Karen Ziemba Books

This novel isn't a copy of Peyton Place, but takes the essence of Metalious' novel and adds a suspensful twist. A woman uncovers the truth behind her mother's death and about what's been causing all of her hometown's inhabitants to become ill. A well crafted supense novel with some romance-- and a very telling story about small factory towns. I give it 3 1/2 stars.

It was like drinking decaffeinated coffee...it lacks that ...oomphh. Didn't think the plot was that compelling. An editor should've chiseled it down by 200 pages.

Some of the main character's experiences may have you wondering if any of this novel is autobiographical. The relational dynamics make a real-life backdrop for this boy meets girl story.

Delinsky's writing style unfailingly provides immediate, engrossing reading. This unique novel continued that legacy. The first paragraphs of the prologue warmed me into the book, and I looked forward to each parenthesis in time during which I'd be able to return to the read.

Before I began reading LOOKING FOR PEYTON PLACE, I was confused about where to place the fulcrum between what appeared to be a balance of autobiography & fiction. A quick check of the title page showed that the book was categorized as fiction. Reading into the prologue, I was able to discriminate how the deceased Grace Metalious was woven through Annie Bank's reality (this novel's fictional character), as opposed to being woven through Barbara Delinsky's reality. Part of the confusion (and the appeal) had to do with Delinsky's photo on the hardcover book jacket relating uncannily to the one of Grace, and to the artistic representation of Annie.

The reality Vs. fiction questions played out as a unique type of intrigue, which continued percolating even after I had settled into accepting the story as fiction. I couldn't help speculating how Annie's feelings and actions might have been lifted from Barbara's younger life/career, and blended into her current seasoning as an author. Contemplating Annie and Barbara's similarities and differences added to the story's charisma. I, and probably many other readers, was also mesmerized by a First Person Narrative of a writer dramatizing how she thinks through, and goes about writing a book.

Throughout this plot, Annie was repeatedly asked (in essence), "Are you going to write our shames and shambles into a book?" The interjections of that question, posed in various words and ways, continued to feed my curiosity about "would she" ... or, "did she" write that book (in this one). I imagine that this draw of curiosity was Delinsky's intent, which, in my case, worked.

Parallel situations from my life to Annie's also worked to enhance my enjoyment of this exquisitely designed plot and writing style, which was subtly and sensually different from any of Delinsky's other novels. Yet, initially (my reason for avoiding reading this novel sooner) I was put off by the environmental ploy of mercury poisoning of local residents by a small town mill. My life has run a course on a somewhat reverse-flip of good/evil of Delinsky's redeemed Norman Rockwell photo of small town life in Middle River, presented as a parallel to "Peyton Place," as the 50's novel was re-vamped, modernized, and cleaned up in Delinsky's "upgrade."

My husband has worked his lifetime in coal mines. We are loyal friends of industry, and have been blessed to be repeatedly employed by what we see as heroic "good guys" in charge of and in ownership of the several mines at which Tom has worked. It was very rare that anyone we knew came anywhere near the type of villainy dramatized through Sandy and Aidan Meade; most of our cohorts in the industry were of the James Meade character type.

As I continued into the story, with the welcome background of having reviewed many previous Delinsky novels, I was hoping for this one to have applied this author's honed talent of accurately separating good from evil, in the currently slimed (by media and terrorism) industrial arenas of milling and mining. Delinsky accomplished more than I would have thought possible, given our pervasive cultural climate of anti-capitalism, anti-industry; she successfully exposed how easy it can be to hurriedly mark something as evil, then blindly bully through a lumped-together package, with no motivation or effort to discriminate nuances, to accurately focus boarders between light and dark, value and corruption.

What held my reading most strongly, though, was the easy flowing, colloquial-narrative-style, enhanced by the bright duality of "voice" of Grace Metalious communicating with Annie from "beyond the grave."

This novel was a courageous evolution of not only Barbara Delinsky's writing talent and natural psychological wisdom; it was a courageous exposure of what appeared to be Barbara's (as well as Annie's) personal foibles given with endearing self-awareness of personality flaws and sparks.

I'm speculating that LOOKING FOR PEYTON PLACE may be too solid of a literary offering to be recognized widely and immediately for its subtle glamor in nuance of worth. This is a slow-simmer winner. Some of the rest of Delinsky's fine repertoire might fade slightly over millenniums of time. This one, though, could slide through each barrier between alternate ages and endure, mostly because it's a warm, unadulterated look into the mind of a healthy author (Barbara Delinsky), accompanied by the tortured but redeemed soul of yet another author (Grace Metalious) who was ahead of her time and fell into sorrow and separation instead of rising with her contribution to literary annals.

I'm almost chilled with an enormous sense of loss, when I think that this novel might not have been written or published exactly as is. Prior to reading this novel, I wouldn't have believed I could enjoy it as I did, and come away healed in the areas the story addressed. Whatever a reader's reservations are about being enthusiastically entertained by this novel, he should set them aside and dive in.

Yet, I'm haunted by the awareness that in reality and with real people it's not this easy (and it wasn't easy at all in the novel!) to separate good from evil in business and industry (or anywhere). It's too commonly automatic to allow anger, spite, and past wounds to run the shows and pursuits in life, as I believe is too often the case with environmental terrorism, possibly any type of terrorism, and with many causes which become so heated by pseudo self-righteousness, and compulsions to act as avenging (dark) angels, that evil begets evil, in the name of good. The result is that innocent, hard working people suffer most from the heart-wrenching rabble left from rousers (especially from those who've made a career of rousing).

In the case of my small town history based on the coal mining industry, our current plight (blight) swirls around a few wealthy new-settlers who retired to our area, combined with (or agitated by) career activists who are not from our area, who do not intend to reside there, yet who desire to rid our area of an industry which is far cleaner than the activists' motives or methods, driven by seething hatred which they "see" as self-righteous honor (from my vantage point, it's a sick type of "honor" which can be seen clearly only when looking through a glass darkly).

My plea to our species is to please be careful, maybe even compassionate, prior to pushing ways and beliefs onto others, especially when that force desecrates a people's history, along with its means of living and surviving.

Is jumping to conclusions our greatest habitual evil?

Might this be especially so when that (lack of) thought pattern results in acting upon "facts" which are not facts, and implementing destructive means to control life, to the ultimate point of human de-evolution?

In this novel the author has at least attempted to show how important it can be to take time to gain a true perspective cleared of personal vendettas, prior to methodically working to destroy someone else's way of life or economic structure of well-being. Sometimes perspective gained means mad motivation lost.

Delinsky has my appreciation for what she's accomplished and exposed in LOOKING FOR PEYTON PLACE. The exposure of which I'm speaking has nothing to do with Mercury poisoning or similar issues (though the alternative cure was interesting). It has to do with exposing how personal motivations can so easily seat-in to drive causes and cloud issues with a blindly horrifying force for destruction.

With those issues attended, I can conclude in good conscience that this was a moving piece of literature, an engrossing, entertaining read laced with an appealingly unique literary style.

Speaking of literary style, I should note that novels which use First Person Narrative can be too easily flawed by an irritatingly disruptive reading rhythm, when they're laced with interjected segments of Third Person Narrative. This novel accomplishes this difficult type of transition from differing points-of-view much better than most I've read. The narrative style here has light whiffs of similarity to Sue Grafton's "S" is for SILENCE and James A. Michener's THE NOVEL (both of which I've reviewed). My favorite use of narrative style is either an uninterrupted First Person, which has been generally mastered by the detective novel genre as a common choice of narrative. My personal favorite of that style (used without alternate-view-interjections) has been mastered absolutely by Robert B. Parker in his Spenser series.

What Delinsky has done in the First Person segments in this novel has edged beyond mastery, and has exquisitely captured the narrator's personality through her naturally-spiced speech patterns. The result is that Annie Banks' voice and spirit lives through the words of this story.

In an interesting Afterword, the publisher provided a short history of Grace Metalious and PEYTON PLACE, including a summary of that novel's plot, which was helpful to me since I've not read PEYTON PLACE. Each time I've approached the book I've felt overwhelmed by a sense of artful hollowness. Yet, I know that Grace was a rare and highly skilled author of uncanny talent. I know I would drool over the literary luxury in her words. But I'm rarely in the mood to willingly depress myself, which is why I'm thankful to have read Delinsky's book, including the Acknowledgments and Afterword.

I recommend this novel for its reading appeal, as well as its value as an offering of good literature traversing multiple layers, levels, and ages.

Linda Shelnutt

It took well over 500 pages to write what should have been written in 300 or so pages, and in those last 200 pages, my interest was sorely flagging.

I didn't find Annie particularly compelling on any level. Her personality, while supposedly she was the town pariah since her teens, was more milquetoast than troublemaker. How an entire town could come to despise her for vague things she did when she was young is beyond my comprehension.

The exchanges between Annie and Grace Metalious were bizarre, and I didn't buy that they were the product of a creative writer-type.

Frankly, I felt that the author basically used Ms. Metalious and her novel Peyton Place to piggyback on to sell this mediocre novel of her own.

I would only recommend this book to a masochist.

I loved this book. It made me laugh, it made me cry, it made me angry and more. I don't remember the last time I had a reaction like that to a book. The Mulberry Tree is just wonderful. You care about the characters, you hate the bad guys and I couldn't put it down. I couldn't wait to finish this book.

The mysteries will keep you wanting to know the end. The book does not go into so many boring character details except the main characters. The storyline is interesting and the food she talks about sound like you should to run out and try it. It's a believable story in that everyone has secrets but Bailey's is not the half of it.

Pick it up, you'll love it. I couldn't understand the 3 star reviews, I had to give it 5!

Annette

Who can tell? But I dont care! I loved it and read it non-stop for 2 days. (Kids got in the way!) I love Deveraux's books and this one was no exception. I loved the mysteries within the mysteries. I loved the characterizations. I loved the setting. The only reason I give it a 4 instead of a 5 is that I found it hard to believe that so many of her friends would up and move to be in that small town and to help her set up the business. But overall, I really did like it.

This was a fantastic story. The mystery keeps you turning pages. Starting over is never easy. Bailey changes her looks and identity after her multi billionaire husband dies. She inherits an old farmhouse in Virginia. Bailey thinks she can start over but the past won't let her.

Twists and turns in the plot always lead back to the Golden 6. What really happened? That's what kept me reading.

I love Jude Devereaux's writing. It was nice reading one of her old books. She is a talented author. You will enjoy this book.

This book was as good as I remembered. Bailey's story is that she moves to a small town after being widowed, and although she's welcomed, the town has many secrets. It's set in present-day, and is a good mix of humor, mystery, romance, and a little girl power. I felt like the ending was a little rushed, but it did not leave any unanswered questions. A good choice for any Jude fan, or food fan, since Bailey's handy in the kitchen.

Opening on the devestation of a just made widow, Lillian's multi-billionaire husband Jimmie has been killed in a light plane crash & she finds herself forced to flee in the night.

Villified by the press & bequeathed only an ugly behemoth of a house deep in the country in a lifeless town, Lillian assumes a false identity and begins to wake up to her life.

On her first day there she meets nosy neighbours and gets herself a handsome house guest, who would immediately like to become a lot more.

With a lot of help from the first friends she's had in her life, Lillian begins to remodel her house, renovate her self, and create her own career.

Jimmie is slowly revealled not to be the picture of perfection he is first painted in as, and the pace changes from Lillian's personality makeover to a mystery, then quickly finishes as a suspense.

The strong story and voice of the author makes this book riveting reading, although the various implausibilities in this book haunted me during and after...

A number of the plot contrivations niggled, as Deveraux seeks to hint here and then completly changes elsewhere but I felt that the great style and the very real grip the book has had on my mind for the past 24 hours since I finished it deserve a 4 star rating.

Not hugely romantic, although the hero not unlikeable, and Lillian herself also so so. . . Mostly interesting as a modern everyday life small town mystery/adventure.

To wrap up my review and complain about all the unsolved pieces would include multiple spoilers, therefore I shall leave them out.

Very much worth the read for the *food for thought* factor!

kotori Sept 2007

Don't know much I can add to what people have already said, but I love chick lit and can enjoy almost any book, but I found this book painful to finish. The writing wasn't great, the characters were cardboard, and the story was so drawn out. It was a cute idea, but it wasn't well executed. So please just trust me and save your money. This book and Trading Up by Candace Bushnell are the only two chick lit books I have ever not enjoyed.

For fun summer read, check out the Manny. I loved Peterson's writing. She lured me into the story and made Jaime's character very real and practical. My best read of the summer so far!

I just finished reading "The Manny" as part of my Summer 2008 reading and I liked it. I think that it's definitely appropriate for to be cast in the light, Summer, beach read category. I didn't think the storyline was that bad, Mannies are something that I haven't read before. I sided with Jamie, the main character, in the situations that she was in and she was like-able to me. Her husband got on my nerves but I think he was supposed to. Also I was satisfied with how the book ended. The book did have a bit of a chick-lit formula but that's what to be expected when reading a chick-lit novel.

I didn't have any big problems with the storyline or the book. But I do have to say that the author made Peter, the manny, seem to perfect. Like he didn't have any flaws. Nobody can be that perfect. Also Jamie didn't really seem to spend that much time with her two younger kids. Most of time that wasn't spent at work, was worrying and spending time with her older son, Dylan.

But I really didn't think the book was horrible. It kept me interested-I never got bored reading it. I would recommend this book to people who like Plum Sykes and books about the Manhattan elite. It's definitely a great book for Summer reading.

It was only a matter of time. Once The Nanny Diaries by Emma McLaughlin came out, and Bridget Jones's Diary by Helen Fielding became popular, chick lit was in full swing. It was only natural that The Manny by Holly Peterson would be written. For those who enjoyed the shoes in Beth Harbison's Shoe Addicts Anonymous, or designer clothes in Lauren Weisberger's The Devil Wears Prada, one might enjoy this VERY light beach read. Although it is a somewhat weaker copycat, it might bring a smile or two to moms who find the summer months their biggest dread as schools close!
Jamie Whitfield is a part-time working mother of three children ranging from two to nine years old. Her job as a busy news producer as well as being part of the Manhattan Mom's scene, with a successful attorney husband who is absent a great deal and let's just say, not a "hands-on helper", has Jamie at the end of her rope. Jamie, who is a transplanted Midwesterner, finds the adjustment to the New York scene a constant battle. With her eldest, nine-year-old Dylan, showing more and more signs of withdrawal to the point of being motionless at times, Jamie thinks a male role model would do him some good. Husband Phillip, concerned with supporting his family in the style he thinks they need and are accustomed to where his income of more than a million dollars annually just gets them by, CERTAINLY can't give up his time to sit with Dylan and see what makes him tick. As a workaholic himself, Phillip can't imagine someone, especially his own son, having problems that would result in anything not productive. Phillip does give us a glimpse of the man Jamie fell in love with and who deep down loves his children every once in a while, but the times are too few and far between.
It is at this point, as things with Dylan get worse, that Jamie decides that a male role model, rather than a nanny, would be the answer. So she seeks out a "manny". Being in this class of privileged people where buying something can surely solve anyone's problems, Jamie is optimistic that finding the right manny will solve her problems.
And so, we meet Peter Bailey. He is 29 years old and looking for funding for his software business. Peter seems to like children and is kind and very intelligent. It also doesn't hurt that he is very good looking! The fact that Peter is attentive to Jamie as well as he appreciates and respects her, are all things in Peter's favor. So, Jamie hires Peter and the "nanny of the male persuasion" starts his job!
One doesn't have to be a genius to anticipate that Jamie and Peter will become attracted to each other. That along with subplots concerning Jamie's hot news report she is working on involving an affair of a prominent congressman, and the way the rich are living their superficial lives, moves the story line along as would be expected. Some complications can only help add to the rather predictable plot. The story of course is fictional and rather cliché as it talks about how people in these situations can get into trouble when letting the wrong priorities take over their lives.
So will the manny be Jamie's answer to not only Dylan, but also her unfulfilling marriage? Will we find that Jamie can find happiness with a real man whether he has money or not? That is something you do have to read to find out about!

I would like to see the readers who complain about poor writing style try and write their own book. I loved this book--it is light-hearted, funny, and endearing. Its a modern day tale of a seemingly common phenomenon. The book does not try and come off as a classic or a novel of high sophistiction. It's chic lit, and if that's not what you want, then dont read it. The author does seem to be a bit pretentious, but give her a break.

This is Jance's second Ali Reynolds thriller. The first, EDGE OF EVIL, hooked me on the series. This second has ended that relationship. The blogging part of the book was cool, but the character was a bit on the side of little good two-shoes for me to enjoy. The mystery in itself was good and I didn't figure out until halfway through.

What can't be taken away from the book's quality was the fact the characters were well defined. This is an art form Jance has perfected. The plot was interesting enough; but then again, all of her plots are. Also another thing to add to her credit is she knows how to end a book. What brought down the rating were two things. One was parts of the story were too far-fetched. And the second, there were way too many dry spots. So many, in fact, it has turned me off reading more in this series.

This is the first J. A. Jance book I could not finish. I had read the previous Ali book, and was not too impressed, but since I have always liked J. A. Jance, I tried this one.

The plot is silly and unbelievable and contrived. No one getting a divorce would hang out with the "new" wife like Ali did here. I find it hard to care about any of the characters. I have a 100 page rule, if I don't like a book after 100 pages I stop, but I did go past that here just because of the author. Not worth your time and far from her best work.

I am of fan of J.A.Jance's Brady series and figured I would have the same experience with this book, my mistake. The deceit in this book is the plot, characters, premise rather the lack thereof.
In this day of court TV, instant news, and paparazzi we are suppose to believe that Ali Reynolds, who had been a major TV news broadcaster in the LA area, is basically naive concerning the criminal justice system and the viciousness of the press. It was especially hard to believe that she was stunned when her son found out about the murder investigation....like that wouldn't have made the evening news! Her lack of sophistication is disingenuous with her former profession.
Her care and concern for her husband's fiance and her mother are at odds with her seeming lack of concern and exclusion of her own parents and son. Every dumped spouse I know picks up the tab at an expensive hotel for their ex's paramours.
I'd say save your money and get this book at your local library but, I reccomend you don't waste your time; just leave it on the shelf.

J.A. Jance has written over 32 mystery novels, 20 featuring the Seattle detective J.P. Beaumont, and a dozen or so set in the Southwest with a housewife/sheriff named Joanna Brady. I found the Beaumont series mildly enjoyable in its semi-hard-boiled (or is that soft-boiled?) main character and familiar Northwest settings, including (for a time) the great old Dog House diner.
But 32 novels is lot of words, phrases, paragraphs and pages and in Jance's latest offering, Web of Evil, you can practically hear the crank handle grinding it out. The action is centered on an LA media personality whose husband and TV station simultaneously dump her - actions which seem quite reasonable after making your way through the book. She is not that interesting. The characters and setting have minimal topography - they are ordinary, nicey-nice people, and it (the setting) is hardly described at all. This author appears to subscribe to the theory that if she makes her heroine "just like us" we are bound to like her. I disagree. Few of us are actually that featureless. A few warts, peccadillos, interesting history, deeply felt interests, etc. would help.
So the husband doesn't show up for the final divorce mediation. He's been murdered; the wife becomes the chief suspect. This could be good substance for a novel. But the narrative lumps along, with the plot and characters frogmarched through tiresome explanations, flat dialog, and a detour through a poorly premised and barely developed subplot. The narrative is not aided by the awkward interpolative device of the heroine's blog. (It is about her divorce, and on this basis supposed to have thousands of avid readers. (Hum hmm.... yeh, really?) Through this we are supposed to learn her most intimate thoughts. (Which are... not exactly riveting.) The caboose on all this banal freight is a mandatory climactic shootout in the LA burbs - true to form, taking place in something closely resembling an Outback Steakhouse.
Overall: I made it through the novel, but put it down many times - there's not much of a story here. It seems a lazy effort. Goes into the giveway pile. Violence: lots, but so minimally described and not attached to any credible motives or pathology, so it's not very disturbing, just kinda... obligatory?

Web of Evil opens from the point of view of a man bound hand and foot in the trunk of a car. What a promising start. Unfortunately, the heroine, the much maltreated Ali Reynolds, makes her entrance in the next chapter. Ali is one of those characters who is annoyingly perfect. All of the others in this cast also are "types" - parents with hearts of gold, mindless bimbos, hapless illegal immigrants, cops with the hearts of lions, avaricious lawyers. Much of the action is moved along via the device of Ali's blog, Cutloose, in which she whines about losing her news anchorwoman position (too old), maligns her cheating, media exec husband, and ignores advice to avoid blogging about all the danger she blindly stumbles into after that husband disappears. Naturally, her blog is wildly popular, and Ali now seems to spend her life answering email from her legion of admiring fans. I guess this book qualifies as a mystery, since I had no idea who committed the murders or why. But it's certainly not a thriller, nor is there a glimmer of suspense.

A claustrophobic, virginal, dysfunctional, young (maybe 27)school teacher (Laney)meets a handsome, confident (at times arrogant), loving, older (42) New York attorney (Deke) meet during a brief black out in the Big Apple. They spend one magical night together (where she looses her virginity and he finds love), that will change both of their lives forever. Laney who had been told when she was young that she was barren, finds herself pregnant from a one night stand. The rest of the story resembles the typical Sandra Brown love story in that Deke tracks her down, showers her with love and attention, something she is starving for, and sets out to exercise the demons that her mother has instilled in her. Apparently Laney's mother "resented her and couldn't love her" because she blames Laney for her husband's departure. Deke's desire to be apart of Laney's life and his unborn child spins a cute story that is easy to read and not too heavy. I enjoyed it.

This is a wonderful story for the romantic at heart. Words of Silk is packed with non-stop romance, relationship conflicts and some very steamy love scenes. I am a new Sandra Brown reader and I've enjoyed the plot and charcters tremendously. For those of you who believe in love at first sight, this is the book for you.

I really wanted to like this book. The short summary in the flap of the book sounded interesting: a man and a woman meet in the elevator...

Anyways, this book was just too unrealistic. Don't get me wrong - I love fiction. But this book was overboard.

After Deke and Laney get stuck in the elevator, they sleep together in his apartment. Laney is actually on vacation and doesn't really live in NY. When she wakes up in the morning, she runs away and catches her plane back home to Arkansas. Deke tracks her down for months. Laney finds out she's pregnant. When Deke finds her, he forces her to let him live with her. He follows her everywhere. He makes all the decisions. He forces her to marry him. They keep having sex and more sex. This is basically what the whole book is about. Where's the romance?

The hero in this story was not at all romantic. If you think about it, he was a stalker. He hired people to spy on her and gathered info on her and forced her to do things. Also, why does the author say that Deke loves her right after one night of sex? In the book, Deke says that the night Laney and him slept together was a night like no other with any women. What? He's had hundreds of girlfriends and somehow after one night of sex, he believes that Laney is the "one"?! Come on! That's stupid. There is no love! It's all lust, not love! This book was just a complete waste of time. I've read a lot of romance with sex in it, but there was also romance and love in it, not just sex.

Please do not read this garbage. If you want a really good romance, please read one of these author's books (I also included my favorite book from each author):

Lisa Kleypas (Dreaming of You)
Julia Quinn (Minx)
Pamela Britton (Tempted)
Lorraine Heath (As an Earl Desires)

I usually like Sandra Brown books but this is one exception. Words of Silk is one book that just couldn't keep my attention. I can't count the number of times my mind wandered, and during love scenes too! That's just sad. The book did start out good and I thought it was a good premise too, it just didn't pan out well, and went downhill...fast.

The two main characters, Laney and Zeke, aren't very likeable, you can't even call them a hero or heroine. Zeke says later in the book that Laney can't see reason, when he is the one that can't in his dictatorship mind. Then Laney infuriates me with what she does next! Ugh! Maybe infuriate is too strong a word for characters I don't even like.

I would have stopped reading, but I hate to leave a book unfinished, and there is always the hope that it will get better, too bad it didn't.

If I were you I'd skip this one, get one of Ms. Brown's far superior books instead, like Eloquent Silence, the Switch, Tomorrow's Promise, Above And Beyond or even Sweet Anger. If you absolutely have to read this, I'd suggest getting it at the library, you'll be better off.

This book seemed very familiar to me, perhaps beause I read it when it was first released 20 years ago, or more likely because this storyline has been told before in countless other romance novels. I found it to be dated, with a domineering and chauvanistic leading man who is a master at manipulating the woman he wants. She's not as strong as she tries to come across, and lots of annoying verbal sparring passes between them, making the book kind of stressful to read. I usually savor treasured early novels written by current mainstream authors, and I generally love to read Sandra Brown's books, but this one really didn't capture my interest or my heart.

I don't like romances. They are just not the genre that I find interesting. I picked up this book without realizing that it was just that. Upon beginning the story, I became aware that it was a romance, but I was already hooked. This easy read is fun to enjoy. The characters are realistic. Thrown together during a storm, they encounter that magical kind of attraction that many never have the pleasure to experience.

This is a typical romance in that it deals primarily with a couple who struggle through obstacles and misunderstandings in order to be united at the conclusion. However, I found it to be an entertaining one.

Well I have not had the benefit of reading other Sandra Brown's. This was trash. I got the CD version on sale and thought it would make an entertaining car trip. Jordan is so controlled by both men. Both men want her primarily for her looks. Reeves is a little violent, Helmut is just an egotist. I almost threw it away after disc 2 but I wondered if maybe Jordan ever stood on her own two feet. She doesn't.

Jordan is living in Europe away from her parents and the only home she knows. She did this to put a space between being a widower after her husband died in a car crash. It was not a happy marriage. She currently works in a book shop and live above it. One night when the rain was coming down someone started pounding on the bookshop door eventhough it was close. She look to see who it was and found it to be man named Reeves Grant who was a famous photographer and journalist.
She let him out of the downpour and before you know it they are making love. In the morning he disappears and she feels ashamed for going to bed with a man she just met. Later in that day she is attending a very high society function with the billionaire Helmut who has become smitten with her. When she was introduce to the man who would be writing an article about Helmut it turned out to be Reeves. From there on the story plays like a love triangle until she finally chooses. Does she stay with a man who is enarmored with her or does she go with a man who she is not sure how he feels about her. Great read a little unbelievable pertaining to knowing on the first night you sleep with someone that there are the one but hey this is after all a romance novel.

This book revolves around three main characters: Jordan, Helmut and Reeves. It's a tale of a woman torn between marrying the rich man she's been dating or gambling on a man she's just met but had some steamy moments with. Truly predictable, this book is a quick read full of some of those nice, romantic love scenes that we've all come to expect from Sandra Brown. It's not her best book, but not her worst. I recommend that you check it out from the library or borrow it from a friend, but I don't think it's worth paying money for...

Widow Jordan Hadlock is an American in Switzerland. Working at a bookstore in Lucerne, she is the object of desire of wealthy Swiss industrialist, Helmut Eckhardt. Not sure if she is ready for another marriage, she holds Helmut at arm's length. But a chance meeting with a fellow American - photographer Reeves Grant - puts her life into a tailspin. When he seeks shelter from a storm, they end up spending a night filled with passion together, and in the morning, he is gone.

Imagine her surprise when the hunky Reeves is assigned to photograph Helmut for an article, and at a lavish party, Helmut announces to his guests that he and Jordan are to be married (despite her never agreeing). As she gets pushed into more interactions with Reeves, their undeniable attraction cannot be extinguished, and after another passionate night in a storm, will she take a chance on Reeves?

Touted as another "classic love story" from Brown, it really is just a dated cheesy 80's romance novel that's light on plot. You'd be better to borrow this one from the library.

I listened to this in the car thankfully...so I could fast forward through all the long drawn out sexual scenes...which is what the bulk of the book is made up of. It bored me to tears....not much of a plot..just some dialouge between 'lusty' scenes. Dont waste your time.

Earlier piece from Sandra Brown, but with the familiar twists. And very hot one indeed.

In the 80s and 90s, it wasn't against the law for teachers to carry on with a student of whatever age. In the 50s, we were all crazy about our choir director, and his suffering through a divorce made him all that much dearer to us. He'd sung with a famous group before coming home to our school to direct the music program. The only reason I passed the auditions for the Girls' Glee Club was my popularity on local t.v. talent shows. Not once did he ever touch any one, as he had principles, never patted any student on the back. Nowadays, you go to jail if you are seen alone with an underage person not related to you. From news reports, it figures more that middle aged female school employees are abusing the boy students.

When this story took place, it was not abuse unless a man abused a boy. Shelly was only sweet sixteen when the male teacher with the roving eyes singled her out for a real embrace along with a kiss to remember. He was sent packing in a discreet manner, no charges, no publicity, only heartbreak for young Shelley. Was it only a teenage crush or infatuation. She somehow overcame her hurt from what felt like desertion and got on with life, marrying right out of high school as many girls do.

After she was divorced ten years later, like Charlotte did, she went to college so as to get a degree and not have to depend on a man. Like Valerie, she decided on a political science major (Charlotte went into education and became a teacher), and sparks flew between Shelly and her professor -- the very same high school heartthrob. It built into a full-fledged affair, and their kisses became kisses of fire. He'd been the man of her dreams for many years, but this was no fairy tale. No man, whom a woman loved and desired came back into her life like a knight on a white charger. Nothing worked out that easily. A price had to be paid.

She wasn't sure she'd be able to pick up the pieces of her life again. She no longer was an emotional teenager but an experienced divorced woman. Grant was a lot like my first love, but he loved me in a different way and let me spread my wings like a blue butterfly and fly away to my destiny. Grant was good at using double entendre, and proposed that she be his assistant, grading his exams and such. Like Bill, he held her on his lap. The silver in his hair only heightened his attractiveness. Had he changed so much, or had she merely grown up and was ready for a real man. Like a master conductor, you've got all the different parts of your life playing in harmony and making absolutely beautiful music together. Sit back and enjoy the symphony -- you deserve it and the benefits of first-time motherhood. I will always remember the Nashville Symphony that Oct. when Michael Feinstein sang my request. Now, that's love of the first rate. A kiss is merely a prelude to the real thing.

I like Sandra Brown but this book should have been rewritten. I have been listening to it on audiobook and also have the actual book. I didn't realize until I was actually listening to it how badly written it was. It was as if Sandra wrote it with a thesaurus well utilized. Shelley came across as SO immature, even at age 26. And she describes Grant as if he as 45 instead of around 35. I would LOVE to see her rewrite this and create a better female lead, instead of the wimpy Shelley that we have. I really liked Grant and would like to have had him placed in a much better story. It would have been so much more interesting seeing Shelley interact with her ex-husband more (so he could get a better comeuppance). Instead, we get vascillationg between Yes and NO and Yes and NO...and her reasons were wimpy too. As someone who does teach on the university level, NO, I would not date someone I was teaching, no matter how attracted I was to them. It is not ethical and, to me, Grant was very ethical. So much more could have been done to bring them together. It moved too slowly AND too fast at the same time. Now that takes talent! Thankfully, Sandra has written much better books since.

I just finished listening to this book in the car. My need to finish any audiobook that I start was the only reason I made it through this garbage. In a nutshell: Shelly was kissed by her civics teacher, marries the wrong guy, gets divorced, meets her civics teacher 10+ years later when he is her college professor, he still has the hots for her, they fall in love, get married, have a child, and both earn the big bucks in some far-fetched, "don't ask questions" sort of way. True to romance novel form, the male lead teaches the female protagonist EVERYTHING about passion and she sits there like a log and "experiences" it. I never want to endure another sentence where the male lover "praises her [...]" and "worships her perfect stomach" etc. Why couldn't Sandra Brown challenge herself and write passion and romance the way it really is? In a give-and-take, two-way street fashion? In short: awful, unrealistic, terrible, with about two pages of conflict. Save your money and check it out of the library. But if you want to save your time, check out something else. PS: As an English professor, let me say that it is NOT kosher to date your students. ALL universities have problems with this, not just private or religious ones.