Megan Gallagher Books

I love this show and have been a fan for years. When a character leaves that has been on for a really long time it feels like we lost a member of our family. I do want to thank NBC for Actor Jesse L. Martin - Detective Ed Green for not killing him off or finding him guilty. That would ruin this show for me. Why I'm thankful because he can comeback if he wanted to (I hope). It did seem that since the death of (my favorite) Actor Jerry Orbach - Detective Lennie Briscoe he really hasn't found a someone to compliment him even though he did work with a few partners one can see he could use a break. It cant be easy. When NBC finally found someone (new character) Jeremy Sisto - Detective Cyrus Lupo to partner with I thought it was a perfect fit they complimented each other. One quiet, the other not and so on. But he seemed to be hired to late for I think Jesse (burned out) needs the break. I hope he has a very good retirement from the show (hopefully it's just a break) for we will miss him, greatly!

They got it right this season! Linus Roache and Jeremy Sisto are great additions to the cast and Sam Waterston as the new DA is fantastic. This was my favorite show back in the Jerry Orbach days and it has become my favorite show again. It's back to being entertaining with twists and turns and wondering what the EADA is capable of. The writing is back along with great acting. Maybe being a bubble show was enough to wake up the powers that be. Whatever the reason, Season 18 shows why "Law & Order" will break the record set by "Gunsmoke".

I was thrilled to see that Law & Order on Unbox. I'd say Law & Order was great for maybe fourteen of its eighteen seasons, which is an amazing record when you think about it. The last few years there has been a mad shuffle of cops and AADAs (assistants to the assistant district attorney - there's a mouthful) that have made the show less enjoyable.

I'd say I've seen probably 95% of all episodes on TNT re-runs, but I found a few here that I'd missed. I love the fact that you can buy individual episodes, since it would be a huge waste of money for me to buy the full dvd when I've seen most of the material already.

After picking a few from seasons 1 & 2, I looked forward with great anticipation to combing though seasons 3, 4, and 5. Perhaps you can imagine my disappointment when I saw that Amazon only provides five of eighteen seasons, and only two of the early ones. This saddens me especially since I consider the last few seasons of the show to be almost unwatchable. I hope that I will see more seasons available for Unbox soon.

For those of you who haven't seen seasons 1 & 2, I'd urge you to take a look. The show started out with a grittier edge, and focused more on the fine points of New York law. They also have fewer "ripped from the headlines" episodes, and of the ones that are, you're much less likely to remember the original events, which makes them more fun.

Thank you so very much to Amazon for bringing this fabulous show to us. I have neer seen a show with the longevity that surpasses and great behind the seens production that has made the show what it is today. Any show that can say it's been around for 18 years is nothing short of amazing. All the cast, past and present, deserve all the accolades possible. I hope L&O does surpass "Gunsmoke" and make it for 20 years. If anyone has never seen the show, I recommend buying one episode to try it out. It's a good $2.00 investment. Thank you Amazon, NBC, and all the incredible talent that makes the original the best.

For The Roses starts out as one of the best of Ms. Garwood's novels. I found myself laughing out loud a number of times as the charachters were introduced. The fiery interaction between family members was easy to imagine and enjoy. However, about three-quarters of the way through I began to get frustrated with the main charachters. A change in setting brought such a significant alteration to their personalities that I found myself hurrying through to get back to the "good stuff". Overall I enjoyed this novel, though it doesn't follow the format of a typical romance. Readers should be prepared for absence of the expected societal scandal and heroine in distress scenarios that come with most novels of this genre.

I really enjoyed this book. I loved the detailed character development. I felt as if I could identify with each brother and their personalities. I loved Mary Rose and Harrison together. I loved their love!!! Just a really good book.

I usually love Julie Garwood's books but this one I'm having the hardest time finishing. It's just dragging on and on. I like it better when an author really focuses on the main characters story but this has all her brothers piping in and it just bugged me after about 50 pages.

Night Owl Romance Reviews: http://www.nightowlromance.com

For the Roses by Julie Garwood
Score: 4.5 / 5
Clayborne Series
Reviewer: Deidre Sine

Mary Rose is the beloved sister to the Clayborne's. The Clayborne men protect their family and friends with a vengeance and have become a force not to be reckoned with in Montana. Only this family is different than most, the men aren't a blood family but they have forged their family for Mary Rose. The men were a rough gang of street kids in New York, who fought together to stay alive. One night they saw a parcel discarded and in that parcel they found a beautiful baby girl. That girl was Mary Rose and they decided to move to Blue Belle, Montana and raise her as a lady. Well, Mary Rose is now a well-behaved, independent, beautiful young woman who has returned to Blue Belle after her schooling. All goes well until Mary Rose meets a stranger in town.

The stranger is Lord Harrison Stanford MacDonald. He is a gentleman through and through; however, he needs help to learn frontier survival. While the Clayborne's teach Harrison about survival he falls in love with the strong woman Mary Rose is. Harrison carries with him a secret, a secret that could destroy his newfound love with Mary Rose. Mary Rose must deal with the past before she can have a future.

For the Roses is a wonderfully written book by Ms. Garwood, which I have read, and reread. I find Ms. Garwood's ability to create such fantastic and real characters a tremendous gift to her readers. Readers who enjoyed the Clayborne family can read more in the rest of the Clayborne Bride series.

This book was amazing. It was the first book I read from Ms. Garwood, and I have been a fan ever since. The story was driven by love and loyalty. The twists and turns, and the very reality of slavery and how it tore families apart was heartwrenching. The fact that something that bleak brought a bunch of young boys together and made them a family was very lovely. Ms. Garwood captured the essence of love and family. This book is truly magical.

A really rather silly and ill constructed romance. It tries to do double duty as an espionage, but is far to stupidly laid out to come close. Fair enough that that the male lead, John Medina, is obsessed with the female lead, Niema Burdock; such is romantic escapism. But to suppose a healthy man is silently obsessing over the course of a 5 year period is pushing it even in this genre.

Where the plot really breaks down, though, is when he admits to taking her on a dangerous mission simply because he wants her around. When he further delays their escape and rescue because he does not want to give her a chance to leave him without talking it goes beyond absurd. You simply cannot take such a character seriously as an actual professional.

I also had problems with the physical component of the relationship, which starts off with a decidedly distasteful scene in the office of an enemy, where they pretend to have sex in order to avoid suspicion. Problem is, their pretend sex turns into real sex, and even though Niema is portrayed as climaxing, the stark description of Medina forcing himself into her before she's ready smacks of nothing less than rape.

Here's a newsflash - just because someone climaxes does NOT make sex consensual, nor invalidate rape.

There is also a secondary sex scene involving supporting characters where a woman's ex-boyfriend ties her up, strips her and begins having sex with her against her will. When she climaxes because of the oral sex he performs on her, she then becomes consenting. It's the same theme replayed, and it's just as disturbing as the first one. None of the couples seems to know or care about safe sex.

Beyond that, there are some fairly normal cliches; the main "bad guy" has a noble reason for all his actions and the heroine ends up charming him as well, eventually saving the day with a self sacrificing gesture. If you can discount the disturbing sexual undertones and ignore the absurdity of the hero's motivations..well, it's mildly entertaining. The intensity of the characters and the spy angle makes it more interesting, at least, than standard sap. I certainly would not advocate buying it outright, but if you're just looking for a distraction, it serves the purpose.

Although I did not read the book that this is sequel to, I have to say overall I enjoyed it. John Medina was a great hero and his love for Neima was touching. The story was fun and fast paced, and it definitely had a suspense, on-the-edge-of-your-chair element to it that worked. Wasn't her best, but good nonetheless.

This is one of the best books I have ever read. Itis gripping from the very first page. There is the perfect amount of suspense and romance. The characters are complex, witty and easily connect to the reader. I wont go into plot details because there are plenty of reviews for that but I can't urge any romantic suspense fan enough to go out and buy this book!

All the Queens Men surprised me, i didn't expect to enjoy it so much. Its an extreme guilty pleasure to read the happily ever after love story of the alpha hero who suffers for his love and the hurting heroine who needs to fall in love again.
Linda Howard at her best!

Characters were good. The plot is a long slow build up of two people going undercover to get information from an arms dealer in France. Some parts were a little slow, but other parts very good.

CAUTION SPOILER: I did not like the part of the story in which the two main characters made a stupid decision. They had been fleeing from the bad guys and finally got away. After a short while being safe, they decided to treat themselves to a tourist-style walk in a nearby town. This was stupid because the bad guys were still searching for them in that area As a result, they got caught and then hurt by the bad guys. I did enjoy John's desperate weakness when having sex with Niema the first two times. It was different from what I expected.

Sexual content: moderate. Setting: current day Iran and Europe. Copyright: 1999. Genre: contemporary romantic suspense.

I am an advent watcher of this show. I find it very interesting to watch and to learn alittle bit about how Math relates to everything. ALso, the backline story with the charcters seem more realistic than many other law stories. You end up watching a really good suspense show and you get a feel for who the characters are.

This was a great season. One detail that was missed was in episode 22, where the ranks on the id's being made were for navy petty officers PO2 e5 and not marines, so they would have been Corpsman to be able to where marine cami's. Otherwise a great season.

I downloaded on the same day a Stargate episode, this episode and then another Stargate episode. Both Stargate episodes worked fine. This one, when I hit "Play" it froze my player and I had to hit control,alt,delete to get it to close. I tried it several times and had the same result. I then deleted the video and re-downloaded it only to have the exact same result. I ran a troubleshoot on my player and it said it was fine. I then checked the other two videos and they too continued to play just fine. It would appear there may be something wrong with this actual file, otherwise I don't understand why it would be the only one of the three to refuse to play on my player even when I downloaded it two separate times to try and get it to work. Definitely disappointed, I'd really been looking forward to seeing this episode after missing it when it originally aired.

It's going to be tough to top this episode. Trust Metric is the conclusion of last season's cliff hanger "The Janus List." Tony Scott and John Behring (4400, Charmed, Roswell) step in to direct once more. It looks like Matthew Jensen's (CSI) hand behind the camera. Whoever it was, there was some stunning camerawork and editing. Kudos to Ken Sanzel for finishing the script.

This is about as close as you're going to get to "The Bourne Identity" type thriller on TV so I'm not going to reveal any spoilers. Trust Metric opens with a "prevously on Num3ers," but it would be better so see the Janus List first. Great TV.

After the terrible, terrible experience I had with Eleventh Hour (Random House Large Print) (overall assessment: don't read that book even if you are forced to), I had to come back with a decent mystery. I had read Where Are the Children? by Mary Higgins Clark a while back and greatly enjoyed it so figured this one would redeem the genre.

Plot:
Maggie Holloway is a successful photographer in New York. She reunites with her beloved step-mother, Nuala Moore, at a family reunion and is invited to spend two weeks with her step-mom in Newport, Rhode Island. However, just as Maggie comes, Nuala is murdered. As Maggie settles into Nuala's home, she begins to realize that maybe the murder wasn't random and that maybe it was connected to the death of Greta Shipley, one of Nuala's friends living at a retirement center, Latham Manor.

Good:
Mary Higgins Clark writes and writes well. In Eleventh Hour, there were so many writing issues--missing transitions, juvenile writing--that are pleasantly absent in Mary Higgins Clark's writing. Her characters are real and not cardboard cutouts. The dialogue they speak makes sense given their personality, education, background, etc. She describes the surroundings well and knowledgeably (particularly when relating to the eccentric professor, Earl Bateman, and his monologues about death and its rituals).
Further, Moonlight Becomes You begins with an absolutely heart-stopping foreshadowing. I cannot see how anyone could read that beginning and not want to continue reading. I was a little hesitant about a mystery, but after that beginning, I was hooked. The middle was kinda slow (see below), but took off after the 250 page point and didn't stop until the very end. And the end--wow! I had predicted who one of the perpetrators was but the other was a complete surprise.
My favorite character is a tie between Neil and Earl. It was sweet to see how Neil liked Maggie and tried hard to find where she went on vacation. Then, to see Neil and his father hunt for Maggie--it was great and completely genuine. Also, I loved the relationship he had with his parents. And Earl Bateman was so different from the average man. His obsession--death--may seem odd (as every character mentions in the book), but is it that much different from people who are obsessed with video games? Comic books? Trading cards? Food? Cars? (You get the point.)

Bad:
Overall, a good book, but I still have a few complaints:
1. Slow plot. After the heart-racing beginning, it takes almost 2/3 of the book before the mystery really advances (of course, when it does, it is *awesome*!). In the meantime, we have two people get murdered and a woman who continually is too tired to investigate the things she comes across until the very end. I mean, if I heard something fall on the floor, I would hunt around until I find it not go "Oh, well, I'll get that later". Or when I find dirt in a pocket, not say, "Hmmm, better leave it there". Had Maggie been half as curious as she becomes in the end at this time, the book would have lost about 100 senseless pages that don't really go anywhere other than elaborate what the reader already knows (that someone is scamming people out of money, Latham Manor is creepy, the enormous cast, etc.).
2. Maggie Holloway. Our heroine is great, but not that awesome. She is rather stoic (somewhat understandable to others as she lost a spouse, but to the reader?) and icy. I don't see why she gets so chummy so quickly to Greta Shipley or to Laura Bainbrigde. I have no clue why Greta takes such a shine to an aloof, somewhat pleasant (when in social situations) woman. I mean, Greta meets Maggie twice and says, "I can see why Nuala was so excited to see you again". I just wished Clark would have told the audience how Greta knew this after two meetings. I see nothing particularly out of the ordinary about this woman. She got better at the end, but I really didn't care much about her at all.
3. Too many characters. While it is kinda neat to do the whole Murder on the Orient Express thing, I think that the number of viewpoints should have been halved. It is too hard to balance all that is going on and to bebop from Maggie to Greta, to Douglas to Janice to Dr. Lane to Neil to Neil's dad to Malcolm... I liked thinking, as I read the viewpoints, "Now, who is the bad guy?" but did Clark have to have almost a dozen different character viewpoints?

Dialogue/Sexual Situations/Violence:
Very extremely minor (one or two d*** and other crass words). I didn't perceive anything sexual in nature (other than a mention that Odile Lane, Dr. Lane's wife, had a boyfriend). Violence includes a woman bludgeoned to death and five women dying in their sleep. A woman is buried alive.

Overall:
Much better than Eleventh Hour but too slow. It takes too long to get to the mystery part, and there are too many characters. Also, the heroine was rather shallow, making it hard for me to be that invested in her. Probably a 3.5 stars, but since I can't give half stars, I'll be kind and round up to 4.

Enjoyed this book. She is an excellent writer and did not read a book I did not like. She is up to standard on this book also.

I am finally on the last chapter. I have been using this book for two weeks now, to put myself to sleep at night. While there seems to be an interesting plot beneath the surface, the surface is cluttered with two-dimesional cliched "nice" and "not nice" characters. I was surprised at the occasional sterotypical ignorant way charaters viewed people working in the funeral business - I don't think all people view them as creepy, etc., I think a certain percent realize what they do for society and are grateful some people take on the job of taking care of our loved ones after death. The one actually interesting charater in the book is from a family of morticians and is interested in death as it pertains to various cultures. Unfortunatley, he is pretty much dismissed as a creepy red herring. The other male characters are so bland I had a hard time telling them apart the first few chapters. The heroine is incredibly banal and perfect. I am to the point where every time I read about her sipping at her non-fattening drink (tea, etc.) and "nibbling" at her food it makes me roll my eyes. Of course she is thin, beautiful, wealthy, and incredibly talented. And apparently sexless. The plus is its a formulaic read - I've read at least two books by this author before and from what I can recall they are indeed great for a light pleasant read inbetween more meaty, absorbing and memorable books. I strongly recommend you check books by this author out from the library and spend your money on something with more depth like "the curious incident of the dog in the night-time". Now that is a book that stays with you.

This is the second time that I read this book and found it well written and a quick read. Unfortunately, I remembered the identity of the killer halfway through the book but I still enjoyed it. Mary Higgins Clark is an excellant mystery writer and seldom disappoints. It is good enough not to be ready to put into the donation pile.

Moonlight Becomes You is full of high suspense, spooky highlights and romance. Just what you would expect from the Queen of Suspense.
This is one of Mary Higgins Clark's top thrillers I've read in a while, and I have read almost all of her books.
You will not be disappointed in the twist and turns in this book nor the outcome. In fact, the only time you will be disapointed is when you finish the book.

I'm surprised ar some of the two or three stars for this awesome ending to such an amazing fictional family series. I've had this book for years now and I know that I can always go back and read this and not be disappointed.

I think she spaced out the dual romances very well and I think it helped that each couple is on their own journey in a way. I love a story with a cute child or baby in it and I just think that Caleb is a delight to read about and imagine. I have to say I am more interested in Cole's part of the story than Ryan but that's mainly because I knew him from the other novels in this series.

I think that the murder mystery was very well done and well described and I think most readers will be surprised by some of the twists and turns in the mystery.

My only quibble with the series is how little Mama Rose got to say in all of the novels not just this one.

I think Julie Garwood is one of the best writers in the field of historical romances and if you want a sexy, funny, romance with history and a little of her more murder mystery inclined stories then I think you should give this novel and the other novels in this series a shot, you won't be disappointed.

Usually Julie Garwood makes you laugh and warms your heart. She delved into the arena of thriller as early as "Castles" and came along nicely with it in the opening of "Come the Spring". Sadly, she seemed to forget how to write her humorous and charming relationships along the way.

Trying to do a dual romance in this novel was a mistake. Time was taken away from both relationships such that one loses interest in either one. That leads a lacking dramatic finale because you just don't care.

The writing appeared exceptionally juvenile in places where humor was intended.

It was a nice try and I applaud an author wanting to grow her talent, but this Clayborne series never should have left the editor's desk. "Come the spring" was half-baked at best.

I have enjoyed many of Julie Garwood's novels, including "For the Roses", the beginning of the Clayborne series. While I have to admit that I skipped "One Red, One White Rose", etc. about the other brothers; this one interested me because it was about Cole. He was my favorite brother in the original book. Unfortunately, "Come the Spring" is very drawn-out and predictable. The title doesn't even apply to anything, except a quick statement made in the last chapter (an after-thought?) Maybe it was just the narration by Richard Ferrone that turned me off, but I found my mind wandering. It was clear to me who the female villain was from early on. While Cole and Daniel were compelling in their parts as lawmen, the romance part of the book is disappointing. After all the passion in "For the Roses", this book was just lukewarm in that category. Maybe it was because there were too many characters. Oh well, Julie is still one of my favorite authors, but this one is not up to par with her others.

I really enjoyed the character of Cole from the first books. I am glad I have my own copy of Come the Spring in hardcover. It is just so enjoyable. I am pleased. The only reason I do not give it a five is there are a couple of predictable moments, but they are enjoyable.

Let me tell you up front, if you are looking for more of the Claybourne's in this book, you will not get it. The focus of "COMES THE SPRING" is capturing the Blackwater Gang. We start off with the bank robbery scene, and the identity of the witness is a mystery. Julie does a very good job in hiding who the witness is, until it is revealed.

We finally get the story of Cole Claybourne, the most "rough" of the Claybourne brothers. Cole is made into a U.S. Marshal by Marshal Daniel Ryan, who supposedly stole his compass from Mama Rose. Little is known about the compass that causes Cole to search for Ryan, and this plot does not follow in the book.

I thought Jessica and Grace were very good heroines. Jessica was really the perfect match for Cole, loving and in need of his care. The baby, Caleb, was also very adorable throughout the book. Grace was the exact opposite of Daniel Ryan's first wife, which proved to be a challenge to the Marshall to figure her out. While I enjoyed the chemistry with Grace and Daniel, I was a little disappointed that Cole did not have a story all to his own. I thought his character deserved more.

Overall "COMES THE SPRING" is a good end to the series. I would recommend it to anyone who has followed the Claybournes since "FOR THE ROSES." Mama Rose's speech at the end did not bother me, as it did some reviewers, because we really don't hear a lot from her, but we know she has been behind the meddling. Definitely read this book, it's worth the time.

I got tired of Bess in a hurry. She was so demanding and I guess
she thought she knew better than the pros. She was just a photographer
for heavens sakes.

I have a problem with all Iris Johansen books. It's the same with this one. The story may create an interest, but the writing is so bad that at times I cringe. What is awful is that I will look at and buy another one of her books hoping that it will be worth reading.

I LOVE IRIS JOHANSEN!!!! ALL OF THE BOOKS I HAVE READ OF HERS ARE GREAT!!!!! READ THEM, YOU WON'T BE DISAPOINTED!

I was in the mood for an fast entertaining read, and this book filled the bill. Actually, I read it years ago, and recently re-read it. It's suspenseful with a nice touch of romance. I am not going to argue with other posters who say the characters were not fleshed out or the plot was unbelievable. I enjoyed the story and the resourcefulness of the characters, and the constant sense of impending danger. I wasn't looking for a literary exploration of the human condition, just a fun read with likable characters and a fast-paced plot, and this is it.

I just want to say, do not judge the author by this book. I loved Ugly Duckling and many of her romance novels, but this one was terrible. The hero of the novel starts out being strong and interesting, but for no aparent reason turns into a spineless idiot. Bess, the heroine, acted like a selfish, hypocritical child and was never once brought to task for her stupidity. She spends half of the novel blaming Kaldack for risking her life for the good of many, but spends the entire novel risking not only herself but everyone else for more selfish motives. As the bodies pile up as a result of her actions, she never acknowledges any culpability. I completely agree with every bad review that has been written.