Dark Paradise: A Novel

Excellent read. Exciting mystery that I truly enjoyed. Filled with mystery, money, madness, and a little romance. The best book I have read in some time!!! If you like a good mystery mixed with some thriller thrown in, buy this book and scoot up to the edge of your seat!

I've been a fan of Tami Hoag's since her Loveswept romance days, and have read nearly everything she has written. Still Waters (a personal favorite of mine) was Ms. Hoag's first foray into romantic suspense. Dark Paradise followed, and with each successive novel, she stepped further away from romance and further into the pschological thrillers she is most known for today. This is important to know if you're considering buying a book by Tami Hoag for the first time. It's easy to be disappointed by making a book selection that isn't your cup of tea, b/c she has written the gamut.Dark Paradise is primarily a romance with elements of suspense and a mystery at the heart of it. It is, in my opinion, a terrific book. I have recommended it to friends who read romance, mysteries and horror -- all have liked it without exception. Marilee, the heroine has arrived in Montana to visit a friend on vacation and take stock of her life. She arrives to find the friend dead, under mysterious circumstances that no one besides her seems to care about. This is the mystery: who really killed Lucy and was it truly an accident? Marilee is a great heroine, smart and plucky and creative without being the slightest bit perfect. You can imagine knowing someone just like her. Her run-ins with the reluctant rancher hero JD (who knew Lucy and doesn't care what happened to her as long as it doesn't affect his ranch or way of life) are classic romance-type exchanges, but they're never pat. That's one hallmark of Ms. Hoag's, no matter what genre she's writing for - the characters rarely take the easy way out. They're too real for that. If you enjoy Ms. Hoag's more edgy and psychological-horror books (ie. Ashes to Ashes), then you may still enjoy Dark Paradise as a precursor, stylistically. If you were a fan of books like Magic and Sarah's Sin, this one will take you down a darker path moving away from romance. I highly recommend this book to most anyone who asks me. It's one of my all-time favorites. Give it a try.

This book moved me in ways I didn't know possible! I'm STILL in love with the male main character - mmmm mmm mmmmm! And the female main character was inspirational beyond my dreams! A powerful mystery with several side-stories all going on as well that all end up tying together - OUTSTANDING AND HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

This was the 1st Tami Hoag book I've read. I was impressed by her great/unique story line, the characters and her overall writing. This book reminds me of writing style of Nora Roberts, Linda Howard, Elizabeth Lowell. I loved the interchange between Marilee & JD; their witty arguments, sarcastic remarks...sort of like to the exchanges between Cybil Sheppard & Bruce Willis during "Moonlighting". I'm a Tami Hoag fan now.