"Dark, sensual, mesmerizing!!"
There is NO ONE better at creating such vivid characters
of men with black hearts and even blacker souls, men who
will use women without thought, and the women compelled to
love them no matter what. There is no one better at the
skin-scorching sizzling romance and mesmerizing sexual
encounters. MOONRISE and RITUAL SINS are two of her best
works, but NIGHTFALL comes close to that same heart-
pounding perfection. In this dark and hypnotic tale, Cassidy Roarke is the
daughter to a famous tell-all writer, Sean Roarke, a
Richard Harris-type two-fisted, whisky drinking, hard-
living man who writes true crime novels that always top
the bestseller list. Sean sees Cassidy as a tool to be
used, so he summons her and plays on his sympathy. He is
slowly dying, he tells her, and needs Cassidy to help to
finish his last book. Cassidy is not a beauty. She feels
her father views her as one big failure in life, in her
career, so she jumps at the chance to please him. But
uptight Cassidy soon finds out Sean has made a pact with
the devil, a pact that includes literally 'giving' his
daughter to the devil for his own dark purposes. But she
loves her father, so she goes along with his plan to aid
him in finishing the tell-all story of Richard Tiernan,
and she is convinced Tiernan is the devil incarnate. Sean sees the book on Tiernan as Pulitzer prize material
and that he will go out with a blaze of glory, but it does
not take Cassidy long before she begins to doubt just how
ill her father is, making her wonder if he ever cared for
her and that he would do anything to write this book,
including sacrifice his daughter to a murderer. Richard Tiernan was a successful businessman, had a
beautiful wife and two children - he was a man other men
would envy. But something very bad happened one night.
Tiernan's wife is found dead and the two children are
missing, and most presume he killed them as well.
Tiernan's father-in-law is determined to see him punished
for this. Through the trial and conviction for murder of
his wife, Tiernan did not fight. Everyone was shocked
when he accepted the guilty conviction and remained
totally mute on the fate of his two kids. Out on bail while awaiting sentencing, Tiernan is released
to the custody of Sean Roarke. Sean has opened his home
to him, a shocking move in order to have Richard tell him
the down and dirty tale of what happened that night, where
are the missing children, why a handsome, successful
businessman murdered. But this is not without a price.
Richard makes the bargain in return for Cassidy. Everyone is stunned why he accepts the expected death
sentence so stoically. Cassidy is terrified of Richard;
after all he murdered his wife and likely murdered two
helpless children, yet she is drawn to him like moth to
flame. He is powerful, beautiful and assured he can get
whatever he wants in life - the opposite of Cassidy - and
Richard has decided he wants Cassidy. He wants her body,
but more important he wants to enslave her soul. Frightened by him, she resents his growing power over her
but cannot stop herself for being drawn into his dark
web. What does he want with her? What dark plans does he
have for her? Repulsed by a murderer, yet Cassidy is
slowly drawn against will to the compelling man full of
secrets and darkness. What more can he be hiding? Isn't
killing his wife and children bad enough? What dark
secrets lurk in his soul, and why is Cassidy and his
complete control over her so suddenly important to him? Richard uses sex as a tool to bind Cassidy to him, make
her his slave but then suddenly Richard runs. Cassidy is
not one to stand back and count herself thankful for
escaping him; she goes after Richard to find out all his
dark secrets no matter the cost her to heart or soul. Stuart delivers a sexy, steamy dark mystery that will keep
you biting your nails to the very end. A book that
lingers in the mind years after you finish.
Reviewed by DeborahAnne MacGillivray
Posted April 3, 2003
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