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Amanda
A spellbinding tale of contemporary suspense that begins with a mysterious homecoming and ends in a shattering explosion of passion, greed, and murder. And all because a stranger says her name is... Amanda.Others have claimed to be Amanda Daulton, but now a beautiful, self-assured woman has stepped out of the shadows of the past, insisting she's the missing heiress to a multimillion-dollar fortune. One look is all it takes to assure the family patriarch that she's his beloved granddaughter. But others at the magnificent Southern mansion called Glory are not as easily convinced, others with much to lose from her sudden reappearance. Soon suspicion erupts in a chilling attempt on her life, and after the traumatic ordeal, she begins to have flashes of a nightmarish vision. What, if anything, happened twenty years ago to drive a mother and her nine-year-old daughter away from their privileged life? The struggle to find the elusive answer exposes a frightening trail of secrets—a trail that leads shockingly to the present and to the enigmatic woman who calls herself... Amanda.
386 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 1, 1995
76 people are currently reading
867 people want to read
About the author
Kay Hooper
97 books2,452 followersKay Hooper (aka Kay Robbins) was born in California, in an air force base hospital since her father was stationed there at the time. The family moved back to North Carolina shortly afterward, so she was raised and went to school there.
The oldest of three children, Kay has a brother two years younger and a sister seven years younger. Her father and brother are builders who own a highly respected construction company, and her mother worked for many years in personnel management before becoming Kay's personal assistant, a position she held until her untimely death in March 2002. Kay's sister Linda works as her Business Manager, Events Coordinator, and is playing a major role in the creation and operation of The Kay Hooper Foundation.
Kay graduated from East Rutherford High School and attended Isothermal Community College — where she quickly discovered that business classes did not in any way enthrall her. Switching to more involving courses such as history and literature, she also began to concentrate on writing, which had been a longtime interest. Very quickly hooked, she asked for a Christmas typewriter and began seriously working on her first novel. That book, a Regency romance titled Lady Thief, sold to Dell Publishing in 1980. She has since published more than 60 novels and four novellas.
Kay is single and lives in a very small town in North Carolina, not far from her father and siblings. Deigning to live with her are a flock of cats — Bonnie, Ginger, Oscar, Tuffy, Felix, Renny, and Isabel — of various personalities who all like sleeping on manuscripts and whatever research happens to be spread across Kay's desk. And living amongst the many felines are two cheerfully tolerant dogs, a shelter rescue, Bandit, who looks rather like a small sheepdog, and a Sheltie named Lizzie.
The oldest of three children, Kay has a brother two years younger and a sister seven years younger. Her father and brother are builders who own a highly respected construction company, and her mother worked for many years in personnel management before becoming Kay's personal assistant, a position she held until her untimely death in March 2002. Kay's sister Linda works as her Business Manager, Events Coordinator, and is playing a major role in the creation and operation of The Kay Hooper Foundation.
Kay graduated from East Rutherford High School and attended Isothermal Community College — where she quickly discovered that business classes did not in any way enthrall her. Switching to more involving courses such as history and literature, she also began to concentrate on writing, which had been a longtime interest. Very quickly hooked, she asked for a Christmas typewriter and began seriously working on her first novel. That book, a Regency romance titled Lady Thief, sold to Dell Publishing in 1980. She has since published more than 60 novels and four novellas.
Kay is single and lives in a very small town in North Carolina, not far from her father and siblings. Deigning to live with her are a flock of cats — Bonnie, Ginger, Oscar, Tuffy, Felix, Renny, and Isabel — of various personalities who all like sleeping on manuscripts and whatever research happens to be spread across Kay's desk. And living amongst the many felines are two cheerfully tolerant dogs, a shelter rescue, Bandit, who looks rather like a small sheepdog, and a Sheltie named Lizzie.
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 84 reviews
November 26, 2022
This novel was written about 20 years ago and I truly liked reading something older, written from a different perspective. I can get so caught up in reading the newest and brightest that I forget about the gems from the past. Anyhow, this is a good one-I didn’t see the ending coming.
March 26, 2017
אחד מהספרים האהובים עלי !
ביקורת בהמשך
ביקורת בהמשך
October 17, 2023
This was so enjoyable and I can’t quite put my finger on why, but I think it’s because it felt almost like a V. C. Andrews’ novel mixed with a classic 90s lifetime romance movie? Picture big family secrets and the hero literally grabbing the heroine by the shoulders and shaking her. It was kooky and very fun and also mysterious and atmospheric. Loved it.
February 9, 2023
It is my belief that every author has one perfect book in them. Not flawless, but... magical. This is Kay Hooper's perfect book. I'm not sure how many times I've reread this, but I've loved the book more every time I've done so. The atmosphere, the VIBE - I cannot get enough. One of my top favorites.
July 29, 2010
Excellent first half with thrilling sense of desperation type of mystery.
But the sleazy absolutely unnecessary romance in second half totally ruins the book from top notch mystery to sleazy romance novel.
But the sleazy absolutely unnecessary romance in second half totally ruins the book from top notch mystery to sleazy romance novel.
May 27, 2016
Hard to put this one down as the story is so engaging. Just a quick and easy read with enough plot twists and turns to keep the reader turning pages. Light fiction reading for times when you just want to have fun.
March 23, 2019
Once I picked up this book, I couldn't put it down. The suspense is great and the story kept my interest the whole time.
January 29, 2009
To soap-opera for my taste.
August 16, 2010
Probably one of my top ten books of all time :)
September 12, 2019
Amanda doesn't get a warm welcome from the family she claims is hers. Others have done the same and been proven wrong.
But Amanda is different...at least the woman who claims she is...
It takes guts to walk into the lion’s den which is essentially what Amanda has chosen to do. But it doesn’t take long for anyone to figure out she has more than her fair share of the commodity.
No one trusts her and Amanda makes no secret that she returns the sentiment. Only one member of the family believes her…or wants to. Jesse is looking for his lost granddaughter and he believes he’s found her. The rest of the family…not so much. But when it comes right down to it he’s the only one who really matters.
And then there’s Walker. He’s not a member of the family but might as well be. But for Amanda he poses a wrinkle in her plan that she didn’t count on…and is uncertain how to deal with.
The story is filled with twists and sharp turns when you least expect them, and swerving curves that come out of nowhere. Initially none of the family member can be characterized as best-friend material but in the end they all show redeeming qualities that make you more likely to forgive their less sterling ones.
And though it’s easy not to think much of Amanda’s mother throughout…we also learn that when push came to shove we learn who Amanda inherited her healthy dose of guts from.
But beware of believing too early on you know who the bad guy is…he may turn out to be better than you think…and one of the good guys turns out to be far, far worse than we can imagine….like I said…lots of sudden and unexpected sharp turns and swerving curves.
But Amanda is different...at least the woman who claims she is...
It takes guts to walk into the lion’s den which is essentially what Amanda has chosen to do. But it doesn’t take long for anyone to figure out she has more than her fair share of the commodity.
No one trusts her and Amanda makes no secret that she returns the sentiment. Only one member of the family believes her…or wants to. Jesse is looking for his lost granddaughter and he believes he’s found her. The rest of the family…not so much. But when it comes right down to it he’s the only one who really matters.
And then there’s Walker. He’s not a member of the family but might as well be. But for Amanda he poses a wrinkle in her plan that she didn’t count on…and is uncertain how to deal with.
The story is filled with twists and sharp turns when you least expect them, and swerving curves that come out of nowhere. Initially none of the family member can be characterized as best-friend material but in the end they all show redeeming qualities that make you more likely to forgive their less sterling ones.
And though it’s easy not to think much of Amanda’s mother throughout…we also learn that when push came to shove we learn who Amanda inherited her healthy dose of guts from.
But beware of believing too early on you know who the bad guy is…he may turn out to be better than you think…and one of the good guys turns out to be far, far worse than we can imagine….like I said…lots of sudden and unexpected sharp turns and swerving curves.
April 20, 2025
I feel like I’m raring this too high. There was a good Gothic atmosphere at times, but this is not a traditional Gothic romance. It has a lot of the same tropes, but it is run through a Dynasty/Dallas filter and has some spicy romantic scenes mixed in. The best Gothic romances usually have a single POV so that we can relish in some claustrophobia. This book muddies the water with multiple POV‘s and completely pointless side plots. Everything involving Kate and her relationship with Ben could be cut from the book and you would not know the difference. The sex is particularly jarring in the genre, and this may be the first Gothic romance I have read with multiple references to a man’s seed. I will give it props for its multiple conversations around safe sex, something rarely seen in any genre novel in the 90s.
The author also has a tendency to withhold information that does not need to be withheld. I understand that the main characters background is supposed to be a mystery and that is very important to the plot. It is not important for the author to tease out the names of the two Dobermans. It makes for awkward narrative structure.
I guess I would ultimately give this a 2.5 but I’m rounding up. I probably won’t bother with this author again.
The author also has a tendency to withhold information that does not need to be withheld. I understand that the main characters background is supposed to be a mystery and that is very important to the plot. It is not important for the author to tease out the names of the two Dobermans. It makes for awkward narrative structure.
I guess I would ultimately give this a 2.5 but I’m rounding up. I probably won’t bother with this author again.
May 20, 2024
Twenty years after she and her now-dead mother fled during a stormy night, Amanda Daulton has come home to her family's Carolina estate to reclaim her birthright. Or is she Amanda? Whether she is or not, someone is unhappy about her return and may do something deadly about it. Kay Hooper has fun with a well-worn trope, injecting it with a fair amount of sexual tension among her characters. While the novel's publishers claimed the novel was in the spirit of Victoria Holt, it is hardly that: Holt only wrote one contemporary gothic ("Bride of Pendorric") and never in the third-person. If anything, "Amanda" is reminiscent of 1970s Phyllis A. Whitney, overlaid with Nora Roberts. Those combinations aren't a bad thing: they ensure that the reader will enjoy working through this skillfully written romantic suspenser.
December 4, 2018
Even though there had been others who had come forward claiming to be Amanda Daulton, lawyer Walker McLellan has no reason or proof to believe that she is the long lost granddaughter of his client Jesse Daulton who is worth hundreds of millions. After her mother's death in a car accident Amanda finds papers that sends in search of finding out what happened that faithful stormy night 20 years ago when her mother took her and ran way. all she had are short flashes of memories and a few nightmares that she cant figured out and now she feels someone is out to kill her but does it have to do with what happened 20 years ago or is someone afraid that she may be who she claims to be and the be cut out of Jesse's will.
December 8, 2018
This is a really solid Gothic style romantic suspense novel. It's set in the 1990s (contemporary when it was written) and it's about a wealthy and traditional Southern clan whose patriarch is desperate to find his long lost granddaughter before he dies. Several women have claimed to be Amanda, whose mother ran off with her years before, but the most recent candidate seems to be the most likely. This book was written before DNA testing was really as good as it is now, so of course this plot wouldn't work in 2018. It's a good story with a lot of twists and a great suspenseful atmosphere. The romance was a bit much and felt forced, but I enjoyed the mystery quite a bit.
December 31, 2019
I've read this author before, years back, but had forgotten how much I enjoy her work. (Always a risk with so many books yet to read & already being 2/3 through my life.) Kind of a modern Southern gothic feel. Suspenseful, but not gory, with a tangible sense of place, and a twisty - but not convoluted - plot. Not life-changing, but really enjoyable.
January 18, 2018
3.5 stars. Tried new author since the title of the book caught my eye being my youngest is named Amanda. Kept you guessing through the whole book and hard to put down. A lot more smutty than I expected!
November 22, 2020
Loved this book. It was a page tuner all the way through. I was completely shocked to find out who the “villain “ was. It could have been any one of the characters.
So glad I finally picked it off my shelves of hundreds of books!
So glad I finally picked it off my shelves of hundreds of books!
February 5, 2018
By: Kay Hooper
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 28, 2020
Great read. It kept me intrigued and the ending was really a shocker!
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September 10, 2020This was a slow build up. And the story wasnt very intriguing
December 19, 2020
Compelling family secrets and mystery
June 11, 2021
Although I enjoy her current books, I can't quite figure out what is missing in her earlier books. A few I really enjoyed and some not at all. The majority of them are missing something and I can't put my finger on what it is. The characters are shallow? the mystery is there and enough to keep me reading but not enough to keep me from skipping through a great deal.
January 24, 2022
The mystery is compelling, but a bit confusing to me. Still, the book has one of the hottest scenes in the romance world and is worth the read for that alone.
May 17, 2022
Loved this book, especially the ending. The combination of romance and mystery makes it interesting and I didn't see the ending coming.
June 15, 2022
Unexpected
The plot twist was the best part of this enjoyable book. As always "Thank you, Kay Hooper !" Well done!
The plot twist was the best part of this enjoyable book. As always "Thank you, Kay Hooper !" Well done!
November 4, 2022
This was a really good read with lots of intrigue.
August 14, 2023
Good plot twists
August 16, 2023
I picked up this old book because I had it and I really enjoyed it. A couple nice little twists.
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September 27, 2024I enjoyed this book, very interesting throughout the whole book
Displaying 1 - 29 of 84 reviews