Howard, Linda 1950-

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HOWARD, Linda 1950-

PERSONAL: Born August 3, 1950, in Gadsden, AL; married Gary F. Howington.

ADDRESSES: Home—116 Louise Ave., Gadsden, AL 35903. Agent—Robin Rue, Anita Diamant Agency, 310 Madison Ave., New York, NY 10017.

CAREER: Romance novelist. Bowman Transportation, Gadsden, AL, secretary, 1969-86.

WRITINGS:

All That Glitters, Silhouette (New York, NY), 1982.

An Independent Wife, Silhouette (New York, NY), 1982.

Against the Rules, Silhouette (New York, NY), 1983.

Come Lie with Me, Silhouette (New York, NY), 1984.

Tears of the Renegade, Silhouette (New York, NY), 1985.

Sarah's Child, Silhouette (New York, NY), 1985.

The Cutting Edge, Silhouette (New York, NY), 1985.

Midnight Rainbow, Silhouette (New York, NY), 1986.

MacKenzie's Mountain, Silhouette (New York, NY), 1989.

A Lady of the West, Pocket Books (New York, NY), 1990.

Duncan's Bride, Silhouette (New York, NY), 1991.

Angel Creek, Pocket Books (New York, NY), 1991.

The Touch of Fire, Pocket Books (New York, NY), 1992.

MacKenzie's Mission, Silhouette (New York, NY), 1992.

Heart of Fire, Pocket Books (New York, NY), 1993.

Dream Man, Pocket Books (New York, NY), 1995.

After the Night, Pocket Books (New York, NY), 1995.

Shades of Twilight, Pocket Books (New York, NY), 1996.

Son of the Morning, Pocket Books (New York, NY), 1997.

Kill and Tell, Pocket Books (New York, NY), 1997.

Now You See Her, Pocket Books (New York, NY), 1998.

All the Queen's Men, Pocket Books (New York, NY), 1999.

Mr. Perfect, Pocket Books (New York, NY), 2000.

Open Season, Pocket Books (New York, NY), 2001.

Strangers in the Night, Pocket Books (New York, NY), 2001.

Dying to Please, Ballantine (New York, NY), 2002.

Strangers in the Night, Pocket Books (New York, NY), 2001.

(With Allison Leigh) On His Terms (novellas), Silhouette (New York, NY), 2003.

Cry No More, Ballantine (New York, NY), 2003.

"SARAH'S CHILD" SERIES

Almost Forever, Silhouette (New York, NY), 1986.

Bluebird Winter, Silhouette (New York, NY), 1987.

"MIDNIGHT RAINBOW" SERIES

Diamond Bay, Silhouette (New York, NY), 1987.

Heartbreaker, Silhouette (New York, NY), 1987.

White Lies, Silhouette (New York, NY), 1988.

ADAPTATIONS: Many of Howard's novels have been adapted as audiobooks.

SIDELIGHTS: Since 1982 Linda Howard has been publishing romance novels regularly, sometimes as many as three in one year. Her works have included stand-alone novels set in the current day, novels in a series, and romance novels that cross into the historical and the science fiction genres.

Howard is known for being able to develop interesting and believable characters, from heroes and heroines to the minor characters who share in the story. According to Barbara E. Kemp, a writer for Twentieth-Century Romance and Historical Writers, Howard's heroes and heroines, while fulfilling the expectations of her genre, do not "degenerate into romance stereotypes."

An overview of her novels and some of their reviews give a sense of the breadth of Howard's work as well as its reception. Her debut novel, All That Glitters, is set in the cut-throat boardrooms and file cabinet-lined halls of the business world, as are Sarah's Child, Almost Forever, and The Cutting Edge. In All That Glitters, hero Nikolas Constantinos is powerfully drawn to Jessica Stanton, the woman whom he makes his mistress; at the same time he despises what he mistakes as Jessica's gold-digger marriage to a wealthy older man. This leads him to manipulate her into giving up her stockholdings to him, and to hate himself for loving her.

This pattern of a hero who cannot help loving a woman whose fatal flaws are actually only the result of false information or misunderstandings repeats itself in a number of Howard's books. "Their attempts," wrote Kemp of Howard's male protagonists, "to manipulate and even dominate their women lead to deep rifts in their relationships that are difficult to heal." This creates the tension in many of Howard's novels. In Sarah's Child, also set in the world of high finance, Rome Matthews weds Sarah, but does not want to share her with any offspring. After she becomes pregnant he threatens to have nothing to do with the child. In Almost Forever, the second novel in the "Sarah's Child" series, Rome's second-in-command, Max Conroy, beguiles Claire Westbrook in order to take over the business she has been so indispensable to. And in The Cutting Edge, Brett Rutland, who cannot stay away from Tessa Conway, also cannot help but emotionally brutalize her because he has reason to think she has stolen company funds.

In Midnight Rainbow and its sequels, including Diamond Bay, Heartbreaker, and White Lies, the venue shifts to the dark world of government undercover agents, where the need for constant cover-ups and subterfuges makes male-female misunderstandings all the more unavoidable. The main action in Midnight Rainbow is set in Central America, where the hero, Grant Sullivan, has been called out of retirement to find and save the heroine, Jane Greer, from rebel forces. In Diamond Bay Kell Sabin, Grant Sullivan's supervisor, takes central stage; this time the heroine, Rachel Jones, does the saving when she aids and then tends Sabin's wounds after a violent exchange with the enemy, thus putting herself in grave danger. White Lies lives up to its title by involving its hero, Jay Granger, in a "deadly charade to trap a dangerous criminal," commented Kemp. "These men, living in the shadows, find it difficult to admit their need of anyone, which makes their developing relationships even more tenuous," wrote Kemp.

As the 1980s rolled toward the 1990s, Howard's venue began to shift toward the nineteenth-century wild West. One of her early ventures in this arena is A Lady of the West. The story follows Victoria Waverly, an aristocratic daughter of the Old South who must marry a roughhousing New Mexican cattle rancher, Frank McLain, in order to help her family restore its credit and good name after the ravages of the U.S. Civil War. Victoria has much to resent in the manners and character of her new husband; little does she know that others hold grudges against him as well. The Sarratt boys, sons of the former owner of McLain's ranch, have returned twenty years after McLain murdered their father to take their revenge. But McLain's recent marriage to Victoria poses problems for the Sarratts: McLain's death will result in her inheritance. The fact that Jake Sarratt has fallen in love—and most decidedly in lust—with Victoria complicates matters even further: either she must be convinced to marry him or he must end her life as well. A Publishers Weekly reviewer enjoyed the sweeping momentum of the plot, especially when the "mostly likable protagonists are caught up in intrigue and sheer survival." But the reviewer felt that the book's romantic element interrupted its momentum with "ordinary lovers' spats."

Angel Creek followed not long behind Lady of the West; it tells the story of Dee Swann, a Colorado homesteader who does not welcome suitors or ranchers who want to water their cattle at her creek, one of the few dependable water supplies in the area. Her attitude about suitors begins to change however, when Lucas Cochran, who inherits a neighboring farm, enters her life. Dee soon finds herself hobbled by an accident and must turn to Lucas for aid. Their proximity lends heat to their attraction for each other, "but as the relationship blossoms, the land withers in a dry spell" that increases the attraction of the local ranchers for Angel Creek. A Publishers Weekly reviewer found Howard's characters "engaging," but the novel "otherwise routine."

Howard moves further west, to 1870's Arizona Territory, in The Touch of Fire. Here Howard's heroine, Annie Parker, practices medicine in Silver Mesa, where she is the only doctor for many miles around. But before long she is forced onto the trail, having been kidnaped by outlaw Rafe McCay, whose gunshot wound she has been brought along to treat as he hurries to avoid bounty hunters. Although bad times have hardened Rafe, prolonged proximity to Annie begins to gentle his cold heart, as is evidenced by his willingness to face death along with Annie as she tarries in an Apache village trying to save lives after an epidemic outbreak. "Minimal tension" as a result of encounters with bounty hunters "leads to the maximal tension of myriad graphic sexual encounters," wrote a Publishers Weekly reviewer, who was especially moved by the segment in the Apache Village.

According to Kemp, Heart of Fire signals a new direction for Howard's work. This novel relates the story of Jillian Sherwood, a second-generation archeologist who is determined to save her father's reputation and her own by finding a lost city of Amazonian women her father believed existed in the deep South American jungle. Armed with her father's map and her own iron will, Jillian is accompanied by Rick, her half-brother, Steven Kates, a financial backer looking for valuables to rob, and Ben Lewis, their jungle guide. At first, wrote Kemp, the character of Lewis appears as a "typical lonewolf" hero. However, Kemp noted, important differences, including the "bantering tone" Ben and Jillian engage in, add humor to the novel without detracting from its romantic or adventurous impact. Jillian is not a typical Howard heroine either: rather than waiting for Ben to make the first move, "she is in charge and in control."

Howard takes yet another direction in her novel Dream Man, a tale of murder and psychic events. Here she teams hard-boiled Orlando police detective Dane Hollister with a young woman who volunteers information about a serial killer after having dreamed the murders from the killer's viewpoint and seen the grisly details through his eyes. Hollister is instantly suspicious of her crackpot claims, and Marlie Keen, the psychic "witness," regrets ever having volunteered her assistance after her psychic abilities are met with mockery and doubt. The characters, however, cannot deny their attraction to each other. Dane Hollister is the ideal foil, as well as partner to Marlie. Marlie convinces Dane to give her approach a chance, and after she confirms several key facts of the murders he begins to believe in her gift. A Publishers Weekly reviewer was also convinced, declaring that Howard has researched "the procedure used to develop a serial killer's profile and brings this process cinematically alive." The critic called Dream Man "Howard's best work yet." A contributor to Library Journal concurred, noting "this sensual, suspenseful . . . story succeeds in blending a number of romance genres."

Howard's After the Night is a sexy Southern romance full of gothic hints of murder, revenge, and class tension. The families at war are the "dirt-poor" Devlins and the powerful, old-money Rouillards of Louisiana. Heroine Faith Devlin has returned to the Southern town from which her family was forcefully evicted after Gray Rouillard discovered what looked like the elopement of Faith's mother Renee and Gray's father Guy. With no resources, the fourteen-year-old Faith was forced to try to heal her dying baby brother on her own, and her failure has made revenge upon Gray and the Rouillards a sweet dream for her. Her desires are conflicted, however, because her youthful passion for Gray has not been diminished by the years of anger and distance. A Publishers Weekly critic found the protagonists of this steamy Southern tale unsympathetic, but noted that "provocative secondary characters and borderline erotica" compensate for this, "creating a sexy speed read."

Shades of Twilight offers another Southern gothic, this time set in Alabama with its focus on intrigue within a wealthy family. The heroine, Roanna Davenport, is an orphan whose shy and unpolished nature has aggravated her relatives' cool feelings toward her. Her only champion is her cousin, Webb Tallant. She develops an enormous crush on him, but her dreams of love are shattered when Webb marries another cousin, Jessie. Jessie is killed shortly after the wedding, and Webb abandons the estate, returning ten years later at the request of his dying great-aunt Lucinda. Tensions run high as a result of Lucinda's idea to make Webb her heir, and over the unsolved murder of Jessie for which many hold Webb responsible. The romance between Webb and Roanna kindles quickly into flame, but not everyone is so well disposed toward him. In fact, he is being stalked by someone bent on murdering him. A reviewer for Library Journal called Shades of Twilight "Southern Gothic at its steamiest." Roanna and Webb need "a good shaking," deemed a critic for Publishers Weekly, "as they misinterpret each other's actions to excess." The review acknowledged Howard's ability to keep the flame high under the romance and the plot tense and exciting.

Published at nearly the same time as Shades of Twilight, Son of the Morning takes a genre-bending turn. The story involves a translator of ancient scripts, Grace St. John, whose husband and brother are killed by the Foundation, a no-good organization bent on stealing ancient treasures that only Grace can help them find. The story takes a leap when Grace discovers a way to transport herself back to the fourteenth century and into the arms of Niall of Scotland, of whom she has been having passionate dreams that now can be realized. Niall, as a member of the Knights Templar and as a Guardian of the Treasure, is linked directly to the holy objects the Foundation wants to attain. A Publishers Weekly critic gave the book a mixed review, faulting "a heroine whose actions defy credibility" and a slow-paced plot, but appreciating its "fascinating premise, . . . gripping passages and steamy sex." A Quill and Quire critic enjoyed the "cross-over into historical fantasy."

In early 1998 Howard published Kill and Tell. Set mainly in New Orleans, this present-day romance places nurse Karen Whitlaw in the center of a deadly intrigue that hinges on a package sent to her by a father she barely knows, and which she puts away unopened. When her father is murdered a few months later, Karen is called to New Orleans by detective Marc Chastain, who awakens long-forgotten desires in her. But she is also identified by her father's murderers, who will stop at nothing to obtain the contents of that mysterious package. A reviewer for Publishers Weekly put Howard at the top of her game with this thriller-romance. Comparing this work to past novels, the review applauded Howard's writing talent and, in this novel, her deft handling of the plot line and minor characters.

In Mr. Perfect Jaine Bright and some friends have a few laughs one evening by putting together a list of the qualities they are looking for in Mr. Perfect. When the list is released accidently to the media, the women find themselves the center of public attention and the target for a stalking madman. Marilyn Heyman, in an online review for Sensual Romance Reviews, explained that "the first half of Mr. Perfect is very light and funny but it takes a turn in the second half to serious and suspenseful." Nancy J. Silberstein, in a review for Mystery Reader, noted that Howard's books are enjoyable because, "from time to time she pushes the romance novel envelope. In Mr. Perfect that envelope gets several definite shoves, in several different directions. Some work, others are more problematic." Julie K. L. Dam in People called the novel "sexy fun," while Heyman concluded that "the incomparable Linda Howard has done it again."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

BOOKS

Twentieth-Century Romance and Historical Writers, third edition, St. James Press (Detroit, MI), 1994.

PERIODICALS

Booklist, August, 1999, Melanie Duncan, review of All the Queen's Men, p. 2037; September 15, 2001, review of Mr. Perfect, p. 210; December 15, 2001, review of All the Queen's Men (audiobook), p. 746.

Library Journal, May 15, 1995, p. 60; February 15, 1997, p. 184; October 15, 1999, Adrienne Furness, review of Now You See Her (audiobook), p. 122l; January 15, 2002, Jodi L. Israel, review of All the Queen's Men (audiobook), p. 127; October 15, 2002, Jodi L. Israel, review of Dying to Please (audiobook), p. 109.

People Weekly, September 4, 2000, Julie K. L. Dam, review of Mr. Perfect, p. 59.

Publishers Weekly, August 10, 1990, p. 437; October 4, 1991, p. 84; August 24, 1992, p. 76; June 21, 1993, p. 102; May 1, 1995, p. 51; October 16, 1995, p. 54; May 27, 1996, p. 76; February 10, 1997, review of Son of the Morning, p. 81; December 15, 1997, review of Kill and Tell, p. 54; August 14, 2000, "Perfect Is as Perfect Does," p. 200; October 2, 2000, review of Mr. Perfect (audiobook), p. 45; July 30, 2001, p. 18; October 27, 2003, review of Cry No More, p. 44.

School Library Journal, August, 2002, review of Mr. Perfect, p. 52.

Quill and Quire, May, 1997, p. 17.*