What do you think?
Rate this book
Family Secrets #9
Connor
HOOFDPERSOON: Connor Quinn
ACHTERGROND: rijke uitvinder, dood gewaande broer van de X5
DIEPSTE GEHEIM: verbergt achter zijn blinde ogen zijn echte angsten en verlangens
Connor Quinn is als baby vanwege zijn blindheid naar een weeshuis gestuurd. Van zijn afkomst weet hij niets, en hij heeft dan ook geen verklaring voor zijn uitzonderlijke talenten. Zijn uitvindingen zijn wereldberoemd, maar zelf leeft Connor als een kluizenaar. Wanneer de kinderpsycholoog Alyssa Fielding voor hem komt werken, merkt ze al snel dat hij niet in staat is om liefde en warmte te ontvangen. Ze beseft dat ze de sleutel tot Connors zelfhaat moet zoeken in zijn geheimzinnige achtergrond. Ook al kan wroeten in zijn verleden levensgevaarlijk zijn...
ACHTERGROND: rijke uitvinder, dood gewaande broer van de X5
DIEPSTE GEHEIM: verbergt achter zijn blinde ogen zijn echte angsten en verlangens
Connor Quinn is als baby vanwege zijn blindheid naar een weeshuis gestuurd. Van zijn afkomst weet hij niets, en hij heeft dan ook geen verklaring voor zijn uitzonderlijke talenten. Zijn uitvindingen zijn wereldberoemd, maar zelf leeft Connor als een kluizenaar. Wanneer de kinderpsycholoog Alyssa Fielding voor hem komt werken, merkt ze al snel dat hij niet in staat is om liefde en warmte te ontvangen. Ze beseft dat ze de sleutel tot Connors zelfhaat moet zoeken in zijn geheimzinnige achtergrond. Ook al kan wroeten in zijn verleden levensgevaarlijk zijn...
255 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 2004
3 people are currently reading
80 people want to read
About the author
Myrna Mackenzie
241 books23 followersA former teacher, Myrna Mackenzie has always been a daydreamer and began putting those daydreams to use when she sold her first book in 1993.
Her work has won the Holt Medallion for outstanding fiction and the Booksellers Best Award, she's been nominated for the Romantic Times Reviewer's Choice Awards 4 times and been a finalist in the Orange Rose, the Reader's Choice and WisRWA's Write Touch. Sold worldwide, her books have been translated into many languages.
Her success has, of course, been largely due to many faithful readers. So, to all of you out there who have bought books, written letters and e-mails and continued to share in the stories she loves to write, thank you, and may you have much happiness and joy in reading and in life!
Her work has won the Holt Medallion for outstanding fiction and the Booksellers Best Award, she's been nominated for the Romantic Times Reviewer's Choice Awards 4 times and been a finalist in the Orange Rose, the Reader's Choice and WisRWA's Write Touch. Sold worldwide, her books have been translated into many languages.
Her success has, of course, been largely due to many faithful readers. So, to all of you out there who have bought books, written letters and e-mails and continued to share in the stories she loves to write, thank you, and may you have much happiness and joy in reading and in life!
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
September 15, 2018
Interesting cover choice, considering our blind hero never played the piano in the story. Are blind pianists a stereotype? Maybe so. Still wondering why this choice was made. Anyway...onto the review.
Connor Quinn was the sixth sibling, triplet to Gretchen and Jake, who was genetically engineered but born blind at birth and therefore more or less discarded. He was left at an orphanage where he grew up feeling mostly rejected, but for the feeling of home he got from his beloved Woodland Haven. As an adult, he now owns the orphanage he grew up in and adores the children there, but otherwise keeps himself isolated and aloof from human contact. Alyssa Fielding comes on as director of the orphanage, reluctantly accepted as a hire, as Connor doubts her ability, determination and whether or not he can resist his attraction and connection to her. Despite Connor's gruff and often rude behavior, Alyssa finds herself falling for him. And he for her, though he knows a future with her is impossible, because she deserves a family, and being the flawed and different man that he is, he wouldn't be able to give that to her. And when Jake Ingram arrives in Connor's life and reveals to him what he REALLY is, this decision becomes even more important to Connor. And so he must push Alyssa away or risk hurting her even more.
Similar to the previous story - this is a very solid story and does have a pretty important event as far as the story arc goes. . Connor's backstory is very interesting and I definitely feel that he had more justification for his cold and aloof personality than Faith did in Fever. However, the same effect is in place...it's hard to really connect emotionally to Connor because he keeps himself emotionally walled off. Alyssa is quite emotional and very easy to connect to, and very drawn to the sort of emotionally unavailable guy that Connor is. It's a recipe for heartbreak, but she can't seem to help herself. I at least appreciate that Connor is hard on himself for being rude and rejecting to her. He sits and talks to himself about how he's such an asshole, and it's kind of adorable. And while the chemistry and the passion between Connor and Alyssa is pretty strong, their actual emotional moments came across as a bit lacking in passion... Alyssa had a very touching separation scene with the kids, but her reunion with Connor was subpar in comparison. I think I wanted more from them. And I was a bit disturbed that Alyssa never actually SAYS "I love you." to Connor, even though he says it to her multiple times. This felt especially important since it's Connor who has doubts about whether he can be loved in the first place.
In the end, Connor meets up with his siblings and starts his arm of the investigation for Gideon, realizing that Gideon is basically probably his genetic twin...or at least created to be a "successful" version of himself. It's really nice to see all the siblings together and their natural chemistry as a unit. I'm looking forward to Gideon's joining the group.
I'll also say this. I was impressed with the author's ability to write a character who had been blind from birth - I didn't notice any glaring errors like Connor thinking up colors or thinking about "seeing" something in his mind's eye sort of stuff. I think I see why so many authors choose to write about characters who went blind later in life...so they still had a reference point for all the language being used and could visualize things in their head. It's gotta be hard to write a character who cannot visualize what he/she hasn't touched. Still, I rolled my eyes at the number of times people described things to Connor and included their colors, as though he had a reference for comparison...though maybe he had a sort of vague idea of the concept.
Connor Quinn was the sixth sibling, triplet to Gretchen and Jake, who was genetically engineered but born blind at birth and therefore more or less discarded. He was left at an orphanage where he grew up feeling mostly rejected, but for the feeling of home he got from his beloved Woodland Haven. As an adult, he now owns the orphanage he grew up in and adores the children there, but otherwise keeps himself isolated and aloof from human contact. Alyssa Fielding comes on as director of the orphanage, reluctantly accepted as a hire, as Connor doubts her ability, determination and whether or not he can resist his attraction and connection to her. Despite Connor's gruff and often rude behavior, Alyssa finds herself falling for him. And he for her, though he knows a future with her is impossible, because she deserves a family, and being the flawed and different man that he is, he wouldn't be able to give that to her. And when Jake Ingram arrives in Connor's life and reveals to him what he REALLY is, this decision becomes even more important to Connor. And so he must push Alyssa away or risk hurting her even more.
Similar to the previous story - this is a very solid story and does have a pretty important event as far as the story arc goes. . Connor's backstory is very interesting and I definitely feel that he had more justification for his cold and aloof personality than Faith did in Fever. However, the same effect is in place...it's hard to really connect emotionally to Connor because he keeps himself emotionally walled off. Alyssa is quite emotional and very easy to connect to, and very drawn to the sort of emotionally unavailable guy that Connor is. It's a recipe for heartbreak, but she can't seem to help herself. I at least appreciate that Connor is hard on himself for being rude and rejecting to her. He sits and talks to himself about how he's such an asshole, and it's kind of adorable. And while the chemistry and the passion between Connor and Alyssa is pretty strong, their actual emotional moments came across as a bit lacking in passion... Alyssa had a very touching separation scene with the kids, but her reunion with Connor was subpar in comparison. I think I wanted more from them. And I was a bit disturbed that Alyssa never actually SAYS "I love you." to Connor, even though he says it to her multiple times. This felt especially important since it's Connor who has doubts about whether he can be loved in the first place.
In the end, Connor meets up with his siblings and starts his arm of the investigation for Gideon, realizing that Gideon is basically probably his genetic twin...or at least created to be a "successful" version of himself. It's really nice to see all the siblings together and their natural chemistry as a unit. I'm looking forward to Gideon's joining the group.
I'll also say this. I was impressed with the author's ability to write a character who had been blind from birth - I didn't notice any glaring errors like Connor thinking up colors or thinking about "seeing" something in his mind's eye sort of stuff. I think I see why so many authors choose to write about characters who went blind later in life...so they still had a reference point for all the language being used and could visualize things in their head. It's gotta be hard to write a character who cannot visualize what he/she hasn't touched. Still, I rolled my eyes at the number of times people described things to Connor and included their colors, as though he had a reference for comparison...though maybe he had a sort of vague idea of the concept.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 7, 2011
: Hero is a blind mathematical genius, raised in an orphanage, keeping aloof from all contact with the outside world—until he hires a new director for the children’s home he currently supports and lives near. She won’t let him retreat. And when he learns the truth about his origins and his birth family, he tries to hide once more. Pretty good story.
Read
January 12, 2009Loved this one too. One of the Extraordinary five, but was discarded because because he was blind, but was reunited with his brothers and sisters.
March 9, 2016
A good quick read and a good addition to the Family Secrets series.
December 12, 2011
This is by far the best of the whole series the others were ok or really bad..
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews