Julie Garwood: Shadow Dance

Shadow Dance: D-
Jordan Buchanan & Noah Clayborne


Jordan Buchanan is thrilled that her brother and best friend are tying the knot. The wedding is a lavish affair–for the marriage of Dylan Buchanan and Kate MacKenna is no ordinary occasion. It represents the joining of two family dynasties. The ceremony and reception proceed without a hitch–until a crasher appears claiming to be a MacKenna guest. The disheveled and eccentric professor of medieval history warns that there’s “bad blood” between the couple’s clans, stemming from an ancient feud that originated in Scotland, and involving the Buchanan theft of a coveted MacKenna treasure.

Jordan has always led a cautious life and has used her intelligence and reason to become a successful businesswoman. So she is intrigued but skeptical of the professor’s claims that the feud has been kept alive by the grave injustices the Buchanans have perpetrated over the centuries. But when Noah Clayborne, a close family friend and a man who has never let a good time or a pretty girl pass him by, accuses Jordan of being trapped in her comfort zone, she determines to prove him wrong and sets out on a spontaneous adventure to the small, dusty town of Serenity, Texas, to judge the professor’s research for herself.

Maneuvering through a close-knit community in which everyone knows everyone else’s business, Jordan never anticipates the danger and intrigue that lie in her path, nor the threat that will shadow her back to Boston, where even in familiar surroundings, her life is at risk... (amazon)


Huge Noah Clayborne fans will find this to be a very, very disappointing read.
I am not a big Noah Clayborne fan (since I can't really remember the books prior to this one), and I still found this to be a HUGE sub-par read.


First off, why is this book called Shadow "Dance" ?
I'm feelin' really dumb, but I don't get it. The book isn't about dancing, neither of the characters dance... nor does the villain. In fact, I don't think music and dancing is even mentioned. Oh wait, it was kind-of mentioned in Dylan and Kate's wedding. Something about it playing and people dancing.
...wait a minute. Was that why Shadow Dance was named Shadow Dance? (confusion)

.....
.............lame!!


Second, where is the romance?
Something like this happened:

Jordan: Ooh, I don't Noah. He's handsome and charming. I don't want to fall for him!
Noah: Oh, kid sister of my best friend. No lookey no touchy.
Jordan: Ooh, I think I'm starting to like Noah. But I must resist! Resist!
Noah: Hey, she's pretty hot. And why are the other guys staring at her?
Jordan: Uh-oh, bad things are happening to me.
Noah: Uh-oh, bad things are happening to her.
Jordan: Noah will protect me! (But I won't like him!)
Noah: But I will protect her!
(gap)
Jordan: I love him.
Noah: ...I love her...???!
(he's surprised, like the rest of us)

See that gap?
That's where the love happens.
Sadly, it never did.

It was one of those 'blindsided by love' romances, but it was lame. I honestly don't see how they could have had more than a fondness for each other (minus the lust and physical attraction that is always so rampant in these novels).

Lame!

Third, what is going on with Ms. Garwood's writing style?
It was as if she was narrating the entire story. I wasn't there IN the action with the hero and heroine, I was looking from afar - with the story being told to me. It attempted to be witty, but fell flat.

One hundred and twenty pages in, I was still thinking, 'Okay okay, when's everything gonna start?'
Then: 'Oh. Wait. It started a hundred pages ago.'
Then: 'What the heck have I been reading?!'


Fourth, another dreadful romantic suspense!
NOT SUSPENSEFUL!


Fifth, sucky characterization.
Garwood tried to make Jordan a "smart ditz." You know, the very smart computer nerd who is "adorably ditzy" and cute. It didn't work so well; Jordan seems to have a schizophrenic nature.

Noah?
He's......

I actually don't know that much about him. I'm guessing a lot of his character was revealed in the previous books, but since I can't remember the books, I can't remember what he's like. And since the book didn't do much in describing him, minus the overall "charming handsome player" feel, I don't know why he's so damn hot.

Why?! Is it because he's an FBI agent who arrests people?
Why?! I want to know!


In short: Do not read.
It sucked.

(someone tell me why I'm reading Shadow Music?
...so far, it has not mentioned music. I'm 30 pages in.)

(confusion)

So, I'm about eighty pages into Julie Garwood's Shadow Dance.

It's not looking too good.
It's........ boring!! (What is going on?!) I almost-kinda want to put it down!

I'm superbly confused because I don't remember who so-and-so and nick-alec-theo from the previous novels. Strange, because I was a huge fan of Garwood and I've read most of her books when I was a n00b romance reader.

I'm also confused because her writing style is proving to be very lackluster. Have my preferences changed or is she just becoming a bad writer? There is too much unnecessary backstory that isn't setting the grounds for anything special in particular... not much interaction with the hero. The wit of the heroine is smart-alecky but falls a little dry.

My gosh! I really am becoming a romance-book-elitist!! (aka BIG bitch!)

Ms. Garwood,
I hope this book improves itself - shortly - or I will have to pull all the plugs and say some mean things.

Don't make me do this.

Ransom, one of your earlier medieval historicals is a fun book to reread and if I recall correctly, I've liked most of your contemporaries.

Please have something kind-of-worthwhile happen soon. I think the book is turning out to be a romantic suspense (insert mild groan here) but since it seems to be taking this (unfortunate) route, make it work!

Sincerely yours,
Alice

Julie Garwood: Saving Grace

Saving Grace: D

Julie Garwood: Saving Grace

When Lady Johanna learned that she was a widow, she vowed she would never marry again. Only sixteen, she possessed a strength of will that impressed all who looked past her golden-haired beauty. Yet when King John demanded that she remarry – and selected a bridegroom for her – it seemed she must acquiesce, until her beloved foster brother suggested she wed his friend, the handsome Scottish warrior Gabriel MacBain.

At first Johanna was shy, but as Gabriel tenderly revealed the splendid pleasures they would share, she came to suspect that he was falling in love with her gruff new husband. And it was soon apparent to the entire Highlands clam that their brusque, gallant laird had surrendered his heart completely. But now a desperate royal intrigue threatened to tear her from his side – and to destroy the man whose love meant more to her than she had ever dreamed!

There was nothing really wrong with this book, more of that there is nothing interesting to really talk about. This read felt unoriginal and like Ms. Garwood’s other historicals.

Checklist for unoriginal historical:

-Sweet, innocent, good-hearted, unrealistically patient heroine

-Gruff but internally sweet, fierce but tender, masochistic and egotistic but loving Scottish leader as hero

-Weird deranged madman as the arch nemesis of heroine (and therefore eternal enemy of hero)

-Other insignificant events that show that hero loves heroine

I liked that Johanna learned to stand up against her fears (aka arch nemesis) but the read itself was boring and the ending anticlimactic.

Maybe I’m getting old and bitter – jaded from life and hard to please. Heh.

Julie Garwood: Ransom

Ransom: B+


In Ransom, New York Times bestselling author Julie Garwood returns to her beloved Highlands and the dark days of the despotic rule of King John to reacquaint readers with Scottish chieftain Brodick Buchanan, first introduced in The Secret. Brodick finds himself playing protector to Gillian, an exquisite English beauty, who is desperate to find her long-lost sister and a treasure of incalculable worth--one for which many already have died, including Gillian's own father. Coerced by the fiendish Baron Alford, who murdered her father before her eyes and usurped her birthright 14 years earlier, Gillian must return to England with Arianna's Box, a bejeweled golden box commissioned by King John, or her beloved Uncle Morgan will be tortured to death. In spite of Gillian's fragile looks and her loathsome English bloodlines, Brodick encounters a woman of immeasurable courage and determination, one not at all intimidated by his legendary temper or imposing size. And as he realizes that he has met his match in Gillian--whose sense of honor and duty equals his own--their passion for each other grows ever stronger in this thrilling historical.



This was a re-read while I was in bed this week, sick to my toes. I remembered loving Ransom when I had first read it and was curious to see if my reading tastes had changed since then -- and if so, in what manner.

I was drawn to Garwood's characterization of Gillian -- a kind and wholly compassionate English woman. But beyond that, she proved to be a very talkative - and naive!- young woman who was so innocent, she didn't have the sense to keep any of her thoughts to herself, which was exasperating as it was humorous.

Brodick proved to be a fine hero - the stuff that strong Highlanders are made of - equal parts brute force, arrogance, stunningly good looks, and the strength to be a laird.

Garwood's dialogue is a bit over-the-top, with conversations that went on for pages and pages, none of which were too stunningly witty or magical, but in all, gave depth to the characters. The suspense is a not-really-a-suspense and won't have you searching deep in your minds in eager anticipation of trying to discover the holder of Arianna's box. It will, however, keep with you in duration of the book and comes as a relative (but not great) surprise in the end.

Overall, lengthy and a little exasperating in parts, but still satisfying.