After uncovering an international ring of assassins and providing the testimony to convict the leading assassin, FBI agent Robyn Richards joined the Witness Protection Program to protect her husband, Grant. The FBI staged an accident that left the world--and her husband--believing that Robyn was dead. Now, five years later, Robyn's daughter needs the rare blood type she shares with the father who doesn't know his wife and child are alive. A computer glitch forces Robyn to tell her doctors about Grant; Grant decides to deliver the blood in person and meets Brooke (Robyn in her new identity after plastic surgery). As Grant falls in love with Brooke and Robyn struggles with her love for Grant and her knowledge of the danger of telling him the truth, a new player enters the game: an unknown assassin stalking Robyn and her daughter for revenge. Well plotted and with exceptional characterizations, this title is an excellent introduction to Arabesque, a new line of ethnic romance novels. Author Hailstock never mentions the race of her characters, but her descriptions provide enough information without beating the reader over the head with the fact that this character is black or this character is white, etc.

Highly recommended

Melanie Duncan

Copyright© 1994, American Library Association 08/19/94. All rights reserved

...this book is everything an African-American romance should be...I promise, you’ll be up all night with this hum-dinger of a romance! Ms. Hailstock is to be congratulated on her remarkable debut. Don’t miss this keeper.

Jacki Whitford, Romantic Times Magazine

September 1994

Shirley Hailstock makes an exceptional debut with her riveting African-American romance, WHISPERS OF LOVE. Here is a love story propelled by rich characterization, tender passion, and a compelling storyline.

FBI agent Robyn Richards meets the man of her dreams, aviator Grant Richards, during a vacation in Las Vegas. They quickly fall in love, marry and move back to their home in Washington, D.C.

Both live dangerously Robyn working on the most violent assassination cases, and Grant involved in special government cases which require his flying skills. Just as Robyn cracks a deadly Crime Network syndicate, Grant is kidnapped in the Middle East.

Robyn is forced to testify in order to save his life, and that of the other hostages with him. Before Grant can return home, Robyn’s death is faked, and she is placed in the Witness Protection Program.

Robyn Richards becomes Brooke Johnson. Her face and voice are surgically altered, until even her own husband and closest friends won’t recognize her. She builds a life for herself and her daughter Kari, as a restaurant owner in Buffalo, New York.

When her four-year-old daughter is badly injured in a car accident, her husband must be contacted to donate the child’s rare blood type. But hope turns to heartache when the newly christened Brooke realizes that she and Grant are falling hopelessly in love all over again.

To keep Kari and Grant alive, Brooke has to keep her passion in check, and avoid any leaks to the past. But this proves impossible when someone decides to resurrect the old Crime Network and make Robyn’s assassination their first.

Ladies and gentlemen, this book is everything an African-American romance should be. The story is well-crafted, the characters and unforgettable, the romance heartfelt, and the suspense is heart-stopping. I promise, you’ll be up all night with this hum-dinger of a romance! Ms. Hailstock is to be congratulated on her remarkable debut. Don’t miss this keeper.

Ms. Hailstock...creates a magnificent masterpiece.

--DK, Rendezvous, October 1994

When Brook Johnson, alias Robyn Richards, testifies against a crime network involving important government employees, her life is worth nothing.. Leaving behind her husband, Grant, she enters the Witness Protection Program. But Brooke is found and her daughter Kari has a near fatal accident. Because Kari has a rare blood type, the only person Brooke knows with the ame type is Grant, Kari’s father. Although Grant knows Robyn died, he can’t explain how Brooke is so much like her. Fate has not finished with Brooke and Grant, as an evil person, bent on revenge for Brooke’s testimony, places her life and the lives of her husband and daughter in jeopardy. This time Brooke will not run she’ll fight for the right to live her life with those she loves. Ms. Hailstock is to be commended on her first book. She creates a magnificent masterpiece about sacrifice, love, and triumph with a thrilling story line using surprising twists and turns, passion, intrigue and exciting characters.

Although targeted at a multi-cultural audience, Whispers of Love should be on ly reader’s list of romantic suspense titles, regardless of ethnic background...A very auspicious debut novel.

Christine A. Janssen, Gothic Journal

September 1994

Five years ago, Robyn Richards ceased to exist. After brilliantly exposing a vicious assassination ring that penetrated to the bowels of the FBI where she worked, she took refuge in the Witness Protection Program. She was forced to give up her friends, her lifestyle, her home town, and her career as a computer expert. Most heartbreakingly, she gave up her husband in order to spare his life.

After being held hostage for several months in Beirut, airline pilot Grant Richards was told that his wife had been burned beyond recognition in a fiery auto accident. He buried his grief in a new enterprise, an air cargo service. Now he finds happiness only when he is flying.

Robyn relocated to Buffalo with a new face, altered vocal chords, a new identity as Brooke Johnson, and a child Grant does not know he has. She opened a catering business that has since become a successful restaurant called Yesterdays.

When Robyn’s daughter, Kari, is injured in an auto accident at age four, she needs the same rare type of blood that her father has. Because the blood-bank computers turn up no supply, Robyn must give the doctor Grant’s name. Grant pilots his plane to Buffalo from his home in Washington, D.C., to donate the blood in person.

Their meeting after five years explodes Robyn’s carefully constructed world, a world devoid of passion and spontaneity. She has been a tightly-contained saint in her elite prison, avoiding any but the most casual contact with men. When Grant takes her in his arms in a gesture of comfort, her control vanishes and she can no longer keep to her bargain with her FBI contact never to see her husband again.

Grant never remarried. He is drawn to Robyn, whom he only knows as Brooke, but holds back because she evokes memories of his dead wife. He feels that this is no basis for a relationship.

Robyn is always aware of the danger to herself and her daughter because one link in the assassination ring has never been brought to justice. She scrupulously thinks before she speaks, and never feels quite safe with good reason. Someone wants to flush Robyn out into the open, starting with the manipulation of the blood supply. She must choose between fleeing to anothe new identity or making a stand.

Robyn is a headstrong woman who would do anything for her daughter. However, Grant’s insistence on seeing them weakens her resolve and threatens their safety. Time and again she is faced with unpalatable choices.

Grant, who grew up in a series of foster homes, years for what he believes Kari and her mother can give him, the security of a home and family. He spends a lot of energy trying to overcome Robyn’s inexplicable determination not to see him again.

Several secondary characters come across as full-blooded and rea, Jacob Winston, Robyn’s sole contact with her past, is a crusty curmudgeon of an FBI agent who keeps his emotions tightly controlled. Marianne Reynolds, who co-owns Yesterday with Robyn, has been Robyn’s silent protector in the Witness Protection Program. When the crunch comes, she is torn between her friendship with Robyn and her loyalty to the FBI. Kari is a scene-stealing child who charms everyone she meets. She becomes the pawn in a deadly game that will leave the reader breathless.

Although targeted at a multi-cultural audience, Whispers of Love should be on ly reader’s list of romantic suspense titles, regardless of ethnic background. Author Shirley Hailstock weaves a spellbinding story with simple language and a tightening net, building suspense upon suspense until the harrowing climax that wrings the reader dry. A very auspicious debut novel.

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