Kiss and Kill

Rating:
Summary: The word "Politician" almost scared me off........
Review: .....however, since I've enjoyed each of Karen Young's novels, I went for it anyway. So glad I did because, as always, I totally lost myself in this book...even though it's a shade different then what I've come to expect of Ms. Young. She can't crank them out fast enough to suit me and I keep wondering after each one I finish....why isn't she a major best selling suspense/romance novelist? "The O'Connors" is one of the very best books I've read & should be a 'must read' on anyones list....but, I think barely heard of in the literary world. Such a shame!

Anyone that hasn't taken the time to read a Karen Young book....pick one up. Doesn't matter which one...they're all excellent. You'll become an instant fan of Young's....I promise!

Rating:
Summary: The word "Politician" almost scared me off........
Review: .....however, since I've enjoyed each of Karen Young's novels, I went for it anyway. So glad I did because, as always, I totally lost myself in this book...even though it's a shade different then what I've come to expect of Ms. Young. She can't crank them out fast enough to suit me and I keep wondering after each one I finish....why isn't she a major best selling suspense/romance novelist? "The O'Connors" is one of the very best books I've read & should be a 'must read' on anyones list....but, I think barely heard of in the literary world. Such a shame!

Anyone that hasn't taken the time to read a Karen Young book....pick one up. Doesn't matter which one...they're all excellent. You'll become an instant fan of Young's....I promise!

Rating:
Summary: Good but romance seemes superfluous
Review: Anyone would envy the life of Anne Atwood at first glance. After two decades of marriage to Texas Senator Parker Atwood, most of them spent in DC, Anne has obtained an excellent reputation. However, the fifty-two years old political flunky, who is how she sees her role as a wife to a Congressman, hates her very existence. Worse yet, not only is her relationship with her spouse strained, her relationship with her teenage daughter Barry is falling apart.

Life abruptly changes when Parker's private plane vanishes in Montana. Accompanied by Barry, who blames Anne for her father's disappearance, reporters begin making inquiries. The worst news hound is Ian McKay, who is investigating alleged criminal activity by Parker. When an unknown blackmailer insists she continue her spouse's payments, a stunned Anne turns to Ian to uncover the truth behind the facade she lived with for twenty years.

KISS AND KILL is an exciting romantic intrigue that hard core suspense fans will enjoy. It is well written and never eases off the throttle but readers will sometimes question motives and relationships of the key characters when they don't gel. Karen Young is clearly a talented author as the novel retains a fun to read, suspense-laden quality, but the romantic elements seem inappropriate. Still, anyone who relishes a political thriller will gain pleasure from KISS AND KILL.

Harriet Klausner

Rating:
Summary: Good but romance seemes superfluous
Review: Anyone would envy the life of Anne Atwood at first glance. After two decades of marriage to Texas Senator Parker Atwood, most of them spent in DC, Anne has obtained an excellent reputation. However, the fifty-two years old political flunky, who is how she sees her role as a wife to a Congressman, hates her very existence. Worse yet, not only is her relationship with her spouse strained, her relationship with her teenage daughter Barry is falling apart.

Life abruptly changes when Parker's private plane vanishes in Montana. Accompanied by Barry, who blames Anne for her father's disappearance, reporters begin making inquiries. The worst news hound is Ian McKay, who is investigating alleged criminal activity by Parker. When an unknown blackmailer insists she continue her spouse's payments, a stunned Anne turns to Ian to uncover the truth behind the facade she lived with for twenty years.

KISS AND KILL is an exciting romantic intrigue that hard core suspense fans will enjoy. It is well written and never eases off the throttle but readers will sometimes question motives and relationships of the key characters when they don't gel. Karen Young is clearly a talented author as the novel retains a fun to read, suspense-laden quality, but the romantic elements seem inappropriate. Still, anyone who relishes a political thriller will gain pleasure from KISS AND KILL.

Harriet Klausner

Rating:
Summary: A Kiss Before Dying. . .
Review: How would a woman react if she discovered her husband had a life that she knew nothing about? That he'd made choices that affected them in the most intimate way without consulting her? How would a woman react if she realized that her 20-year marriage has been a sham?

As I brainstormed ideas for my latest book, KISS & KILL, these ideas intrigued me. When I had to decide where to set the story I turned naturally to Houston, Texas, my new home. The city is southern, cosmopolitan, lusty, proud of its heritage. As a newcomer, I'm still fascinated by its teeming energy and down-home charm. In short, it has all the qualities necessary to a writer. Living in a city like Houston, it was easy to imagine this tale of a woman with a storybook life who suddenly finds everything about her life is a lie.

Anne Atwood has lived for years in the glare of Washington's political spotlight. As the wife of a charismatic U. S. Senator, she's one of the capitol's premier hostesses, entertaining, campaigning, working behind the scenes to further her husband's career while raising their daughter. Then comes the plane crash that leaves her a widow...and brings a sinister stranger out of the shadows bent on collecting an old debt. But who is he? What secrets will he reveal?

KISS & KILL represents a sharp turn in direction for me as an author. As I developed Anne Atwood's story, it was clear that I wouldn't be writing my usual "relationship" novel. Although I often write of women in crisis, the events that overtake Anne go beyond what I've done in previous books. This is an intense story of a woman beset by the ugly reality of infidelity, deception and murder. Help is possible from an old friend and journalist, Ian McKay, but a life spent in the public eye has taught Anne to be wary of the media. So, as her picture perfect life unravels, she must ultimately look to herself to uncover her husband's secrets, to protect her daughter and to build a new and better life for herself.

I hope you will find KISS & KILL as compelling to read as I found it fascinating to write. To find out more about my other novels, visit my website on the World Wide Web.

Rating:
Summary: Most of the main characters were annoying & dense
Review: The first third of this book I would have given a four but it went downhill after that!

Anne has been married to a US senator for 20 years. She had a degree and was a journalist but chucked it all to be Mrs. Parker Atwood. Parker never recognizes Anne's intelligence and her main use to him is as a political wife.

They adopted daughter Barry when she was a few days old and she's now 16. Barry thinks her father is the best thing since sliced bread, even though he sent her to a boarding school 1500 miles away and pays her very little attention. On the other hand she sees Anne as the enemy and treats her horrendously. She constantly insults her and refuses to recognize her authority even though Anne is just trying to keep her safe. Barry is a complete brat.

Ellen is Anne's best friend who went into rehab several years ago and is clean and a successful lawyer. She divorced Scott, her cop husband, when she found him in their bed with another woman (Ick!). They've been divorced for five years and he had been seeing Carole (the other woman) for six months before he and Ellen broke up. He just split with Carole six months ago and basically says he doesn't have any deep feelings for her. He had a relationship for five years and doesn't care about her? Scott never really explains his actions other than to say Ellen made more money than him and he was supposed to be the major bread winner, that's the way it should be. He never apologizes to her but that was the pattern of most of the characters. The majority of the interaction between Scott & Ellen happens "off canvas" so we never know why their relationship goes in the direction it does.

Anne has known Ian McKay most of her life and had a very brief relationship with him before she met Parker. Again, we never get a real explanation as to why he left Anne and like everyone else he never apologizes. Well, everyone except Anne who's always apologizing to someone even though she's rarely at fault.

After Parker dies in a plane crash Anne acquires a stalker. With Ian's help she also uncovers the fact that Parker had a complete other life. Now my question is this: How could she have lived with this man for 20 years and not even suspected any of this? This guy was a borderline monster and yet she never picked up on anything? Was she living on Fantasy Island?

The stalker was obvious, the end anti-climactic and left loose ends.

Rating:
Summary: Most of the main characters were annoying & dense
Review: The first third of this book I would have given a four but it went downhill after that!

Anne has been married to a US senator for 20 years. She had a degree and was a journalist but chucked it all to be Mrs. Parker Atwood. Parker never recognizes Anne's intelligence and her main use to him is as a political wife.

They adopted daughter Barry when she was a few days old and she's now 16. Barry thinks her father is the best thing since sliced bread, even though he sent her to a boarding school 1500 miles away and pays her very little attention. On the other hand she sees Anne as the enemy and treats her horrendously. She constantly insults her and refuses to recognize her authority even though Anne is just trying to keep her safe. Barry is a complete brat.

Ellen is Anne's best friend who went into rehab several years ago and is clean and a successful lawyer. She divorced Scott, her cop husband, when she found him in their bed with another woman (Ick!). They've been divorced for five years and he had been seeing Carole (the other woman) for six months before he and Ellen broke up. He just split with Carole six months ago and basically says he doesn't have any deep feelings for her. He had a relationship for five years and doesn't care about her? Scott never really explains his actions other than to say Ellen made more money than him and he was supposed to be the major bread winner, that's the way it should be. He never apologizes to her but that was the pattern of most of the characters. The majority of the interaction between Scott & Ellen happens "off canvas" so we never know why their relationship goes in the direction it does.

Anne has known Ian McKay most of her life and had a very brief relationship with him before she met Parker. Again, we never get a real explanation as to why he left Anne and like everyone else he never apologizes. Well, everyone except Anne who's always apologizing to someone even though she's rarely at fault.

After Parker dies in a plane crash Anne acquires a stalker. With Ian's help she also uncovers the fact that Parker had a complete other life. Now my question is this: How could she have lived with this man for 20 years and not even suspected any of this? This guy was a borderline monster and yet she never picked up on anything? Was she living on Fantasy Island?

The stalker was obvious, the end anti-climactic and left loose ends.

Rating:
Summary: Secrets, Lies and Sensuous Romance
Review: This is the kind of book you pick up and cannot put down until the last page is turned. Ms. Young has written an outstanding tale of a politician's secret life. His widow discovers the lies he lived after his death, and her search for the truth makes for a compelling read. She is aided in her quest by an old friend who becomes her lover in a warm and believable love story.

Buy this book--you will not regret it!

Rating:
Summary: Secrets, Lies and Sensuous Romance
Review: When Anne Atwood's husband of twenty years dies suddenly in plane crash, the widow learns that her husband was not the loving, respectable, husband, father, and United States Senator that she and the country thought he was. Anne discovers that Senator Ashwood's past held ugly secrets, incuding unsolved murders and their beloved daughter's origins. This fast paced mystery is relevant, questioning if we realy know those closest to us.

Rating:
Summary: The Husband was a Stranger
Review: When Anne Atwood's husband of twenty years dies suddenly in plane crash, the widow learns that her husband was not the loving, respectable, husband, father, and United States Senator that she and the country thought he was. Anne discovers that Senator Ashwood's past held ugly secrets, incuding unsolved murders and their beloved daughter's origins. This fast paced mystery is relevant, questioning if we realy know those closest to us.