Behind the Shadows

by Patricia Potter

Book Overview

Some secrets are meant to stay that way. In a race against time to save her mother's life, Kira Douglas is stunned to discover that the woman who raised her is not her biological mother. Kira was... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0425224902
• ISBN13: 9780425224908
• Release Date: December 2008
• Publisher: Berkley Books
• Length: 324 Pages
• Weight: 0.43 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 4.2" x 6.9"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

Behind the Shadows

More than anything Kira Douglas wants to help her mother Katy. Katy needs a kidney transplant soon or she'll die. Test results reveal that not only is Kira not a match for the transplant, but she's not her mother's biological daughter either. Kira needs to find out who is before it's too late. Max Payton is the Westfield family's attorney. He's duty and honor bound to protect them and he won't let his intense attraction to Kira stand in his way. Unfortunately, time is running out for Katy and someone wants to keep Kira's mouth shut permanently. Behind The Shadows is a suspenseful story laced with tons of emotion. As the danger grows, so does the attraction between Max and Kira. I really like Max and Kira together. Their instant connection feels right. Theirs isn't the only tumultuous relationship in Behind The Shadows, many are affected by Kira's crisis. The drama never lets up in Behind The Shadows. It's a story with feeling, and suspense. Nannette Reviewed for Joyfully Reviewed

4.5 stars. Excellent, entertaining mystery. Didn't want to put it down. The ending was good but w

STORY BRIEF: Kira's mother Katy is dying and needs a kidney. Kira wants to donate her own kidney but blood tests reveal she is not the biological daughter of Katy. She eventually finds Leigh a wealthy heiress who is the biological daughter. They were switched at birth. Leigh doesn't want to believe any of this and is reluctant to take a DNA test. Meanwhile, someone is trying to kill Kira. Max is an attorney who manages Leigh's inheritance. He's been close to Leigh's family for years. Kira and Max are drawn to each other, yet they are on opposite sides of this conflict and potential law suit. REVIEWER'S OPINION: During most of the book I kept thinking this is a fabulous story. I didn't want to put it down. When I did, I couldn't wait to get back to it to read more. However, the ending was a little weak, as described in the Spoiler below. There was a happy ending, but it didn't wow me as much as the rest of the book did. This was mostly a mystery with some suspense and some romance. I usually prefer more romance than what was here, but the story and characters were so good that I didn't mind having a little less romance than normal. However, the romantic developments were warm and satisfying. Overall, the book was a great escape and left me with some thoughts I've pondered since. DATA: Story length: 324 pages. Sexual language: none. Number of sex scenes: 2. Total number of sex scene pages: 7. Setting: current day Atlanta, Georgia. Copyright: 2008. Genre: mystery with some suspense and some romance. OTHER BOOKS: To date, I've read one other book by Patricia Potter. My 2.5 star review of "Beloved Stranger" copyright 2006 was posted 3/22/09. CAUTION SPOILER: Toward the end, the heroines did something stupid and against character for the sake of the plot, which bothered me. Because of several murder attempts, security people are with Kira at all times. The bad guy calls Leigh with a lie to get Leigh to come to him. Kira then drives Leigh to that location. Kira doesn't ask the security guys who are currently with her to come. Also, when they get to the location, the security guys who should have been there were gone. But, the two women go right on in to the clutches of the bad guy. That troubled me. Kira was smarter than that. It was the only weak part of the book.

Some genre clash, but a delightful ride

Patricia Potter manages to pull off, in the space of one book, a primary love plot, a secondary love plot, AND a mystery/suspense. It's really pretty impressive. There's plenty of tension. Best of all, I love watching the romances develop. I have to give Potter some pretty serious credit for creating much more believable and natural-feeling romance progressions than I'm used to seeing in books. I enjoyed the characters, and I enjoyed watching Potter create tension between them without making half of them into bad guys. She does a bang-up job of simply giving them conflicting, yet understandable, needs and points of view. She also gives the men more personality and depth than some romance authors do. The only real problem I had is that the suspense genre has one or two semi-fundamental conflicts with the romance genre. Let's just say that in order to conform to the needs of the romance genre, assuming someone knows what those assumptions are and realizes this is a romance, you remove some of the tension of the suspense side of things. Still, there's enough mystery, I believe, to keep the reader happy.

fun romantic suspense thriller

With her beloved mom Katy dying and in need of a kidney, Atlanta reporter Kira Douglas offers one of hers. However, the blood test results affirm they are not just incomparable, but it a 100% certainty that Katy is not her biological mother. Kira carefully talks to her mom and soon concludes that Katy is unaware that they are not biological mom-daughter. She concludes that somehow a switch occurred over three decades ago. Her private investigative friend Chris Burke helps Kira find the most logical candidate, Leigh Howard, heir to the Westerfield fortune. Leigh's attorney Max Payton fiercely protects his client as he assumes Kira is pulling a scam. However, he reconsiders his opinion re Kira when someone tries to kill her. The concept of baby switching at birth has been done many times, but Patricia Potter provides a strong fresh entry. The story line is action-packed once Katy learns the truth, and is driven by her need to know what happened, find a kidney match with her mom's DNA daughter and to meet her biological family as well. Her desires turn nasty starting with Max who distrusts the newcomer and worse for her besides wanting the outraged lawyer when someone stalks her. Readers will relish this fast-paced one sitting double the fun romantic suspense thriller. Harriet Klausner