When Amy Fortune returns to her childhood home, she discovers something sinister in the air—but is former lover Leone Garoul stalking her or protecting her?
Amy Fortune and Leone Garoul were teenage lovers. Now, years later, Amy returns to Little Dip, the Garoul home valley, to help her aunt finish a botanical project. Except Little Dip is no longer the happy place of Amy's childhood memories. There's something sinister in the woods. And why hasn't Leone moved on? Why does she still dog Amy's every move?
As more and more of the Garoul family arrive for a special hunting weekend, parts of the puzzle come together and Amy's fears escalate as she moves closer to the truth—and the secret that has eluded her since childhood.
Luc Garoul is outlawed and out of control. The Garouls have set their best hunters after her before she self-destructs and takes the whole pack with her. But will they reach her in time? A more sinister predator has Luc in her crosshairsa hunter as cunning and unforgiving as her prey.
Twenty years ago, Emily Johnston's father drowned in the Silverthread River, and no one in the town of Lost Creek believes it was an accident. For years, Emily has been spying on the Garouls. She has some ideas of her own as to what they really are. Now her chance has come. A lone Garoul has crossed her path, and Emily is determined to avenge her father. Emily is a strong and skilled hunter. And she has a silver collar.
The road trip from Hell is paved with good intentions.
Hope Glassy and Godfrey Meyers are on a mercy mission. Their friend Isabelle has been attacked by a rogue werewolf and is in the throes of lycanthropic fever. With their respective partners out of town all Hope and Godfrey can do is get Isabelle to the safety of Little Dip and the Garoul clan before her sire comes to claim her.
In a desperate race against time, with the hounds of hell snapping at their heels, can they save herand does Isabelle want to be saved?
The thing with the Garouls is you never get quite what you think you will. They really are something else.
Hope Glassy loves her job at Ambereye, Inc., despite having Jolie Garoul as her new boss.
Jolie is a moody workaholic. She is awkward, contrary, and on occasion just plain mean. Hope is hardworking, popular, and in recovery from a serious illness. She doesn't need a bizarre boss. She doesn't need office politics. And she doesn't need to work over Thanksgiving either. Nevertheless, that's what she and Jolie end up doing in Little Dip, home of the Garoul clan.
An important meeting brings them to the valley where it's assumed Jolie has brought her chosen mate to meet her pack. Much to her consternation Jolie finds she likes this idea, but Hope has no time for romance. She is eager to get her life, health, and career back on track, nothing more. Jolie is determined to change her mind, but how does a lycanthrope woo a human? A small and super-efficient, bossy boots human at that?
Fated love? A destiny in the stars? Together for all eternity? It doesn't work like that. At least not without a lot of blood, sweat, and tears behind the scenes where the Soul Selector spins her magical trickery. It is her job is to identify soul mates as they enter this world and somehow get them to fall in love. Aphrodite and all the other gods need this purest love of all. They feed on it.But soul mates are notoriously difficult to work with, and the Soul Selector has just found a particularly stupid pair.
Clara Dearheart works in a funeral parlor and talks to her clients. Her friends and family have watched her suffer after the loss of her partner and urge her to move on, but all Clara wants is to stand still.
Bebe Franklin writes terrible soap episodes and needs a career change. Her boss hates her; her friends are sharp as knives; all Bebe wants to do is run. And she doesstraight into Clara's calm, ordered, and extraordinary life. For Clara can see ghosts and waits for her dead lover. How can Bebe compete with a love that transcends death, a love that knows no rest? A love that haunts all it touches.
A week in paradise with the ex-girlfriend from Hell.
Winifred Martin has a new job, newfound confidence, and a glamorous new lover. In fact, after moving on from a heart-wrenching breakup, Win has a whole new life.
Benedikte (Benny) Fiske has also sold up and moved on, too—to a wonderful Greek island where she can invest in herself again and find peace and quiet.
When Win arrives at a luxurious boutique hotel for a much-anticipated week of sun and sex with her new girlfriend, she is stunned to find her ex-girlfriend, Benny, is the proprietor. Benny is equally shocked to find Win doing so well and looking so gorgeous...far too gorgeous. She's convinced Win is wasting her time on this vacuous new lover. In fact, she has a lot of opinions on Win and her new life—the strongest being Benny should be back in it.
Nestled in the beautiful Aegean on an island blessed by Eros, the God of Love himself, Benny finds no lack of inspiration in her quest to woo back her lost love. Her methods, however, are the stuff myths are made of.
Let me preface this by saying this is the First book in a series, and I really REALLY love the second book. And I don't usually like "Mystery and/or Horror" genres, and this book is 50% mystery/40% Lesbian romance/10% horror.
That being said, I have found Gail McKnight to be a fantastic writer, with terrific, fun dialog and very engaging characters. I also love this idea as a basis for a series of books.
So why the lower score? Well, what I found troubling, I will address below the "Spoiler Warning Line", but basically there are a few plot holes, some occasionally unrealistic behavior in the lead character, and the cover reveals too big a clue. (I still like the book though)
==============Spoiler Alert! (go no further)============
---------No, I'm not kidding. Turn back! (OK, you've been warned)-------
First: "The way the book was spoiled for me". The cover of this first book has not one, but ~two~ (were)wolves on the cover? This is a very pretty cover, but the editors/publishers should have considered that putting wolves on the cover was a potential spoiler. (insert eye-roll emoticon here)
OK, so, knowing about the werewolves did serious damage to my enjoying the book. Secondly: Our heroine Amy Fortune is able to work out complex puzzles and mysteries contained in the Garoul`s almanac she is working on illustrating, yet seems oblivious to clue after clue after clue about werewolves, a trespassing (and lying) librarian, and the mysterious shadowy presence in the forest that just leaps off the page to the pre-warned reader. (Also: She grew up with the Garoul clan, and never saw anything unusual?) How can the heroine be so smart and so thickheaded at the same time?
Third: "The Rapid and Inexplicable Reconciliation". Long ago, Leone figuratively ripped the 17-year old Amy's heart out and spit it in the dirt like it was nothing more than rotten meat. (over the telephone no less) Now, 6 years later, a few magic candles, a scented satchel and some burning incense and Amy stops fighting with Leone and happily resumes being her personal chew-toy? That makes no sense, even with magic (clearly) existing.
PLUS: The second time the main characters make love, it starts out as NON-CONSENSUAL, and I'm sorry but I have difficulties with that. Seriously, "No" means "NO". I kept putting the book down out of frustration. Honestly, Amy rejects Leone's advances FIVE times in that scene, and is physically held down until she is seduced into enjoying it? ...Ick.
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Now that I've turned this review into a debate, I will say this (again) I love the second book in the series, I've read it 5 times, and I pre-ordered book 3 six months in advance. Also, "Goldenseal" is, on the whole, a very good book, ~and~ I can never call it dull or boring. I actually argued out-loud with it. I may have disagreements with the three issues above, but the author got me so involved that I ~cared~ about those points enough to write this long and rambling review.
