Dream Man Marlie Keen was trying to lead a quiet, ordinary life. She thought the clairvoyance that allowed her to witness crimes as they happened had been destroyed in the nightmare of her past. Then one night it returned with a vengeance, and she desperately needed to find someone to make it stop. Detective Dane Hollister of the Orlando police department had never met anyone like Marlie. He had doubts about her clairvoyance, but there was no doubt how much he desired her. Her soft, sweet scent set his blood afire, and he wanted to wrap her in his arms and chase the sadness from her eyes. To Marlie, Dane was all heat and hard muscle, and he made her body come alive as it never had before. But not even she could foresee where their passion would a hungry quest for the elusive, dreamy ecstasies of love...and a dangerous journey into the twisted mind of a madman who would threaten their happiness and their lives.... After the Night A poor, outcast child in Prescott, Louisiana, Faith Devlin had always adored the town's golden boy from afar. But he called her white trash that sultry Southern night when his rich, respected father disappeared, along with her pretty mom. Now Faith wanted to hate Gray Rouillard...not to feel a powerful surge of desire. But she couldn't quench her passion, any more than she could hide the truth about the past she had waited so long to unravel. Even when he raised hell, Gray Rouillard did it with style. Reckless, charming, and backed by Rouillard money, Gray controlled the town of Prescott -- and Devlin was a name he never wanted to hear again. But when he gazed at Faith Devlin, all he saw was a swirl of tangled sheets and her silken flesh beneath him. To care for her was impossible, unthinkable...because Gray Rouillard planned to use all his power to ruin her.
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.
Linda S. Howington is an American best-selling romance author writing under the pseudonym Linda Howard. After 21 years of penning stories for her own enjoyment, she submitted a novel for publication which was very successful. Her first work was published by Silhouette in 1982. She is a charter member of Romance Writers of America and in 2005 Howard was awarded their Career Achievement Award.
Linda Howard lives in Gadsden, Alabama with her husband, Gary F. Howington, and two golden retrievers. She has three grown stepchildren and three grandchildren.
Have only read the first book in this duo, which was After the Night.
I finished it, so it must have been okay, hence the two stars. However, I felt a little "icky" reading it and wanted to jump in a cool mountain spring afterward to rid myself of the lingering miasma. Anything that makes me feel that way just can't receive more than two stars. It just can't.
I know this is a popular book and I don't know why it struck so many ways of wrong, but it really did. I won't delineate every deplorable, uncomfortable scene, but I had more than one disgusted, eye-rolling, hero-hating moment and it tainted any chance for enjoyment.
Dream Man is another well-loved book and am hoping it is more "up my alley" than the first one.
After the Night - 1 star - This book was trash. Gray was a disgusting pedophile who treated Faith like $hit and she was a brainless doormat who forgave everything he did because she "loved him" so much. Dream Man - 1 star - I had always wanted to read this book because I love books about psychics but Dane was SUCH a d!ck, I hated him from the start. I could understand him being skeptical but even after he saw Doctor Ewell and began to believe in Marlie’s abilities he still tried to intimidate her. He leered at her, blatantly staring at her legs and breasts; he crowded her, deliberately touching her without her consent. He told her that he still didn’t believe her and tried to provoke her and was delighted to see that she was “frightened” and “hostile”. He taunted her and dared her to prove him wrong by reading his mind. He did everything he could to make her uncomfortable and so that he could seduce her while she was in an emotionally vulnerable state. When she told him “NO” and tried to push him away, he said, “Hush. I’m just holding you” and forced her to stay in his arms. She had to BITE him to get him to release her.
Maybe it’s because this book was so outdated that the author thought that was an acceptable way for a man to treat a woman but that’s not the kind of romantic “hero” that I want to read about.
After I stopped reading, I went and read some of the reviews and when I found out that he deliberately outed her in order to use her as bait for the killer despite the YEARS it had take her to recover the last time that happened, I was happy that I hadn’t bothered to finish.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
I love Linda Howard! Found her years ago with "Now You See Her" and "Son of the Morning". Those I have read twice. I enjoy her characters and unique plot twists which keeps me up late. Stuck at home, I am on a Linda H. binge and have sent several copies to friends. Thank you Amazon!
Linda Howard never disappoints. The great characters she builds and the tension in the stories really grab you. The women are not wusses, but believable yet strong.
Both of these books by Linda Howard are "character" books. I read them both when they were first published and enjoyed them just as much when I re-read them a short while ago.
First, Dream Man was a journey into the paranormal land of psychics and seers. I enjoyed the by-play between Dane and Marlie and I know that the subject matter, even at the time it was written, didn't appeal to everyone. It appealed to me because I enjoy reading Linda Howard's writing style.
Second, After the Night was the more compelling of the two. It used nothing paranormal in this story of the Louisiana dirt poor and the "Golden Boy" Gray Rouillard. A lot of this book is taken up with the backstory, which truly lays the foundation for a great story and an unfailingly well-written romance.
Don't ask if I would recommend. There's been only one of Howard's books that was just ok, and the rest I would recommend to anyone who loves the genre.
These books are classics. I read these books back in hugh school. So far this year, I have had a since of nostalgia. I am glad of this. Read these books you will see what I mean. They are instant classics.