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Lombards #5
Gabriel West: Still The One
Gabriel Still The One by Fiona Brand released on Apr 24, 2003 is available now for purchase.
256 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published May 1, 2003
About the author
Fiona Brand
161 books50 followersFiona Brand has always wanted to write.
After working eight years for the New Zealand Forest Service as a clerk, she decided she could spend at least that much time trying to get a novel published.
Luckily it took five years, not eight, before Fiona wrote her first award-winning novel.
She has won the Australian Romantic Book of the Year award (category section) twice, one of her novels was listed by Romantic Times as one of their all-time top two hundred favorite romance books and she has been featured in Next and She magazines.
Fiona lives in a subtropical South Seas paradise called the Bay of Islands with her two sons.
After working eight years for the New Zealand Forest Service as a clerk, she decided she could spend at least that much time trying to get a novel published.
Luckily it took five years, not eight, before Fiona wrote her first award-winning novel.
She has won the Australian Romantic Book of the Year award (category section) twice, one of her novels was listed by Romantic Times as one of their all-time top two hundred favorite romance books and she has been featured in Next and She magazines.
Fiona lives in a subtropical South Seas paradise called the Bay of Islands with her two sons.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
August 6, 2009
I really liked this book. Gabriel West is a former SAS (British special forces soldier) who has come back to New Zealand to make a 2nd chance happen with his estranged wife Tyler Laine. They have been separated for 5 years because she couldn't handle his absences (due to his job) and he thought he couldn't handle the emotional ties to his wife and do his job without getting killed. While on an operation, he sees a woman who resembles his wife get killed and it all comes home to him: if Tyler were to die he would never have that 2nd chance. So he quits the SAS and goes home to NZ. He moves into the same apartment complex she lives in with the plan being to get close to her again and reconcile.
Tyler has never stopped loving Gabriel but has moved on with her life. However he still haunts her dreams and she continues to wonder what might have been, especially after seeing him move into her building.
Tyler is an antiquities dealer for her adopted family's business, and when some very priceless jade she had been working with goes missing, then she is attacked in a parking garage, she knows something is seriously wrong and she is in danger. She knows there is no one who could protect her better than her husband Gabriel, and when he saves her life during the parking garage attack, she isn't hard to convince when he moves her into his place so he can watch her and protect her.
Gabriel has dreamed of a second chance with Tyler and when she accepts his protection he is very happy, although torn about the circumstances under which it happens. This is his nightmare coming to life. He will do everything within his power to ensure Tyler is safe AND ensure that she knows he wants her in his life.
What I liked about this book was that they had never divorced and never cheated on each other during their time apart. I can easily see why they separated and don't blame either one for taking the "easy" route that they did. Both grew up with less than stellar childhoods and had issues with abandonment, which played into the demise of their early marriage. For them, taking a break was probably a good thing and allowed them to see the other person for who they really were and to see INSIDE that person to the emotions we aren't always comfortable sharing - even with those we hold the closest. I also liked that once they had their reconciliation moment, we didn't have the usual back and forth wavering. They got together and stayed together and their relationship never backtracked. And I liked that we didn't spend entire chapters rehashing 'what went wrong' and playing the blame game. They had a few intelligent conversations, Gabriel made his intentions clear and she accepted him.
The mystery in the book was good, believable and had a resolution I could live with. The setting in New Zealand was awesome - you don't see that very much. The one and only problem I had with the book was at the very end with the epilogue, which I thought was a little strange. I won't go into particulars because it would be a major spoiler.
Overall grade: A
Tyler has never stopped loving Gabriel but has moved on with her life. However he still haunts her dreams and she continues to wonder what might have been, especially after seeing him move into her building.
Tyler is an antiquities dealer for her adopted family's business, and when some very priceless jade she had been working with goes missing, then she is attacked in a parking garage, she knows something is seriously wrong and she is in danger. She knows there is no one who could protect her better than her husband Gabriel, and when he saves her life during the parking garage attack, she isn't hard to convince when he moves her into his place so he can watch her and protect her.
Gabriel has dreamed of a second chance with Tyler and when she accepts his protection he is very happy, although torn about the circumstances under which it happens. This is his nightmare coming to life. He will do everything within his power to ensure Tyler is safe AND ensure that she knows he wants her in his life.
What I liked about this book was that they had never divorced and never cheated on each other during their time apart. I can easily see why they separated and don't blame either one for taking the "easy" route that they did. Both grew up with less than stellar childhoods and had issues with abandonment, which played into the demise of their early marriage. For them, taking a break was probably a good thing and allowed them to see the other person for who they really were and to see INSIDE that person to the emotions we aren't always comfortable sharing - even with those we hold the closest. I also liked that once they had their reconciliation moment, we didn't have the usual back and forth wavering. They got together and stayed together and their relationship never backtracked. And I liked that we didn't spend entire chapters rehashing 'what went wrong' and playing the blame game. They had a few intelligent conversations, Gabriel made his intentions clear and she accepted him.
The mystery in the book was good, believable and had a resolution I could live with. The setting in New Zealand was awesome - you don't see that very much. The one and only problem I had with the book was at the very end with the epilogue, which I thought was a little strange. I won't go into particulars because it would be a major spoiler.
Overall grade: A
November 3, 2008
I was torn in writing my review. I just adored Gabriel so much from the other books that just being able to read his book was heaven. I was iffy about his wife though. But I guess if he loved her, and he got her back, then I'm happy for him.
February 19, 2020
The h in Chapter 1/2 admits it felt like she was in the middle of a B-Grade movie and that would have been right. Some random guy starts following her, there is a jade robbery, random attacks exactly when the H Gabriel West witnesses it. A few too many plot holes. It was definitely the worst book I ever attempted to read. I gave up quickly but not quick enough. The author wants to force a situation for the estranged couple to come together and worked backwards with no rhyme and reason. There is a diamond thief who stole the jade who also turns out to be a serial killer suddenly in the last chapter thrown into the mix who had randomly picked h as a target. A random puppy for no reason whatsoever without a tag pops up and they discuss who gets to bath it. It gets worse in the epilogue with the h randomly declaring the jade belonged to H a few thousands of years back and reincarnation pops out of h's mouth and pregnancy gets thrown in by H.
I was wrong there is not too many plot holes, instead there is no plot just random people, jade, reincarnation, guns, puppy, hooker, kitchen sink are all just thrown in randomly here and there.
I was wrong there is not too many plot holes, instead there is no plot just random people, jade, reincarnation, guns, puppy, hooker, kitchen sink are all just thrown in randomly here and there.
April 2, 2020
For some reason, even though this book wasn't great, I remember this author and bits of this story line, even the name of the book....Kinda of a decent feat after almost a decade between reading it and then reviewing it.
This story wasn't top-notch but Brand's writing flowed better than most and I was impressed by her story-telling ability. I bet she could do good things with a full-sized novel that didn't have to follow that ingrained formula of "romance" serials.
This story wasn't top-notch but Brand's writing flowed better than most and I was impressed by her story-telling ability. I bet she could do good things with a full-sized novel that didn't have to follow that ingrained formula of "romance" serials.
April 6, 2016
Gabriel West Still the One by Fiona Brand is a fast paced read. Gabriel and Tyler's story is loaded with drama, humor and sizzle. Ms Brand did a wonderful job with the characters in this book, they are my favorite part of the story. I enjoyed reading Gabriel West Still the One and look forward to reading more from Fiona Brand in the future.
December 16, 2020
Re read this book recently and was again somewhat disappointed .
July 1, 2012
Titre vf : Dangereuse passion
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews