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Hard Candy
A homicide detective finds himself crossing a forbidden line and risking his career when he falls in love with his prime suspect, a beautiful woman whose husband has been murdered and whose money has been stolen. Original.
376 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published July 1, 1998
2 people are currently reading
34 people want to read
About the author
Mary Lynn Baxter
148 books31 followersMary Lynn Baxter was born on 28 July 1943 in Lufkin, Texas, USA, where she bred, home of the cowboy - hero of the Western romance, which is one of the most popular of the category's sub-genres. She would be the first to say that it's her background that gives her a unique feel for romance writing.
Since she was a young girl, books and reading have been an important part of her life. Only after she read all the "goodies" in her public library did her mother encourage her to buy Harlequin romances, then 35 cents each. Wow! Those reading years laid the background for her decision to major in Library Science at the University of North Texas in Denton, Texas, and become a school librarian.
After eight years of working in various school systems, she felt a need to do something different. What she wanted was to open a bookstore. With the help of her husband, Leonard, and her mother, Mary Lynn did just that. For over 20 years she sold books, and loved every minute of it. Then Mary Lynn decided she needed a new challenge. Following an intense amount of pushing and prodding from her husband she took the plunge and tried her hand at writing.
After months of agonising and chewing her nails, she finally mailed All our Tomorrows to Silhouette books in February 1981. One year later it was published as a Silhouette Special Edition. Now, over 40 books later, she's still writing. Mary Lynn can't think of anything else she'd rather do with her time and energy. She surfaces from her writing, she's a voracious reader. But this petite dynamo is always happy to tumble out of her world of fiction into her local fitness center for a bracing workout. She's also dedicated to her volunteer work... and still manages to fit in plenty of quality time with her family at their home in Lufkin, Texas.
Since she was a young girl, books and reading have been an important part of her life. Only after she read all the "goodies" in her public library did her mother encourage her to buy Harlequin romances, then 35 cents each. Wow! Those reading years laid the background for her decision to major in Library Science at the University of North Texas in Denton, Texas, and become a school librarian.
After eight years of working in various school systems, she felt a need to do something different. What she wanted was to open a bookstore. With the help of her husband, Leonard, and her mother, Mary Lynn did just that. For over 20 years she sold books, and loved every minute of it. Then Mary Lynn decided she needed a new challenge. Following an intense amount of pushing and prodding from her husband she took the plunge and tried her hand at writing.
After months of agonising and chewing her nails, she finally mailed All our Tomorrows to Silhouette books in February 1981. One year later it was published as a Silhouette Special Edition. Now, over 40 books later, she's still writing. Mary Lynn can't think of anything else she'd rather do with her time and energy. She surfaces from her writing, she's a voracious reader. But this petite dynamo is always happy to tumble out of her world of fiction into her local fitness center for a bracing workout. She's also dedicated to her volunteer work... and still manages to fit in plenty of quality time with her family at their home in Lufkin, Texas.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
March 21, 2008
I don't really seem to have a solid opinion on this book. I'm not sure I liked it, but I didn't dislike it. I guess it was just sort of average. There's was nothing that made it awful, but there was also nothing that made it stand out as a must-read.
Everything about the book as a whole was...decent...the plot, the characters, the romance, etc. All were okay, sometimes good, but not outstanding. At times I was bored while reading it; I occassionally felt that Baxter spent too much time on the extraneous characters, and not enough on Blythe and Ryker. I just didn't care a lick for Eleanor or Frank and they didn't need all those solo scenes to get the points across that Baxter was trying to make.
Plot-wise...interesting enough, but pretty basic and at times uninspiring. The ending I felt was too brief. I didn't feel like Baxter gave it enough thought and attention. There was a big conflict between Ryker and Blythe and Baxter solves it with the snap of her fingers. It didn't do justice to the relationship or the problems between them....it just didn't work for me. Then there was this issue with one of the antagonists. He's caught at the end and injured, but suddenly in the epilogue, he's in and insane asylum...huh? What? Baxter tells us where he ends up, but not how or why and it made no sense to me. I didn't get it.
So to sum it up...not a bad book. If you come across it used like I did, it'd be worth reading, but it's definitely not something to run right out and find.
Everything about the book as a whole was...decent...the plot, the characters, the romance, etc. All were okay, sometimes good, but not outstanding. At times I was bored while reading it; I occassionally felt that Baxter spent too much time on the extraneous characters, and not enough on Blythe and Ryker. I just didn't care a lick for Eleanor or Frank and they didn't need all those solo scenes to get the points across that Baxter was trying to make.
Plot-wise...interesting enough, but pretty basic and at times uninspiring. The ending I felt was too brief. I didn't feel like Baxter gave it enough thought and attention. There was a big conflict between Ryker and Blythe and Baxter solves it with the snap of her fingers. It didn't do justice to the relationship or the problems between them....it just didn't work for me. Then there was this issue with one of the antagonists. He's caught at the end and injured, but suddenly in the epilogue, he's in and insane asylum...huh? What? Baxter tells us where he ends up, but not how or why and it made no sense to me. I didn't get it.
So to sum it up...not a bad book. If you come across it used like I did, it'd be worth reading, but it's definitely not something to run right out and find.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Displaying 1 of 1 review