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The Lawman Who Loved Her
The Lawman Who Loved Her by Mallory Kane released on May 25, 2001 is available now for purchase.
256 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2001
3 people are currently reading
52 people want to read
About the author
Mallory Kane
157 books138 followersBestselling romance author Mallory Kane has published over 40 romantic suspense titles between Harlequin Intrigue and Tule Publishing Group, and she has multiple independent projects spanning genres. Mallory loves romantic suspense with dangerous heroes and dauntless heroines, and she enjoys tossing in a bit of her medical knowledge for an extra dose of intrigue.
Mallory taught herself to read at age three, starting a lifelong love affair with books. Her mother, a librarian, loved and respected books and taught Mallory that they were a precious resource. Her father was a brilliant storyteller. His oral histories are chronicled in such places as the Veterans' History Project at the Library of Congress. He was always her biggest fan.
When she's not writing, Mallory enjoys designing one-of-a-kind jewelry using broken vintage pieces and creating collaged greeting cards. She lives in East Tennessee with her husband, Michael, and their cats. Mallory loves hearing from her readers. Connect with her at www.mallorykane.com, @mallorykane on Twitter, and AuthorMalloryKane on Facebook.
Mallory taught herself to read at age three, starting a lifelong love affair with books. Her mother, a librarian, loved and respected books and taught Mallory that they were a precious resource. Her father was a brilliant storyteller. His oral histories are chronicled in such places as the Veterans' History Project at the Library of Congress. He was always her biggest fan.
When she's not writing, Mallory enjoys designing one-of-a-kind jewelry using broken vintage pieces and creating collaged greeting cards. She lives in East Tennessee with her husband, Michael, and their cats. Mallory loves hearing from her readers. Connect with her at www.mallorykane.com, @mallorykane on Twitter, and AuthorMalloryKane on Facebook.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
April 17, 2018
July 2, 2001
Mallory Kane makes her Intrigue debut with "The Lawman Who Loved Her." This is a deeply flawed tale that has some decent ideas but doesn't use them to their full potential. Three years ago a vengeful criminal shot Detective Cody Maxwell. Now he's out on parole and terrorizing Cody and his ex-wife Dana. Dana left Cody because his job was too dangerous. He's the only man who can keep her safe, but is his protection worth the risk to her heart?
Although it gets off to a good start, "The Lawman Who Loved Her" has a number of serious problems in both the story and the execution. The premise doesn't stand up to logic. The idea that a criminal who deliberately shot a police officer could get parole after only three years is completely unrealistic. (It could be this bothered me so much because I just saw the recent episode of "Frasier" where the man who shot Frasier's policeman father was denied parole eight years after that shooting, and he was nowhere near the nutcase Fontenot is. It's true: people who shoot cops just don't get off that easy.) Although we see quite a bit of Fontenot, he's too sketchily defined to be truly menacing. Kane tells us only one thing about the crime Cody was pursuing Fontenot for, providing no details for far too long. (Then again, considering what is ultimately revealed about what he is accused of doing, that might not be a bad thing. When Kane did reveal it, I had to put the book down for a few minutes until my eyes stopped rolling. Were we supposed to take this seriously? It's purely silly.) Most of Fontenot's threats on Cody and Dana seem more like childish pranks than anything frightening, making him hard to take seriously as a villain.
Romantic suspense is a difficult genre because the author needs to keep both the romance and suspense high throughout the story. I've been noticing more and more new Intrigue authors who have trouble with this, and Kane is another one. Like "Hers to Remember" and "Alias: Mommy" last year, this is a book where the author fails to balance both elements well. There is long stretch of more than a hundred pages in the middle of the story where nothing suspenseful happens. It's all romance. The characters fight and cry and kiss, and fight and cry and kiss, etc.. I couldn't help thinking how nice it was that the killer was giving them all this time to work out their relationship without interrupting them. A good sense of danger and action is vital to a story like this, where there's no mystery and we know who the bad guy is from the start. Too often the characters seem to forget they're in danger, which makes it easy for the reader to do so too. The killer seems to be taking his time for no reason, other than that the writer wants to focus on the love story now. Most of this story is about 90 percent romance, 10 percent suspense. Then there's an explosion of action, and the balance tips to 75 percent suspense, 25 percent romance. That's not too good.
The characters were also weak. Dana is a difficult "heroine" to like. She's either crying or complaining, and the ultimate revelation about her past is all too predictable. Cody was bland but inoffensive, until he does something late in the plot that makes him look like completely incompetent. If he's that dumb, he's not someone I would want protecting me.
Two years ago, Jean Barrett wrote an Intrigue called "My Lover's Secret" with many of the same plot elements as this book. It was the story of a woman being targeted for revenge by a recently released killer who murdered his wife. The only man the heroine can turn to is an old love with a background in law enforcement. Together, they must work through all the old hurts that kept them apart. I would recommend that book over this one. The characters are more courageous, and the villain truly is ingenious and very frightening. It's a pageturner, full of danger and passion, with none of the story problems this book has. Kane shows some talent as a writer in "The Lawman Who Loved Her." A stronger story would make better use of it.
Mallory Kane makes her Intrigue debut with "The Lawman Who Loved Her." This is a deeply flawed tale that has some decent ideas but doesn't use them to their full potential. Three years ago a vengeful criminal shot Detective Cody Maxwell. Now he's out on parole and terrorizing Cody and his ex-wife Dana. Dana left Cody because his job was too dangerous. He's the only man who can keep her safe, but is his protection worth the risk to her heart?
Although it gets off to a good start, "The Lawman Who Loved Her" has a number of serious problems in both the story and the execution. The premise doesn't stand up to logic. The idea that a criminal who deliberately shot a police officer could get parole after only three years is completely unrealistic. (It could be this bothered me so much because I just saw the recent episode of "Frasier" where the man who shot Frasier's policeman father was denied parole eight years after that shooting, and he was nowhere near the nutcase Fontenot is. It's true: people who shoot cops just don't get off that easy.) Although we see quite a bit of Fontenot, he's too sketchily defined to be truly menacing. Kane tells us only one thing about the crime Cody was pursuing Fontenot for, providing no details for far too long. (Then again, considering what is ultimately revealed about what he is accused of doing, that might not be a bad thing. When Kane did reveal it, I had to put the book down for a few minutes until my eyes stopped rolling. Were we supposed to take this seriously? It's purely silly.) Most of Fontenot's threats on Cody and Dana seem more like childish pranks than anything frightening, making him hard to take seriously as a villain.
Romantic suspense is a difficult genre because the author needs to keep both the romance and suspense high throughout the story. I've been noticing more and more new Intrigue authors who have trouble with this, and Kane is another one. Like "Hers to Remember" and "Alias: Mommy" last year, this is a book where the author fails to balance both elements well. There is long stretch of more than a hundred pages in the middle of the story where nothing suspenseful happens. It's all romance. The characters fight and cry and kiss, and fight and cry and kiss, etc.. I couldn't help thinking how nice it was that the killer was giving them all this time to work out their relationship without interrupting them. A good sense of danger and action is vital to a story like this, where there's no mystery and we know who the bad guy is from the start. Too often the characters seem to forget they're in danger, which makes it easy for the reader to do so too. The killer seems to be taking his time for no reason, other than that the writer wants to focus on the love story now. Most of this story is about 90 percent romance, 10 percent suspense. Then there's an explosion of action, and the balance tips to 75 percent suspense, 25 percent romance. That's not too good.
The characters were also weak. Dana is a difficult "heroine" to like. She's either crying or complaining, and the ultimate revelation about her past is all too predictable. Cody was bland but inoffensive, until he does something late in the plot that makes him look like completely incompetent. If he's that dumb, he's not someone I would want protecting me.
Two years ago, Jean Barrett wrote an Intrigue called "My Lover's Secret" with many of the same plot elements as this book. It was the story of a woman being targeted for revenge by a recently released killer who murdered his wife. The only man the heroine can turn to is an old love with a background in law enforcement. Together, they must work through all the old hurts that kept them apart. I would recommend that book over this one. The characters are more courageous, and the villain truly is ingenious and very frightening. It's a pageturner, full of danger and passion, with none of the story problems this book has. Kane shows some talent as a writer in "The Lawman Who Loved Her." A stronger story would make better use of it.
December 26, 2025
oh my the things I notice rereading a book i read in my teens. so simple and repetitive. not very spicy or smutty but it is harlequin
January 9, 2016
I almost stopped reading this book, when I found out Dana the Heroine divorced her husband because of the danger he faced as a policeman. I'm glad I kept reading. It turned out to be a really good book. At the beginning of the book you could tell Dana, and Cody still loved one another. Cody's favorite coffee cup was the one Dana made it. It wobbled, but he didn't care, He loved it. She slept in one of his t-shirts. It was little gestures like that the reader could feel the love between the two.
Cody got shot on the job. Before he got out of the hospital, Dana had filed for divorce. She could no longer handle the danger of his job. That was the point I almost put the book down. Cody had put Fontenot behind bars for killing his wife. Fontenot got out early for good behavior. He was back for revenge. He was a sick man, that enjoyed playing with his victims, before he killed them.
The suspense of this book was really good. As a reader, I didn't know what to expect next. The action was steady throughout the story. You could feel the strong emotions both from Cody, and from Jana. In a strange twist it was Fontenot that gave Cody, and Jana a second chance at love. The two ran away together to a safe house, and in the end had to become a team to stay alive.
Great book!
Cody got shot on the job. Before he got out of the hospital, Dana had filed for divorce. She could no longer handle the danger of his job. That was the point I almost put the book down. Cody had put Fontenot behind bars for killing his wife. Fontenot got out early for good behavior. He was back for revenge. He was a sick man, that enjoyed playing with his victims, before he killed them.
The suspense of this book was really good. As a reader, I didn't know what to expect next. The action was steady throughout the story. You could feel the strong emotions both from Cody, and from Jana. In a strange twist it was Fontenot that gave Cody, and Jana a second chance at love. The two ran away together to a safe house, and in the end had to become a team to stay alive.
Great book!
March 17, 2014
Very good book
May 1, 2008
kind of love it because i didn't finish reading
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews