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ncrabb's review against another edition
2.0
The accountant is a nondescript embezzler. He’s worked for years to maintain that nondescript demeanor. He’s just not someone you’d notice in a crowd, and he’s someone you soon forget even after a conversation, so average and bland is he. But he has stolen from his company, and not a small amount. The thing is, he knows the boss will soon be on to him if he doesn’t take evasive action. The solution? Encourage the boss, an outdoors kind of guy, to accompany him on a bear hunt in Montana. Then the nondescript accountant arranges a little accident, and ah, shucks! The big boss is gone before anyone notices the theft.
Ah, the best-laid plans. It doesn’t take long before the boss stumbles onto Adam’s theft, and Adam, the accountant, must move more quickly than he had planned.
Angie Powell is on the verge of bankruptcy. When her dad died, she thought she could move back home and take over his wilderness guide company. She tried, but competitor Dare Callahan proved too savvy and capable a competitor. She wants to sell out, and the only potential buyer is none other than Dare Callahan. Angie determines to lead one last wilderness hunt, and it turns out that Adam the embezzler and his boss are her last clients.
The black bear weighs more than 500 pounds, and it has developed a taste for human flesh. It has killed before, and it’s going to again, and this time, the kill directly impacts Angie’s business. For reasons he can’t explain, Dare Callahan worries about Angie up there in those unforgiving mountains with two male clients. He sets up camp near her so he can keep an eye on her.
The rest of this is so predictable you’ll want to hurl. The marauding bear kills a member of Angie’s party, the other guy steals Angie’s horses and strives to escape, she gets injured and …
I’ll leave it to you to read this and find out what happens. This is just ho-hum romance dressed in suspense and mystery’s clothes. If you like that kind of thing, (and I’m less and less patient with it the older I get because of the tropes, the predictability, and the condescending stuff-little bankrupt girl needs rescuing by perpetual-hard-on tough guy—and a summer storm holds everyone hostage, and they can’t do anything but play doctor in the secluded mountain hideaway. Good grief! Spare me!
Ah, the best-laid plans. It doesn’t take long before the boss stumbles onto Adam’s theft, and Adam, the accountant, must move more quickly than he had planned.
Angie Powell is on the verge of bankruptcy. When her dad died, she thought she could move back home and take over his wilderness guide company. She tried, but competitor Dare Callahan proved too savvy and capable a competitor. She wants to sell out, and the only potential buyer is none other than Dare Callahan. Angie determines to lead one last wilderness hunt, and it turns out that Adam the embezzler and his boss are her last clients.
The black bear weighs more than 500 pounds, and it has developed a taste for human flesh. It has killed before, and it’s going to again, and this time, the kill directly impacts Angie’s business. For reasons he can’t explain, Dare Callahan worries about Angie up there in those unforgiving mountains with two male clients. He sets up camp near her so he can keep an eye on her.
The rest of this is so predictable you’ll want to hurl. The marauding bear kills a member of Angie’s party, the other guy steals Angie’s horses and strives to escape, she gets injured and …
I’ll leave it to you to read this and find out what happens. This is just ho-hum romance dressed in suspense and mystery’s clothes. If you like that kind of thing, (and I’m less and less patient with it the older I get because of the tropes, the predictability, and the condescending stuff-little bankrupt girl needs rescuing by perpetual-hard-on tough guy—and a summer storm holds everyone hostage, and they can’t do anything but play doctor in the secluded mountain hideaway. Good grief! Spare me!
litjrzygrl's review against another edition
3.0
I liked this book, but I feel that a good portion of it was just the same repeated internal monologue by the characters.
yabamena's review
1.0
To be perfectly honest, I didn't get past page 30 in this book. It didn't hook me in the least, and if I'm still bored by page 30, I'm sorry, I'm just not going to give you the benefit of the doubt.
severelyhopefulcloud's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Violence, Gore, Death, and Gun violence
Moderate: Animal death and Death of parent
Minor: War
jenreads1026's review
3.0
It started off slow then almost lost me completely with the "bears point of view" and the opening of the book. Because of that I only gave it 3 stars but it did pick up nicely so I'm glad I stuck with this! Not one of my favorites from Linda Howard but still worthy of reading.
bookhero6's review
4.0
More suspense than romance, which was nice.
I was a little weirded out by the passages told from the bear's perspective, but luckily, there weren't many.
This story of business rivals who fall in love over the course of a few harrowing days is actually a lot better than I expected.
The bear attacks are pretty gruesome, far more so than I expected from a romance novel, and turned the first half of the book into straight suspense, with no hint of romance. When our hero, "The Asshole," comes to the rescue after frightening and dangerous events leave our heroine injured and crawling down a mountain in a deluge, the danger turned into a story of survival, and the bonds that develop when two people share a life threatening experience.
Howard definitely knows how to write romantic suspense. I've never been disappointed by her novels and this is no exception. The romance is never mushy, and the suspense can be downright suspenseful. When the turn happened, I was trying to fall asleep, and had been nodding off when the scary stuff hit like a ton of bricks. If it weren't for the gore and disemboweling, I would say it could be turned into a really awesome cable TV movie.
But the gore and disemboweling are what I like about romantic suspense. How can you not fall in love after seeing a bear rip out someone's innards? It doesn't say love unless you say it with intestines.
I was a little weirded out by the passages told from the bear's perspective, but luckily, there weren't many.
This story of business rivals who fall in love over the course of a few harrowing days is actually a lot better than I expected.
The bear attacks are pretty gruesome, far more so than I expected from a romance novel, and turned the first half of the book into straight suspense, with no hint of romance. When our hero, "The Asshole," comes to the rescue after frightening and dangerous events leave our heroine injured and crawling down a mountain in a deluge, the danger turned into a story of survival, and the bonds that develop when two people share a life threatening experience.
Howard definitely knows how to write romantic suspense. I've never been disappointed by her novels and this is no exception. The romance is never mushy, and the suspense can be downright suspenseful. When the turn happened, I was trying to fall asleep, and had been nodding off when the scary stuff hit like a ton of bricks. If it weren't for the gore and disemboweling, I would say it could be turned into a really awesome cable TV movie.
But the gore and disemboweling are what I like about romantic suspense. How can you not fall in love after seeing a bear rip out someone's innards? It doesn't say love unless you say it with intestines.
amylee218's review against another edition
4.0
I enjoyed this book. I didn't really think it was a thriller. I read a [b:The Bodies Left Behind|3991890|The Bodies Left Behind|Jeffery Deaver|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1348375261s/3991890.jpg|4037948] last year and it had a similar premise-- a detective in the woods of Wisconsin who is being hunted by 2 murderers. In that book the mc was actually being chased, very cat and mouse. I thought this book would be similar but it wasn't. Instead we got to read about 2 people slowly opening up and getting to know and trust each other. I liked Angie and Dare and the way their story unfolded. So even though it wasn't really suspenseful (you kind of knew the outcome pretty early) it was still fun to read.
thenia's review
3.0
Two adversaries find themselves working together in order to survive both the extreme weather, a killer, man-eater black bear and a ruthless, calculating murderer determined to get rid of the witness of his crime.
Angie and Dare's simmering attraction that's been suppressed for years, becomes impossible to ignore when they're trapped in very close proximity and dependent on one another for their survival, and finally brings them together.
Intense story with a hard earned, much deserved happy ending.
Angie and Dare's simmering attraction that's been suppressed for years, becomes impossible to ignore when they're trapped in very close proximity and dependent on one another for their survival, and finally brings them together.
Intense story with a hard earned, much deserved happy ending.
ssejig's review against another edition
3.0
Okay, I know that this is a fiction book, so it helped me suspend a lot of my disbelief. However. There are an average of 3 deaths from black bear attacks in the United States every year. Normally, black bears don't stalk people. Most are scared off pretty easily. That being said, there is a small percentage of psychopaths in the human world and a small percentage (5%) of black bears that will stalk people.
Other things that bothered me, Angie hung her food and it was implied that the cook site was at least 100 feet from the tent site (good) but then she uses alcohol wipes in her tent. Bad idea. Anything with a scent should be hung with the food and the trash. And speaking of trash, there's a paragraph about Angie being glad she's not "in estrus." There is absolutely NO scientific data (and it's been studied) that shows that bears will follow women who are on their period. As long as you put your fhp in the trash, you're fine. Of course, it could be argued that Angie might not know about those studies. And, personal opinion here, mountain lions are WAY scarier than bears. You don't know they're there until you're dead. At least bears let you know.
Other than that, an okay story. Would have been two stars for some other authors but this is about what I expected from Linda Howard and gave it three stars.
Angie Powell has one last hunting tour before she gives up her father's business forever. Once Dare Callahan moved into town, he riled her temper and stole all her business. Well, at least he didn't do it on purpose. However, what Angie doesn't know is that her latest clients are a high-maintenance CEO and the man who has been embezzling his money, and now plans to kill the CEO. Improbable, good fun.
Other things that bothered me, Angie hung her food and it was implied that the cook site was at least 100 feet from the tent site (good) but then she uses alcohol wipes in her tent. Bad idea. Anything with a scent should be hung with the food and the trash. And speaking of trash, there's a paragraph about Angie being glad she's not "in estrus." There is absolutely NO scientific data (and it's been studied) that shows that bears will follow women who are on their period. As long as you put your fhp in the trash, you're fine. Of course, it could be argued that Angie might not know about those studies. And, personal opinion here, mountain lions are WAY scarier than bears. You don't know they're there until you're dead. At least bears let you know.
Other than that, an okay story. Would have been two stars for some other authors but this is about what I expected from Linda Howard and gave it three stars.
Angie Powell has one last hunting tour before she gives up her father's business forever. Once Dare Callahan moved into town, he riled her temper and stole all her business. Well, at least he didn't do it on purpose. However, what Angie doesn't know is that her latest clients are a high-maintenance CEO and the man who has been embezzling his money, and now plans to kill the CEO. Improbable, good fun.
carbury13's review against another edition
5.0
A bit of a romance novel masquerading as a murder mystery thriller, but still a page turner. As someone who does not enjoy traditional romance novels, I still found myself captivated and having a hard time putting the book down. Very quick and easy read - great for travelling or late nights.