Weekend Shopping (My Top 5 Linda Howard books)

If you know anything about me, you know that my favorite author is Linda Howard. I know, some people strongly don't like her, most don't know her, and a few love her.

NOBODY LOVES HER LIKE ME.

I've always been a reader but when I discovered Linda Howard, I bought every book I could find of hers. I have read all of these countless times and I love them so much. So for this week's Weekend Shopping, I give to you....

My Top 5 Linda Howard Books

It's so hard to put her books in order of favorites, and I struggled with this list even though I narrowed it down to just five books I think you'll really like.

5. Open Season

I picked this one to start this list off because this is actually the first book of hers that I read. It was featured in an issue of Cosmopolitan under a "hot reads" column and the one chapter I read sold me. It's about Daisy, who is kind of a naive and sheltered gal, and she's in her mid-30's. Wanting to revamp her life and maybe make it a little more exciting, she transforms herself into a party girl. It gets the eye of the new Sheriff in town but also the eye of a killer. She finds herself in danger, the good guy saves her and it's just a really fun read. I enjoyed this one a lot. 

4. Cover of Night

I'm going to be 100% up front- the plot line in this book is RIDICULOUS. It absolutely would never happen, but I don't care, I kind of wish it would. We have Cate, a widowed mother running a bed and breakfast in the middle of nowhere Idaho. We have Calvin, retired from the military, quiet guy, who kind of has a crush on Cate but he's happy to help her out anytime instead of just telling her how he feels. SUDDENLY! We have bad guys come to town, stuff happens, they think Cate has something of theirs so Cate and Calvin find themselves trying to save the entire town (cut off from all communication, obviously) and they land in dangerous situations in the mountains. The love story between Cate and Calvin is what seals this book for me and Calvin is the hero I'd go for.

3. All the Queen's Men

There is actually a book before this that introduces all of these characters, but you don't have to read that before you read this one. The first chapter or so is a good summary of that book and gives you an idea of why the characters in this book are the way they are. Easily one of the hottest characters in all of Linda's books is none other than John Medina. He's Black Ops CIA, he's lethal. His new mission requires the expertise of Niema, who's husband (who was killed during a mission) was a team mate of John's, and there's some history. She reluctantly agrees to help out knowing the greater good, and it turns out to be an excellent decision. The heat between Niema and John is strong and when we finally get to some romance... it's pretty great. I finished this book wishing SO much that we'd see John Medina in future books but so far, that hasn't happened.

2. Up Close and Dangerous

We are also going to put this in the "never going to happen" category, but dammit if it didn't make me re-evaluate what I pack in my bag when I fly. In this book we have sexy pilot Cam, who finds himself as the last minute change of pilot to escort rich and snobby Bailey to her destination. They can't stand each other so they keep the conversation minimum but! (Dun dun dun) Their plane goes down in the snowy mountains and though injured, Bailey finds herself having to rescue Cam and nurse him back to health. The best part of this book is how they used ordinary, stupid items to survive and of course, even though he's on the brink of hypothermia, his penis still works and wants to play. Why did the plane go down? Was it intentional? If so, why? Do they survive? This was a pretty fast read for me and it involves snowy mountains, so it would be a great winter read. Or, of course, a great airplane read. You can think about what you would do if your plane goes down and all that.

1. Cry No More

If you asked me what my absolute, hands down, no questions asked, favorite Linda Howard was, it will always be this one. This book had everything you want in a book, we have romance (obviously), we have suspense, we have murder, we have kidnapped babies and a mother's heart wrenching search for her child. The first couple of chapters were tough for me to read simply because I don't know what I would do if my child were ripped from my arms in the middle of a market and I never saw them again. What would you do? Well, Milla forms a non-profit agency who search for missing children like her own. She gets desperate and finds herself speaking with the elusive and mysterious James Diaz, who flies under the radar but is really good at finding people Soon Milla and James are on the trail to finding who took her son and where her son is. I'm going to spoil it and tell you two of my favorite sex scenes of all time happen in this book, one on the banks of river and one in a shower towards the end when Milla is in just extreme grief. Ugh... just thinking about that makes me want to read the book right now. Though the book is their mission to finding Milla's son, it poses the moral dilemma of what would you do? If you found the child, and they are happy in a home- do you separate them from that? Would you sacrifice your happiness for your child's? I really loved this book so much, for so many reasons, and James Diaz was perfect. He almost surpasses John Medina in favorite male hero. Maybe they are tied. Ah! I can't decide. I just really loved this book. If you are new to Linda Howard, I want you to try this one for sure.

Stay tuned for next weekend! I think I might do another round up like this one for another author. Oh.. yes! I just looked at my calendar and YES. I already have it planned out. STAY TUNED!