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The Callaways #10

Tender is the Night

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Barbara Freethy's NYT Bestselling Series THE CALLAWAYS continues with another romantic, page-turning and heart-warming novel about love, loyalty and risking it all.

FBI agent Kate Callaway is on her way to San Francisco for a family wedding when her boss asks her to make a side trip to deliver an important message to a rogue ex-agent.

Devin Scott wanted FBI resources to find a serial killer who is believed to be dead. Instead, he gets a newly minted agent who is a beautiful, idealistic and irritating distraction. He wants her to walk away, and she knows she should go…but she can't.

Suddenly, Kate is caught up in a cold-case mystery and the arms of a dangerously sexy man, whose obsession with truth and justice could put not only his life on the line but also hers.

325 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 8, 2016

922 people are currently reading
644 people want to read

About the author

Barbara Freethy

155 books2,697 followers
Barbara's love of writing developed out of a love of reading. Growing up in an all-boy neighborhood, she spent quite a bit of time reading through her mother's large library, many of which were romantic novels. After graduating from the University of California at Santa Barbara, she went into Public Relations, but soon discovered that writing was her true passion.

Barbara was traditionally published for many years, then formed her own publishing company FOG CITY PUBLISHING in 2011 and has since sold over 10 million books! She has published 75 novels ranging from mystery thrillers to romantic suspense and contemporary romance.

Her book SUMMER SECRETS was a #1 New York Times bestseller! And twenty-five other novels have also appeared on the New York Times and USA Today Bestseller Lists. She is currently writing two ongoing series, a contemporary romance series set in Whisper Lake and a romantic suspense series: Off The Grid: FBI Series. She is also known for her bestselling Callaway Family Series, which offers up fourteen books and two novellas.

When Barbara isn't writing or publishing, which isn't very often these days, she is playing tennis, hanging out with friends and family in beautiful Lake Tahoe or reading books!

For a complete list of her books, visit her website!

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5 stars
809 (51%)
4 stars
534 (33%)
3 stars
199 (12%)
2 stars
30 (1%)
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14 (<1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 112 reviews
Profile Image for Virginia Lloyd.
177 reviews25 followers
April 5, 2016
Wow, I couldn't put it down once I started reading!


Scott did it again, allowing assumptions to get him into hot water. To make it worse, the object of his assumption could possibly be a life saver for his quest to find the person who caused his partner's death. Unable to believe that the FBI had correctly solved the arsonist case, he left the bureau to go out on his own searching for truths he felt uncovered. In doing so, he had angered, been banned from and had doors slammed in his face.

Little did he know that Kate Callaway had been sent to give him one last chance to sway the official opening of the cold case. Kate didn't take kindly to his blanket assumption that she was just another wife who had been cheated on. In fact, it almost had her walking away from this man who had a haunted look in his eyes.

Will she give him a chance, will he take this little awkward help from his friend? Most importantly, will the two of them be able to do what he alone could not? Read Barbara Freethy's Tender Is The Night and immerse yourself in yet another Callaways saga.

Profile Image for Brandi Sartin lawrence.
660 reviews6 followers
May 9, 2016
This book keeps you in the edge of your seat. You get mystery, suspense, and romance all in one. Once you start reading you won't be able to put it down! Can't wait for the next one!
Profile Image for Jon C. Hooper.
332 reviews2 followers
May 22, 2019
Love With a good crime story

This is a good crime story with a great developing relationship between Kate, a FBI Special Agent and Devin a EX FBI agent now PI who are brought together to solve a string of arson cases. The relationship develops over time making this a good book.
Profile Image for Janis.
229 reviews6 followers
January 31, 2017
Another great visit to san Francisco

I loved Kate and Devin story and catching up with the rest of the callaways. Highly recommended. Well done barb
Profile Image for Keri.
1,353 reviews39 followers
July 16, 2017

3 Stars - I liked it


QUICK REVIEW:

In A Nutshell:: Well written contemporary romance with an arson investigation as the backdrop.

Male Lead:: Intense, loyal, smart, stubborn, and of course good looking with a ripped body

Female Lead:: Optimistic, smart, loyal, snarky and of course beautiful

Secondary Characters:: Huge, fun, civic minded family

POV:: His & Hers

Plot/Storyline:: Devin's FBI partner died in a fire while working an arson case. He believes the wrong man was blamed for the fires but no one believes him. He leaves the FBI to dedicate his time to looking for the true arsonist. After 18 months Devin finds a new lead, Kate, a newbie FBI agent, is sent to offer him help for a few days, she's also there to see if he really does have something to go on or if he's lost it completely. As they work the case together, they grow closer.

Dialogue:: Good, realistic

HEA::

Drama/Angst:: Low

Triggers::

Romance:: Low to moderate build

Sexual Tension/Chemistry:: Moderate

Sex scenes:: About two. Very mild. Barely any description. It mostly starts with them kissing, then we're told they're touching but not in descriptive detail, then it turns to how nice they are together and other flowery stuff. No harsh language.

Cheating::

OW/OM Situations::

Separation::

Would I recommend this book:: If you are in the mood for a contemporary romance, heavy in plot, mild on romantic descriptions, low on angst, then yes, I would recommend this book

Would I re-read this book:: Probably not.

Would I read future books by this author:: Probably not. It was a bit too tame for me.

Profile Image for Pam.
4,625 reviews68 followers
October 23, 2019
Tender is the Night: Callaway Cousins Book 2; Callaways Book 10 is by Barbara Freethy. This is a cute novel about love in the most unexpected places and finding an arsonist and murderer.
Special Agent Kate Callaway was on a special assignment for her boss. He had asked her to take five days for this assignment and then she was on vacation to attend her twin sister’s wedding. Since both were in San Francisco;
Kate agreed which is why she found herself in the office of Devin Scott listening to him tell her what he thought of the FBI sending him an agent who was in her first year on the force. That is how much they wanted to hear his theories on how and why his partner, Samantha Parker had died. Like the police, they thought the murderer had been killed in the same fire that got Samantha. Devin knew better but couldn’t prove it.
After Kate set him straight on how she could help him and that her time was limited, Devin finally, reluctantly, gave in. After all, she did have some better connections than he did with all her relatives on the San Francisco Fire department, especially her cousin Emma who was an arson investigator.
Would they be able to find the murderer and arsonist in time? Was he simply a figment of Devin’s imagination?
Profile Image for Kat.
Author 14 books607 followers
June 1, 2023
TENDER IS THE NIGHT continues the Callaway Cousins series, the spinoff of the Callaways series. In this book, brand new FBI agent Kate Callaway is investigating an arson case and Devon Scott is the former partner of an agent who was killed trying to find the serial arsonist. I really liked the suspense plotline in this one, which covered quite a few cases and had multiple suspects. I continue to like the way that we see couples from previous books hang around and see how their lives have developed. I love long romance series like this one for this reason. These romances are easy to read and flow well. Did not guess the arsonist in this one, which is always the mark of a good mystery to me! 4/5 stars.
Profile Image for Meghan.
3,394 reviews7 followers
December 16, 2019
A true blend of the firefighting, community serving, police oriented family and actions that the Callaways are known for. Through Kate and Devins story we see the importance of family and solve a serial arson case that has been going on for over a year. Their frustration, humor, love, angst and all emotions are vividly portrayed on each page and I am all about it.

While the story focuses on Kate and Devin we still see other Callaways from all generations through family gatherings, weddings, work and socializing! I enjoyed this story and their dynamic, can’t wait for the next book!
Profile Image for Pamela A..
734 reviews12 followers
June 6, 2025
𝑩𝒂𝒓𝒃𝒂𝒓𝒂 𝑭𝒓𝒆𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒚 𝒊𝒔 𝒂𝒏 𝒂𝒖𝒕𝒐𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒄 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒅 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒎𝒆! 𝑯𝒆𝒓 𝒃𝒐𝒐𝒌𝒔 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒂𝒓. ☺️☺️☺️

𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒍 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕, 𝒎𝒚𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒖𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒓𝒐𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒇𝒂𝒎𝒊𝒍𝒚 𝒃𝒐𝒏𝒅𝒔 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒄𝒉 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒂𝒃𝒔𝒐𝒍𝒖𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝒂𝒎𝒂𝒛𝒊𝒏𝒈. 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒚𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒔𝒐𝒏𝒊𝒔𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒌𝒆𝒑𝒕 𝒎𝒆 𝒈𝒖𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒆𝒅, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒂 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒄𝒌 𝒊𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒆𝒃𝒖𝒈 𝒘𝒂𝒔!! 𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒂 𝒔𝒂𝒅 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒐𝒏 𝒉𝒂𝒅. 🥲🥲 𝑵𝒐 𝒔𝒑𝒐𝒊𝒍𝒆𝒓𝒔. 𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒃𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝒊𝒔 𝒑𝒂𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒅 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒖𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒄𝒉 𝒌𝒆𝒑𝒕 𝒎𝒆 𝒉𝒐𝒐𝒌𝒆𝒅. 𝑰 𝒉𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒍𝒚 𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒘𝒐𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒇𝒖𝒍 𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔!! 🥰🥰🥰
1,076 reviews
August 5, 2020
I'm very surprised as to the 4 and 5 ratings for this book. This is my first book by this author and I thought this book was boring. Whenever a story is based on two main characters and nothing else going on it needs to be a strong story in order for the characters to carry the book and this did not happen. One FBI agent and one former agent and the person who committed the crime wasn't on the radar. She came out of left field - WOW.
Profile Image for Gail.
Author 25 books216 followers
November 16, 2017
Good read. The hero is an ex-FBI agent determined to find the killer of his partner in an arson case. The heroine is the brand-new FBI agent sent out as a favor to see if she can help. Most of the book is spent on the clues and problem solving, but there are a few moments of dealing with her family by him pretending to be her new boyfriend, and bonding emotionally. I enjoyed reading it.
2,140 reviews3 followers
March 25, 2017
Tender Is The Night...

It goes beyond just being an awesome series. Fabulously written with characters with wit, humor and that stand up and out. Action packed and dramatic. Sexy and angst filled. Intense twists and turns. I love this family.
577 reviews1 follower
May 12, 2017
Just ok

Loved Devin and Kate but the book was only good not excellent as I expected. Writing was a little stilted, storyline hard to follow, and a little too close to explicit sex scenes.
Profile Image for Susan.
2,474 reviews13 followers
April 24, 2020
Another great one

I love the way these stories are so well filled out and revealed, and I love the characters. This is Kate and Devin's story. It is full of mystery with some excitement. A very entertaining book!
1,097 reviews1 follower
November 13, 2020
A quick, enjoyable read

I do like this author. Her settings and characters are always great. Her plots have just enough intrigue to keep you going without being overblown. This family tree can be hard to keep track of, though, so it's a good thing she gives me clues!
Profile Image for Laura.
110 reviews1 follower
Read
April 17, 2021
Love those Callaways!

Barbara Freethy is a consistently great writer. Her characters are authentic, her situations original and compelling. Reading about the Callaways is like coming home to your extended family. You know them all and are happy to hear how everyone is doing!
Profile Image for Sarah.
2,305 reviews9 followers
June 23, 2017
The Callaway novels are fun stories. I enjoy them. And this one had an excellent mystery. I fell for all the red herrings. Now I need to find a copy if the next one.
40 reviews1 follower
December 6, 2017
Love the series
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Jennie Fortna.
2,547 reviews29 followers
January 1, 2018
Another great Callaways book! ! Well done and love catching up with the Callaways..
Profile Image for Jenna.
142 reviews1 follower
September 23, 2018
Quick read. Basically the same storyline of all her books. Really tired the word dryly.
92 reviews
June 8, 2019
I love reading the stories about the Callaways.
Profile Image for Barbara.
1,610 reviews22 followers
August 4, 2019
Enjoyable

Suspense, danger, romance, great family dynamics, sticking to your beliefs and following your dreams. And a HEA. I’m enjoying the Calloway family stories.
5 reviews
May 11, 2020
Good story, but the dialogue overshadowed action and relationship.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 112 reviews

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