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Long, Tall Texans #47
Defender
The man who shattered her trust is back to protect her… New York Times bestselling author Diana Palmer delivers a breathtaking story of second-chance love.
When Paul Fiore disappeared from Isabel Grayling's life, he told himself it was for all the right reasons. She was young and innocent, and he was her millionaire father's lowly employee. Three years on, Paul is the FBI agent assigned to Isabel's case. Too late, he realizes what life in her Texas mansion was really like back then—and how much damage he did when he left.
Once love-struck and sheltered, Isabel has become an assistant district attorney committed to serving the law, no matter how risky it gets. But right now, the man she can't forgive is the one thing standing between her and a deadly stalker. She knows Paul won't hesitate to protect her life with his own. But if she can't trust herself to resist him, how can she trust him not to break her heart all over again?
When Paul Fiore disappeared from Isabel Grayling's life, he told himself it was for all the right reasons. She was young and innocent, and he was her millionaire father's lowly employee. Three years on, Paul is the FBI agent assigned to Isabel's case. Too late, he realizes what life in her Texas mansion was really like back then—and how much damage he did when he left.
Once love-struck and sheltered, Isabel has become an assistant district attorney committed to serving the law, no matter how risky it gets. But right now, the man she can't forgive is the one thing standing between her and a deadly stalker. She knows Paul won't hesitate to protect her life with his own. But if she can't trust herself to resist him, how can she trust him not to break her heart all over again?
304 pages, Hardcover
First published May 23, 2017
540 people are currently reading
1511 people want to read
About the author
Diana Palmer
1,038 books3,098 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.
Diana Palmer is a pseudonym for author Susan Kyle.
(1)romance author
Susan Eloise Spaeth was born on 11 December 1946 in Cuthbert, Georgia, USA. She was the eldest daughter of Maggie Eloise Cliatt, a nurse and also journalist, and William Olin Spaeth, a college professor. Her mother was part of the women's liberation movement many years before it became fashionable. Her best friends are her mother and her sister, Dannis Spaeth (Cole), who now has two daughters, Amanda Belle Hofstetter and Maggie and lives in Utah. Susan grew up reading Zane Grey and fell in love with cowboys. Susan is a former newspaper reporter, with sixteen years experience on both daily and weekly newspapers. Since 1972, she has been married to James Kyle and have since settled down in Cornelia, Georgia, where she started to write romance novels. Susan and her husband have one son, Blayne Edward, born in 1980.
She began selling romances in 1979 as Diana Palmer. She also used the pseudonyms Diana Blayne and Katy Currie, and her married name: Susan Kyle. Now, she has over 40 million copies of her books in print, which have been translated and published around the world. She is listed in numerous publications, including Contemporary Authors by Gale Research, Inc., Twentieth Century Romance and Historical Writers by St. James Press, The Writers Directory by St. James Press, the International Who's Who of Authors and Writers by Meirose Press, Ltd., and Love's Leading Ladies by Kathryn Falk. Her awards include seven Waldenbooks national sales awards, four B. Dalton national sales awards, two Bookrak national sales awards, a Lifetime Achievement Award for series storytelling from Romantic Times, several Affaire de Coeur awards, and two regional RWA awards.
Inspired by her husband, who quit a blue-collar manufacturing job to return to school and get his diploma in computer programming, Susan herself went back to college as a day student at the age of 45. In 1995, she graduated summa cum laude from Piedmont College, Demorest, GA, with a major in history and a double minor in archaeology and Spanish. She was named to two honor societies (the Torch Club and Alpha Chi), and was named to the National Dean's List. In addition to her writing projects, she is currently working on her master's degree in history at California State University. She hopes to specialize in Native American studies. She is a member of the Native American Rights Fund, the American Museum of Natural History, the National Cattlemen's Association, the Archaeological Institute of Amenca, the Planetary Society, The Georgia Conservancy, the Georgia Sheriff's Association, and numerous conservation and charitable organizations. Her hobbies include gardening, archaeology, anthropology, iguanas, astronomy and music.
In 1998, her husband retired from his own computer business and now pursues skeet shooting medals in local, state, national and international competition. They love riding around and looking at the countryside, watching sci-fi on TV and at the movies, just talking and eating out.
Diana Palmer is a pseudonym for author Susan Kyle.
(1)romance author
Susan Eloise Spaeth was born on 11 December 1946 in Cuthbert, Georgia, USA. She was the eldest daughter of Maggie Eloise Cliatt, a nurse and also journalist, and William Olin Spaeth, a college professor. Her mother was part of the women's liberation movement many years before it became fashionable. Her best friends are her mother and her sister, Dannis Spaeth (Cole), who now has two daughters, Amanda Belle Hofstetter and Maggie and lives in Utah. Susan grew up reading Zane Grey and fell in love with cowboys. Susan is a former newspaper reporter, with sixteen years experience on both daily and weekly newspapers. Since 1972, she has been married to James Kyle and have since settled down in Cornelia, Georgia, where she started to write romance novels. Susan and her husband have one son, Blayne Edward, born in 1980.
She began selling romances in 1979 as Diana Palmer. She also used the pseudonyms Diana Blayne and Katy Currie, and her married name: Susan Kyle. Now, she has over 40 million copies of her books in print, which have been translated and published around the world. She is listed in numerous publications, including Contemporary Authors by Gale Research, Inc., Twentieth Century Romance and Historical Writers by St. James Press, The Writers Directory by St. James Press, the International Who's Who of Authors and Writers by Meirose Press, Ltd., and Love's Leading Ladies by Kathryn Falk. Her awards include seven Waldenbooks national sales awards, four B. Dalton national sales awards, two Bookrak national sales awards, a Lifetime Achievement Award for series storytelling from Romantic Times, several Affaire de Coeur awards, and two regional RWA awards.
Inspired by her husband, who quit a blue-collar manufacturing job to return to school and get his diploma in computer programming, Susan herself went back to college as a day student at the age of 45. In 1995, she graduated summa cum laude from Piedmont College, Demorest, GA, with a major in history and a double minor in archaeology and Spanish. She was named to two honor societies (the Torch Club and Alpha Chi), and was named to the National Dean's List. In addition to her writing projects, she is currently working on her master's degree in history at California State University. She hopes to specialize in Native American studies. She is a member of the Native American Rights Fund, the American Museum of Natural History, the National Cattlemen's Association, the Archaeological Institute of Amenca, the Planetary Society, The Georgia Conservancy, the Georgia Sheriff's Association, and numerous conservation and charitable organizations. Her hobbies include gardening, archaeology, anthropology, iguanas, astronomy and music.
In 1998, her husband retired from his own computer business and now pursues skeet shooting medals in local, state, national and international competition. They love riding around and looking at the countryside, watching sci-fi on TV and at the movies, just talking and eating out.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 164 reviews
May 15, 2017
WHAT THE F*CK WAS THAT CRAP!
Seriously, the hero is such a fail as a special agent CIA operative that he LIVED in a house with them and he couldn't tell she was being abused.
There were marks and bruises, how could he even call himself an agent?
HOW F*CKING STUPID CAN YOU BE TO NOT SEE THIS!?
And this guy works for the Government?
Nope NOOOOO, I am NOT BUYING THIS LOAD OF HORSE SHIZ!
And get this, he was supposed to be her bodyguard?
Really? A bodyguard!
What exactly was he guarded but himself by hurting the heroine.
So when he starts having feeling for her and HE COMES ON TO HER!?
Because she is inexperienced and wouldn't even know how to start a relationship with him.
HE pins her down touches her intimately and tries to have sex with her NOT THE OTHER WAY AROUND!
So what does our "fail f*ck" of a hero do?
Well he goes right up to her abusive controlling father and tell him a bunch of crap about her coming on to him!?
WOW, WORDS FAIL ME HERE!
Resulting in the debilitating beating of a lifetime for the heroine while the DICKHEAD HERO moves on with his life safe in the knowledge that he protected himself from possible involvement with the heroine.
SO NOT ALPHA AND NOT HAPPENING HERE!
But it's DP and she is a drama queen so I kept reading hoping to the grovel of a lifetime and what do I fucking get in return but this
"God, I’m sorry. So sorry!”
She was shaken. She couldn’t find the words she wanted to say. “You had a child…” He turned to her, his eyes so full of pain.
"I don’t talk about her.”
"Oh. I’m so sorry.” It must have been a painful divorce, she thought.
So one line I am SORRY and then she is all over him saying SHE IS SORRY!?
On what planet does she live on here!
Why would anybody want to read about this?
What is going on with my favourite author!?
Does she not get that most of her readers are intelligent and independent women of the world.
And we demand to be treated with respect!!
Now, does anyone know if I can get a refund for this book?
I have never done this before even when I did a one click mistake.
But I fell that someone needs to wake this author up!
She can and has produced better novels, therefore she owes it to her fans to do this.
Only the best is accepted here.
Those are my thoughts and you can take them or leave them.
I would NEVER recommend this book to anyone and even as I skimmed to the end, the whole story was a rehashing of older plot lines mashed together in such a fail way that I was crying.
I can't imagine why the author would do this to her fans!
I have read all her books therefore the similarities are obvious.
I am just sad and disillusioned right now.
Seriously, the hero is such a fail as a special agent CIA operative that he LIVED in a house with them and he couldn't tell she was being abused.
There were marks and bruises, how could he even call himself an agent?
HOW F*CKING STUPID CAN YOU BE TO NOT SEE THIS!?
And this guy works for the Government?
Nope NOOOOO, I am NOT BUYING THIS LOAD OF HORSE SHIZ!
And get this, he was supposed to be her bodyguard?
Really? A bodyguard!
What exactly was he guarded but himself by hurting the heroine.
So when he starts having feeling for her and HE COMES ON TO HER!?
Because she is inexperienced and wouldn't even know how to start a relationship with him.
HE pins her down touches her intimately and tries to have sex with her NOT THE OTHER WAY AROUND!
So what does our "fail f*ck" of a hero do?
Well he goes right up to her abusive controlling father and tell him a bunch of crap about her coming on to him!?
WOW, WORDS FAIL ME HERE!
Resulting in the debilitating beating of a lifetime for the heroine while the DICKHEAD HERO moves on with his life safe in the knowledge that he protected himself from possible involvement with the heroine.
SO NOT ALPHA AND NOT HAPPENING HERE!
But it's DP and she is a drama queen so I kept reading hoping to the grovel of a lifetime and what do I fucking get in return but this
"God, I’m sorry. So sorry!”
She was shaken. She couldn’t find the words she wanted to say. “You had a child…” He turned to her, his eyes so full of pain.
"I don’t talk about her.”
"Oh. I’m so sorry.” It must have been a painful divorce, she thought.
So one line I am SORRY and then she is all over him saying SHE IS SORRY!?
On what planet does she live on here!
Why would anybody want to read about this?
What is going on with my favourite author!?
Does she not get that most of her readers are intelligent and independent women of the world.
And we demand to be treated with respect!!
Now, does anyone know if I can get a refund for this book?
I have never done this before even when I did a one click mistake.
But I fell that someone needs to wake this author up!
She can and has produced better novels, therefore she owes it to her fans to do this.
Only the best is accepted here.
Those are my thoughts and you can take them or leave them.
I would NEVER recommend this book to anyone and even as I skimmed to the end, the whole story was a rehashing of older plot lines mashed together in such a fail way that I was crying.
I can't imagine why the author would do this to her fans!
I have read all her books therefore the similarities are obvious.
I am just sad and disillusioned right now.
June 25, 2016
This book has all the bad things that plague most Diana Palmer's books and none of the good.
This has, of course, the requisite DP virginal heroine, older hero, abusive father and the million side characters and former main characters of every DP book out there getting a mention or making appearances in this book.
In other words, this was HOT MESS. And not in a good way. Not even a little bit. NOPE.
ARC provided by publisher
This has, of course, the requisite DP virginal heroine, older hero, abusive father and the million side characters and former main characters of every DP book out there getting a mention or making appearances in this book.
In other words, this was HOT MESS. And not in a good way. Not even a little bit. NOPE.
ARC provided by publisher
November 14, 2020
Less a romance and more of a true crime story concerning the heroine’s horrible billionaire father (who just happens to live on a ranch in Comanche Wells, the “suburb” of Jacobsville).
The premise for the romance could have been interesting. The hero (ex-FBI) is chief of security for the heroine’s father. He is tasked with protecting the heroine and her younger sister. Hero is wildly attracted to the virginal heroine, but his pride won’t allow him to fall for someone wealthier than he is.
Unfortunately, DP dilutes the romance by separating the H/h when heroine is in college (he quits his job after touching her breast in a moment of mutual lust during a tornado). She only reunites them when the (reinstated) FBI hero is called to investigate the murder of h’s father’s mistress. Heroine is a lawyer by now, working for the District Attorney in Jacobsville.
At their first meeting, Hero apologizes to the heroine for lying to the heroine’s father that he had to quit because she was flirting with him. (This earned her a severe beating that almost killed her). Hero is shocked that his employer would ever do such a thing.
And this is where a lot of justified criticism for this story comes in. The FBI hero didn’t think it was weird that the father:
Controlled every move his daughters made
Was paranoid to the point of bugging his own house and not telling his security chief
Showed all the signs of drug abuse (it was confirmed later he was a heroin addict)
Hung around with known criminals from all over the world
Encouraged his daughters and the housekeeper to fear him
Fired employees on a whim
Had been accused of killing his wife
Had several horses die under his care
Hero worked for this lunatic for five years and never noticed anything was off.
Heroine promptly forgives him for that and for lying that he had a wife and child. (He did – they were killed by the mob after he busted their boss - but before he met the heroine.)
Their romance is moving along as the heroine’s father is arrested for murder, money laundering and drug trafficking. H/h are hoping all his money will be seized and then there will be no more wealth gap. Alas, the heroine’s mother left each girl a secret bank account with 200 million dollars and the mansion in Comanche Wells.
The H/h break up for good. The heroine goes to the Bahamas for a vacation where she takes a boat tour during a hurricane. Hero thinks she’s dead when he identifies a drowned woman with the same color hair. But surprise! It’s not the heroine – just a widow who will now be with her beloved husband in heaven. (How’s that for a happy ending?)
Hero proposes right then and there (outside the morgue?) and H/h are married within days.
So what happened to daddy dearest?
I’m leaving out so much – the absurd setup of a billionaire sending his kids to public high school and college in a stretch limousine. All the cops, Rangers, agents, special 0ps and undercover assassins the heroine and her sister interacted with in this story. They were all DP’s favorite characters (who nevertheless let her monster father commit crimes and thrive for years in Comanche Wells) and they were so boring in their macho posturing.
I wish a good editor could have done a chopping job on this and shaped the material into something coherent. I will say this – DP never runs out of ideas. She just needs to pick and chose which ones make the best story – not include all of them.
Diana Palmer checklist:
Hairy chest Rough hair
Breast Description Perfect apples that taste like whipped cream
Cigarettes/gaming No gaming – thank goodness. But funny You Tube videos! Of goats.
Alcohol Hero drinks a half a bottle of whisky when he realizes he caused the heroine’s beating
Town Descriptions Comanche Wells has mansions! Jacobsville has an art supply store and gallery the heroine’s younger sister is thinking of buying. Barbara’s café is going strong. There are still concerts at the bandstand. So many workers pour out of the courthouse each day that the hero has to watch carefully for the heroine.
Gardenia Scent soft floral scent
LOL detail The stretch limo? The tornado that just touched down behind the limo when they were making out and blew out the back window? The 32 year-old hero telling the 22 year-old heroine about a show he used to watch – Truth or Consequences.
Cutesy detail The banter with the special ops guys yucking it up about assassinating people in Iraq? The secretaries who put their bosses in their place, but still make the coffee?
DP hobbyhorse Money can’t buy happiness
The premise for the romance could have been interesting. The hero (ex-FBI) is chief of security for the heroine’s father. He is tasked with protecting the heroine and her younger sister. Hero is wildly attracted to the virginal heroine, but his pride won’t allow him to fall for someone wealthier than he is.
Unfortunately, DP dilutes the romance by separating the H/h when heroine is in college (he quits his job after touching her breast in a moment of mutual lust during a tornado). She only reunites them when the (reinstated) FBI hero is called to investigate the murder of h’s father’s mistress. Heroine is a lawyer by now, working for the District Attorney in Jacobsville.
At their first meeting, Hero apologizes to the heroine for lying to the heroine’s father that he had to quit because she was flirting with him. (This earned her a severe beating that almost killed her). Hero is shocked that his employer would ever do such a thing.
And this is where a lot of justified criticism for this story comes in. The FBI hero didn’t think it was weird that the father:
Controlled every move his daughters made
Was paranoid to the point of bugging his own house and not telling his security chief
Showed all the signs of drug abuse (it was confirmed later he was a heroin addict)
Hung around with known criminals from all over the world
Encouraged his daughters and the housekeeper to fear him
Fired employees on a whim
Had been accused of killing his wife
Had several horses die under his care
Hero worked for this lunatic for five years and never noticed anything was off.
Heroine promptly forgives him for that and for lying that he had a wife and child. (He did – they were killed by the mob after he busted their boss - but before he met the heroine.)
Their romance is moving along as the heroine’s father is arrested for murder, money laundering and drug trafficking. H/h are hoping all his money will be seized and then there will be no more wealth gap. Alas, the heroine’s mother left each girl a secret bank account with 200 million dollars and the mansion in Comanche Wells.
The H/h break up for good. The heroine goes to the Bahamas for a vacation where she takes a boat tour during a hurricane. Hero thinks she’s dead when he identifies a drowned woman with the same color hair. But surprise! It’s not the heroine – just a widow who will now be with her beloved husband in heaven. (How’s that for a happy ending?)
Hero proposes right then and there (outside the morgue?) and H/h are married within days.
So what happened to daddy dearest?
I’m leaving out so much – the absurd setup of a billionaire sending his kids to public high school and college in a stretch limousine. All the cops, Rangers, agents, special 0ps and undercover assassins the heroine and her sister interacted with in this story. They were all DP’s favorite characters (who nevertheless let her monster father commit crimes and thrive for years in Comanche Wells) and they were so boring in their macho posturing.
I wish a good editor could have done a chopping job on this and shaped the material into something coherent. I will say this – DP never runs out of ideas. She just needs to pick and chose which ones make the best story – not include all of them.
Diana Palmer checklist:
Hairy chest Rough hair
Breast Description Perfect apples that taste like whipped cream
Cigarettes/gaming No gaming – thank goodness. But funny You Tube videos! Of goats.
Alcohol Hero drinks a half a bottle of whisky when he realizes he caused the heroine’s beating
Town Descriptions Comanche Wells has mansions! Jacobsville has an art supply store and gallery the heroine’s younger sister is thinking of buying. Barbara’s café is going strong. There are still concerts at the bandstand. So many workers pour out of the courthouse each day that the hero has to watch carefully for the heroine.
Gardenia Scent soft floral scent
LOL detail The stretch limo? The tornado that just touched down behind the limo when they were making out and blew out the back window? The 32 year-old hero telling the 22 year-old heroine about a show he used to watch – Truth or Consequences.
Cutesy detail The banter with the special ops guys yucking it up about assassinating people in Iraq? The secretaries who put their bosses in their place, but still make the coffee?
DP hobbyhorse Money can’t buy happiness
July 8, 2016
DNF - 7%
Wow. Barely made it to page 30, cringing the entire time, before I gave up. This book, from the first 30 pages I read, is garbage.
It's so cliche it's painful. First you have the Virginal Younger Heroine with her Model Good Looks who blushes at the thought of sex, doesn't know she's beautiful until the Older Brooding Hero With The Dark Past tells her she is, and is complicit with her Abusive Millionaire Father's "protectiveness" (re: authoritarian parenting and beating of her younger sister). Also her name is Isabel, but everyone calls her Sari? How does that work?
Then Older Brooding Hero slut shames all other women WITHIN THE FIRST 20 PAGES because why would the Virginal Younger Heroine - who laments the fact that she's never even been kissed at 22 years of age and wishes she was more experienced - want to expose herself to STDs and a reputation for being easy? (God forbid!) And he has a Dark Past that is so Awful and Traumatizing that even the barest hint of an innocent question makes him clench his coffee cup in a white knuckled grip - sounds like you have some anger and self-control issues buddy. But he's the Hero so it's OKAY.
And then the tense of the narrative is all sorts of screwed up, and POVs switch within paragraphs which make things even more confusing - this book was just a hot mess. I don't believe I've ever read a book by Palmer, but I certainly won't be attempting again after this nonsense.
Wow. Barely made it to page 30, cringing the entire time, before I gave up. This book, from the first 30 pages I read, is garbage.
It's so cliche it's painful. First you have the Virginal Younger Heroine with her Model Good Looks who blushes at the thought of sex, doesn't know she's beautiful until the Older Brooding Hero With The Dark Past tells her she is, and is complicit with her Abusive Millionaire Father's "protectiveness" (re: authoritarian parenting and beating of her younger sister). Also her name is Isabel, but everyone calls her Sari? How does that work?
Then Older Brooding Hero slut shames all other women WITHIN THE FIRST 20 PAGES because why would the Virginal Younger Heroine - who laments the fact that she's never even been kissed at 22 years of age and wishes she was more experienced - want to expose herself to STDs and a reputation for being easy? (God forbid!) And he has a Dark Past that is so Awful and Traumatizing that even the barest hint of an innocent question makes him clench his coffee cup in a white knuckled grip - sounds like you have some anger and self-control issues buddy. But he's the Hero so it's OKAY.
And then the tense of the narrative is all sorts of screwed up, and POVs switch within paragraphs which make things even more confusing - this book was just a hot mess. I don't believe I've ever read a book by Palmer, but I certainly won't be attempting again after this nonsense.
July 26, 2016
Most I can say is.. No.
I found this painful! I love DP- I love most things by her- but this second chance story was not only painful to read, but was also annoying. Why?
1. Isabel or Sari, along with her sister Mandy- live with their abusive and psychotic father
2. Paul the super agent who's also a bodyguard- is a dbag with a sad past (yes it's the same as the dark past of all other DP books)
3. He knows Sari has a crush on him and that the dad is a bit crazy(because he has tapped the whole house). What does he do-
A- he leaves with a notice(which would have been the sane choice)
B- makes up a crazy story that portrays Sari as an obsessed hussy that makes her da go into a rage and beat up her and her sister so badly that they bleed and almost die
He does the latter. Unknowingly but he does! Now does this lead to regret? Yes. Does it lead to any grovels? NO!
Fast forward three years finally to the second chance "story"
He comes and sees her- and suddenly he misses her. Picks her up- makes her fall for him. Again(despite her resolves not to give in she's weakened by his so called ardor). And pushes her away. This cycle repeats until he almost loses her.
Mingled with boob rubbing scenes, this made me want to pull all my hair out. And also Paul and Sari's. Mostly Paul.
EGH
It's safe but whatever. I don't recommend it .
2/5
I found this painful! I love DP- I love most things by her- but this second chance story was not only painful to read, but was also annoying. Why?
1. Isabel or Sari, along with her sister Mandy- live with their abusive and psychotic father
2. Paul the super agent who's also a bodyguard- is a dbag with a sad past (yes it's the same as the dark past of all other DP books)
3. He knows Sari has a crush on him and that the dad is a bit crazy(because he has tapped the whole house). What does he do-
A- he leaves with a notice(which would have been the sane choice)
B- makes up a crazy story that portrays Sari as an obsessed hussy that makes her da go into a rage and beat up her and her sister so badly that they bleed and almost die
He does the latter. Unknowingly but he does! Now does this lead to regret? Yes. Does it lead to any grovels? NO!
Fast forward three years finally to the second chance "story"
He comes and sees her- and suddenly he misses her. Picks her up- makes her fall for him. Again(despite her resolves not to give in she's weakened by his so called ardor). And pushes her away. This cycle repeats until he almost loses her.
Mingled with boob rubbing scenes, this made me want to pull all my hair out. And also Paul and Sari's. Mostly Paul.
EGH
It's safe but whatever. I don't recommend it .
2/5
April 19, 2016
ARC by Netgalley for an honest review.
2.5 Rating.
Well this read was all over the place. I'm sad to say it was not written in a manner that was easy to read.
The synopsis above covers the overall storyline so I won't really go into too much detail.
Two young women who have a very abusive, controlling Father.
The Father has a body guard watch over them.
The oldest daughter falls in love with the body guard.
He realizes he's attracted and nothing can come of it.
He tells a lie of sorts, gives notice and leaves the job.
The woman is heartbroken, grows up and does what she can to overcome her Father. The hero comes back into the picture.
The truth comes out about the past and feelings are revealed.
This started out v e r y slow. I wasn't sure from page to page what scene I was in and exactly what time frame, as in past or present, I was reading. I also found it very difficult to understand which character I was reading about at the time. It was a "choppy" read and I found it difficult to stick with and finish. I have read Diana Palmer in the past and do not remember her past books being this bad. I'm sad to say this was not an enjoyable read.
2.5 Rating.
Well this read was all over the place. I'm sad to say it was not written in a manner that was easy to read.
The synopsis above covers the overall storyline so I won't really go into too much detail.
Two young women who have a very abusive, controlling Father.
The Father has a body guard watch over them.
The oldest daughter falls in love with the body guard.
He realizes he's attracted and nothing can come of it.
He tells a lie of sorts, gives notice and leaves the job.
The woman is heartbroken, grows up and does what she can to overcome her Father. The hero comes back into the picture.
The truth comes out about the past and feelings are revealed.
This started out v e r y slow. I wasn't sure from page to page what scene I was in and exactly what time frame, as in past or present, I was reading. I also found it very difficult to understand which character I was reading about at the time. It was a "choppy" read and I found it difficult to stick with and finish. I have read Diana Palmer in the past and do not remember her past books being this bad. I'm sad to say this was not an enjoyable read.
July 9, 2016
I adore DP and I liked this book but I needed more hero and heroine interaction. I also wanted to see them with a baby in the epilogue. It was a good read but DP can do better. I cant wait for the sister's book!
February 5, 2021
Boring and the H's behavior was absolutely inexplicable. He was a dolt and he is lucky the h imprinted on him because even the smallest amount of critical thinking would scuttle that ship.
November 7, 2021
Guys, I actually finished & read a book. And it didn't take me months... :)
Be proud of me, lol.
I started this on the plane and finished it on the first of two flights back. So I am writing this review right now in Atlanta, Georgia, waiting for my next flight.
Unfortunately, this book wasn't that great. I felt the romance was lacking and the suspense was more interesting. I hate to say this, but the father was the most interesting character. Diana Palmer made us wait to the very end for an actual sex scene, and then it was super flowery, it was almost cringey.
I feel like DP needs to go take a class on how people actually speak, because no one except older adults call each other "honey". Some of the things Paul said were cringey rather than sexy or romantic. Also, the punctuation in sentences along the lines of "Oh god...!" or "This feels so good...!" is so weird. Moreover, why is the heroine's name Isabel but her nickname is Sari? How does that make sense?
Also, I think it was pretty obvious that something wasn't right with the father, and Paul acted very surprised later when he found out how abusive the dad was. It didn't fit with his character and especially not his job description. The dude was in the FBI...it was pretty obvious the dad's behavior towards his daughters went beyond being overprotective.
Despite finding this book lacking, maybe I'll read Merrie's book. Especially if it's in the library like this one was. I still have another Diana Palmer book to read back in my dorm room, and all I can say is that I hope that one is a lot better than this one was.
Be proud of me, lol.
I started this on the plane and finished it on the first of two flights back. So I am writing this review right now in Atlanta, Georgia, waiting for my next flight.
Unfortunately, this book wasn't that great. I felt the romance was lacking and the suspense was more interesting. I hate to say this, but the father was the most interesting character. Diana Palmer made us wait to the very end for an actual sex scene, and then it was super flowery, it was almost cringey.
I feel like DP needs to go take a class on how people actually speak, because no one except older adults call each other "honey". Some of the things Paul said were cringey rather than sexy or romantic. Also, the punctuation in sentences along the lines of "Oh god...!" or "This feels so good...!" is so weird. Moreover, why is the heroine's name Isabel but her nickname is Sari? How does that make sense?
Also, I think it was pretty obvious that something wasn't right with the father, and Paul acted very surprised later when he found out how abusive the dad was. It didn't fit with his character and especially not his job description. The dude was in the FBI...it was pretty obvious the dad's behavior towards his daughters went beyond being overprotective.
Despite finding this book lacking, maybe I'll read Merrie's book. Especially if it's in the library like this one was. I still have another Diana Palmer book to read back in my dorm room, and all I can say is that I hope that one is a lot better than this one was.
July 1, 2016
After a few days and the fact I keep trying with this book, I can't do it any more. I admit defeat and give up with it.
I used to love Diana Palmer, she was an author that could be relied on to give a good story, good characters. Sadly it doesn't seem to be the case any more.
But her last few have just gone downhill. This one being the worse one.
I used to love this series, with Cash Grier, Judd to name a couple but slowly the series has been dying a long death.
I didn't get to the point of any of the actual sex scenes, but I can only assume from what I have gathered from previous books and the way this was going that Isabel was a virgin (because the heroines always seem to be). This is a bit of a sore factor for me too because really how likely that all these women from the same place are all virgins, zero experience etc..? it gets a little old and I keep hoping we might see a less innocent heroine in her books.
For me this was my last Diana Palmer book unless I am told specifically that the characters and storylines have improved. This could have been a good storyline but it just seemed to fizzle out and in the end I didn't like any of the characters. I made it about 60% into it before I gave up.
Read and reviewed courtesy of Netgalley
I used to love Diana Palmer, she was an author that could be relied on to give a good story, good characters. Sadly it doesn't seem to be the case any more.
But her last few have just gone downhill. This one being the worse one.
I used to love this series, with Cash Grier, Judd to name a couple but slowly the series has been dying a long death.
I didn't get to the point of any of the actual sex scenes, but I can only assume from what I have gathered from previous books and the way this was going that Isabel was a virgin (because the heroines always seem to be). This is a bit of a sore factor for me too because really how likely that all these women from the same place are all virgins, zero experience etc..? it gets a little old and I keep hoping we might see a less innocent heroine in her books.
For me this was my last Diana Palmer book unless I am told specifically that the characters and storylines have improved. This could have been a good storyline but it just seemed to fizzle out and in the end I didn't like any of the characters. I made it about 60% into it before I gave up.
Read and reviewed courtesy of Netgalley
June 10, 2016
Originally published at Reading Reality
If you look on Goodreads, Defender is listed as a “read alike” for yesterday’s book, How Secrets Die. Having read both of them, while I liked them both, I have to say that they are absolutely nothing like each other.
I picked up Defender because Diana Palmer is one of those romance writers that I’ve heard about forever. And although I read her brief foray into science fiction romance, The Morcai Battalion (written as Susan Kyle) I had never read any of the western romance that she is much better known for.
And I haven’t yet. Defender does not have any of the feel that I have come to expect from contemporary Western romances. Instead, it had more of a melodrama feel to it. I felt like I was reading a soap opera, complete with the over-the-top plots, heroes, villains and ingenues that seem emblematic of the genre.
So even though Defender is listed as the latest book in Palmer’s Long, Tall Texans series on her website, and even though it is set in rural Texas not far from San Antonio, it doesn’t feel like a western at all. There are no cowboys here, and there’s no ranch anywhere in sight. There is a bit of thoroughbred breeding, but that could easily have been transferred to the Kentucky Bluegrass without many changes.
Except that it was pretty clear that the areas that surround the Grayling estate in Defender are part of a much longer series. There were a lot of side characters whose history was hinted at, and who had important parts to play in Defender, but the way they were introduced led this reader to conclude that the major part of these characters’ history was elsewhere, in earlier books in the series.
It bothered me a bit, but not enough to keep me from liking Defender.
The story in Defender is closer to romantic suspense than anything else, crossed with the romantic trope of innocent heroine falls for experienced, heroic, slightly-older man who protects her.
Isabel and Meredith Grayling are the protected daughters of investment tycoon Darwin Grayling, or so it appears to their father’s Head of Security Paul Fiore. But looks are deceiving, and there is a whole lot of evil hidden under the Grayling roof.
As Isabel is about to graduate college, and Merrie is graduating high school, we get to see exactly how dangerous and restrictive that “fatherly protection” really is. But even though Fiore can tell that both girls are afraid of their father, he never lets himself think about what that fear really means. But he leaves the Grayling house after he realizes that the love Isabel feels for him is not nearly as innocent as he wanted to believe, and that his response is going to get him fired, or possibly killed.
He returns three years later as part of an FBI investigation into Grayling’s business dealings, only to discover the damage that he did when he left, and the true circumstances in which he abandoned Isabel and Merrie.
Even as Isabel forgives him, he can’t manage to forgive himself. Not for the harm he caused, not for the harm he ignored, and not his responsibility for the tragedy that brought him to Texas in the first place.
Escape Rating B: Upon finishing Defender, I discovered that it reminded me a bit of J.R. Ward’s The Bourbon Kings, even though I hated The Bourbon Kings but liked Defender. Some of the similarity is in the atmosphere – both stories mostly take place on very, very rich people’s private property, and the evil behavior of the father figure in both stories is a bit over the top. However, for this reader it did not feel like BK had any truly redeemable characters, where in Defender there are quite a few people doing the best they can in an extremely bad situation, and one wants to root for them to succeed.
The Grayling household is a prison, a fact that Isabel and Merrie are reminded of entirely too often, and all too frequently with whippings and scars. Every person within their orbit has to be kept in the dark about their true situation, or Darwin Grayling will make them disappear – into an early grave. He’s done it before and is all too willing to do it again. The first third of the book is actually fairly rough going – the more one feels for the girls, and the reader certainly does, the more difficult it is to read about what they suffered.
Daddy Grayling is also batshit crazy, in so many ways that it seems like much too much. But he is also crazy rich and crazy powerful, to the point where he can buy and sell anyone or anything. At the end, when we discover what was driving his insanity, half of it is no surprise, but the other half was way out of left field and again, over the top. Reason number 1 was explanation enough without reason number 2.
And the involvement of “the Mob”, even tangentially, on both sides of this equation adds to that feeling of “over-the-top”-ness. There was plenty of evil to go around without dragging gangsters or their 21st century equivalents into this mess.
There’s something about Isabel and Merrie’s extreme naivete that hearkens back to romances of yesteryear. They are both educated and intelligent, and have been deliberately kept in the dark about the ways of the world. In many ways, their innocence and their indoctrination into staying innocent would put them right at home in a much earlier era. They know that what their father has done to them is wrong, but they don’t have a way of striking back until the Feds come to town to arrest their dear old Dad for money laundering and racketeering. Dad turns out to have been a much bigger all-purpose louse than anyone expected.
It is good for their development that Isabel, now a newly minted Assistant District Attorney, is able to contribute to the investigation. She needs to conquer the villain to have a chance at moving on with her life. That she actually gets the man of her dreams turns out to be icing on the cake – but very tasty frosting indeed.
Think of Defender as a guilty pleasure kind of book. Everything is just a bit too much, but lots of fun to wallow in – make that read.
If you look on Goodreads, Defender is listed as a “read alike” for yesterday’s book, How Secrets Die. Having read both of them, while I liked them both, I have to say that they are absolutely nothing like each other.
I picked up Defender because Diana Palmer is one of those romance writers that I’ve heard about forever. And although I read her brief foray into science fiction romance, The Morcai Battalion (written as Susan Kyle) I had never read any of the western romance that she is much better known for.
And I haven’t yet. Defender does not have any of the feel that I have come to expect from contemporary Western romances. Instead, it had more of a melodrama feel to it. I felt like I was reading a soap opera, complete with the over-the-top plots, heroes, villains and ingenues that seem emblematic of the genre.
So even though Defender is listed as the latest book in Palmer’s Long, Tall Texans series on her website, and even though it is set in rural Texas not far from San Antonio, it doesn’t feel like a western at all. There are no cowboys here, and there’s no ranch anywhere in sight. There is a bit of thoroughbred breeding, but that could easily have been transferred to the Kentucky Bluegrass without many changes.
Except that it was pretty clear that the areas that surround the Grayling estate in Defender are part of a much longer series. There were a lot of side characters whose history was hinted at, and who had important parts to play in Defender, but the way they were introduced led this reader to conclude that the major part of these characters’ history was elsewhere, in earlier books in the series.
It bothered me a bit, but not enough to keep me from liking Defender.
The story in Defender is closer to romantic suspense than anything else, crossed with the romantic trope of innocent heroine falls for experienced, heroic, slightly-older man who protects her.
Isabel and Meredith Grayling are the protected daughters of investment tycoon Darwin Grayling, or so it appears to their father’s Head of Security Paul Fiore. But looks are deceiving, and there is a whole lot of evil hidden under the Grayling roof.
As Isabel is about to graduate college, and Merrie is graduating high school, we get to see exactly how dangerous and restrictive that “fatherly protection” really is. But even though Fiore can tell that both girls are afraid of their father, he never lets himself think about what that fear really means. But he leaves the Grayling house after he realizes that the love Isabel feels for him is not nearly as innocent as he wanted to believe, and that his response is going to get him fired, or possibly killed.
He returns three years later as part of an FBI investigation into Grayling’s business dealings, only to discover the damage that he did when he left, and the true circumstances in which he abandoned Isabel and Merrie.
Even as Isabel forgives him, he can’t manage to forgive himself. Not for the harm he caused, not for the harm he ignored, and not his responsibility for the tragedy that brought him to Texas in the first place.
Escape Rating B: Upon finishing Defender, I discovered that it reminded me a bit of J.R. Ward’s The Bourbon Kings, even though I hated The Bourbon Kings but liked Defender. Some of the similarity is in the atmosphere – both stories mostly take place on very, very rich people’s private property, and the evil behavior of the father figure in both stories is a bit over the top. However, for this reader it did not feel like BK had any truly redeemable characters, where in Defender there are quite a few people doing the best they can in an extremely bad situation, and one wants to root for them to succeed.
The Grayling household is a prison, a fact that Isabel and Merrie are reminded of entirely too often, and all too frequently with whippings and scars. Every person within their orbit has to be kept in the dark about their true situation, or Darwin Grayling will make them disappear – into an early grave. He’s done it before and is all too willing to do it again. The first third of the book is actually fairly rough going – the more one feels for the girls, and the reader certainly does, the more difficult it is to read about what they suffered.
Daddy Grayling is also batshit crazy, in so many ways that it seems like much too much. But he is also crazy rich and crazy powerful, to the point where he can buy and sell anyone or anything. At the end, when we discover what was driving his insanity, half of it is no surprise, but the other half was way out of left field and again, over the top. Reason number 1 was explanation enough without reason number 2.
And the involvement of “the Mob”, even tangentially, on both sides of this equation adds to that feeling of “over-the-top”-ness. There was plenty of evil to go around without dragging gangsters or their 21st century equivalents into this mess.
There’s something about Isabel and Merrie’s extreme naivete that hearkens back to romances of yesteryear. They are both educated and intelligent, and have been deliberately kept in the dark about the ways of the world. In many ways, their innocence and their indoctrination into staying innocent would put them right at home in a much earlier era. They know that what their father has done to them is wrong, but they don’t have a way of striking back until the Feds come to town to arrest their dear old Dad for money laundering and racketeering. Dad turns out to have been a much bigger all-purpose louse than anyone expected.
It is good for their development that Isabel, now a newly minted Assistant District Attorney, is able to contribute to the investigation. She needs to conquer the villain to have a chance at moving on with her life. That she actually gets the man of her dreams turns out to be icing on the cake – but very tasty frosting indeed.
Think of Defender as a guilty pleasure kind of book. Everything is just a bit too much, but lots of fun to wallow in – make that read.
May 11, 2016
ARC by Netgalley for an honest review.
---------
Review in Portuguese and English:
------------------------------
Heroína virgem vivendo em uma lar abusivo mas de família rica.
Herói é atormentado pelo passado e sofrendo de complexo de inferioridade.
Paul está fugindo do passado e tentando esquecer. Trabalha como guarda costas para o pai da heroína que é muito controlador e meio paranoico. Ele acaba se envolvendo com a heroína mas devido aos traumas do passado ele resolve ir embora. As desculpas que Paul dá para se demitir acabam causando muitos problemas para ela e a irmã dela.
Nossa heroína acaba fazendo de tudo para se libertar do domínio do pai dela e proteger a irmã dela.
Os anos passam e Paul acaba voltando e fica chocado com a sucessão de eventos que ele ocasionou com a partida dele.
A história é mais de suspense do que romance e senti falta dos elementos que são comuns à todas histórias da autora. Senti falta da confusão nas festas, mulher interessada no herói e homem interessado na heroína que causasse ciúme nos heróis.
As cenas entre os heróis foram insuficientes, faltaram cenas quentes entre os dois. E o herói foi até quase o final do livro sem se decidir o que ele realmente queria.
Foi legal a participação dos heróis dos livros anteriores e termos uma visão da vida deles e de suas amadas. Todos estão lá para proteger e combater os bandidos.
Afinal os habitantes de Jacobsville nunca desamparam seus moradores e todos protegem a Isabel e a irmã dela.
No geral foi uma boa leitura.
Recomendo para as fãs da escritora.
------------------------------
Heroin Virgin living in an abusive home but from a rich family.
Hero is tormented by the past and suffering from inferiority complex.
Paul is running away from the past and trying to forget. Works as a bodyguard for the father of the heroine who is very controlling and a little paranoid. He ends up getting involved with heroin but due to past trauma, he resolves to leave. The excuses that Paul gives to resign end up causing a lot of problems for her and her sister.
Our heroine ends up doing everything to free himself from her father's domain and protect her sister.
The years pass and Paul ends up coming back and is shocked with the succession of events that he caused with his departure.
The story is more suspense than romance and I missed elements that are common to all stories by the author. I miss the mess at parties, women interested in the hero and man interested in heroin that caused jealousy in heroes.
The scenes between the heroes were insufficient, lacked hot scenes between the two. And the hero was until almost the end of the book without deciding what he really wanted.
It was nice to the participation of the heroes of the previous books and have a vision of their lives and their loved ones. All are there to protect and fight the bad guys.
After all the inhabitants of Jacobsville never desamparam its residents and all protect Isabel and her sister.
Overall it was a good read.
Recommend to the fans of the writer.
---------
Review in Portuguese and English:
------------------------------
Heroína virgem vivendo em uma lar abusivo mas de família rica.
Herói é atormentado pelo passado e sofrendo de complexo de inferioridade.
Paul está fugindo do passado e tentando esquecer. Trabalha como guarda costas para o pai da heroína que é muito controlador e meio paranoico. Ele acaba se envolvendo com a heroína mas devido aos traumas do passado ele resolve ir embora. As desculpas que Paul dá para se demitir acabam causando muitos problemas para ela e a irmã dela.
Nossa heroína acaba fazendo de tudo para se libertar do domínio do pai dela e proteger a irmã dela.
Os anos passam e Paul acaba voltando e fica chocado com a sucessão de eventos que ele ocasionou com a partida dele.
A história é mais de suspense do que romance e senti falta dos elementos que são comuns à todas histórias da autora. Senti falta da confusão nas festas, mulher interessada no herói e homem interessado na heroína que causasse ciúme nos heróis.
As cenas entre os heróis foram insuficientes, faltaram cenas quentes entre os dois. E o herói foi até quase o final do livro sem se decidir o que ele realmente queria.
Foi legal a participação dos heróis dos livros anteriores e termos uma visão da vida deles e de suas amadas. Todos estão lá para proteger e combater os bandidos.
Afinal os habitantes de Jacobsville nunca desamparam seus moradores e todos protegem a Isabel e a irmã dela.
No geral foi uma boa leitura.
Recomendo para as fãs da escritora.
------------------------------
Heroin Virgin living in an abusive home but from a rich family.
Hero is tormented by the past and suffering from inferiority complex.
Paul is running away from the past and trying to forget. Works as a bodyguard for the father of the heroine who is very controlling and a little paranoid. He ends up getting involved with heroin but due to past trauma, he resolves to leave. The excuses that Paul gives to resign end up causing a lot of problems for her and her sister.
Our heroine ends up doing everything to free himself from her father's domain and protect her sister.
The years pass and Paul ends up coming back and is shocked with the succession of events that he caused with his departure.
The story is more suspense than romance and I missed elements that are common to all stories by the author. I miss the mess at parties, women interested in the hero and man interested in heroin that caused jealousy in heroes.
The scenes between the heroes were insufficient, lacked hot scenes between the two. And the hero was until almost the end of the book without deciding what he really wanted.
It was nice to the participation of the heroes of the previous books and have a vision of their lives and their loved ones. All are there to protect and fight the bad guys.
After all the inhabitants of Jacobsville never desamparam its residents and all protect Isabel and her sister.
Overall it was a good read.
Recommend to the fans of the writer.
June 12, 2016
Defender by Diana Palmer is a book that features a lot of characters in her Long Tall Texans series and I really enjoyed it! All of my favorite characters from so many of her books are in here like Cash Grier, his wife Tippy and their 2 children, along with Cy Parks and so many others. This book is about Isabel Grayling and her father's employee, Paul Fiore. This book is a second chance romance!
Without giving away too much, Isabel and her sister, Merrie, who is about 4 years younger, as well as the housekeeper, Mandy, are like prisoners in the house, after her mother dies of an accident, when Isabel was about 8 years old. However the doctor and a few others know it was no accident but Grayling has so much money and so many people on his payroll he gets away with everything. They live in Comanche Wells, near Jacobsville, Texas, so everyone knows everyone. Their father is a multi millionaire, but he always wants more, more, more, and does what it takes to get it, however he gives the girls no money, so even if they wanted to leave they couldn't -they have no money. They are dressed in horrible clothes and even though they are so rich, he keeps the girls looking poor as he does not want them to have any friends. Sari(Isabel) is 23 when the story starts and has just graduated college and Merrie is 18 and just graduated high school. The only happiness in their life is Paul Fiore who has been with them for about 5 years and Sari loves him, but tries not to show it. Paul who has a horrible past and is there just to get away from his past, loves Sari too, but he knows that if they got too close the father would do "away' with him! So he decides he should leave before they both get in over their heads.
This breaks Sari's heart. Their father is so abusive too, that he physically beats them with a doubled over belt when he gets angry, and he has done this for years. Pauls said something to him and then he leaves and the girls are beaten to within an inch of their lives. The father had sent the housekeeper on vacation for two weeks so she did not know.
Three years later, Paul has gone back to working for the FBI and he gets sent back to look into a case involving Sari's father, they think he is laundering money and the woman who works for the FBI he was seeing has been killed. Paul sees Sari again when she is now working as an assistant at Blake Kemps law office and she refuses to speak to him. However he has kept up with her through the housekeeper!
This book is fast paced, has a lot of emotional angst and a lot of romance, the plot is good and twists around so you don't know what is going to happen until you read it and it is an awesome book. I really enjoyed it and it was nice to see some of the many men and women who make up this series! You will have to read it to see what happens!
I gave this book 5***** emotional stars and can't wait for Diana Palmer's next book!
Without giving away too much, Isabel and her sister, Merrie, who is about 4 years younger, as well as the housekeeper, Mandy, are like prisoners in the house, after her mother dies of an accident, when Isabel was about 8 years old. However the doctor and a few others know it was no accident but Grayling has so much money and so many people on his payroll he gets away with everything. They live in Comanche Wells, near Jacobsville, Texas, so everyone knows everyone. Their father is a multi millionaire, but he always wants more, more, more, and does what it takes to get it, however he gives the girls no money, so even if they wanted to leave they couldn't -they have no money. They are dressed in horrible clothes and even though they are so rich, he keeps the girls looking poor as he does not want them to have any friends. Sari(Isabel) is 23 when the story starts and has just graduated college and Merrie is 18 and just graduated high school. The only happiness in their life is Paul Fiore who has been with them for about 5 years and Sari loves him, but tries not to show it. Paul who has a horrible past and is there just to get away from his past, loves Sari too, but he knows that if they got too close the father would do "away' with him! So he decides he should leave before they both get in over their heads.
This breaks Sari's heart. Their father is so abusive too, that he physically beats them with a doubled over belt when he gets angry, and he has done this for years. Pauls said something to him and then he leaves and the girls are beaten to within an inch of their lives. The father had sent the housekeeper on vacation for two weeks so she did not know.
Three years later, Paul has gone back to working for the FBI and he gets sent back to look into a case involving Sari's father, they think he is laundering money and the woman who works for the FBI he was seeing has been killed. Paul sees Sari again when she is now working as an assistant at Blake Kemps law office and she refuses to speak to him. However he has kept up with her through the housekeeper!
This book is fast paced, has a lot of emotional angst and a lot of romance, the plot is good and twists around so you don't know what is going to happen until you read it and it is an awesome book. I really enjoyed it and it was nice to see some of the many men and women who make up this series! You will have to read it to see what happens!
I gave this book 5***** emotional stars and can't wait for Diana Palmer's next book!
November 18, 2016
3.5 stars, good but the repetitive plot finally got me.
Classic Diana Palmer plot; crazed father beating up his daughter, careless Hero and misunderstanding between main characters. I enjoyed the repetition, well at least once or twice. But somehow it's gotten boring and even if Diana Palmer wants to repeat the plot with slight differences, she could've add more drama, you know. Because I know her fans are her fans because of it.
Overall, this book is good but could be so much better. But hey, I adore Diana Palmer so much, I can't wait to read her next book! I hope she stays healthy forever!
Classic Diana Palmer plot; crazed father beating up his daughter, careless Hero and misunderstanding between main characters. I enjoyed the repetition, well at least once or twice. But somehow it's gotten boring and even if Diana Palmer wants to repeat the plot with slight differences, she could've add more drama, you know. Because I know her fans are her fans because of it.
Overall, this book is good but could be so much better. But hey, I adore Diana Palmer so much, I can't wait to read her next book! I hope she stays healthy forever!
August 13, 2023
After read Texas Proud, I got curious about Paul's story, so I read this book. H was too stubborn although he had a tragic past. Compared to him, h was much mature.
May 12, 2021
I have a high tolerance for Diane Palmer's various quirks. I'm fine with the fact that her heroines are always virgins, usually for no discernible reason. I don't mind the frequent age gap between hero and heroine, and rarely get wound up about how patronizing some of her heroes are about this. I'm okay with the fact that her heroes and heroines tend to be drama queens who hide information for stupid reasons. I merely roll my eyes over the sign waving, "Look, I wrote another book about these secondary characters, don't you want to go read it?" I am resigned to the fact that in her longer-than-category books there will be some secondary stupidity to extend the plot. And I don't expect her characters with fancy job titles to have much to do with the real-life jobs those titles are attached to.
All of which is why this book gets three stars; it's far from great literature, and not even a great representative of romance novels, but if Palmer is your sort of brain candy, this book gets the job done. That said, it's not one of Palmer's best. The dialogue is oddly stylized, and while this sort of works in the sense that the three main female characters have spent their lives (or years) playing a role to keep an abusive man happy, in the end it fails because our idiot former-and-future FBI agent completely misses that anything sinister is going on, undercutting that interpretation of their oddly uncomfortable dialogue.
Palmer's heroes tend to have the emotional sensibility of a rock, and are regularly oblivious to the various troubles her heroines suffer through, a trait I find generally forgivable, but a supposedly savvy and competent FBI agent being this oblivious to clear markers of an abuser is a bit much even for me. Works a lot better when it's an older rancher who grew up in the boonies grumbling that he doesn't understand women because he's always lived in a world of men than it does with a guy who grew up in New Jersey.
And why the heck am I supposed to put up with a kid from New Jersey as the hero of a book in the "Long, Tall, Texan " series? Frankly, the whole story could have been shifted to New Jersey with barely a change -- just add a few people surprised by an honest New Jersey cop here and there, and maybe change the few Texas proud comments to proud to be an American or something. Not that I expect a lot of ranch stuff (or any real-life stuff) from Palmer, but I did expect something more Texan in a book of that series.
The heroine's situation creates sympathy, but the heroine herself is not the most sympathetic DP heroine I've run across. While neither character nor author get outright insulting, there's a vaguely disdainful attitude toward women who have casual sex, and yet the heroine has sex with the hero before they get married. I don't personally have a problem with a romance author or character arguing in favor of limiting sex to marriage, in fact the heroine of one of the first romances I ever liked does exactly that, and it's a major conflict between her and the hero. However that heroine had what she considered rational arguments in favor of her position, and didn't condemn those who disagreed with her any more than she would if they disagreed over much of anything else. That heroine didn't see herself as superior to those who made different choices, while the heroine of this book seems to view premarital sex as vaguely icky and shameful when other women do it, but perfectly fine when she does it, and that hypocrisy annoys me.
I won't go so far as to say Palmer has started phoning it in, because I don't think so. But maybe she's getting a little cranky about the world heading off in directions she doesn't like.
All of which is why this book gets three stars; it's far from great literature, and not even a great representative of romance novels, but if Palmer is your sort of brain candy, this book gets the job done. That said, it's not one of Palmer's best. The dialogue is oddly stylized, and while this sort of works in the sense that the three main female characters have spent their lives (or years) playing a role to keep an abusive man happy, in the end it fails because our idiot former-and-future FBI agent completely misses that anything sinister is going on, undercutting that interpretation of their oddly uncomfortable dialogue.
Palmer's heroes tend to have the emotional sensibility of a rock, and are regularly oblivious to the various troubles her heroines suffer through, a trait I find generally forgivable, but a supposedly savvy and competent FBI agent being this oblivious to clear markers of an abuser is a bit much even for me. Works a lot better when it's an older rancher who grew up in the boonies grumbling that he doesn't understand women because he's always lived in a world of men than it does with a guy who grew up in New Jersey.
And why the heck am I supposed to put up with a kid from New Jersey as the hero of a book in the "Long, Tall, Texan " series? Frankly, the whole story could have been shifted to New Jersey with barely a change -- just add a few people surprised by an honest New Jersey cop here and there, and maybe change the few Texas proud comments to proud to be an American or something. Not that I expect a lot of ranch stuff (or any real-life stuff) from Palmer, but I did expect something more Texan in a book of that series.
The heroine's situation creates sympathy, but the heroine herself is not the most sympathetic DP heroine I've run across. While neither character nor author get outright insulting, there's a vaguely disdainful attitude toward women who have casual sex, and yet the heroine has sex with the hero before they get married. I don't personally have a problem with a romance author or character arguing in favor of limiting sex to marriage, in fact the heroine of one of the first romances I ever liked does exactly that, and it's a major conflict between her and the hero. However that heroine had what she considered rational arguments in favor of her position, and didn't condemn those who disagreed with her any more than she would if they disagreed over much of anything else. That heroine didn't see herself as superior to those who made different choices, while the heroine of this book seems to view premarital sex as vaguely icky and shameful when other women do it, but perfectly fine when she does it, and that hypocrisy annoys me.
I won't go so far as to say Palmer has started phoning it in, because I don't think so. But maybe she's getting a little cranky about the world heading off in directions she doesn't like.
June 28, 2017
I'm not going to mince words here. This book stank.
I skimmed the last 4 chapters or so because I just wanted it over.
If you've read any DP, then you know the plot bit I can't believe she gets away with writing this stuff in 2016. It reads as if it was written in 1990. In fact, had anyone in it smoked, I'd have thought it was written in 1990.
There is just so much I didn't like about this one:
1a) I just thought of 2 of the most annoying, meaningless parts of the book
a) DP actually writes out the whole Miranda warning. Just in case you've never seen an episode of any iteration of Law & Order
b) there are several pages devoted to some random court case Suri is working on. Why? I've no idea. I skimmed it. Seriously skimmed it.
1) it's one of the law enforcement ones so it involves everyone in Jacobsville and his secretary.
2) while both sisters have cell phones, iPads, and computers, neither ever googled anything to help themselves. Or even out of curiosity.
3) throwing the kitchen sink at the plot.
4) throwing a hurricane at the plot. Literally.
5) nobody in law enforcement in Jacobsville is concerned with ethics. This goes for San Antonio too. This bugs the bejeezus out of me which is why I avoid DPs with mercenaries/cops/agents.
6) info-dumping everything. And not just all the characters and their kids who pop in (see 1a).
I've said it before and I'll say it again. I'm a glutton for punishment and I swear I'm gonna lay off the damn DPs but like an addict jonesin' for my next fix, I keep going back to the library. And who knows what DP would say about that!
I skimmed the last 4 chapters or so because I just wanted it over.
If you've read any DP, then you know the plot bit I can't believe she gets away with writing this stuff in 2016. It reads as if it was written in 1990. In fact, had anyone in it smoked, I'd have thought it was written in 1990.
There is just so much I didn't like about this one:
1a) I just thought of 2 of the most annoying, meaningless parts of the book
a) DP actually writes out the whole Miranda warning. Just in case you've never seen an episode of any iteration of Law & Order
b) there are several pages devoted to some random court case Suri is working on. Why? I've no idea. I skimmed it. Seriously skimmed it.
1) it's one of the law enforcement ones so it involves everyone in Jacobsville and his secretary.
2) while both sisters have cell phones, iPads, and computers, neither ever googled anything to help themselves. Or even out of curiosity.
3) throwing the kitchen sink at the plot.
4) throwing a hurricane at the plot. Literally.
5) nobody in law enforcement in Jacobsville is concerned with ethics. This goes for San Antonio too. This bugs the bejeezus out of me which is why I avoid DPs with mercenaries/cops/agents.
6) info-dumping everything. And not just all the characters and their kids who pop in (see 1a).
I've said it before and I'll say it again. I'm a glutton for punishment and I swear I'm gonna lay off the damn DPs but like an addict jonesin' for my next fix, I keep going back to the library. And who knows what DP would say about that!
July 1, 2018
Too repetitive, as if author and editor were just looking to make word count and it didn't matter how many times a phrase or scene was repeated within a few pages of each other.
February 17, 2019
Disappointing! I always fall for the characters but so much of this book was spent explaining things the reader already knew. Anyway, there was a happily ever after.
July 6, 2016
***I received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review, which was first posted in book blog Will Read for Feels.
When you’ve read an author’s books for a couple of decades, you start to see patterns in their work, in their stories and language. Often it’s like each new book is an old friend. Unfortunately for me, reading Diana Palmer’s Defender, which releases tomorrow with HQN Books, was a bit like showing up to a friend’s house when that friend has woken up on the wrong side of the bed. I didn’t actively dislike the book, but I’ll have to confess to a mild disappointment.
At first glance, the characters were standard DP fare; Isabel “Sari” Grayling is a sheltered, shy girl living with an abusive father and she has a crush on bodyguard Paul Fiore, who feels he’s not only too old and too working class for her, but that his blood-washed history makes him a poor bet for any relationship. Lots of innocent love on her part, lots of self-discipline and self-recrimination on his part. To put distance between them, Paul tells Sari’s father a lie that has terrible repercussions for her, unbeknownst to him. Innocent love turns to betrayed antagonism that rages on years later, when Paul is pulled in to protect Sari. He, by the way, is still hung up on his age, past, and financial status.
If I think about it, because the whole sniping-turns-to-smooching thing is par for the course as far as Palmer’s novels are concerned, I would normally rate this book 3 stars. But what pushed it down for me was Paul’s character. Yes, Palmer’s heroes tend to be a little overblown on the pride and machismo factor, but Paul just takes the cake. Case in point: in one scene, he’s actually happy that the girl he supposedly loves is going to be poorer than expected because there’s a problem with the inheritance she’s supposed to get from the father who abused her since childhood. And he never really redeems himself on this point; the compromise at the end felt shallow and only served to annoy me further.
Truth be told, I’m not sure I can even list a positive swoon factor on this story, simply because this hero’s appalling machismo overwhelmed any swoon-worthy traits he otherwise might have had. I’m hoping the next Palmer book will prove a much more satisfying read.
When you’ve read an author’s books for a couple of decades, you start to see patterns in their work, in their stories and language. Often it’s like each new book is an old friend. Unfortunately for me, reading Diana Palmer’s Defender, which releases tomorrow with HQN Books, was a bit like showing up to a friend’s house when that friend has woken up on the wrong side of the bed. I didn’t actively dislike the book, but I’ll have to confess to a mild disappointment.
At first glance, the characters were standard DP fare; Isabel “Sari” Grayling is a sheltered, shy girl living with an abusive father and she has a crush on bodyguard Paul Fiore, who feels he’s not only too old and too working class for her, but that his blood-washed history makes him a poor bet for any relationship. Lots of innocent love on her part, lots of self-discipline and self-recrimination on his part. To put distance between them, Paul tells Sari’s father a lie that has terrible repercussions for her, unbeknownst to him. Innocent love turns to betrayed antagonism that rages on years later, when Paul is pulled in to protect Sari. He, by the way, is still hung up on his age, past, and financial status.
If I think about it, because the whole sniping-turns-to-smooching thing is par for the course as far as Palmer’s novels are concerned, I would normally rate this book 3 stars. But what pushed it down for me was Paul’s character. Yes, Palmer’s heroes tend to be a little overblown on the pride and machismo factor, but Paul just takes the cake. Case in point: in one scene, he’s actually happy that the girl he supposedly loves is going to be poorer than expected because there’s a problem with the inheritance she’s supposed to get from the father who abused her since childhood. And he never really redeems himself on this point; the compromise at the end felt shallow and only served to annoy me further.
Truth be told, I’m not sure I can even list a positive swoon factor on this story, simply because this hero’s appalling machismo overwhelmed any swoon-worthy traits he otherwise might have had. I’m hoping the next Palmer book will prove a much more satisfying read.
January 3, 2017
Title: Defender
Series: Long, Tall Texans #45
Author: Diana Palmer
Genre: Romance
Blurb: The man who shattered her trust is back to protect her… New York Times bestselling author Diana Palmer delivers a breathtaking story of second-chance love.
When Paul Fiore disappeared from Isabel Grayling's life, he told himself it was for all the right reasons. She was young and innocent, and he was her millionaire father's lowly employee. Three years on, Paul is the FBI agent assigned to Isabel's case. Too late, he realizes what life in her Texas mansion was really like back then—and how much damage he did when he left.
Once love-struck and sheltered, Isabel has become an assistant district attorney committed to serving the law, no matter how risky it gets. But right now, the man she can't forgive is the one thing standing between her and a deadly stalker. She knows Paul won't hesitate to protect her life with his own. But if she can't trust herself to resist him, how can she trust him not to break her heart all over again?
Thoughts: You just can’t go wrong with Diana Palmer! No matter what she writes, it’s great. Even her books that are just an ‘okay’ read are stars above some other authors. Defender was interesting in that it maintained that old Long, Tall Texans vibe to it from the earlier reads in the series, which happen to be my favorites. Defender is just everything you love about Palmer’s writing. Period. While it isn’t my favorite Diana Palmer book, I loved getting flashed back to that older style of writing from her.
Rate: B+
Review by: Sarah
http://www.thebookreadinggals.com
Series: Long, Tall Texans #45
Author: Diana Palmer
Genre: Romance
Blurb: The man who shattered her trust is back to protect her… New York Times bestselling author Diana Palmer delivers a breathtaking story of second-chance love.
When Paul Fiore disappeared from Isabel Grayling's life, he told himself it was for all the right reasons. She was young and innocent, and he was her millionaire father's lowly employee. Three years on, Paul is the FBI agent assigned to Isabel's case. Too late, he realizes what life in her Texas mansion was really like back then—and how much damage he did when he left.
Once love-struck and sheltered, Isabel has become an assistant district attorney committed to serving the law, no matter how risky it gets. But right now, the man she can't forgive is the one thing standing between her and a deadly stalker. She knows Paul won't hesitate to protect her life with his own. But if she can't trust herself to resist him, how can she trust him not to break her heart all over again?
Thoughts: You just can’t go wrong with Diana Palmer! No matter what she writes, it’s great. Even her books that are just an ‘okay’ read are stars above some other authors. Defender was interesting in that it maintained that old Long, Tall Texans vibe to it from the earlier reads in the series, which happen to be my favorites. Defender is just everything you love about Palmer’s writing. Period. While it isn’t my favorite Diana Palmer book, I loved getting flashed back to that older style of writing from her.
Rate: B+
Review by: Sarah
http://www.thebookreadinggals.com
June 16, 2016
Thank you Harlequin Books for gifting this NetGalley reviewer an ARC in exchange for an honest, unbiased opinion for Diana Palmer’s new release, Defender. Having read several of her books in the past, I consider myself quite familiar with this author’s work. Unfortunately, the writing style in this one seemed off to me. It came across stilted and mechanical, which inevitably transferred to the characters. Honestly, there is no reason for me to waste your time reading a lengthy review, my fellow romance book-loving friends. I simply can’t enjoy a book when the writing lacks continuity and the characters feel robotic and unnatural.
Here’s to hoping it was just my early ARC e-book version and a major overhaul was done before final publication. Diana Palmer is a well-established author. I wish her all the best. This one was just a big miss with this avid romance book reviewer.
Title: Defender, Author: Diana Palmer, Pages: 304, stand-alone, lacked continuity, stilted/mechanical writing that lacked continuity, robotic characters, could not finish.
(This review is based on ARC generously provided via NetGalley in exchange for an honest, unbiased opinion. No compensation was paid to the reviewer nor is there any affiliation between the reviewer and author/publisher.)
Here’s to hoping it was just my early ARC e-book version and a major overhaul was done before final publication. Diana Palmer is a well-established author. I wish her all the best. This one was just a big miss with this avid romance book reviewer.
Title: Defender, Author: Diana Palmer, Pages: 304, stand-alone, lacked continuity, stilted/mechanical writing that lacked continuity, robotic characters, could not finish.
(This review is based on ARC generously provided via NetGalley in exchange for an honest, unbiased opinion. No compensation was paid to the reviewer nor is there any affiliation between the reviewer and author/publisher.)
June 14, 2016
3.5 / 5 stars
Diana Palmer is an author who is hit or miss for me. Sometimes, I can be so engrossed in her stories, I don't know what time of day it is. Other times, I simply have a difficult time connecting.
This go-around, I was somewhere in between. I loved the characters, I enjoyed the backstory, I just couldn't stay connected.
When Paul left, he thought he was doing Isabel good. Like most of the world, he only saw what her millionaire father showed the world -- a great house, a lot of money, and two well behaved daughters. He wasn't aware of what went on behind closed doors. When he comes back, it's those secrets that will threaten every feeling he's had -- and his protective streak will get a little bit larger, making him question his hiding of his feelings earlier.
There wasn't a characteristic thing in place that bothered me in this story. I felt that with the backstory and how the plot lined up, the feelings felt organic for the most part. For whatever reason, though, the writing style in this particular Diana Palmer story couldn't grip me to stay completely interested.
*ARC received in exchange for an honest review.
Diana Palmer is an author who is hit or miss for me. Sometimes, I can be so engrossed in her stories, I don't know what time of day it is. Other times, I simply have a difficult time connecting.
This go-around, I was somewhere in between. I loved the characters, I enjoyed the backstory, I just couldn't stay connected.
When Paul left, he thought he was doing Isabel good. Like most of the world, he only saw what her millionaire father showed the world -- a great house, a lot of money, and two well behaved daughters. He wasn't aware of what went on behind closed doors. When he comes back, it's those secrets that will threaten every feeling he's had -- and his protective streak will get a little bit larger, making him question his hiding of his feelings earlier.
There wasn't a characteristic thing in place that bothered me in this story. I felt that with the backstory and how the plot lined up, the feelings felt organic for the most part. For whatever reason, though, the writing style in this particular Diana Palmer story couldn't grip me to stay completely interested.
*ARC received in exchange for an honest review.
March 17, 2016
I received this as an ARC from the bookstore where I work part time & as always, Ms Palmer does not disappoint!!! I continue to adore all the characters that mingle from one story to the next; it's good to read about the goings on of multiple previous characters in her other books. Learning about Paul and Isabel was interesting to say the least. Isabel (Sari) was quite a complex character who one minute is portrayed as a shrinking violet where her father is concerned but quite the go getter when it comes to working for the D.A.; Paul is the same way, a real go getter when it comes to field work with the FBI but quiet as a clam where Isabel is concerned. Though Ms. Palmer's Cowboys will always have first place in my heart, her mercenaries are running in close second.
February 15, 2017
Diana Palmer has been one of my favorite romance writers for many years. This novel provided good escape and fast paced action. The plot involved many characters from previous books but can still stand alone as a single read.
May 16, 2017
2.5 stars
Read
June 1, 2017Miniseries: Long, Tall Texans
October 8, 2018
The description on this one led me astray. For one, I was expecting to jump into a time when Isabel was already an ADA, but the story starts when she's still in college and madly in love with the bodyguard who's ten years her senior. It's not until somewhere in the middle of the book that we skip through a few years to get her through law school and on to the reunion part.
And as for the description's claim that this is a "breathtaking story"? Well, the only thing that took my breath away on this one was the lackluster writing. The descriptions, for one, lacked imagination. I don't think Isabel's eyes were mentioned a single time in the book without being referred to as "her blue, blue eyes." You can't tell me that of all the times you refer to the girl's eyes, you can't come up with a single other way to describe them. It was funny by the third time; after that it was almost horrifying.
The plot was also rather lackluster and a bit hole-ridden. Paul is supposed to be something like the head of security, but he spends most of his time ferrying around his boss' daughters and seems to know little about the overall security operation--the additional cameras, the fact that others shadow the girls, even the remainder of the guards seem a bit sketchy to him. He lives in the house full-time for several years, but never witnesses anything that causes him much concern other than that the girls are very sheltered. The girls reportedly have no opportunity to have friends, yet somehow Isabel has had people gushing over their sex lives with her, and Merrie was able to befriend some dude with out of town connections without her dad noticing (and get close enough to consider heading out of state with him). And the love story itself is pretty cheesy. ("I'm too old for you!" "But I could never love anyone else!")
I finished it. If you just want a sappy romance and don't care if it makes sense or is well-written, go for it. If you like romance but also like a decent plot and strong writing, skip this one.
And as for the description's claim that this is a "breathtaking story"? Well, the only thing that took my breath away on this one was the lackluster writing. The descriptions, for one, lacked imagination. I don't think Isabel's eyes were mentioned a single time in the book without being referred to as "her blue, blue eyes." You can't tell me that of all the times you refer to the girl's eyes, you can't come up with a single other way to describe them. It was funny by the third time; after that it was almost horrifying.
The plot was also rather lackluster and a bit hole-ridden. Paul is supposed to be something like the head of security, but he spends most of his time ferrying around his boss' daughters and seems to know little about the overall security operation--the additional cameras, the fact that others shadow the girls, even the remainder of the guards seem a bit sketchy to him. He lives in the house full-time for several years, but never witnesses anything that causes him much concern other than that the girls are very sheltered. The girls reportedly have no opportunity to have friends, yet somehow Isabel has had people gushing over their sex lives with her, and Merrie was able to befriend some dude with out of town connections without her dad noticing (and get close enough to consider heading out of state with him). And the love story itself is pretty cheesy. ("I'm too old for you!" "But I could never love anyone else!")
I finished it. If you just want a sappy romance and don't care if it makes sense or is well-written, go for it. If you like romance but also like a decent plot and strong writing, skip this one.
February 26, 2024
Diana Palmer needs to retire the Long Tall Texan series, because at this point it has become a vast, bloated mess with a cast bigger than the Simpsons.
Going in to this 378 page book I decided to make a note of every named character along the way. There are 85 named characters in this book. EIGHTY FIVE. Don't believe me? I wrote them down as I went, so here you go:
Isabel Grayling
Paul Fiore
Meredith (Merrie)
Darwin Grayling
Jeb Coltrain
Mandy the housekeeper
Mr Edward
Cousin Mikey
Barbara (she of the cafe)
Cash Grier
Simon Hart
Grayling's Pride (ok, a horse but he counts)
Nancy
Blake Kemp
Glory Ramirez
Rodrigo
Jason Pendleton
Gracie Pendleton
Grace (law student and 'slut')
Randall
Garon Grier
Christobel Gains
Judd Dunn
Eb Scott
Grady
Danny
Betty Leeds
Wisteria Grayling
Kilraven
Winnie Sinclair
Carlie Farwalker
Wolf Patterson
Sara Patterson
Bonnie (from the pharmacy)
Morris (the driver)
Hayes Carson
Marcus Carrera
Tera Caldwell
Old Miss Murphey
Barclay White
Jon Blackhawk
Colter Banks
Gains
Judge Comer
Phillips
Lieutenant Marquez
Timothy Leeds
Camellia
Big John Jacobs
Barton
Rogers
Minette
El Jefe
Cy Parkes
Micha Steele
Tory
Gwen
Markie
Joceline
Mack
Al Butrell
Special Agent Murdock
Viejo
Marx Brannon
Josette
Peter Stone
Jack Blair
Bryan Moss
Anthony Cross
Tony Barca
LaCarta (minor mob boss)
Leo
Sarkey
Lucy
Marie
Brand Taylor
Tippy
Triss
Violet
Bently Rydel
Mr Abernanthy
Ren Colter
Delsy the housekeeper
Simon Marcus
The more I read the Long Tall Texan series the more *amazed* I am at how BAD a writer Diana Palmer has become. But worse, how her editors and publishers simply handwave these books through. I honestly cannot think of any other writer who bloats her books with so many characters, the majority of whom have NOTHING to do with the main plot or main characters.
I gave it three stars because the minority of the book that contained the main story was kinda fun, it's just such a SHAME that a decent 187 page story is smothered in a 378 page books.
Going in to this 378 page book I decided to make a note of every named character along the way. There are 85 named characters in this book. EIGHTY FIVE. Don't believe me? I wrote them down as I went, so here you go:
Isabel Grayling
Paul Fiore
Meredith (Merrie)
Darwin Grayling
Jeb Coltrain
Mandy the housekeeper
Mr Edward
Cousin Mikey
Barbara (she of the cafe)
Cash Grier
Simon Hart
Grayling's Pride (ok, a horse but he counts)
Nancy
Blake Kemp
Glory Ramirez
Rodrigo
Jason Pendleton
Gracie Pendleton
Grace (law student and 'slut')
Randall
Garon Grier
Christobel Gains
Judd Dunn
Eb Scott
Grady
Danny
Betty Leeds
Wisteria Grayling
Kilraven
Winnie Sinclair
Carlie Farwalker
Wolf Patterson
Sara Patterson
Bonnie (from the pharmacy)
Morris (the driver)
Hayes Carson
Marcus Carrera
Tera Caldwell
Old Miss Murphey
Barclay White
Jon Blackhawk
Colter Banks
Gains
Judge Comer
Phillips
Lieutenant Marquez
Timothy Leeds
Camellia
Big John Jacobs
Barton
Rogers
Minette
El Jefe
Cy Parkes
Micha Steele
Tory
Gwen
Markie
Joceline
Mack
Al Butrell
Special Agent Murdock
Viejo
Marx Brannon
Josette
Peter Stone
Jack Blair
Bryan Moss
Anthony Cross
Tony Barca
LaCarta (minor mob boss)
Leo
Sarkey
Lucy
Marie
Brand Taylor
Tippy
Triss
Violet
Bently Rydel
Mr Abernanthy
Ren Colter
Delsy the housekeeper
Simon Marcus
The more I read the Long Tall Texan series the more *amazed* I am at how BAD a writer Diana Palmer has become. But worse, how her editors and publishers simply handwave these books through. I honestly cannot think of any other writer who bloats her books with so many characters, the majority of whom have NOTHING to do with the main plot or main characters.
I gave it three stars because the minority of the book that contained the main story was kinda fun, it's just such a SHAME that a decent 187 page story is smothered in a 378 page books.
August 6, 2017
3.5 stars
Here's my problem as of the last five years or so of Diana Palmer's latest HQNs. I just feel that the romance in these stories are overtaken by the dangerous/suspenseful plot. Just so much is going in these stories and then the pop of past characters that are here to help the heroine and hero with the dangerous villain. And since there's all that going on, there's less focus on the couple and the development of their relationship that it's like an after thought and feels very unrealistic in them falling deeply and passionately in love when they really don't spend that much time together in the story. What I fell in love with in Diana Palmer books in the past was love stories. Creating these great emotional and angsty reads that I couldn't put down. I fell in love just like characters, and Diana did this so well in her older books even in her older HQN like Lawless and Renegade, which are some of my favorites of hers. There was still the suspense plot but the focus of the story was the romance hands. I loved that. That scored so many points in my book and I wish she would go back to that formula. I need more of balance between the romance and suspense just like she used did, and what Lori Foster currently does in her books, who I love by the way.
With this book in particular, it wasn't a bad story, and it was very suspenseful but once again I was let down by the romance and emotional story between Paul and Isabel. And more to the point, I wasn't quite convinced of their deep seated love, at least on his part. I understand due to tragic circumstances kind of knocked some sense into him, but still it felt rushed because in my opinion they didn't spend enough time to develop and grow that love through the story. It was more of a stop and start romance, and I didn't like that. Where's my romance and angst? It wasn't here.
The beginning of the story kind started off slowly, and though it was meant to set up her situation as well as the romantic obstacle between them, I thought it could have been sped up a little. Or what could have been done and would have benefited the story would be the build up between them then the angst that followed.
It got better once the attraction made itself known between them and they started to get closer and closer. And I wanted more of that. More development. More time between them, but that didn't happen, and though I was disappointed I was looking forward to it because then I thought the more juicy parts would come when they were reunited again.
Again I was sorely disappointed. Because there really wasn't an effort put in. Yes, Paul felt bad and they talked, but not as deeply as I would have liked for them to work through their issues so they could be stronger as a couple. Isabel gave in way too easy to especially after what did and in such cowardly way. It was such a betrayal that I thought it would take awhile for to get over (and it should have), but she forgave as soon as he battled his eyes at her. Isabel had a backbone yet she didn't use it with Paul. I get a lot of other stuff was happening around her, but still. I thought they had a lot more to work through then did.
And it kind of irritated me that there wasn't a scene where she show him her scars from her father's beating. I think that would have been such an intimate and prominent moment in their relationship and would have showed his remorse more. I would loved these scene, and I could have seen it so clear in my mind's eye yet it was there. It needed to be just for acknowledgement sake. It missed opportunity because it could have been beautiful scene. But it got pushed on the backburner. Yes it was discussed but it needed to be shown too I think.
I also thought it was lame the reason he gave for them not able to get together. I get it was male pride, but in my view it just felt stupid and unnecessary. It irritated me in fact and made me roll my eyes. It wasn't worth it, though he did realize it in the end, I just belonged there. It didn't make sense to me. The reason that did make sense was him loosing her because her already lost his wife and daughter due to his job. That would made it so much better, and I wish there was more exploration into that because really I only got the bare bones of it. That was reason to keep them apart not the money issue. Granted he did say that was excuse for the real reason he didn't want them together, but I still wished it wasn't there.
The emotional story needed to be explored a little bit more. More angst. More emotional drama between them. More of a push and pull into their relationship that would have made it more interesting. Not if they were kissing, now he pulled away then he was kissing her again. I wanted to see them spend time together more then get pulled apart before coming back together. Yes, that happened in a way, but the moments were so few and far between it was hard to believe the were falling in love. Like I said I want the old formula back.
Now if I did read any of Diana Palmer's books in the past, I might feel a little differently. The suspense side of the story was pretty good and kept me on the edge of my toes. I wanted to see what happened next and if Isabel and Merrie would be alright in the end. The romance was almost a distraction instead of the heart and soul of the story that it should have been. And I really appreciated old characters coming into the story and giving updates of where they currently were. It made want to find their books and reread them again. Some of their romances were good like Cash and Tippy while others I can't really remember because I think like this story they were more focused on the suspense than the romance, which was a blip on the radar, which was probably why I didn't remember. The romance needed to be focus in all Diana's story because if not she would be a romance writer but a thriller writer and I prefer romance writer.
I can only hope with every new romance of hers that comes on that she will go back to old styles of writing and focus on the romance instead of the suspense aspect taking over the plot. I can hope, but I have a feeling I am going to be really disappointed. It won't stop me from reading her books because of glimmer of hope I have. I just have to accept it and take it for what it is. I just wish there would be more romance in these stories than there is because that always Diana Palmer's strength for me. I need that back in my life. We will see what happens in the future. And though this was not a bad book, it definitely wasn't my favorite.
Here's my problem as of the last five years or so of Diana Palmer's latest HQNs. I just feel that the romance in these stories are overtaken by the dangerous/suspenseful plot. Just so much is going in these stories and then the pop of past characters that are here to help the heroine and hero with the dangerous villain. And since there's all that going on, there's less focus on the couple and the development of their relationship that it's like an after thought and feels very unrealistic in them falling deeply and passionately in love when they really don't spend that much time together in the story. What I fell in love with in Diana Palmer books in the past was love stories. Creating these great emotional and angsty reads that I couldn't put down. I fell in love just like characters, and Diana did this so well in her older books even in her older HQN like Lawless and Renegade, which are some of my favorites of hers. There was still the suspense plot but the focus of the story was the romance hands. I loved that. That scored so many points in my book and I wish she would go back to that formula. I need more of balance between the romance and suspense just like she used did, and what Lori Foster currently does in her books, who I love by the way.
With this book in particular, it wasn't a bad story, and it was very suspenseful but once again I was let down by the romance and emotional story between Paul and Isabel. And more to the point, I wasn't quite convinced of their deep seated love, at least on his part. I understand due to tragic circumstances kind of knocked some sense into him, but still it felt rushed because in my opinion they didn't spend enough time to develop and grow that love through the story. It was more of a stop and start romance, and I didn't like that. Where's my romance and angst? It wasn't here.
The beginning of the story kind started off slowly, and though it was meant to set up her situation as well as the romantic obstacle between them, I thought it could have been sped up a little. Or what could have been done and would have benefited the story would be the build up between them then the angst that followed.
It got better once the attraction made itself known between them and they started to get closer and closer. And I wanted more of that. More development. More time between them, but that didn't happen, and though I was disappointed I was looking forward to it because then I thought the more juicy parts would come when they were reunited again.
Again I was sorely disappointed. Because there really wasn't an effort put in. Yes, Paul felt bad and they talked, but not as deeply as I would have liked for them to work through their issues so they could be stronger as a couple. Isabel gave in way too easy to especially after what did and in such cowardly way. It was such a betrayal that I thought it would take awhile for to get over (and it should have), but she forgave as soon as he battled his eyes at her. Isabel had a backbone yet she didn't use it with Paul. I get a lot of other stuff was happening around her, but still. I thought they had a lot more to work through then did.
And it kind of irritated me that there wasn't a scene where she show him her scars from her father's beating. I think that would have been such an intimate and prominent moment in their relationship and would have showed his remorse more. I would loved these scene, and I could have seen it so clear in my mind's eye yet it was there. It needed to be just for acknowledgement sake. It missed opportunity because it could have been beautiful scene. But it got pushed on the backburner. Yes it was discussed but it needed to be shown too I think.
I also thought it was lame the reason he gave for them not able to get together. I get it was male pride, but in my view it just felt stupid and unnecessary. It irritated me in fact and made me roll my eyes. It wasn't worth it, though he did realize it in the end, I just belonged there. It didn't make sense to me. The reason that did make sense was him loosing her because her already lost his wife and daughter due to his job. That would made it so much better, and I wish there was more exploration into that because really I only got the bare bones of it. That was reason to keep them apart not the money issue. Granted he did say that was excuse for the real reason he didn't want them together, but I still wished it wasn't there.
The emotional story needed to be explored a little bit more. More angst. More emotional drama between them. More of a push and pull into their relationship that would have made it more interesting. Not if they were kissing, now he pulled away then he was kissing her again. I wanted to see them spend time together more then get pulled apart before coming back together. Yes, that happened in a way, but the moments were so few and far between it was hard to believe the were falling in love. Like I said I want the old formula back.
Now if I did read any of Diana Palmer's books in the past, I might feel a little differently. The suspense side of the story was pretty good and kept me on the edge of my toes. I wanted to see what happened next and if Isabel and Merrie would be alright in the end. The romance was almost a distraction instead of the heart and soul of the story that it should have been. And I really appreciated old characters coming into the story and giving updates of where they currently were. It made want to find their books and reread them again. Some of their romances were good like Cash and Tippy while others I can't really remember because I think like this story they were more focused on the suspense than the romance, which was a blip on the radar, which was probably why I didn't remember. The romance needed to be focus in all Diana's story because if not she would be a romance writer but a thriller writer and I prefer romance writer.
I can only hope with every new romance of hers that comes on that she will go back to old styles of writing and focus on the romance instead of the suspense aspect taking over the plot. I can hope, but I have a feeling I am going to be really disappointed. It won't stop me from reading her books because of glimmer of hope I have. I just have to accept it and take it for what it is. I just wish there would be more romance in these stories than there is because that always Diana Palmer's strength for me. I need that back in my life. We will see what happens in the future. And though this was not a bad book, it definitely wasn't my favorite.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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