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Dark Vista #2
Dark Valentine
Lesbian romantic suspense: Rhianna Lamb avoided one night stands. But who could resist sexy, charming Jules? They hooked up in a bar, first names only, not exactly Rhianna's style but she needed to escape her life for a few hours. Come tomorrow, she would take the witness stand against Werner Brigham, the man who had stalked and kidnapped her a year earlier. She can't believe it when she walks into the courtroom the next morning and finds herself staring at the woman she just slept with - none other than Julia Valiant, Brigham's hotshot defense attorney. Worse still, the woman whose touch she remembers so well brutally cross-examines her and demolishes the prosecution's case.
Jules didn't earn her attack dog reputation by soft-peddling witnesses, but she suffers pangs over Rhianna. She is oddly drawn to this woman, a rare occurrence in her life, and by the time the jury returns its verdict, she is determined to see her again. Her chances don't look good when Werner Brigham is acquitted. Worse still, her client seems to think he can return to his old habits, this time with deadly intent.
Danger and desire fuel a high stakes cat-and-mouse game, Jules has to win. But even if she does, will Rhianna ever forgive her?
Jules didn't earn her attack dog reputation by soft-peddling witnesses, but she suffers pangs over Rhianna. She is oddly drawn to this woman, a rare occurrence in her life, and by the time the jury returns its verdict, she is determined to see her again. Her chances don't look good when Werner Brigham is acquitted. Worse still, her client seems to think he can return to his old habits, this time with deadly intent.
Danger and desire fuel a high stakes cat-and-mouse game, Jules has to win. But even if she does, will Rhianna ever forgive her?
224 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 2007
6 people are currently reading
175 people want to read
About the author
Jennifer Fulton
19 books67 followersLibrarian note:
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name
Jennifer Fulton is the romance pen name of best-selling lesbian romance and mystery novels writer Jennifer Knight. She is the prolific author of romance and mystery novels under three pen names — Jennifer Fulton, Rose Beecham, and Grace Lennox. She was first published by the Naiad Press in 1992. Jennifer is a recipient of the Alice B. Reader's award for Lesbian Fiction, multiple Golden Crown Literary Award winner, and Lambda Literary Award finalist for both romance and mystery.
Jennifer Fulton, Rose Beecham, Grace Lennox
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name
Jennifer Fulton is the romance pen name of best-selling lesbian romance and mystery novels writer Jennifer Knight. She is the prolific author of romance and mystery novels under three pen names — Jennifer Fulton, Rose Beecham, and Grace Lennox. She was first published by the Naiad Press in 1992. Jennifer is a recipient of the Alice B. Reader's award for Lesbian Fiction, multiple Golden Crown Literary Award winner, and Lambda Literary Award finalist for both romance and mystery.
Jennifer Fulton, Rose Beecham, Grace Lennox
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
February 3, 2017
Wow. This one starts off hot. Takes some disturbing turns. Gets hot again. Takes even more disturbing turns. Gradually heats back up. Then the climax.
A little far fetched here and there, but nothing too terrible. Very sexy love scenes. Felt rushed in a couple places (especially the big show down with the baddie.) But overall, a twisty turny read sort of like a sexy roller coaster ride.
A little far fetched here and there, but nothing too terrible. Very sexy love scenes. Felt rushed in a couple places (especially the big show down with the baddie.) But overall, a twisty turny read sort of like a sexy roller coaster ride.
September 6, 2017
2 stars rating that i have to go over sometime in the future when i've processed this book.
The beginning is fast-paced and makes the reader eager to know what these two ladies are up to. So the first half of the book is good, just not so great, but shit starts to unravel and touchy topics are discovered about one of the protagonists. From then on I find the book weird and unrealistic in the way they fall into each other and the way they react to staff that is quite heavy and shocking, so specifically about this i would say that some parts of the book sacrifice some sense and respect for easy romance, and that for me is a deal breaker.
The beginning is fast-paced and makes the reader eager to know what these two ladies are up to. So the first half of the book is good, just not so great, but shit starts to unravel and touchy topics are discovered about one of the protagonists. From then on I find the book weird and unrealistic in the way they fall into each other and the way they react to staff that is quite heavy and shocking, so specifically about this i would say that some parts of the book sacrifice some sense and respect for easy romance, and that for me is a deal breaker.
January 9, 2019
This was a good story, 3.25 stars . Ms. Fulton is a great writer and I enjoyed her style, and look forward to checking out more of her books. The first 10% was excellent; I thought the author did a great job in trying to portray how Rhianna wants to get over her fear of being touched by going for a one-night stand. This wasn't glossed over, we readers are privy to her change of facial expressions, glazed eyes as memories take hold, yet shakes herself out of it to try to be present in the moment and re-gain control of her life. And Jules senses this too, but consistently gets consent to keep going. I don't know why, but this first part really affected me.
At first I was horrified by what Jules did to Rhianna in the courtroom, and actually loved this angle. In my head, I shouted "there is NO WAY the characters can get past this... will the author throw me off and actually make them part ways at the end? What a rare thing in lesfic!" If an author can make me as a reader feel those kind of disgusted feelings, then well done. Jules makes no apologies for how much she likes her job or how good she is at it, even though to many, it sounds pretty terrible, defending such people as Werner.
Also, the author did her research on narcissistic personality traits, that was nice to see. The story was interesting overall, though I would like to know more about Jules, and I liked that the story was interspersed with sexual heat/tension throughout. Most books wait til 3/4 of the way through, but Ms. Fulton kept dangling the carrot. Where the book lost points for me was the
At first I was horrified by what Jules did to Rhianna in the courtroom, and actually loved this angle. In my head, I shouted "there is NO WAY the characters can get past this... will the author throw me off and actually make them part ways at the end? What a rare thing in lesfic!" If an author can make me as a reader feel those kind of disgusted feelings, then well done. Jules makes no apologies for how much she likes her job or how good she is at it, even though to many, it sounds pretty terrible, defending such people as Werner.
Also, the author did her research on narcissistic personality traits, that was nice to see. The story was interesting overall, though I would like to know more about Jules, and I liked that the story was interspersed with sexual heat/tension throughout. Most books wait til 3/4 of the way through, but Ms. Fulton kept dangling the carrot. Where the book lost points for me was the
February 23, 2011
I wonder if some things are so easy to forgive
February 1, 2017
Me puse a leerlo con la finalidad de no dejar la trilogía a medio camino. En esta nueva entrega vuelve a quedarse a mitad de camino y desperdicia lo que podría haber sido una buena historia.
March 6, 2018
Holly crap
Drawn in by the danger kept by the suspense and sustained by the romance this was one hell of a book
Drawn in by the danger kept by the suspense and sustained by the romance this was one hell of a book
March 4, 2019
I liked the story. But it was too hasty. It had a lot of potential, and it felt like the author just didn't want to have too much trouble with a more complete and filling story. The jumps in time are uncoordinated and messy. The relationship between the two women progressed too quickly, and this kind of story needed more angst. A lot more! The end was too rushed and simplistic.
June 11, 2018
A fun read, engaging characters and nothing too serious.
January 14, 2021
Cheap pornography
April 10, 2012
First off this is a MUCH better book than the first one I read, but I'm still not sure what this book has to do with the others in the series... I see no connection what so ever.
Characters wise I saw a huge improvement but I still found the main character, Kate/Rhianna to be rather lacking... After a tramatic experience like hers I'm really disappointed that she didn't do more to be incontrol of her life. I wish she had learned self-defence or something that would have been able to give her a leg up. Instead she played damsel in distress,which for me was rather off-putting. As for Jules, I really did enjoy how strong of a character she was.... for me that was most enjoyable. And Werner was protrayed with the right about of creepy asshole.
Over all the stroy was decent, but it just seemed to drag along for me, and the ended seemed rather anticlimactic, but over all its not a horrible story... just not one that I would read again.
Characters wise I saw a huge improvement but I still found the main character, Kate/Rhianna to be rather lacking... After a tramatic experience like hers I'm really disappointed that she didn't do more to be incontrol of her life. I wish she had learned self-defence or something that would have been able to give her a leg up. Instead she played damsel in distress,which for me was rather off-putting. As for Jules, I really did enjoy how strong of a character she was.... for me that was most enjoyable. And Werner was protrayed with the right about of creepy asshole.
Over all the stroy was decent, but it just seemed to drag along for me, and the ended seemed rather anticlimactic, but over all its not a horrible story... just not one that I would read again.
August 20, 2013
This book is intense, and I would say the writing seriously went up a notch. But the character development went downhill. For this plot, it's really important to connect to the characters - particularly Rihanna. All the characters are incredibly one-dimensional. Towards the very end, a personal story about Jules is shared to explain her personality and behaviour. It basically makes no sense and does not further the plot or the character development at all.
Rihanna should be a relatable character. She tells the story that many young women go through. Yet, she is nothing beyond what happened to her and that is something women in her situation fight to AVOID becoming. Also a lot of the characters were just unrealistic (but that could just be how it was written).
Rihanna should be a relatable character. She tells the story that many young women go through. Yet, she is nothing beyond what happened to her and that is something women in her situation fight to AVOID becoming. Also a lot of the characters were just unrealistic (but that could just be how it was written).
September 9, 2010
2.5 stars
June 8, 2015
My absolute favorite book during middle school.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews