Without A Trace

by Catherine Anderson

For genealogist Sarah Montague, finding an adoptee's natural parents, even with few clues, was routine. But in Michael De Lorio's case, the only clue was the terrifying nightmare that had haunted him all his life—a nightmare that he feared might be a memory of a terror that was all too real.

Even so, Michael had never dreamed that his search for the truth could lead to danger. But as he and Sarah delved deeper into his past they were threatened at every turn. Shared dangers gave them a common goal—survival. And their only hope for life—and love—was to rebury the past and disappear without a trace.

Genres: Romance, Romantic Suspense, Category Romance, Contemporary Romance, Ebooks, Harlequin

249 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1989

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
(1)romance author:
Adeline Catherine was born and raised in Grants Pass, Oregon, USA. She always yearned to be a writer like her mother. The morning that one of her professors asked if she could use samples of Catherine’s creative writing on an overhead projector to teach was a dream come true. In 1988, she sold her first book to Harlequin Intrigue and went on to write three more before she tried her hand at a single-title historical romance. Nine books later, she did her first single-title contemporary.

Catherine married Sidney D. Anderson, an industrial electrician and entrepreneur. They had two sons, Sidney D. Jr. and John G. In 2001 she and her husband purchased a central Oregon home located on a ridge with incredible mountain views and surrounded by forestland honeycombed with trails. It was her dream home, a wonderland in the winter and beyond beautiful in the summer. She named it Cinnamon Ridge after the huge ponderosa pines on the property, which sport bark the color of cinnamon.

Sadly, Catherine lost her husband to a long-term illness in 2014. She has kept Cinnamon Ridge as her primary residence but divides her time between there and her son John's farm, where she has the support of her loved ones and can enjoy his horses, cows, and raise her own chickens.

Catherine loves animals and birds, both wild and domestic. She presently has two Australian shepherds, six cats, and a very old canary. She is very family oriented as well. Her older son has lived in Japan, Australia, and now resides in New Zealand. Catherine and her stateside family will celebrate Christmas on the north island with Sidney, his wife Mary, and their two sons, Liam and Jonas.

Reviews

[Saly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another mediocre read for my Monday, which I know happens especially when you go on an oldie binge which is what I am doing. I found the book dated and the hero/heroine and their action so TSTL!The hero has been having dreams of a blood-soaked room and contacts the heroine to trace his adoptive parents despite being told by his father to let things lie. Immediately the threats, vandalism start but do these people figure it out nope! I was left feeling so frustrated throughout the book with these two. I have realised I am not a fan of the Intrigue line so much and that is why I rarely read it.

[jenjn79 · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've been curious about the four Harlequin Intrigue books Anderson wrote since I started reading her stuff. I missed buying them when they were reissued 2 years ago, but finally got 2 of them out of the library recently (and picked up 1 used).

For as long as he can remember, Michael has had horrible nightmares of blood and terror, and he's beginning to think they may be repressed memories. But whenever he tries to get answers about his childhood, he is stonewalled at every turn. So he goes to genealogist Sara Montague for help. As soon as Sarah starts digging - and getting results - bad things start to happen. And seen both find their lives in danger. To save themselves and to have a chance to explore the chemistry between them, they must find out the truth about Michael's mysterious past before it's too late.

Though I won't say this was a bad book, it just didn't really do anything for me. I actually found myself bored most of the time. This is mainly for 2 reasons.

One being that Michael wasn't my type of romance novel hero. Not that he was a bad guy or anything. He just didn't appeal to me. He's more Beta than Alpha - and not even an interesting, odd, geeky Beta, but more along the lines of just dull and unassuming. There was nothing about him to make him stand out. And there were a few times near the beginning where he was bordering on wishy-washy. So I just couldn't find much about him to keep my interest.

The second reason was that the romance got a little too sappy at times. For a large part of the story, there's only subtle undertones of a romance brewing, but then when there were romantic scenes, they were just...sappy. And they made me roll my eyes.

Aside from that, the storyline was okay. A little predictable, though. So all-in-all, this was just an average read. Personally, I didn't think it was anywhere near as good as Anderson's full-length novels. But that's just my opinion.

[Sara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Who are you, and where is Catherine Anderson?

Seriously, this was...so different from every other book of hers I've read. It's set in the city! No horses! Dogs, but only a few and they're just part of the final climax! A cat! The heroine keeps a cool head and her angst is subtle! The guy is the broken one with the scary past! No attempted rape! Both the hero and the heroine get in trouble and rescue each other! And for once, you wonder if there's going to be a happily ever after and the couple's separation near the end is actually sad and not "oh brother, not this shit again". The mystery's actually engaging and the villains are chilling in a subtle way. Just. WOW.

If you can't tell, I really enjoyed this book. For the story, but also because it dared to be different. Which is ironic considering it's one of her earliest books. I read it from the "Sweet Dreams" duology, but I hope I can get my hands on a copy of this one alone. Anderson, I hope you write more like this in the future.

[Widala · Rating 4 out of 5]

First of all, if you're looking for a romance story with a little bit of action in it, this book is not for you. It's an action pack masquerading as a Harlequin book.
But for me, after reading it a few pages I've became invested with the action part I didn't mind the romance taking the back seat. Its twists and turns made me difficult to put this book down.
What I like most was how Sarah and Michael was such a good team. They supported each other, rescued each other. And even sometimes Michael tried to be this gallant macho hero, he understand that it took the two of them to overcome this ordeal.
Sarah was a great heroine. She's strong and capable but she had her moments of vulnerability.
The romance a bit low key but it's an inherent part of the story. They started with physical attraction of course, but along the way, they bonded and grew to trust and depending on each other and it just so sweet.

[Mary Ni · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was amazing. i love it. it was about this man name michael who was adopted and is trying to find his biological parents.His adoptee father wont let him but michael continue to dig until it was too late to turn back. michael was wanted by two groups of people. one group was the La Grande who was very powerful in chicago and wanted micheal so he could get hold of micheal's adoptee father. while the other group was michael's uncle, who wanted to kill him so he can continued to enjoy all of the luxuries that were left by michael's biological father. as the story progresses, it was very hard to read, because i can never expect what might happen next.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this story. It was written in 1989, so you must remember this was before the days of cell phones and internet. Sarah owns her own business helping people who have been adopted track down their birth families. But when she takes Michael's case, neither of them dream of the secrets hidden in his past. The more clues she finds, the more danger they are both in. They build a relationship while trying to find answers and running for their lives, trying to stay alive. They don't dare trust anyone but each other. But when the truth comes out and the danger is past, will they have a future together? This was a quick and enjoyable novel, heavier on suspense than romance. It's quite different from her more modern romance novels!

[Linda George · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an older Catherine Anderson novel and I enjoyed it. The heroine, Sarah Montague, was a genealogist and her efforts to help Michael De Lorio find his birth parents leads them into grave danger. Michael has terrible nightmares from his childhood of hiding under a bed and hearing gunshots and seeing blood. He wants to find out what really happened to him. Sarah's investigation leads to attacks on both of them amid a growing attraction. There were a umber of twists and turns, but disappearing at the end made good sense.

[Barb · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good book but sometimes a little boring. It’s a Mafia type story.

[livros100fim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gostei do livro. Não é lamechas nem uma história super cor-de-rosa. É um livro sobre a vida actual, em que, muitas vezes, decuidamos a nossa vida pessoal, a favor da profissional, ao ponto de quase perdermos a oportunidade de ter uma familia, um relacionamento, alguém que goste realmente de nós pelo que somos.
É também um livro sobre as familias monoparentais de hoje, em que os divórcios separam os casais e os filhos, e em que nem sempre é fácil ultrapassar as dificuldades que surgem e curar as feridas que ficam.

[Liz Sergent · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read a book a few years ago about an person looking for their birth parents. I thought this book would be just as good but it was a little bit of a let down. So much of the plot was not realistic and I am sorry but the main lead was a Psychiatrist - he could handle the truth. Another issue was all of the names, I was flipping back trying to remember who was who and who had what name in the past and now. Very confusing. Unfortunately this is not going to be on my keeper shelf.

[Maria · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ms. Anderson does edge-of-the-seat, spine-tingling suspense well and manages to keep it up for over half the book. I've thoroughly enjoyed these out-of-prints from an excellent author, although I question the logic of what the two main contagionists do quite often throughout the book. They seem a little slow on the uptake from time to time.

[Lauren · Rating 3 out of 5]

An older Catherine Anderson book. The suspense was great, the romance a little lacking. Anderson has definitely evolved as a writer since her earlier novels.

Michael was adopted and goes to Sarah's company to help him find his birth parents. The action and suspense kept me invested in the book because the romance was just ok.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Early Catherine Anderson. Nice suspense, good action, a little light on the romance, but still a nice read.

[Eileen Carter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very fast paced book with many twists and turns that will leave you shocked at the end.

[Michelle · Rating 1 out of 5]

This books was not interesting to me at all About a man trying to find his birth parents and someone is out to kill him.

[Ashley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just what I like to read!