out of 5]

I didn't care for this, at all. The new cover doesn't do much to hide its old category feel, and the attitudes within certainly betray a gone-and-not-missed phase of romance in which brutish behaviour from the "hero" and weak submission from the heroine is mistaken for romance. The plot reads like a bad movie of the week, and I didn't care for any character in this book. (Really, only the housekeeper is in any way even pleasant; the reformed heroine is determinedly perfect, but in some very annoying ways.) The "mystery" didn't save it, for me, either. Will release this one back into the thrift store wilderness from whence it came.