THE LAST TIME I SAW HER by Karen Robards

Publisher:    Ballantine

Published:   August 25, 2015

ISBN:     978-0804178297

Genre:    Romantic suspense

Format:  Print    

Obtained via:  Publisher

Reviewed by name and email address:  Gina Gina@loveromancesandmorereviews.com

FOUR-1/2 HEARTS

Cool, calm, collected, smart and in control are words most people would associate with Dr. Charlotte (Charlie) Stone.  At only 32 she is renowned for her research into serial killers.  Nothing and no one phases Charlie.  No one except deceased serial killer Michael Garland.  Michael is her personal ghost.  He is also the love of her life and therein lies the torment for both Charlie and Michael.

More and more Charlie is convinced Michael could not have been the serial killer known as the Southern Slasher.  How could he be with how protective, caring and loving he is of Charlie.  Time and time again he finds his way from the place between heaven and hell he calls Spookville to protect and save Charlie?  But the last time Spookville swooped him away Charlie was left feeling—knowing she would never see or hear from Michael again.  Returning home from that last encounter Charlie stops at Michael’s grave and there she receives a shock she never could have expected.  An exact double of Michael stands before Michael’s grave…or is he?

The stranger introduces himself as attorney Rick Hughes.  He is in Big Stone Gap to look into the Southern Slasher case.  It is not lost on Charlie that Michael’s exact twin would be involved in that particular case—especially since Michael, as the accused, was killed some two months before.  Surely this Rick Hughes knew that?

But Rick is determined—he wants to see Charlie’s files on Michael.  Questions abound—does Rick know how much he looks like Michael?  Are they twins?  Could Rick be the real Southern Slasher?  Charlie agrees to meet with Rick in her office at the prison where she will turn over Michael’s files for his review.  Before they can begin an alarm goes off and the prison is evacuated.  In the midst of the evacuation Charlie and Rick are taken hostage by 8 of the most notorious serial killers.  While he might look like Michael, can Rick save Charlie like Michael would have?  Or is she minutes away from death by the real Southern Slasher?

As with every other book in this series I waited as patiently as possible for the newest addition and then as soon as I received it I sat and read pretty much straight through.  With the ending of THE LAST TIME I SAW HER, the fourth of the Charlie Stone series, I have a feeling this may be, sadly, the last in the series.  Not because it’s not a great read – but it is a FANTASTIC read…but because of the way it ended.  As I read the last lines I thought to myself “there has to be more of Charlie and Michael.” 

Michael Garland is such a great character.  Robards has made him so wonderfully complex.  With each book more layers to his character are revealed—I will say after the first one, LAST WHISPER, I had a feeling he would be revealed as being undercover in some fashion.  It wasn’t quite what I expected but it was soooo Michael ala Robards.  Some wonderful twists and turns.

When Charlie is taken hostage and she, along with the others, was in the bus careening away from the prison I found myself gripping the edges of the book and holding my breath.  Robards does a fantastic job of conveying the fear of the hostages and likewise, the romance and intense sexual energy between Charlie and Michael…she certainly knows how to make a reader curl his or her toes. 

Charlie as well as many facets.  And kudos to Robards for not turning her into a simpering miss when the chips are down.  Her intelligence and compassion are carried through into each book while at the same time the character develops in different directions.  And, as always, Buzz and Lena provided a nice layer of comic relief.

                                                   

I loved the High Plains Drifter analogy and how Michael carried that off.  That was a GREAT twist in the story.  And so very Michael.

The ending was well done – and while I’m so happy at how things came together for Charlie and Michael….I still want more.  They are a couple that leaves you believing in a happily ever after and knowing that true love will always transcend time and distance.

There were a few issues with the stories – things that, for me, kept it from being a 5 Heart read.  There were endings that could have been tied up much more neatly in another 50-60 pages.  I wanted more on the outcome of Rick although this could be the lead in to the next book.  I certainly hope so -- I want Michael and Charlie to have their happy ever after.  But I also want more of this series. 

Looking back at my initial feeling that this could well be the last in the series because of resolving Charlie and Michael’s relationship…is there more in the offering with Rick’s story? Robards has had some great surprises along the way in this series…perhaps and hopefully there are more to come.

This is an objective review and an endorsement of this book.

 

 

HER LAST WHISPER by Karen Robards

LEAVE A COMMENT BY MONDAY, AUGUST 25 AND FOR A CHANCE TO WIN A COPY OF HER LAST WHISPER BY KAREN ROBARDS

Publisher:  Ballantine

Published:   August 26, 2014

ISBN:  978-0804178266

Genre:   Romantic Suspense, paranormal

Format:  Hardback

Obtained via:  Publisher  

Reviewed by name and email address:  Gina Gina@loveromancesandmorereviews.com

FOUR-HALF HEARTS

In the days after escaping a second…or in a way third…serial killer in a short span of time Dr. Charlotte Stone is back at Wallens Ridge prison continuing her research into those very same serial killers.  This time instead of studying Michael Garland another convicted killer sits before her.  But even though Michael is no longer a study subject, he’s not far from her.  In fact, for as long as he … lives … he cannot be more than fifty feet from Charlie courtesy of a spell to keep him grounded here on earth.  If that tether to Charlie were to be broken he would find himself hunted in a dark place of the afterlife he calls Spookville.  Michael is a ghost.  More specifically he is Charlie’s ghost.  Charlie has the unlikely … gift … of being able to see and hear the recently violent dead.  And while Michael died violently, before Charlie’s eyes, he hasn’t quite moved on to his just rewards.  Sometimes that’s okay with Charlie—because even though she’s determined not to fall in love with the often confusing, always possessive, ghost, somehow her heartstrings cannot untie themselves from the man that was.

Today, however, Michael is proving not only a distraction, but a dangerous one and before Charlie knows what is happening her subject not only grabs hold of her, he bites her.  Once again Michael is able to protect her, but at a cost. As alarms go off Charlie soon finds herself fleeing not for her own, but Michael’s life…or at least an afterlife away from Spookville.  They don’t get far before the other man in her life, FBI agent Tony Bartoli, is on the scene.  While Michael is none too happy to see Tony—he is, after all alive and able to have the life with Charlie he wishes he could have, Tony may hold the answer to saving Michael a little longer. It seems one of Tony’s team, Lena Kaminsky’s sister, has been taken while on vacation in Las Vegas.  While that in and of itself doesn’t bode well, what makes it all the more nefarious is there is a serial killer roaming the roads of Vegas—and Lena is convinced he’s got her sister. 

Despite Michael’s constant demand Charlie stay away from serial killers, she is determined to go to Vegas if for no other reason than to get Michael out of town to keep him away from one of Spookville’s hunters.  When they arrive in Vegas Charlie and Michael soon learn there may be worse creatures than a hunter from the dark side of the afterlife.

Karen Robards’s Charlie Stone series is one of my all-time favorites.  So much so that before each new book comes out I re-read the earlier ones in the series not just to refresh my memory of each character, but because of what great ones Charlie and Michael are.  As I said after the first, LAST VICTIM, Michael Garland can haunt me anytime.  That said I eagerly awaited the third instalment, HER LAST WHISPER.  It couldn’t arrive soon enough. 

It took me a few days to process just how I feel about HER LAST WHISPER.  There is so much to it, or at least the potential of so much, that it bears re-reading before the next book in the series comes out.  It can either be read as a straight romantic suspense with paranormal overtones, or it can be read with an eye on some deeper questions and issues.  I’m not generally a fan of your usual paranormal themes and genres like vampires, werewolves, shapeshifters and the like.  They’ve become a bit overdone and routine for me.  I’m also not a fan of the darker side of the afterlife like the hunters portrayed in the Stone books, particularly this one.  I do like a good ghost story and I have a fascination with walk-ins, past lives and reincarnation and in HER LAST WHISPER Robards delves into those themes.  Michael has been a ghost character – one of the best I’ve ever read, since book one.  One of the things I like about the character is you can read him as a ghost lover in a romantic suspense, or you can dig deeper into your own thoughts and feelings of the one you can never truly have.  I enjoy how Robards takes Charlie through the emotional and intellectual inner battle of loving a man she can never have simply because he is a ghost.  He’s not only the quissentential bad boy that we girls should keep a solid distance from—he’s out of reach because he’s dead.  Charlie knows that Tony is the kind of guy she should be falling for—but like all of us at one time or another, the attraction to the untameable bad boy draws her in. 

In LAST VICTIM I had the feeling there was much more to Michael’s story than his being a sociopathic serial killer.  I was certain there was a reason for his actions and have waited for those reasons to come out.  In book 2, LAST KISS GOODBYE we have a glimpse of what motivated some of his behaviour.  In HER LAST WHISPER Michael finally begins to tell his story.  It is a heart wrenching one and one that makes you want to scream at the universe to give him another chance. 

What I didn’t like about HER LAST WHISPER were the darker paranormal elements, particularly around the hunter and what happens to Michael after fighting one off.  And the ending was a disappointment.  It wasn’t satisfying.  While I can understand Ms. Robards came as far as she could go with Michael and Charlie’s relationship, as a romance reader, I want some sort of happy ending for them.  There are hints of where it might go and how their relationship might get there; but would it really be the Charlie and Michael I’m a huge fan of? 

What I really liked is how Robards, for those of us who have lost a loved one, who want to go down that road, gives a glimpse, an idea, of what it might be like to hold them just one more time.  Would you tell them you love them?  Or would the pain of saying goodbye again be all the more painful for been able to hear them say they love you one more time?

This is one series I will continue to read again and again.  Sometimes for the sheer enjoyment of a good read; sometimes for the deeper thoughts and feelings it opens the doors to.

This is an objective review and not an endorsement of this book.

THE LAST KISS GOODBYE by Karen Robards

Publisher: Ballantine Date

Published: August 13, 2013
ISBN: 978-0345535825
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Paranormal Romance, Romantic Suspense
 Book format: Hardback
 Obtained via: Publisher
 Reviewed by name and email address: Gina Ginalrmreviews@gmail.com



Exhausted from the non-stop tracking and capture of the Boardwalk killer renowned psychiatrist Charlie Stone says goodbye to FBI agent Tony Bartoli at her door. While a part of her wants so very much to invite the tall, dark and so very handsome agent into her home and to see just where there relationship may go, another man, a devilish blond with sky blue eyes, waits inside that very door. Well, he isn’t quite a man. That is, he was a man, and now he is a ghost. When the Boardwalk Killer, a murderer who stole away Charlie’s young adulthood and seemed to resurface fifteen years later, Charlie was drawn into the investigation because of her expertise in serial killers, her safe and secure world was turned upside down. While since witnessing the murder of her childhood friend’s family opened up her latent ability to see ghosts, the last thing she expected was to have one attached to her. Worse yet, the ghost that attached himself to her was convicted serial killer Michael Garland.

It is Michael who sits before her TV waiting for her to return home. Charlie is torn between relief that Michael is still with her, albeit it in ghostly form but at the same time she wishes he would find that light and move on from the physical plane. Her feelings grow more and more conflicted as Michael weaves himself deeper into her life.

Before Charlie can set down any ground rules with Michael, a young woman, Jenna McDaniels, comes banging on her door. Terrified, wet and bleeding she pleads for Charlie’s help, telling the psychiatrist that a man with a gun is after her. Despite Michael telling her to stay out if, Charlie lets the young woman in. While Jenna calls 911, Charlie calls on a neighbour who is also a deputy sheriff, to come to their aid. With a killer at the door and Michael telling her to hide, Charlie has moments to make a life and death decision. As the police arrive the intrude flees, but not before he leaves his own special calling card. The chilling words, left on a simple slip of paper, tell Charlie that yet another serial killer has her in his sights. Realizing that they are dealing with another serial killer, Charlie calls Tony.

Tony and his team head back to Charlie’s house and so begins the hunt for the Gingerbread man.

I waited, at times not too patiently, for Karen Robard’s second book in the Charlie Stone series, THE LAST KISS GOODBYE. I loved book 1, LAST VICTIM, so much that I re-read it before digging into THE LAST KISS GOODBYE and it was even better the second time. Seriously, Michael Garland can haunt me anytime. I liked how LAST KISS picked up minutes after Tony leaves Charlie at the door in LAST VICTIM. With a well told backstory Charlie’s latest investigation takes off with a bang. Not a beat was missed between the two stories. There is some fantastic character growth and change in Michael as LAST KISS unfolds. I suspected there was more to him than book 1 let on and that man….errr ghost….has some serious secrets. Robards reveals bits and pieces of those secrets in tantalizing bits leaving you wanting more, but not in big bites because if we get to know the real Michael too quickly the series could abruptly end. LAST KISS, however, wasn’t quite as good as LAST VICTIM.

The author seemed to get stuck in a loop of telling readers over and over and yet over again how gorgeous Michael is. It started to seem that not a chapter went by that Charlie wasn’t reminded he was a ghost, that what they had couldn’t be real and that he was a gorgeous guy. It was like she got stuck on this loop and couldn’t get off. The suspense wasn’t quite as heart stopping although the love scenes between Charlie and Michael were major toe curlers. At times I felt like either Ms. Robards lost interest in the book or series or wasn’t quite sure where to go with it. There were instances of telling that took me out of the story, along with sentences that has parentheses around words that came across like badly done asides in a Shakespearean play. They didn’t work for me.

The last twenty of so pages were the kind of heart stopping, breath holding moments that make for not just good but great romantic suspense. When the Gingerbread man was revealed my jaw dropped. I definitely didn’t expect that in the ending.

The last paragraph takes the reader into a hint of what may be to come and it is looking pretty darn good.

This is one series I truly hope continues long into the future. And, I would love to see Tam get her own series. Now that is a character with stories to tell! The Charlie Stone books are stand-alones, however if you plan to read the series I highly recommend reading the books in order. While book 2 didn’t quite come up to my expectations of book 1 I will probably read both again when book 3 comes out. My biggest complaint right now? While LAST KISS ends with a promise of more to come, there is nothing on Ms. Robards website or other venues to let readers know when that next book will be out. I can’t wait!




This is an objective review and not an endorsement of this book.

THE LAST VICTIM by Karen Robards

Publisher: Ballantine
Date published: August 7, 2012
ISBN 978-0345535405
Romantic Suspense, Paranormal
Hardcover
Reviewed by Gina
Obtained via Publisher


Fifteen year old Charlotte Stone witnesses the brutal murder of her new friend, Holly’s family. Charlotte (Charlie) runs to get help but it does not arrive in time—Holly had been kidnapped and a short time later, murdered. Now, as an adult, a noted psychiatrist specializing in analyzing serial killers, she still feels guilty for not being able to help Holly and her family. She has narrowed her life to her home and her job as a psychiatrist at the local prison. Always the professional she manages to keep an emotional distance from the incarcerated criminals.

Blond haired, blue eyed, tall, muscular and utterly hot Michael Garland is in prison because he murdered seven women.Garland is one of the serial killers Charlie is studying, seeking answers as to why they do what they do not only for the population at large but to maybe, eventually, find some peace for herself. Despite Garland’s best efforts he is unable to break through Charlie’s defenses. Always on guard, especially with the seductively gorgeous inmate, Charlie keeps him at arm’s length.

Called away from a session with Garland in answer to a summons from the FBI Charlie is confronted with her past—another family has been killed and another young woman kidnapped—just like Holly. The FBI wants her on the case because she’s the expert on serial killers and it looks like the man who took Holly is back. Before Charlie can answer she’s called out on a medical emergency—Garland has been stabbed. She hurries to help but Garland’s wound is fatal—or is it?

LAST VICTIM was my first Karen Robards read—it is definitely not my last.I picked up this book to read and read it straight through in one day. Every free minute during the day I dug into the story and sat up late at night (or early into the morning) reading it, hanging on to every word. As I read the last page I was a tad annoyed with myself because it meant the book was over but the characters are going to linger for a long time.

Charlie is a marvelously complex character, both tough as a psychiatrist and vulnerable as a crime victim.She is intelligent, has a great sense of humor that comes out in her reactions, particularly around Garland, sensitive and caring about the characters that die. She fluctuates between accepting her psychic ability and psychoanalyzing herself at her reactions to Garland in a realistic manner, not all that different of how we ourselves react when our mundane work-based reality brushes against our private lives. Her metamorphosis in her feelings and reactions to Garland are subtly done and when the reality of her emotions comes to the fore I had to stop and sit with those feelings myself.

Garland is a terrific character as well—equally complex in his emotions and reactions. He is sensitive and brutal, he has depth that he hides behind a very sexy persona. He has his secrets that will hopefully be revealed in future books.

Tony is that basic nice guy next door that you keep telling yourself you need to be with but that bad boy up the street, aka Garland, just settles in.

I was kept guessing until the very end as to just who was behind the murders and even then it was so well done I had to stop for a moment and say “wow”.

As sad as I was that the story ended, I was thrilled when I checked out the back blurb and it looks like this will be a series. I certainly hope so.

And Michael Garland….if you’re listening, really, you can haunt me any time.

This is an objective review and not an endorsement of this book.