Shadow Dance: A Novel (Buchanan-Renard)

Shadow Dance is my favorite of Julie Garwood's books so far. Some of the dialogue made me laugh out loud. Jordan and Noah are great characters - great chemistry together. I especially like Noah's seemingly uncomplicated take on life. It's a fun book to read with an interesting and humorous plot. It's the characters that really make it though.

Another very enjoyable, can't put down and read-in-one-sitting offering from JG, with likable leads and filled with quirky secondary characters that add wonderfully to the basic story.

The only slight mis-step for me was the at times laughable, almost charmingly inept attempts at establishing the heroine as a technology savvy entrepreneur. Clearly JG excels at the word processing aspects of computers ... alas, the author appears to lack a single a technical understanding cell in her otherwise talented brain. ;-)

High rating because I enjoy the characters plus the dialogue. I particularly like how the characters evolve interweaving with one another instead of betrayals and frictions. Makes a book more interesting and more like real life where we struggle along but always together making the ties between men and women and people we love or even just like, stronger.

Wow!!!!!!!! This book has all the trademarks of a great Julie Garwood read. It has humor, suspense, nobility, honor, tenderness, witty dialogue, and is really about the characters more than the criminal aspect. As u can tell I loved it. I had been leery since her former contemporary novels had not been up to her standard, to my thinking.

Noah, while an interesting character, was so much a womanizer I just didn't see how she was going to be able to make me believe he could be faithful to one woman. He seemed very selfish in his desires and a user of women, he is not only gorgeous but an FBI agent. Which makes him very attractive to women. Nevertheless I came to like and respect him and enjoyed this book very much.

Noah Claybourne is an FBI agent who is a partner with Nick Buchannan. We met them in HEARTBREAKER when Nick met his wife Laurant. The rest of her books contain references to him along with the romances of several more Buchanans. This one starts at Dylan and Kates wedding. An unexpected guest arrives to see Isabel Buchanan, Dylan's sister, he is a MacKenna like Kate and tells Isabel who has been corresponding with him, about the feud between the Buchanans and the MacKennas.

Isabel is starting college and Jordan, her brainy sister, who has just sold her company, volunteers to go to Serenity, Texas and copy his notes on the feud. Mostly because she feels he is a flake who is very prejudiced against the Buchanans. And she is at a loose end. Her whole life has been devoted to her Computer business.

While in Serenity, she meets with Professor MacKenna and the next day finds him dead in her car trunk. With a corrupt sheriff, his dumb brother, and a corrupt police chief the stage is set to railroad Jordan into a murder charge. Fortunately our heros in white, or FBI standard, arrive and the cat is in the pidgeon house. I would have bought this book just for this part of the story. It was funny, warm and brought out the gentleness in Noah.

Someone is after Jordan, she is the only common denominator in the three deaths that follow. The rich relationship that developes between these two people is Garwood at her finest. She doesn't use the usual misunderstandings to further her story instead she lets us see the caring and tenderness between two people.

I really don't want to ruin anything for you by giving to many details, but I promise you will love this book.

There is a sweetness to Julie Garwood's writing that even murder and mayhem can't diminish. Rich or poor, historic romance or contemporary, her starring characters are just plain good folk. We don't have to overlook unforgivable flaws, love scenes are lusty and based on an emotional connection as much as physical attraction. Somewhere along the line, her heroes and heroines become friends as well as lovers. I appreciate that.

Adding the Clayborne connection to Shadow dance might have been an error on Ms. Garwood's part, it had me re-reading For the Roses, then I fell headfirst back into some of her other historicals. I will, however, resist the temptation to nag her into writing more in that genre. I like the direction she is taking with her contemporary mysteries, and don't want to suggest she alter course. (I can always re-read my favorites of her old stuff when I need a fix of good historical romances).

One very respectful request, if any reviewer has Julie Garwood's ear. I absolutely love the prologues she often adds to books like The Secret and Mercy. They add substance and depth to her characters. The one in Mercy had me wanting to adopt Big Daddy as my own. For me, it makes the difference between a four and a five star read.

As usual, Julie Garwood has kept me riveted. The mystery and romance, the visit to past written families/characters that I know and love, and the fast moving plot keeps your nose in this book. I've already read the sequel and found it to be just as good. Thank you, Julie Garwood. Write faster! :)

I was so looking forward to reading this book and I even ordered the book as soon as it got onto the shelves. There is no love story or romance in this book... the characters' relationship wasn't fully developed and I know Julie Garwood could have done much, much better. It looks like she just wanted to get this book out and the ending was too short as well. Not a good book..... save your money.

My brain strained mightily to enjoy another novel from one of my favorite authors. Nope. From the moment Jordan drove off in a junk car into a non-existent "desert" region within driving distance of Austin, I knew it would be a slog through stereotyped characters and locale. Finished it, anyway, more out of curiosity (will it ever improve or stay just as bad?). It stayed bad all the way through.

Stick with historical romances, Miss Julie. You're less likely to be caught out in geographic errors, insulting characterizations, and lack of knowledge of actual FBI jurisdictions and procedures.

Thankfully, I spent no money, but borrowed from the library. Would have been a terrible waste of dollars.

Julie Garwood has long been one of my favorite authors, but for years I stuck to just reading her historical romance novels. After finally giving in to curiosity, I reached for the first of her contemporary romantic suspense novels, Heartbreaker, and was immediately hooked! I could already tell one of the secondary characters in that book, FBI Agent Noah Clayborne, would get his own story. And, oh, how I was looking forward to reading it! He was one of the best developed secondary characters I'd ever encountered, in any book of any genre, and I couldn't wait to see what Julie Garwood would do with him as a hero.

I'm still waiting.

Although Noah Clayborne may technically be the hero in Shadow Dance, he's more watered down than skim milk. And the heroine, Jordan Buchanan, is forgettable at best. I felt as if I'd accidentally gotten my hands on Ms. Garwood's rough draft instead of her finished product, especially since my copy was full of typos that should've never made it to press.

All that said, though, I'm sure I'll continue to enjoy Julie Garwood as an author. Although I was disappointed in Shadow Dance, she'll no doubt continue to amaze me with her talent for storytelling.

I really like Noah's character and I expected his story to be one of the best in this series. He has been a recurring character when there was trouble and his help was needed in the previous novels. He was also quite the ladies man and I couldn't wait for his story to watch him fall in love. While I enjoyed Shadow Dance, it definitely didn't meet my expectations. I like the fact that he fell in love with Jordan after realizing he saw her as more than his friend's little sister but something was lacking in this book. The scene at the end where he confesses his love was anticlimactic and I actually re-read it to make sure I hadn't missed something. A well known ladies man realizing he has become a one woman man should be a big deal and very romantic but it wasn't. I'm glad I read it and I recommend it if you are a fan of the series or Julie Garwood but it was definitely not what I anticipated.

I think this book is a romantic thriller; or maybe it's just a love story; or then again, maybe it is supposed to be a mystery? I'm confused!

The story line is that a brilliant woman computer scientist who likes her life ordered and organized, is challenged by an FBI agent who is a friend of her brother's to step outside of her comfort zone. So, she goes off on a wild goose chase to a godforsaken little town in Texas to talk to some nutty professor about an ancient feud that might affect her brother's life with his newly married wife. While in this town she ends up getting involved in three murders and is stalked by a maniacal killing machine who is assisted by all kinds of seedy characters. To the rescue comes the FBI agent who becomes the love of her life, etc. etc. etc.

The plot of this novel is as preposterous as anything I've seen. This rich and brilliant woman ends up renting a car that is a wreck? Hello! In real life she would have been an Avis/Hertz kind of person with Club memberships and would have gotten an expensive and very well maintained vehicle to drive! Also, she is out to meet with this goofy professor who researches historical Scottish clans in the middle of Texas? Since she knows computers, how come she does not know how to research people and their backgrounds on the internet?

Let's look at the FBI agent: here is a guy who never spends more than a week with any woman. So, all of a sudden he is turned on by her horn rimmed reading glasses to the point where he proposes marriage? huh? How about this plot line: the woman becomes a suspect in a murder so she calls her brother, and immediately, without any paperwork, permissions, or turf issues, both her brother and Noah (her paramour) fly off to Texas, the nearest FBI office drops everything that they are doing to help - even though the local police do NOT ask for help - and they are all involved in a simple murder case? How is that related to the real FBI and their role?

It even gets weirder - when the two FBI dudes get into town they arrest the chief of police! They immediately find out that this little town where everyone knows everyone else has a prostitution ring that has everyone sleeping with people who are not their spouses. A local town bully is a surveillance and electronics wiz-kid who also operates a blackmailing operation, and in addition he is a stupid follower of orders that clearly are intended to harm him. The two sides of town are separated by a line and the "good" restaurant is next to the "good" hotel which is on the "good" side of town while the "bad" restaurant is next to the "bad" hotel which rents rooms by the hour.

While I am not a Texan, even I found the overly broad characterization of the town to be uncomfortable and disturbing in its stereotyping. Has the author ever visited Texas?

The final kicker for me was the final scene and the resolution of the whole plot line. The killer manages to find his way to Boston to waylay the heroine and wound her. This, after he completely ignores her in his own backyard of Serenity Texas and three other people are killed there. What nonsense. To top it all off, the whole point of the plot was this supposed feud between the clans and the treasure that was lost. So, what happened with that feud? It's alluded to but never really explored.

Basically a waste of time.

In this sequel to slow burn, Jordan Buchannan is thrust into the middle of a mystery. Apparently the McKenna's and Buchannan's have had a feud for generations, and a history professor from Texas stated how Dylan and Kate should never have married. Intrigued by the unknown, she traveled to Serenity to do some research. She was beginning to like this small Texas town until the professor turned up dead in her trunk. Not knowing what to do, she tried to contact her brother Nick for help, but ended up talking to his partner Noah Clayborne. Both Noah and Nick arrived in record time to get Jordan released, but not before she was battered by the local sheriff's brother in the next county. Nick was called away, but Noah stayed with her, so she could get all her things packed, and ready to go. The night before their departure, the mechanic that had worked on her car turned up dead in the trunk of Noah's rental car. She could not wait to get out of this small friendly town that turned out not to be so friendly after all. She really wanted to go because she was afraid she was falling for a man that didn't know what commitment was. She didn't want to be just one in a long line of women for Noah Clayborne.

Noah and Jordan were stranded in Texas because with all of all the mayhem around them they couldn't leave. The next victim to turn up was the man that attacked Jordan. Noah was dumbfounded that he hadn't been able to figure what was going on. He couldn't let anything happen to her, but it seemed out of his control. Both of those things bothered him on levels he didn't want to think about. Jordan and Noah were getting very close so quickly it frightened them both. When the heat between them burned out of control they gave into their passion. When Jordan and Noah felt the trouble had passed they headed back to Boston, where they thought that they were away from danger, but little did they know that it followed them. After Jordan is critically injured in a shooting, Noah is afraid he may never get the chance to tell her he loves her.

I liked Jordan because while she is a very strong woman, she also has a vulnerable side. Noah is tough as nails, and it humbles him to care so deeply for Jordan. He is in unfamiliar territory, and unsure what to do. For once, he doesn't have all the answers. I also like Jordan's big interfering family because they are involved in her life yet remain deeply intertwined. Interesting characters with a good story.