shan198025's review against another edition
4.0
I liked Leigh and I liked Michael. Her husband was a douchebag and I spent ½ the book waiting for her to realize it. Once she did she definitely didn't let any grass grow before she moved on to bigger and better. Other than everything happening REALLY quickly I loved the book.
sierrarice's review against another edition
5.0
Best murder mystery I’ve read in awhile. Absolutely loved the unpredictability of it all!
aminowrimo's review against another edition
3.0
This is a really interesting idea, and I liked it. The use of flashback was something I don't remember seeing in McNaught's books before. I even liked the double romance that's going on in this book— though I almost liked Mack and Sam's story more than Michael and Leigh's.
(All the names in this book are fantastic, by the way).
Basically, Leigh Manning's husband, Logan, heads off to a cabin in the mountains to get things ready for a relaxing weekend with his wife. When Leigh follows him up to the cabin, she gets caught in a blizzard, run off the road, and ends up escaping from her car, being carried to a hospital… She wakes up and Logan, the man she's been married to for 14 years, is nowhere to be seen.
At about this point, Michael Valente shows up. He's from her past— before the Broadway Superstardom— and he's determined to help her in any way he can.
This Michael Valente is quite possibly one of my favorite characters. He's basically waited for her for years— and has never made a single overture to her, until now.
As Leigh finds out that her husband wasn't who he said he was, the two detectives, McCord and Sam, start their own romance.
And everything, of course, ends happily ever after. The last scene is beautiful.
So, here's a list of things I liked about this book:
- The hero's backstory.
- The premise of the story.
- The plot.
- The two romances.
Here are the things I didn't:
- The stalker: He's there, it seems, only to cast suspicions upon Michael. When he's found… he's dismissed within a paragraph… we don't even get his name. Maybe stalkers are always treated like this?
- Jane: I would have liked to get more inside her head— but then, that's probably just me and my interests.
All in all, an interesting story, with believable characters and a great deal of intrigue.
(All the names in this book are fantastic, by the way).
Basically, Leigh Manning's husband, Logan, heads off to a cabin in the mountains to get things ready for a relaxing weekend with his wife. When Leigh follows him up to the cabin, she gets caught in a blizzard, run off the road, and ends up escaping from her car, being carried to a hospital… She wakes up and Logan, the man she's been married to for 14 years, is nowhere to be seen.
At about this point, Michael Valente shows up. He's from her past— before the Broadway Superstardom— and he's determined to help her in any way he can.
This Michael Valente is quite possibly one of my favorite characters. He's basically waited for her for years— and has never made a single overture to her, until now.
As Leigh finds out that her husband wasn't who he said he was, the two detectives, McCord and Sam, start their own romance.
And everything, of course, ends happily ever after. The last scene is beautiful.
So, here's a list of things I liked about this book:
- The hero's backstory.
- The premise of the story.
- The plot.
- The two romances.
Here are the things I didn't:
- The stalker: He's there, it seems, only to cast suspicions upon Michael. When he's found… he's dismissed within a paragraph… we don't even get his name. Maybe stalkers are always treated like this?
- Jane: I would have liked to get more inside her head— but then, that's probably just me and my interests.
All in all, an interesting story, with believable characters and a great deal of intrigue.
catgood's review against another edition
4.0
My first Judith McNaught book and I can’t believe I haven’t found her before now! There was so much character development and more to the story than just the crime. I’m looking forward to the next novel of hers that I read!
beltorres91's review against another edition
4.0
Está bastante bueno, sobretodo considerando que sólo me salió $10 xD
nix_jinx's review against another edition
4.0
Reading this book in 2022 had far more to do with nostalgia than anything else. I read this book (a quick horrifying calculation later...) seventeen years ago, which also happens to be half my lifetime ago. At seventeen, what I wanted from fiction was a little different to what I want from fiction now. At least some of the time, anyway.
This book stayed with me over the years. There were certain scenes I could remember with crisp clarity and I've been looking to dip back into the context for years now. It's well written. I like how McNaught weaves her stories together. I like the procedural element to this one. I like how the thriller unpacks itself. I did remember the twist about halfway through, but it was still worth getting there via the narrative.
There were a couple of elements of the story that didn't quite hold up to the societal and cultural shifts in perspective, but I like seeing how far we've come in our thinking. The bigger problem was that my more jaded self couldn't quite suspend my belief where some of the emotional threads were concerned. And, I'm sorry to say, but the ending just. kept. on. going. on top of being a little too sentimental for my taste.
But for all that, I'm so glad I managed to track this one down again after so many years. I'd probably bump the rating down half a star if I'd read it for the first time this time, but I'm going to stay true to my younger self on this one.
This book stayed with me over the years. There were certain scenes I could remember with crisp clarity and I've been looking to dip back into the context for years now. It's well written. I like how McNaught weaves her stories together. I like the procedural element to this one. I like how the thriller unpacks itself. I did remember the twist about halfway through, but it was still worth getting there via the narrative.
There were a couple of elements of the story that didn't quite hold up to the societal and cultural shifts in perspective, but I like seeing how far we've come in our thinking. The bigger problem was that my more jaded self couldn't quite suspend my belief where some of the emotional threads were concerned. And, I'm sorry to say, but the ending just. kept. on. going. on top of being a little too sentimental for my taste.
But for all that, I'm so glad I managed to track this one down again after so many years. I'd probably bump the rating down half a star if I'd read it for the first time this time, but I'm going to stay true to my younger self on this one.
nicolesnook's review against another edition
3.0
Broadway star Leigh Kendall thinks she has the perfect marriage. But, when she is nearly killed in a car accident and her husband turns up missing, that is all brought into question. Suddenly it seems that the only person she can trust is known criminal Michael Valente. In addition to this story there's an equally intriguing story with the police conducting the investigation. This is my first Judith McNaught novel, and I will definitely read more from her.
tita_noir's review against another edition
4.0
So Goodreads tells me I read this book (or rather I told Goodreads back in 2011 when I first joined). I know I read it because I read all of Judith McNaught's books. But when I saw this title I had nothing. No idea what it was about, that she had even written a book with this title... nothing. So I decided to re-read.
I wondered if I'd remember half way through and go 'Oh it was that book" But nope. I read this entire book and it was like new.
And it was pretty good. It is always a crapshoot going back to re-read old stuff, to see if it holds up. But this was quite good and held up well. Also it was a great little whodunnit mystery with not one but two romances! And I kinda liked the secondary romance a tick more.
In this one we have a big broadway star, Leigh Manning and her husband Logan who plan a cozy trip into the mountains for a weekend get-away. Logan has to draw Leigh a map (this was written before the saturation of smartphones as we know them, so no handy-dandy google maps or GPS at your fingertips). Leigh gets lost and has a car accident and crashes down the mountain. Luckily she is rescued. But while she is in the hospital she learns the terrible news that her husband Logan has disappeared.
Enter the detectives who, of course always suspect the spouse. And in Leigh's case she is an actress so they think she is acting all the time. The story is told in alternation POVs -- from Leigh's (of course she is innocent, we know this) and from the cops (a duo that consists of an older grizzled vet and a younger female cop, Samantha, whose detective shield is only a month old). They are later joined buy a steely eyed Maverick named Mitch 'Mack' McCord who always gets his man.
What I liked about the detectives in this one is that they weren't painted as malicious or evil but a little tunnel vision because they had a theory and was sticking with it. But we get to see their process and how they evolve to being to learn the truth. Also there is a nice secondary plot about police corruption that feels timely and gives that side of the equation some extra layers.
Of course the hero, Michael appears and muddies the waters. As we learn more and more unsavory things about Logan, Michael's self appointed role as Leigh's guardian Kkight just makes her look guiltier in the eyes of the police. But Michael is a typical McNaught hero. He is mega rich, ruthless, sexy, smart, powerful, and did I already say ruthless? He is a power player to the Nth degree.
As the story goes on it is nice to see Sam and Mack work together to uncover the truth (honestly Mack was also a typical McNaught hero -- he needed his own book). And to see Michael and Leigh discover their love for each other.
The mystery is solved, our hero and heroine are suitably heroic and even the detectives come through in their pursuit of the right type of justice (and their own little romance).
This was a quick read and really enjoyable. I upped my earlier 3-star rating to 4-stars.
I wondered if I'd remember half way through and go 'Oh it was that book" But nope. I read this entire book and it was like new.
And it was pretty good. It is always a crapshoot going back to re-read old stuff, to see if it holds up. But this was quite good and held up well. Also it was a great little whodunnit mystery with not one but two romances! And I kinda liked the secondary romance a tick more.
In this one we have a big broadway star, Leigh Manning and her husband Logan who plan a cozy trip into the mountains for a weekend get-away. Logan has to draw Leigh a map (this was written before the saturation of smartphones as we know them, so no handy-dandy google maps or GPS at your fingertips). Leigh gets lost and has a car accident and crashes down the mountain. Luckily she is rescued. But while she is in the hospital she learns the terrible news that her husband Logan has disappeared.
Enter the detectives who, of course always suspect the spouse. And in Leigh's case she is an actress so they think she is acting all the time. The story is told in alternation POVs -- from Leigh's (of course she is innocent, we know this) and from the cops (a duo that consists of an older grizzled vet and a younger female cop, Samantha, whose detective shield is only a month old). They are later joined buy a steely eyed Maverick named Mitch 'Mack' McCord who always gets his man.
What I liked about the detectives in this one is that they weren't painted as malicious or evil but a little tunnel vision because they had a theory and was sticking with it. But we get to see their process and how they evolve to being to learn the truth. Also there is a nice secondary plot about police corruption that feels timely and gives that side of the equation some extra layers.
Of course the hero, Michael appears and muddies the waters. As we learn more and more unsavory things about Logan, Michael's self appointed role as Leigh's guardian Kkight just makes her look guiltier in the eyes of the police. But Michael is a typical McNaught hero. He is mega rich, ruthless, sexy, smart, powerful, and did I already say ruthless? He is a power player to the Nth degree.
As the story goes on it is nice to see Sam and Mack work together to uncover the truth (honestly Mack was also a typical McNaught hero -- he needed his own book). And to see Michael and Leigh discover their love for each other.
The mystery is solved, our hero and heroine are suitably heroic and even the detectives come through in their pursuit of the right type of justice (and their own little romance).
This was a quick read and really enjoyable. I upped my earlier 3-star rating to 4-stars.
rpmiller's review against another edition
4.0
Excellent story, interesting characters. I was fascinated by the way some of the key aspects of the mysteries were unveiled to the characters at different times, coupled with the first revelations to the reader without revealing that there was a mystery involved. Enjoyable.
lame7747's review
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5