Death Angel
4 Stars

As the mistress of a ruthless criminal, Drea Rousseau adopts a "dumb blond" persona with ease to ensure her future. But when her lover bargains her away to a menacing assassin, she is incandescent with rage, and he soon learns that the old adage is true - hell hath no fury like a woman scorned!

Linda Howard is very skilled at taking unlikable characters and making them not only appealing but someone the reader wants to root for. Drea and the assassin are two such characters. She is intelligent, cunning and manipulative while he is cold, calculating and heartless. Nevertheless, as a couple, they have incredible chemistry and their interactions are intense and erotic.

As the story progresses and more is revealed about the characters, their motivations and their desires, it become clear that there is more to them than first meets the eye.

That said, there are two elements that detract from the romance and the suspense. The first is the inclusion of some paranormal elements about halfway through the book. There are unnecessary and add absolutely nothing to either the plot or the characterization. The second is the fact that the hero and heroine spend at least 1/3 of the book apart. Despite the physical distance between them, their thoughts and actions are preoccupied with one another, but the separation does, nonetheless, last too long.

Overall, a well-written and engaging read. ( )

One of my all time favorites. This was the first Linda Howard that I read. Why am I just now getting around to reviewing it? This is a very different book. The hero is an unapologetic assassion. It's what he's good at and he has no qualms or morals about it. She is a drug lord's money hungry girl friend. These are two of the most unlikely character's ever to be in a mainstream romance. The story is very fast paced especially in the first part where Drea is trying to escape with the money she stole from the drug runner. I just kept turning the pages and chanting "hurry up! hurry up!" Here we have the hero chasing the heroine. He's accepted a job to kill her and he's gaining every minute and just like him, the reader isn't sure what decision he's going to make when he gets there. Will her kill her or not? Nail biting writing.

The second half of the book is very different. It slows down and somehow these two misfits find each other but even that is tense. Simon is not repentant but his love for Drea/Andie enables him to change his life to accommodate her. He is the ultimate dark hero. What happens to Drea to turn her into the more sympathetic Andie is also extrememly unexpected and very well written.

I read this book over and over. If you've read as many romances as I have, you really appreciate different and this is different. (let's see I'm 48 and have probably been reading romances for 34 years, let's guess 2 romances a week for that long - that's about 3,500 romances and I'd guess that was conservative. That's a lot of the same old thing.) ( )

First half was great intense suspense, middle was good contemp romance, and ending was (a tad rushed in regards to dealing with the baddie) wonderful come-together love.
I really wanted to give this 5 stars but I just don't see this being a re-read, which is my strict rule for 5stars. This was such an incredibly enjoyable read. ( )

This was the first Linda Howard book I've read. Somewhere in the middle I was worried that it wasn't going to turn out how I wanted - but it did. I enjoyed her characters and the suspense kept me reading. I will look for more books from her. ( )

When mob moll Drea Rousseau discovers that her lover has betrayed her and given her to a hit man as payment, she knows her days with drug lord Salinas are numbered. What she doesn't count on is an intense connection to Simon the hit man. Simon feels it to, but ever the loner, he sends her packing. With no where to go, she disappears, stealing $2 million from Salinas, who immediately hires Simon to kill her.

I like that while the hero/heroine decide that they are going to change they do not become completely different people. Drea is still a woman with a temper who has a difficult time making hard choices. The assassin is still a man who has a hard time opening up and trusting anyone. But Love changes them and makes them both see the value of life. I gave "Death Angel" four stars even though I wanted more details on the characters it stilled has me so engaged I never put the book down until I was done. ( )