Shadows At Sunset

by Anne Stuart

HOUSE OF SHADOWS
The house on Sunset Boulevard has witnessed everything: from the infamous murder-suicide of a '50s starlet and her lover, to the drug-fueled commune in the '60s, to the anguish of its present owner, Jilly Meyer, who is struggling to preserve the house and what's left of her wounded family.

MAN OF SHADOWS
Coltrane is a liar, a con man and a threat to everything Jilly holds dear. He is also her hated father's right-hand man, a gorgeous, loathsome snake who doesn't care whom he uses to get what he wants. And he's made it clear he wants Jilly. But the question is, what does he want her for?

SHADOWS AT SUNSET
Somehow Jilly has to stop Coltrane from destroying everything she cherishes. Including her own vulnerable heart. And the only way to do that is to uncover what Coltrane is really up to, and that could mean upsetting the explosive secrets of the past.

Genres: Romance, Romantic Suspense, Contemporary Romance, Contemporary, Suspense, Ghosts, Mystery

384 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 2000

About the author

Anne Stuart is a grandmaster of the genre, winner of Romance Writers of America's prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award, survivor of more than thirty-five years in the romance business, and still just keeps getting better.

Her first novel was Barrett's Hill, a gothic romance published by Ballantine in 1974 when Anne had just turned 25. Since then she's written more gothics, regencies, romantic suspense, romantic adventure, series romance, suspense, historical romance, paranormal and mainstream contemporary romance for publishers such as Doubleday, Harlequin, Silhouette, Avon, Zebra, St. Martins Press, Berkley, Dell, Pocket Books and Fawcett.

She’s won numerous awards, appeared on most bestseller lists, and speaks all over the country. Her general outrageousness has gotten her on Entertainment Tonight, as well as in Vogue, People, USA Today, Women’s Day and countless other national newspapers and magazines.

When she’s not traveling, she’s at home in Northern Vermont with her luscious husband of thirty-six years, an empty nest, three cats, four sewing machines, and one Springer Spaniel, and when she’s not working she’s watching movies, listening to rock and roll (preferably Japanese) and spending far too much time quilting.

Anne Stuart also writes as Kristina Douglas.

Reviews

[Alex is The Romance Fox · Rating 5 out of 5]

Continuing on my Anne Stuart moment, I began reading Shadows at Sunset, another one of my ever favorite books by this author. She has such an incredible way of writing…she pulls you in and you are hooked….you have to finish the book…you have to know what happens next….

From the first page you are drawn into the story of Coltrane and Jilly, the daughter of one of the most odious men in Hollywood.
Coltrane is Jilly’s father’s lawyer and he has an hidden agenda….bent on destroying the Meyer family to revenge his mother’s death which he discovered is linked to the family and the house La Casa de Sombras , where Jilly lives with her adopted sister Rachel-Ann and her younger brother.
Coltrane works on moving into the Hollywood crumbling mansion which is filled with dark secrets, scandals and even a ghost or two that roam around the house.

Coltrane is a hard man with dark secrets of his own and Jilly, who loves and feels responsible for her siblings and will do anything to keep them away from their wicked and evil father is at first wary of Coltrane. He is not the man she wants…she wants someone who will love her for herself…but slowly she begins to see beneath Coltrane’s façade…their romance begins with them getting to know each other and slowly grows into love….the sex scenes…are really hot here.

The secondary story of Rachel-Ann’s love story is so sweet and warm. She is such a gorgeous and beautiful woman. It warmed my heart knowing she finally found her happiness.

There are lots of unexpected twists and shocking secrets are revealed that you leave you stunned. There’s so much mystery, romance, great characters…FABULOUS, INTRIGUING, COMPELLING…ENTHRALLING…
I was really so happy that Coltrane and Jilly finally find happiness and love together.

This story will leave you thinking about it for a long time. You will want to read it over and over again.
This is one book you just have to read.

[Crista · Rating 5 out of 5]

First off, thanks to Lady Danielle for this recommendation!

Shadows at Sunset has something in it for everyone. Technically it's categorized as romantic suspense, but oh let me tell you, it's so much more than just suspense. Stuart takes the paranormal leap in this one by giving us a ghost story within the main story, and then gives us an excellent secondary romance on the side to boot! Only a skilled author can give you three separate stories within a book that's 376 pages and do it well. Anne Stuart is definitely a skilled author that does just that!

The focus of this book definitely centers around Coltrane. Revenge is his motive as he seeks to bring down the man who killed his mother. He is a ruthless con artist and I absolutely adored him! Jilly is his love interest and also the daughter of the man he plans on destroying. In typical Stuart fashion, this is not a man who woos Jilly with wine and roses. He is dangerous, mysterious, and up until the very end stays this way.

Jilly's fragile older sister also has a story to tell, in what may be my favorite part of this book. The secondary romance in this book, although significantly less in page number, packs a huge emotional punch. The secondary romance was so beautiful and unexpected that I had to re-read it several times before putting the book away today. I will never forget it.

A good old ghost story rounds out the trifecta as we meet a deceased couple Brenda de Lorilland and her lover Ted Hughes. We learn about these ghosts throughout this book and they play a significant role as towards the end, all three plot lines are seamlessly interwoven together.

I needed a great book to read, and no one can deliver like Anne Stuart when she is on her game. Shadows at Sunset showcases her amazing talent and I loved every chapter, page, paragraph, sentence, and word. This is a must for Stuart fans, and a great recommendation for all fans of dark heroes.

[Heather ~*dread mushrooms*~ · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book, along with Lord of Danger, was one of the first romances I bought and read on my own. They were so different than the ones of my mom's that I was used to reading—different than her Kathleen E. Woodiwiss, Jude Devereaux, Catherine Coulter, and even Nora Roberts. The heroes were so much darker and sexier to me, and the heroines had flaws other than just being "fiercely independent." At sixteen, I was impressed enough with SHADOWS AT SUNSET that I even told a friend about it (I didn't normally talk about books with people because no one else was interested).

I always thought this book to be one of Anne Stuart's better offerings. I've read quite a few of hers over the years, and more have been misses than hits. Rereading this now, I can see that it's not so different from her others. She has a few trademarks, some of which are more unfortunate than others. I can deal, for example, with the gamma heroes who actually turn out to be good once the heroine has shown them the light, and the secretly vulnerable heroines. One thing that has started to irk me, however, is the repetition.

My god, the repetition.

I swear, in every single characters' POV thoughts are rehashed, events are analyzed, and the leads try to convince themselves they don't *actually* have feelings for the other. Every single time, over and over again until the book is done. It's pure filler.

It's a shame, because this book had so many good elements. There was a crumbling L.A. house that had been a commune for hippie squatters, there was murder, there was old Hollywood glamour. There was the thirst for revenge, there were figurative skeletons in the closet. There was even the potential for incest. It should have been so easy!

But the repetition is where it all went wrong. I don't need to read twenty times how Coltrane shouldn't sleep with Jilly or vice versa, how bad Jackson was and how he didn't care about his children, how Dean did nothing but sit on a computer, and I certainly didn't need to read about bickering but loving ghosts. Although, actually, the ghosts' story was probably the most compelling out of all of them.

Because of the setting and the characters, this wasn't a total waste. But I definitely lost interest while reading. Luckily, the ending picked up a bit because everyone was done angsting by that point.

[Jacqueline J · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. The hero is not a nice man but at least the heroine stood up to him and was aware all along that he was conning her somehow. I don't like mean heroes when the heroine has no chance against him. The secondary characters were great. I like Rachel Ann and her story and loved Rico. The two ghosts were also very sweet and I loved how he loved her. The whole story was very readable and my only real complaint is the ending was very rushed. He walks out on her for 8 months. Has been back to see the Rachel Ann several times but not the heroine, ouch. Doesn't apologize and it's all fixed with an I love you. There just wasn't enough to suit me.

I am trying to dip my toe into the Anne Stuart omega hero thing and am starting with some that are not considered so extreme. Maybe I'll be brave enough to move to something more hard core after this one since the hero wasn't truly evil.

[-ya · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5-stars
There are quite a few interesting elements in the book - haunted house, revenge, ruthless hero, amoral villain, secondary romance, murder mystery. But the dialogue between two main characters, Jilly and Coltrane is so cold that I have a hard time connecting to their story. Not to mention Jilly annoys me from the start. Not Stuart’s best.

[Emily Kestrel · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have to admit that I mostly rolled my eyes through this one. Before I mention what I didn't like, I want to be completely fair and state that it is a fast-paced read and remained mildly entertaining throughout, thus two stars. Also, I'm not a big fan of the romantic suspense genre, although I've been trying to expand my horizons lately, and some genres I thought I wouldn't like, such as historical romance, I've actually really enjoyed lately. Unfortunately, this was not the romantic suspense novel to change my mind about the genre.

The story concerns three siblings who live in a decrepit Hollywood mansion (which is haunted by two friendly ghosts), all of whom are more or less in the shadow of their amoral tycoon father, Jackson Meyer: Jilly (the feisty heroine who has devoted her life to being completely codependent in trying to protect her siblings); Rachel-Ann, the adopted fragile beauty who is trying to resist the lures of drugs, alcohol and casual sex; and Dean, the gay computer geek pining uselessly for his father's approval.

Suffice to say, Jackson doesn't care a whit about any of them except Rachel-Ann, who he plans on kidnapping for gross incestuous reasons, but he needs to keep them out of his hair while he continues his fraudulent schemes, so he sics his immoral henchman, Coltrane, on them, to keep them out of his hair (seducing Jilly is suggested, but Coltrane must keep his hands off Rachel-Ann! Not a problem, since he immediately realizes that they are actually brother and sister. What he doesn't know is that Coltrane has an agenda of his own--he is out to avenge past wrongs by bringing Jackson down.

Here is what I didn't like:

1. Well, that whole plot. Seriously, it's just ridiculous! And not in a fun way, but in an I can't stop rolling my eyes way. But that could have been salvaged by truly engaging characters and/or a lot of crazy plot twists. I have read a few books this year that we're so OTT that somewhere along the line "bad" became "I can't put this down cracktastic goodness." Alas, that is not the case here, because:

2. The characters were completely one-dimensional and boring. Jilly was almost selfless, with no hidden depths; Rachel-Ann's POV was childlike to the point of sounding simple-minded; and Coltrane was the most disappointing antihero I have yet to encounter. Despite all his protestations of being amoral and ruthless...he's just a softie with rude mannerisms. I kept thinking of the Sawyer character from Lost, only not anywhere near as sexy.

3. A complete lack of sexual chemistry between Jilly and Coltrane. Let me paraphrase: bicker, bicker, bicker, sudden lust, dry humping, a bit more bickering, THE BEST SEX EVAH!!, disappearing act, true love and HEA.

4. A complete lack of suspense. There was a really weak mystery and a bunch of stuff about Jackson trying to avoid the Feds because of...fraud, of some sort? I guess? And he will use his evil ways to...ruin his grown kids' self-esteem??? I don't know, it all seemed pretty weak and generic to me.

5. Some interesting side plots that were completely undeveloped. Rachel-Ann (uggh, that name!) actually has a romantic interest of her own that was much more interesting to me than the Jilly/Coltrane dynamic, but it was never really fleshed out. Likewise, the useless brother, Dean, does some investigating of his own, but its just skimmed over at the end.

6. Don't even get me started on the "friendly ghost" sections. I don't want ghosts unless they're in a horror novel and out to scare the bejabbers out of me, thank you very much. Luckily, I was able to skim/skip their sections without missing out on any of the story.

7. Badly written sex scenes! Luckily, there were not that many. We start with some orgasmic dry humping (really, this is hot?? Apparently "the most erotic experience she'd had in her life") , and then finally get to a culmination with lines like, "He thrust deep, so deep she could almost taste him...." Which--A, anatomically impossible and B. gross. (Also, for those who care about safe sex in contemporaries, no mention of condoms or even birth control.)

8. And, on that topic, why make such a fuss over how Jilly--while not a virgin--has never enjoyed sex before, even with her ex-husband. In fact: "At one point she'd even pondered whether she was gay. It was an entirely acceptable life-style, and it probably would have made Dean happy to know his sister chose it. But for some reason she couldn't summon up even stray lustful feelings for another woman." And even Rachel-Ann, the promiscuous sister, has "her first orgasm in years" only when she finds her love interest.

I think eight is enough reasons to dislike a book (no reference to cheesy TV shows of yesteryear intended), so I'll stop here. On a more positive note, I will definitely be giving Anne Stuart a second try, as I've already purchased Ruthless and am still excited to read it, based on all the great reviews and the fact it's a historical.

[Vero Rinconin · Rating 2 out of 5]

*2'5*
No es que no me gustara pero me ha resultado un libro simple y simplón.
#RitaStuart #RetoRita2

[Linda (NOT RECEIVING NOTIFICATIONS) · Rating 2 out of 5]

Recently I was looking at a list of romances on Goodreads where the hero was either an anti-hero or a villain. I noticed a number of Anne Stuart’s stories were there. In Shadows At Sunset, Zachariah Redemption Coltrane was an anti-hero. Revenge was on his mind. The reader was left to discover why.

Jilly Meyer, the heroine, was an enabler. She was also divorced. She had lived off and on in the same home for years with her brother and sister when they were in town. In addition each of these adults had a very strange relationship with their father. Personally, the guy gave me the creeps.

I couldn’t help but feel all the characters were peculiar. This included Jilly and Coltrane. Their continuing scenario shouted ‘dysfunctional family’ in more ways than one. Added into the mix was the house itself was haunted by two ghosts.

By the time I finished Shadows At Sunset, I was ready for a comfort read.

[Love love · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another hit from Anne Stuart! At first when I started this book and I realized that ghosts were going to making an apperince in this story I was kinda put off, but they really do add to the story (kinda have a story of thier own too) and to the mystery.

Jillian (h) is the rock that holds her siblings toghether and La Casa de Sombras-House of Shadows- and infamous the old mansion that has been in their faimily for year. It was the site of a murder-suicide of fading film star Brenda de Lorillard and her producer Ted Huges in the early 1950's. Jillian's brother Dean is always victimized by thier father, belittled and made to feel like nothing. Jillian herself has known for years that thier father could care less if she lived or not, after years of emotional abuse Jillian has learned not to give him any power to hurt her, wich just piss dear old dad off even more. And then theirs Rachel-Ann, their adopted older sister and the only one that thier father loves......mabey too much.

Coultrane (H) although he's Jackson's (the father) right hand man, head of the leagal department in the family company, he has his own agenda and reasons for seeing the old man get his due. All he has to do is get to Rachel-Ann, Jackson's only weakness. However after things get going he realizes he can't use her as he intened but that Jilly would do just as nicely even though her father can't stand her. He can make this work, he only needs to keep focused and not develope some kind of human feelings about using her........He has to have his revenge, no matter what or who it hurts.

[Zubee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yippee for Anne Stuart for brightening my days with her great books as I am going through a lean patch these days; no good books coming out in December so I am taking this time to read AS backlist ... she is a tremendously talented author
Loved this H; he is wonderfully villainous!

[MBR · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is one thing you can always count on when you pick up an Anne Stuart. The fact that she draws you in to a web of deceit, lies, desire, explosive passion and an ending that would shake you to the very core when you are done is the very reason I keep coming back for her books even with a ton of reading material to choose from. And Shadows at Sunset proved to be just that sort of read, a story that I completely lost myself in as Anne Stuart wove her brand of magic with Coltrane and Jilly and the rich cast of side characters that makes up this whole story.

Zachariah Redemption Coltrane is a man who is steadfast in his belief and his mission to exact revenge on the man who killed his mother. His sketchy memories about his mother and the only happiness he had ever known while growing up which had been with her is reason enough for him to bring the man responsible down to his knees, stripping him of the very things that he holds near and dear in life.

But Coltrane’s plans for vengeance starts to falter when he meets his enemy’s daughter Jilly Meyer, who lives in and guards the crumbling famous La Casa de Sombras – House of Shadows, one of the most interesting houses in Hollywood that is shrouded in scandal. Jilly is the only one who stands up to her father for the sake of her brother and adopted sister whom she loves with all her heart. Her one attempt at marriage had failed miserably, rendering her to be doubly wary of men who hides their true nature behind their good looks and veneer of charm.

When Coltrane pushes his way into her life, Jilly knows that in Coltrane lies a man who has his own agenda, a man who is ruthless enough to not care even if he leaves a wave of destruction behind him once his plan kicks into gear. But her fascination for all that is Coltrane and how he makes her feel, those tendrils of elemental desire that shocks her to her very core makes her distrust him more than anything else. But Coltrane is not a man to be denied, not when he has set his sights on claiming her, planning all the while to leave her behind, just a casualty of the war he plans to wage.

Shadows at Sunset is such an engrossing tale that is a mix of suspense, romance and two ghostly beings whose love for one another even crosses on beyond their deaths, lingering on til eternity. The adopted daughter of the Meyer family who makes for such an endearing character on her own, the tender and heartwarming second chance at love that she finds was one of the best aspects of the story. Equally enticing was the game of cat and mouse that Coltrane and Jilly play with each other, their emotions and feelings towards each other as fierce as the need for vengeance and revenge that courses through Coltrane.

Highly intriguing and explosively good, Shadows at Sunset makes for an amazing read, highly recommended from the sunny side of life!

Rating=4.5/5

Original review posted on MBR's Realm of Romance

[Susan (the other Susan) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not your usual Anne Stuart. I found it charming. Yes, charming. Go figure.

[Debbie "Buried in Her TBR Pile" · Rating 4 out of 5]

love the ending

[Kit★ · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wasn't planning on reading this book anytime soon, but I was stuck without the book that I was reading, and needed something to fill the temporary void. So this one was on my shelf, collecting dust, and for whatever reason, I picked it up. I'm actually glad I got around to reading it finally, because it was a pretty good story, and a fast read for me too. I'm marking it as paranormal only because of the two ghost characters, Ted and Brenda. Otherwise there's not much paranormal about this book. It starts off with Jilly, the "strong" sister going to defend her brother Dean against their wicked father, Jackson. Jilly is always trying to take care of her siblings, never paying any attention to her own desires. Her sister Rachel-Ann is always in and out of rehab, drinking and drugging and sleeping around. She even slept with Jilly's scumbag ex-husband. Even Dean seems to sort of walk all over Jilly, taking her for granted. The siblings all live in a dilapidated old Spanish-style mansion, former home of a movie-star, Brenda, who supposedly killed her married lover Ted, and then herself, leaving their ghosts to haunt the place. They're not scary ghosts though, they care about Jilly and Rachel-Ann, calling them "our girls". Zack Coltrane enters the picture as Jackson's right-hand man, and at first, he seems just as cold and heartless. However, he's there to gain his revenge upon Jackson for the death of his mother back in the 60's, when the mansion was home to a commune of hippies. Jackson is a bad, bad man. He cares nothing for Dean and Jilly, not even the tiniest smidgen of paternal caring. He does, however, care just a bit too much for Rachel-Ann, who is supposedly adopted. He's broken a ton of laws, has no qualms about taking people out who get in his way, and he's under investigation by the federal government, thanks to Coltrane's machinations. The Meyer family in this book makes me glad I was brought up with parents who care about me, that's for sure. There's a bit of mystery to this story, and some twisted things going on, especially with Jackson. The relationship between Coltrane and Jilly moved along at a good pace, they were attracted to each other, and grew to care about each other, but it wasn't any sort of starstruck, "meant-to-be" kind of love. At least I didn't think so. I liked the secondary characters a lot. The ghosts were an interesting little side story, and their love was sweet. I was also glad when Rachel-Ann found her inner strength, and stayed sober, and also that she found Rico, her long-lost love from her teenage years, and that they got their HEA. This was my first try at Anne Stuart's writing, and I can say she's going on my list of authors to look for. I can't wait to get my hands on some of her historicals.

[Nath · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5 (C+)

Review: The book was okay; however, there's something that won't allow me to immerse myself completely in the story. I don't know if it's the story, the writing or the language. It's cold and you can't really root for the characters in my opinion.

Characters - I'd say Jilly is emotionally dependant. She needs to take care of someone or something to work well. She's usually too busy to think about herself and be selfish. She's the type of heroine that's strong and tough on the outside, but not so on the inside. As for Coltrane, well cold and indifferent and a bastard. There's very little to sympathize with both characters... they do sound real though...

Story & Writing - The story was good, but perhaps the paranormal side (ghost) might have bit a bit superfluous. As for the writing, well there's nothing to say... Anne Stuart didn't reach her status with bad writing. So I guess it's really the characters that prevent me from enjoying 100% the book.

The Cover - I actually like the cover a lot. No characters, just the house and I like the colors.

Am I keeping the book? For now yes... Later, I can't guarantee.

[Aki · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a hard one for me to categorize. For most of the book, I had no idea where it was going, it was almost a listless drifting that made me wonder what happened to the plot, if there was one at all.

La Casa de Sombres, The House of Shadows.

Reminds me of Las Noches from Bleach.

Casa de Sombres has a not so interesting legend of murder-suicide attached to it. I would have liked something a bit juicer, but hey, it's Hollywood: there're too many legends as it is.

The main of the plot centers on ruining one sick shit of...well, humanity n it's lowest form.

Jackson Meyer is absolutely disgusting. I think his ending wasn't quite poetic enough.

Coltrane was... meh, I guess he could have been a bit more bad ass... perhaps Jericho Barrons could give him pointers?

The children, adopted or otherwise were quite well-versed in self destruction: Dean who belongs in AA meetings as much as Rachel-Ann; Rachel-Ann hell bent on either ending up with a million STD or worse, and Jilly who has to watch them to the point where she has no life.

Did I mention the incest-mongering father? Yes, there was one of those too.

Anyhow, for a maiden voyage into Anne Stuart's work, it wasn't bad.

[Caity · Rating 3 out of 5]

So...
I thought this book was going soooo welll... a kick-ass, i-do-what-i-need-to (if maybe a little emotionally unstable) female lead, a nasty villain, and a romantic suspense fit for the big screen...not to mention A FREAKIN MANSION as the basic setting...but then i got to the end(ish). and my kick-ass, i-do-what-i-need-to main character started to sound a HELLL of a lot like a WIMPY damsel in distress. and the villain got COMICALLY bad --i think our author got A BIT carried away.
*sigh* and the romantic relationship started to scream: SEX IS LOVE.
AND THE very end of the book...i won't give it away...but COME ON!!?!
all i have to say to my kick-ass-turned-wimpy lead is that she is a SKANK. okayy....maybe not. im just so mad. SO DISAPPOINTED IN HER. but she is not a skank (far from it).

"i love you" apparently fixes everything.
Remind me to say that to my teachers when i forget my homework or fail a math test or something.

all in alll... it started out promising A GREAT novel...
and then it went
d
o
w
n
h
i
l
l
from there.

[Julija · Rating 2 out of 5]

The only way I can describe Shadows at Sunset is anticlimactic. The summary promised a murder, a house, and a con man threatening the heroine's life. Only the house was delivered.

Sure, the con man was there. And he even had the revenge angle. At least in the beginning. But then he actually never did anything? At all? Well, except lust after the heroine.

Then, there is the murder. Two of them, to be exact. And one of them resulting in ghosts, which I honestly just didn't see the point of? It's like they were there just to provide the commentary about the sex life. And well, about the other murder. Which is exactly what made it so anticlimactic.

It's like there are so many stories, at least the beginnings of them, but then they don't really develop and the resolution is so disappointing. Like Jilly's sister, for example. She has all these plot lines but they don't go anywhere, just end abruptly and unsatisfyingly. The brother, too. Though neither compares to the hero whose story was the most disappointing of them all. And let's not even start on the villain.

[Gail · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yet another one of Stuart's "patented" bad boys that she does so well. The heroine is the oldest child of a horrible man. She lives, basically, to thwart her father, and to save this old, falling-down Hollywood mansion she inherited from Dad's Mom, which she only gets to keep as long as she and her siblings live there. Her brother is a weak man who is desperate for Daddy's approval, and her baby sister has been in and out of rehab her whole life. The hero is tracking down his mother's murderer, and has infiltrated his enemy's stronghold. He's become Dad's right hand man, and sees Dad foisting the heroine off on him as another opportunity to spread his revenge. Only he finds himself oddly sympathetic toward her, even though he doesn't want to be. Oh, and this old mansion is haunted, by Hollywood ghosts, that Baby Sister can see. And there are lots and lots of other secrets. Very exciting and dramatic ending. Liked this one a lot.

[Rashika (is tired) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think Zack was the only hero in all the books I've read by her who actually admitted his love for the girl. He also wasn't as anti of a hero as the rest of the lot, it was easy to see that he had a good heart and he wasn't really that selfish.
This book was fun though. I love how Dean wasn't a bad guy. I was kind of expecting it but was so glad nothing like that happened.
The plot was interesting and I LOVED the ghosts. Hell I loved the secondary romance as well which is rare for me.
I knew I could always count on Anne Stuart to cheer me up. I don't look forward to the day I'll run out of romantic suspenses by her to read.

[EvilAntie Jan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A classic

Have you ever read a book that brought back great examples of writing? To me this book whirled in the mystery of Sunset Blvd to the family drama of Chinatown. What a spectacular story. These characters and story line grab you and pull you into the Shadows at Sunset and you never want to end.

[Pamela(AllHoney) · Rating 4 out of 5]

A story of vengeance as only Anne Stuart can write. Coltrane is after revenge against the man who killed his mother. He finds the opportunity for the revenge through his daughter, Jilly.

Probably not one of Anne Stuart's best, in my humble opinion but still worth reading and enjoying.

[Catty-cat · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was alright, I am always searching for a Anne Stuart as good as " into the fire" but I never find it :(.
Didn't really care about ghosts or Rachel-Ann but it was refreshing to have one of her heroine so strong because most of them (imo) are some virgin wimpy ninny.

[Jess · Rating 3 out of 5]

Delightfully wackadoo. Old Hollywood ghosts in the haunted mansion that the heroine lives in. Semi-villainous hero (though less so than a lot of Anne Stuart's heroes). Family dynamics straight out of a soap opera. All around, a pretty fun time.

[Debbie "Buried in Her TBR Pile" · Rating 4 out of 5]

This version was on sale, so I thought I would pick it up to replace my battered paperback copy. I re-read it and I still like it. It is a bit of everything - a ghost story, a wealthy dysfunctional family with many secrets, mysteries, etc. I love the ending. 4 stars.

[Vicki · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this story was really good. It's about a woman named Jilly who is terribly afraid of her father, Jackson Meyer, and for good reason. Jilly has two siblings: Rachel who has a mental illness and Dean who is just a jerk. Jilly is the sibling who likes to "fix everything," but we all know none of us can do that.

Coltrane is the guy who works for Jilly's father whose mother was murdered by Jackson. He's been working for Jackson for about a year as a way to get to Jackson's family because he wants to destroy the entire family as revenge.

Coltrane gets Dean's job, he wants to get to Rachel because she is Jackson's obvious favorite and he knows he is the weakest link, and he plans to do that by going through Jilly; however, when he meets Jilly she is nothing like what he expected and he is attracted to her.

I love stories with twists! And this one had so many at the end of the story that I wasn't expecting that my jaw was dropping. Stuart managed to catch me by surprise several times.

Recommendation: If you like twists, read it! There is some romance, some mystery, and some easy predictions, but you'll never guess the entire ending.

[Carlos · Rating 2 out of 5]

Un libro básico y para señoras, pero que posea una linea muy intrigante dentro de su trama que hace querer continuar hasta el final.
Con personajes muy lineales, pero que saben absorberte de a poquito y logras desarrollar un poco de aprecio a lo largo de la historia.
Lo único que me gustó fue que la autora logró mezclar la parte real con la de la ficción fantasmagórico, de una forma sutil y amena, eso le dio un punto, porque en realidad sentía un interés grande por llegar a los capítulos narrados por los fantasmas debido a que te mostraban la sustancia de la historia, lo que en realidad causaba intriga.
Y de verdad el último capitulo es la cosa más desechable del libro, porque es que todo iba regular, podía soportar los 23 capítulos con una paciencia digna de venganza, pero con el capitulo 24 fue como el odio intenso hacia la escritora, fue una decepción como lo poquito que se podía salvar del libro fue mandando a la verga con ése capítulo.
Una reseña muy corta pero directa al punto, prometo redactar con más detalle (porque creo que tengo muchas más quejas) de todo lo que fue mi experiencia leyendo Sombras al Atardecer de Anne Stuart en mi blog próximamente.

[Aretussa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jilly y sus hermanos heredan La Casa de las Sombras, una casa antigua en la que Rachel-Ann asegura ver fantasmas. Pero su padre está decidido a hacerse con la casa y destruirla con la ayuda de su abogado, Coltrane. Jilly no está dispuesta a rendirse y luchará por proteger la casa y a sus hermanos de las garras de su padre.

Me ha parecido una historia diferente y curiosa por el hecho de que en algunos capítulos sean los mismos fantasmas los que cuenten la historia, es por eso por lo que me enganché a la novela desde la primera página. Los secretos que esconde Coltrane, el misterio detrás de los fantasmas, La Casa de las Sombras, la piscina, lo fuerte y protectora que es Jilly, la subtrama de Rachel-Anne, el cerebro de Dean, Rufus... todo eso hacen la mezcla perfecta. Encima es un libro corto de unas 252 páginas, de lectura fácil y rápida con capítulos cortos.
Me ha gustado mucho, la he desfrutado y no he podido despegar la vista en ningún momento.
Si tengo que elegir a un personaje, me quedo con Rufus. Adorable, fiel y protector.

Recomiendo muchísimo esta novela. Es la primera vez que leo a la autora, pero estoy dispuesta a informarme más sobre ella y leer todas sus obras.

[Liz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very sweet, not a lot of sex but some nice family redemption (in part). Also some incest abuse treated appropriately as horrifying and not graphically but could trigger a survivor. Abuser got killed at the end. Would’ve liked more love and resolution between the two MC’s. Really like the side love story with the sister.

[NuricornBooks · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pues... meh.
Estuvo bien, pero nada así como que memorable.
Había potencial para algo más wao y siento que la autora no lo aprovechó, pero tampoco es que es una mala lectura.
Si es algo para pasar el rato, pues está bien.