Open Season

Written by Linda Howard

Narrated by Kate Forbes

Seamlessly blending heart-pounding romance and breathless intrigue, New York Times bestselling author Linda Howard writes a masterful, stylish, and provocative suspense novel that absolutely defies readers to put it down.

Daisy Minor is bored. Worse than that, she's boring. A plain, small-town librarian, she's got a wardrobe as sexy as a dictionary and hasn't been on a date in years. She's never even had a lukewarm love affair, let alone a hot one. So when she wakes up on her thirty-fourth birthday, still living with her widowed mom and spinster aunt, she decides it's time to get a life.

But can a lifelong good girl turn bad? No, not exactly.

But she can pretend, right?

One makeover later, Daisy has transformed herself into a party girl extraordinaire. She's letting her hair down, dancing the night away at clubs, and laughing and flirting with men for the first time in, well, ever. With a new lease on her own place and her life, it's open season for man-hunting.

But on her way home late one night, Daisy sees something she's not supposed to see. Suddenly the target of a killer, she's forced to put her manhunt on hold. But the very moment she stops looking might be the moment she finds what she's wanted all along. Trouble is, before he can share her life, he might just have to save it.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
• Release date: Aug 1, 2001
• ISBN: 9780743568135

Linda Howard

Linda Howard is the award-winning author of 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 lives in Alabama with her husband and a golden retriever.

Reviews for Open Season

[corduroy7-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I enjoyed the story of small-town librarian Daisy Minor and am delighted to see that she was able to find the love of her life. It's also absolutely wonderful that the love of her life was attracted to who Daisy was as a person even before her "make-over."

[tiddleyboom · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

While not exactly Shakespeare, Linda Howard kept me quite engaged and often caused me to laugh out loud - embarrassing when alone in one's bedroom.  

[miyurose_1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

This is the first Linda Howard book I've read. It was alright "” kinda corny, but in a somewhat cute way. It was more sex than mystery, I think. I'd probably pick up another of her books if I found it on the cheap, but I don't think I'd search one out. Definitely a quick-beach-read type book.

[carlathelibrarian · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Much better than the last one I read. I enjoyed this book, a good mystery/romance rolled into one.

[myab-3 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This was a great book, it made me laugh and the suspense kept me reading. The characters were likeable and I was thoroughly pulled into the story. Kept me up way to late!

[fernemysteryreader · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I enjoyed the story of small-town librarian Daisy Minor and am delighted to see that she was able to find the love of her life. It's also absolutely wonderful that the love of her life was attracted to who Daisy was as a person even before her "make-over."

[dawn772 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Very enjoyable romantic suspense with a plot that deals serious issues and at other times incorporates humor. I liked both the hero and heroines personalities and how characters were gradually woven into the intrigue. Librarian Daisy decides to change her good girl image and seemed to frequently run into police chief Jack.

[sunnysd_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A mid-life crisis on her thirty-fourth birthday has staid librarian Daisy Minor examining her life (predictable), her closet (staid), her hairstyle (mousy), and her future (boring). A new haircut and a wardrobe revamp later, Daisy's not only turning heads, she's toppling the local power structure. Daisy's not only a likable, she's a librarian (bonus!). Suspense, romance, and a cute puppy - what's not to like.

[breena31 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I adore this story. It's one of those that keeps me laughing out loud.

[stefaniegeeks · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I loved listening to this book. Hokey and fun fluff.  

[lindap69 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Daisy, a small town librarian, tires of being plain and boring and begins a make over that eventually leads her into the middle of a prostitution ring (she doesn't go that far, but her nightclubbing has her at the scene and witness to a murder) illegal immigrants, and graft. Good blend of romance and mystery, she will be added to my to-read in summer list.

[vwbernie · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

This was my first Linda Howard book and I'll definately read more of her. I loved the humor and the interaction between naive Daisy and the hunky Jack Russo. It had a good mix of humor, excitement (mystery and sex) and the cute factor (that being Midas the puppy). Daisy wakes up on her 34th birthday and decides its time to stop being boring in her life. She gets a huge overhaul, meets the hunky chief of police and then finds herself a witness to murder. She does all of this while trying to find a husband to complete her picture.

[dianaleez · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Linda Howard can write five star books, but this is not one of them. Did you ever get the feeling that an author was killing time? Howard does in Open Season. I agree with the reviewers who said that this should have been a paperback. I want to like Linda Howard's books, but I will never again buy one of her hardbound books without looking it over very carefully first.

[amf0001 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I was in the mood for some Linda Howard, an author I love, and somehow the only book of hers I have in the house is Open Season. I've reread it several times but it really is a very silly book. The heroine just doesn't make sense to me, she's so naive and so fearless at the same time. There is no woman I know in her mid 30's with absolutely no friends barring her mother and aunt, who would go to rowdy bars by herself. It's too contradictory. The violence of the subplot is also disturbing with the villains being really evil, so graphically abusing these poor defenseless Mexican/Russian girls. So I didn't fall in love with the hero (though I didn't mind him, but a SWAT Chicago cop becoming a small time sheriff of a town with a pop of 9,000 also doesn't make sense), didn't want to befriend the heroine and didn't like the crime. So sex was good, but I'm selling this book, I don't need to read it again.

[annelim_2 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Daisy, a mousy librarian in a small town in Alabama, decides to make herself over to find a husband. Instead, she finds a danger and the police chief.

[gogglemiss · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I love books where the hero is a strong cop guy who gets the poor helpless girl out of scrapes. It's a hugely enjoyable book, quite funny in places, dialogue, sparks

[wendywh · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Honestly, I don't like it. Neither romantics nor thriller part works to me. I don't know why I spent 3 hours reading it.

[adelate_2 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I read this book in about a day - it was a very quick read, and a very entertaining read as well. I liked the premise of the book, although I have to admit (considering I'm studying library science and really have no life [laughs]) that it hit somewhat close to home, as the main character is a slightly mousy librarian who lives at home with her mother. On the morning of her 34th birthday she decides it's time for a change. Linda Howard tends to write in a bit of mystery, too, and unlike some authors ([cough]NoraRoberts[coughcough]) the pattern doesn't seem to always be the same. What's more, the women characters she creates are intelligent and capable and I like that.

[jonahfied · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This was the first LH novel I read and it got me hooked on her. I guess I'm a sucker for a good makeover. Daisy Minor was adorable and I loved Jack Russo's character as well. The southern setting, and Daisy's transformation, made me love this book. The suspense element is believable, and the romance even better (hilarious yet steamy). The only thing about this book I didn't LOVE was the beginning. Too many pages of Daisy's thoughts about why she is boring. Enough already, we get the point. As soon as she walks downstairs for her birthday breakfast, the fun starts. Definetely worth reading.