Heartbreaker

Written by Linda Howard

Narrated by Amy Landon

Michelle Cabot has inherited her father's Florida cattle ranch, and a mountain of debt. To make matters worse, a huge chunk of that debt is owed to the neighboring rancher, her nemesis John Rafferty. Nothing shocks Rafferty more than discovering that the spoiled, pampered rich girl he once despised is painstakingly trying to run the Cabot ranch herself, working the land with desperation - the only thing she has left. He likes this new Michelle and decides to make her his woman. What he doesn't know is that underneath Michelle's cool, polished facade lies heartache, secrets, and the raw determination to live life as her own woman. But Rafferty isn't about to take no for an answer.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Dreamscape Media Audio
• Release date: Oct 20, 2015
• ISBN: 9781681418377

Linda Howard

Linda S. Howington is a bestselling romance author writing under the pseudonym Linda Howard. She has written many New York Times bestsellers, including Up Close and Dangerous, Drop Dead Gorgeous, Cover of Night, Killing Time, To Die For, Kiss Me While I Sleep, Cry No More, and Dying to Please. She is a charter member of Romance Writers of America and in 2005 was awarded their Career Achievement Award. Linda lives in Gadsden, Alabama, with her husband and two golden retrievers. She has three grown stepchildren and three grandchildren.

Reviews for Heartbreaker

[Avid Audio · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Good story and characters. Would've preferred a male narrator as the female narrator just couldn't get the male voices right. They sounded squeaky and odd. I think a male could've done the high and low voices better.

[Tonia Short · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

What drove me crazy about this book is the inner monologue. Michelle and Rafferty had more conversations in their head than they had with each other. By the end I was so exasperated that I skipped a lot of head talk to get to the end of the book.

[cranberrytarts · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is another old school Howard I really enjoy. She does such a fabulous job of pulling the reader in. The first few chapters are hard to get through because the hero is so overbearing, but as the novel progresses things settle down. John is alpha to the extreme, but Michelle balances him out in a lot of ways. I didn't like how she constantly took the blame for the actions of her ex. She was strong but felt weak and it showed. It was good to see her grow stronger and stand up for herself more. Or just smile and nod at John, then do whatever the hell she pleased.

[feeling9is9first · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Old Skool Linda Howard-- the Hero is the apex of masculinity, and the heroine is the the epitome of femininity. They are confined to a scenario that generates heartache and pain between them, and a sprinkle of external conflict to move the plot along."Heartbreaker" hangs together perfectly, each of the elements is in the correct proportion and the characters mesh with the story. Pure romance.

[becky_mckenna-1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Heartbreaker is the third book in Linda Howard's Rescue / Kell Sabin series and is loosely connected to the first two books. Sadly, I was disappointed in this installment. The couple lacked the spark and chemistry I've come to expect from Howard's work. In a nutshell, this hasn't stood the test of time. John is the perfect example of an arrogant Alpha male from romances of the 80's and early 90's, while Michelle tries to be a strong heroine, but takes it too far and makes avoidable mistakes that (duh) John sweeps in to fix. I'm still a deciding if she fits the Ditzy Doormat or Strong Survivor persona. Perhaps she's a bit of both...?I'll move to the final book in the series and probably forget all about this one.

[NNEAMAKA PAYNE · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Many people said that this does not read or feels like Linda Howard's book. Although people were expecting more the way that Linda Howard follows to bring this story was not fitting for some of her readers. The ending of the book did meet some reader's expectations for me I think that she did the book honor and more. For these main characters were unique and different and they have to find their way and grow into communicating and trusting again. For the very reason that they have both been hurt and used and abused by those, they trusted and loved.
But adhere to the author's works and her characters' creations. Where brought into them coming to the realization of their love and worth to each other. People intend to have their way of talking to each other. For these two they do not learn how to communicate well, nor do they find a way to learn from their mistakes. So, the writer made it possible for them to grow into that slowly and coming to their love more slowly. Running from each other but as life has it for them it brought them back together.
Well, this book was rather disappointing, especially after the first two in this series, which I enjoyed immensely. One of the reasons I love Linda Howard is her superior, effortlessly good writing, but I don’t know. It didn’t seem like her in this one. It seemed to lack any depth, on the other hand, it is what the author intended for this couple. I liked the setup of the storyline and was quite excited by the theme when it started, but Linda Howard’s magic was lacking in the execution to some extent but she did understand her main characters more than the reader does. It should have been good, but it just wasn’t.
It is a great read for me, something that we expect is not what we get Linda Howard knows her hero and the heroine.

[myab-3 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This book was okay. I felt Rafferty was too domineering and treated Michelle like a weakling through a good chunk of the book. Along with his attitude towards her it made it harder for me to feel the turnaround in him. Michelle, had a hard past, but sometimes she felt like the weak woman Rafferty treated her like.. which I do not like in a Heroine. That said the book did progress and eventually I felt them both see each other the way they should although she would still make choices that made me shake my head.

This is not a favourite for me from this author. I expected better, as I usually really enjoy Linda Howard's books.

[gpangel_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I read this with a group on Goodreads just a few weeks ago. This is the third of the Kel Sabin series. These books were written back in the eighties , so keep that in mind before you start this one. The first two in the sereis were quite good. The second one being the best. But this one was a real disappointment. I liked it alright, and I don't like to give negative reviews if possible, ( I'm not sure how the ratings work on this site yet), but, this one was only technically a part of the series, IMO. The mindset of the male protagonist is sexist with a capitol S. He's a jerk most of the way through the book. Although, Michelle talks the talk, she doesn't walk the walk. She claims she doesn't want to ever be dependent on a man again, yet she goes and does exactly that. It was like the author couldn't decide with audience to cater to. The older reader that still held on to more traditional values or the younger reader that was more career minded. I haven't read the last book in this series but it sounds completely different from this one. I will read it soon so I can get the whole series completed. Linda Howard is still one of my favorite romantic supsense authors, even if there a few misses in the there from time to time. Honestly, you could skip this one and not miss anything.

[sunnysd_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A disastrous marriage followed by the death of her father have left rich girl Michelle Cabot dead broke and fighting to keep her father's failing ranch going. Discovering she owes 100K plus interest to her neighbor John Rafferty is the last straw - she's had a crush on the hard-nosed rancher since she was a teenager.Rafferty is shocked to discover Michelle isn't quite the spoiled little debutante he remembers, which doesn't stop him from offering her a deal - warm his bed and he'll take care of her money problems. He's determined to have her, she's determined to stand on her own - but Michelle's problems run deeper than money, and when her past comes back to threaten her, Rafferty's more than any port in a storm.Michelle is a bit too helpless, and Rafferty is a bit too domineering, which is typical of romances from this particular decade. Still, not too bad a read for all that.

[gogglemiss · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This was a good Linda Howard story. The heroine was in a constant war with herself and with the handsome tall rancher she was in debt to. John Rafferty was suitably tall handsome and attracted to her in a very big way. Plenty of dynamics, and bedroom activities

[amf0001 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Now this is a classic Linda Howard romance - western theme, incredibly alpha male hero - rancher who knows all, would rather be blind than bother with doctors fussing, is incredibly good in bed, not very self aware but knows what he wants and how to get it. Michelle Cabot is a more interesting heroine than usual - a complex mixture of spoilt and determined, indulged and caged. It's dated and has cliches in in it, but as a romance it works very well. Once you enter the world, it all makes sense and you are happy to be in it and believe in the relationship and the outcome. I read it directly after the much more recent Raintree book (it says 2002 but that's the reprint date, it was written in 1987 I think, or thereabouts) and enjoyed this one much more.

[gwendolenau · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Linda Howard always writes well but this one was a bit old-fashioned for my taste. Big, strong man who has difficulty communicating his feelings plus beautiful woman in need of rescuing from the choices of the other men in her life (father and ex-husband).