I didn't read the, I think, two westerns by Robert B. Parker, nor the follow-up one you mentioned. However, I have read all of Parker's other books as well as those written by other authors after his death. I think those authors, Ace Atkins and Michael Brandman, have done a very nice job of capturing Parker's style of writing. What they haven't done, at least as of now, is move either character forward. Instead, they've just added what I will call episodes to the characters as those characters existed at the time of Parker's death. As for the new trend of a living author adding his name and some (or no) amount of collaboration to a series, I withhold judgment until I read the book. One of my favorite storytellers, Clive Cussler, has been doing this for years and, so far, I've enjoyed the collaborational series just as much as the original. I think Cussler writes rather formulaically anyway, so that probably makes it easier to make a collaboration successful. This post was edited by Fun2BHere on Thu, Feb 27, 14 at 17:21

My niece convinced me to read the series after I watched the Twilight movie. I enjoyed the book far more than the movie (but I'll watch the other movies as they come out too. LOL) I did enjoy the book series, but I didn't think the writing and story plots were nearly as well develped as the Harry Potter series. I felt the writer could have put a bit more effort into them. I got a bit tired of the teenage angst, but then, I didn't do angst, even when I was a teen. LOL Still, it's a good series for reading entertainment. I especially liked the fifth book, Midnight Sun; it's partially released on Stephenie Meyers' website. It's written from Edward's point-of-view and is much more interesting than Bella's sappy view. I do hope Meyers finishes and publishes it, even though it had been stolen and partially released without her permission. (More of that on her site.) All-in-all, I highly recommend them to anyone that wants an easy read, heavy on the romance (and still "clean" enough for young teens), and just a light, feel-good book series. And yes, the books are about vampires, werewolves, small town living, friends, family, and strange and wonderful families of friends, and love, and babies, and children and fathers, and mothers and children, and forgiveness, and all sorts of good stuff. Here is a link that might be useful: Stephenie Meyers' Twilight series website

I'm a Macomber fan, too; haven't read Jude Deveraux for some time, but if you friend likes stories from the days of Dukes, Lords, etc. she's a good read. Check your library. Ours has a 'sale' room of books they've pulled because of duplicates or some other reason. Used book stores are another good source already mentioned. If you're in the same town, see about a library card and make weekly trips for her when you go for yourself. Would reduce the number of 'things' she'd have to keep track of. My suggestion would be to just take her 1 or 2 books, get her reaction or even ask her if she still likes to read or reads this style. How about wrapping up some of the little things with her to open one each day. Candy, crackers, lotion, a special tea, a funny magnet, package of note cards with no verse, the 100 cal. packets of snacks already mentioned. It doesn't have to be fancy.....a cousin did this for me after surgery and it was such fun. You might even label the box "survival kit" or some such title to bring a smile or 2. Let us know what you do, and how she enjoyed it. I do wish for her a very speedy recovery.

11/10 - Page 3 and it was good and worth picking up. Multiple page quotes are just more I can read & react to so early in the morning, generally I get to quotes when "first light" appears in the sky and dawn cracks, but I was up in "the middle of the night" with coffee, so-called news and so-called weather and doing my duties as demanded by my owners, the 4 feline club.