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Fear Familiar #4
Shades Of Familiar
Shades Of Familiar by Caroline Burnes released on Apr 22, 1994 is available now for purchase.
248 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published May 1, 1994
91 people want to read
About the author
Caroline Burnes
67 books44 followersAlso writes as Carolyn Haines
Caroline Burnes started her writing career as a photojournalist for Southern newspapers at the age of 12. She came from a "newspapering" family and as a child was teased because of her writing ambitions.
"That girl’s got ink in her blood," the back-shop printers at the George County Times, the weekly newspaper in her hometown, would say as she stood on a bucket and helped lock up the old pages of type set on a linotype machine.
Growing up in the small town of Lucedale, Mississippi, Ms. Burnes found refuge in reading. The magic of the written word, particularly the strange and wonderful worlds of fiction, was rivaled only by her love of horses.
"If I could have had a chance to be a cowgirl, I might never have written a word," Ms. Burnes said. "As it was, a typewriter was a lot easier to come by than a horse, especially since both of my parents were journalists."
Ms. Burnes earned her B.S. degree in journalism from the University of Southern Mississippi and began a career of covering politics, features and hard news across the South. A love of short fiction led her to write short stories, several of which received critical praise and attention. In 1988 Ms. Burnes took a career shift and began writing romantic mysteries for Harlequin Intrigue under the pseudonym Caroline Burnes.
In 1988 A Deadly Breed, a mystery involving horse racing in Mississippi, was published by Harlequin Intrigue, and since then she has published nearly 30 books with Harlequin Intrigue, which have been translated into nine languages.
"So many of my books feature animals," Ms. Burnes said. "Creating fictional animal characters gives me a chance to share my love of animals with my readers."
Ms. Burnes came to writing as a reader. "Since I began to write seriously about 15 years ago, I haven’t been able to read as much as I’d like. I’ve also become a much harder reader. A writer has to really work to pull me into the story and out of my very demanding life. If I had one wish, it would be for more hours in each day, more time to read and write and to ride my horses.
"I’m not a cowgirl by any stretch of the imagination, but I do have three fabulous horses who give me tremendous pleasure. I mostly ride English and do a little backyard jumping, but lately I’ve started team penning. Once again, the problem is that the cows are smarter than I am!
"I just have to be careful when I fall to land on something soft and not my hands," she said. "Brain damage is unlikely, but I need my fingers to be able to write." Ms. Burnes lives on a five-acre farm with her three horses, Miss Scrapiron, Mirage and Cogar; three dogs, Corky, Sweetie Pie and Maybelline; and five cats, Poe, Miss Vesta, Gumbo, Maggie the Cat, and Chester.
Caroline Burnes started her writing career as a photojournalist for Southern newspapers at the age of 12. She came from a "newspapering" family and as a child was teased because of her writing ambitions.
"That girl’s got ink in her blood," the back-shop printers at the George County Times, the weekly newspaper in her hometown, would say as she stood on a bucket and helped lock up the old pages of type set on a linotype machine.
Growing up in the small town of Lucedale, Mississippi, Ms. Burnes found refuge in reading. The magic of the written word, particularly the strange and wonderful worlds of fiction, was rivaled only by her love of horses.
"If I could have had a chance to be a cowgirl, I might never have written a word," Ms. Burnes said. "As it was, a typewriter was a lot easier to come by than a horse, especially since both of my parents were journalists."
Ms. Burnes earned her B.S. degree in journalism from the University of Southern Mississippi and began a career of covering politics, features and hard news across the South. A love of short fiction led her to write short stories, several of which received critical praise and attention. In 1988 Ms. Burnes took a career shift and began writing romantic mysteries for Harlequin Intrigue under the pseudonym Caroline Burnes.
In 1988 A Deadly Breed, a mystery involving horse racing in Mississippi, was published by Harlequin Intrigue, and since then she has published nearly 30 books with Harlequin Intrigue, which have been translated into nine languages.
"So many of my books feature animals," Ms. Burnes said. "Creating fictional animal characters gives me a chance to share my love of animals with my readers."
Ms. Burnes came to writing as a reader. "Since I began to write seriously about 15 years ago, I haven’t been able to read as much as I’d like. I’ve also become a much harder reader. A writer has to really work to pull me into the story and out of my very demanding life. If I had one wish, it would be for more hours in each day, more time to read and write and to ride my horses.
"I’m not a cowgirl by any stretch of the imagination, but I do have three fabulous horses who give me tremendous pleasure. I mostly ride English and do a little backyard jumping, but lately I’ve started team penning. Once again, the problem is that the cows are smarter than I am!
"I just have to be careful when I fall to land on something soft and not my hands," she said. "Brain damage is unlikely, but I need my fingers to be able to write." Ms. Burnes lives on a five-acre farm with her three horses, Miss Scrapiron, Mirage and Cogar; three dogs, Corky, Sweetie Pie and Maybelline; and five cats, Poe, Miss Vesta, Gumbo, Maggie the Cat, and Chester.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
August 3, 2023
This is my kind of Intrigue novel: ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances, with assistance from a cat detective! The Fear Familiar books are very entertaining, not least because Familiar is the only character in Harlequin to use first-person narration, and in the voice of a character from a hard-boiled novel (he refers to his owners as the Dame and Dr. Doolittle). This particular instalment was interesting in that only the heroine's perspective was narrated (and that of Familiar). The story is a familiar one: man goes home to claim castle inheritance, spooky ancestors seem to take him over and send him riding through the night, plucky fiancée will not be frightened off by rude neighbours or the improbable situation. There are a lot of interests at play to keep the reader guessing as to who is behind the events, and the resolution is very satisfying.
August 19, 2025
Questo libro lo danno come il primo della serie e in realtà è il quarto, ma il problema principale non è tanto questo, quanto il fatto di mettere un gatto aiutante nel risolvere il piccolo giallo che aiuta ben poco e non è neppure così simpatico.
Mancandomi il vero primo volume ci ho capito ben poco da dove proviene questo micio e dei suoi pensieri, tranne che la padrona lo molla in qua in là e lui si dà da fare nel risolvere gli enigmi.
La storia non mi ha detto proprio nulla, l'escamotage del paranormale non è niente di nuovo. Per fortuna il libro è breve. Proseguo con quelli che ho,tanto sono tutte avventure autoconclusive.
Mancandomi il vero primo volume ci ho capito ben poco da dove proviene questo micio e dei suoi pensieri, tranne che la padrona lo molla in qua in là e lui si dà da fare nel risolvere gli enigmi.
La storia non mi ha detto proprio nulla, l'escamotage del paranormale non è niente di nuovo. Per fortuna il libro è breve. Proseguo con quelli che ho,tanto sono tutte avventure autoconclusive.
August 22, 2021
Another fabulous entry in the Fear Familiar series. I LOVE Familiar -- Burnes totally gets how cats think...or at least those of us on their staffs think how they think. This entry had some great Gothic overtones to it with a hint of the paranormal.
January 7, 2013
not my favorite Familiar book. I wish Familiar had played a more prominent role- or at least that we got more of his thoughts.
February 21, 2014
We needed more Familiar in this book. It was still a great book but not enough Familiar! Of course, I'll still remain loyal to the black cat detective.
July 21, 2015
Abbastanza insulso, ma comunque de gustibus...
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews