Special Prices for Happy Birthday: A Novel Review

Are you looking to buy Happy Birthday: A Novel? here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on Happy Birthday: A Novel. check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Lowest Price Offers

Happy Birthday: A Novel Review

It's been awhile since I've read a Danielle Steel book. This book sounded interesting to me because I guess I have birthdays on my mind these days. Amazing how they come around so quickly.
And the truth is Happy Birthday wasn't a horrible book (I have read worse), but it was nowhere near as good as her earlier books. Still, the book has all the elements that Steel lovers enjoy, and for summer reading, you could do a lot worse. The book moves swiftly and Steel dishes out love and pain, as usual, with a happy ending. The book wasn't as well fleshed out as other books by Steel. The characters didn't have a lot of depth and the plot could've been a lot stronger. Steel formula varies little, so there are no huge surprises or differences. If you love Steel, you'll love this book. If you've overdosed on Steel, give it a skip. If you've never read Steel before, read one of her earlier, preferably earliest, books before starting with this one. (You'll be a lot happier with any one of the first five to ten.)
I give it three stars because it wasn't terrible and was pretty much what I expected it to be.
Overall, okay read. I recommend the book to Steel fans and diehard Steel lovers. Other romance fans may prefer to pick a different book and wait for this one to come out in paperback or get it from the library.

Happy Birthday: A Novel Overview

In this beguiling new novel, Danielle Steel tells the story of three very different people, each of whom, on the same day, reaches a crucial turning point in life-a rite both bittersweet and full of hope, a time to blow out the candles, say goodbye to the past, and make a wish for the future.Valerie Wyatt is the queen of gracious living and the arbiter of taste. Since her long-ago divorce, she's worked hard to reach the pinnacle of her profession and to create a camera-ready life in her Fifth Avenue penthouse. So why is she so depressed? All the hours with her personal trainer, the careful work of New York's best hairdressers, cosmetic surgeons, and her own God-given bone structure and great looks can't fudge the truth or her lies about it: Valerie is turning sixty. Valerie's daughter, April, has no love life, no rest, and no prospect of that changing in the foreseeable future. Her popular one-of-a-kind restaurant in downtown New York, where she is chef and owner, consumes every ounce of her attention and energy. Ready or not, though, April's life is about to change, in a tumultuous transformation that begins the morning it hits her: She's thirty. And what does she have to show for it? A restaurant, no man, no kids.Jack Adams once threw a football like a guided missile. Twelve years after retiring from the NFL, he is the most charismatic sports analyst on TV, a man who has his pick of the most desirable twentysomething women. But after a particularly memorable Halloween party, Jack wakes up on his fiftieth birthday, his back thrown out of whack, feeling every year his age. A terrifying act of violence, an out-of-the-blue blessing, and two extremely unlikely love affairs soon turn lives inside out and upside down. In a novel brimming with warmth and insight, beginning on one birthday and ending on another, Valerie, April, and Jack discover that life itself can be a celebration-and that its greatest gifts are always a surprise.From the Hardcover edition.

Want to learn more information about Happy Birthday: A Novel?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now

Read More...

Lowest Price The Silent Girl: A Rizzoli & Isles Novel Review

Are you looking to buy The Silent Girl: A Rizzoli & Isles Novel? here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on The Silent Girl: A Rizzoli & Isles Novel. check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Best Offers

The Silent Girl: A Rizzoli & Isles Novel Review

I have loved all of Tess Gerritson's thrillers and this one The Silent Girl: A Rizzoli & Isles Novel is no exception. The story is set in Boston and has a strong sense of place when the plot develops. This story is about a chilling murder in Boston's china town where detective Jane Rizzoli finds a red haired woman murdered on a roof top with a severed hand which they find in the alley below. Between the detective and the medical examiner, Dr. Maura Isles, they look for clues. Some of the clues are given early in the book and it is very interesting how the team tries to connect all the clues and then discover secrets of an ancient Chinese legend and all its dangers...
The author has done it again by coming out with this tremendous thriller. Don't start this book late at night like I did, and then you simply have to stay up to find the next clue! I am sure it will be another best seller, it is the type of book that grabs you from the very beginning!

The Silent Girl: A Rizzoli & Isles Novel Overview

No one takes readers to the dark side and back with more razor-sharp jolts and sheer suspense than the storytelling master behind Ice Cold and The Keepsake. When New York Times bestselling author Tess Gerritsen has a tale to tell, put yourself in her expert hands-and prepare for the shocks and thrills that are certain to follow.Every crime scene tells a story. Some keep you awake at night. Others haunt your dreams. The grisly display homicide cop Jane Rizzoli finds in Boston's Chinatown will do both.In the murky shadows of an alley lies a female's severed hand. On the tenement rooftop above is the corpse belonging to that hand, a red-haired woman dressed all in black, her head nearly severed. Two strands of silver hair-not human-cling to her body. They are Rizzoli's only clues, but they're enough for her and medical examiner Maura Isles to make the startling discovery: that this violent death had a chilling prequel.Nineteen years earlier, a horrifying murder-suicide in a Chinatown restaurant left five people dead. But one woman connected to that massacre is still alive: a mysterious martial arts master who knows a secret she dares not tell, a secret that lives and breathes in the shadows of Chinatown. A secret that may not even be human. Now she's the target of someone, or something, deeply and relentlessly evil.Cracking a crime resonating with bone-chilling echoes of an ancient Chinese legend, Rizzoli and Isles must outwit an unseen enemy with centuries of cunning-and a swift, avenging blade.BONUS: This edition includes an exclusive script excerpt from the TNT series, Rizzoli & Isles.

Want to learn more information about The Silent Girl: A Rizzoli & Isles Novel?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now

Read More...

Best Price Split Second Review

Are you looking to buy Split Second? here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on Split Second. check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Great Deals

Split Second Review

Whether you are someone who has been a fan of bestselling author Catherine Coulter's thrillers or even her romance novels, SPLIT SECOND will give you a little of both.
From the very beginning of the book Coulter shows you how quickly even a trip to the store can turn into a life or death situation, but with the return of characters like FBI agents Dillon Savich and Lacey Sherlock you know that they are willing to risk their lives in order to do their job and do it well.
This becomes something that tests them both professionally and mentally when they are faced with what seems like a deranged serial killer who is intent on causing unspeakable pain and horror. As the story develops, though, there seems to be something more at play--and when the identity of the culprit is realized, there is a race against time in order to stop more senseless deaths.
Joining Savich and Sherlock on the case are two other dedicated agents,Cooper McKnight and Lucy Carlyle. As with Savich and Sherlock, however, this case brings out a more personal element that threatens to destroy everyone around it.
With SPLIT SECOND the action comes fast and furious as do the personal relationships that we see develop throughout the story. There is also another element that Coulter is known for that comes through as well: the human component. We get to know slivers of the characters---both the heroes and the bad guy(s)---that helps us in understanding the way they react to situations and even what drives them.
There's no other way to say it: SPLIT SECOND is a literary winner that reminds us how the life we know can change in an instant. Coulter has delivered another home run for readers.

Split Second Overview

The number-one New York Times-bestselling author returns with another pulse-pounding thriller. A serial killer is on the loose, and it's up to FBI agents Dillon Savich and Lacey Sherlock to bring him down. They soon discover that the killer has blood ties to the infamous and now long-dead monster Ted Bundy. Savich and Sherlock are joined by agents Lucy Carlyle and Cooper McKnight, and the chase is on. At the same time, Agent Carlyle learns from her dying father that her grandfather didn't simply walk away from his family twenty-two years ago: he was, in fact, murdered by his wife, Lucy's grandmother. Determined to find the truth, Lucy moves into her grandmother's Chevy Chase mansion. What she finds, however, is a nightmare. Not only does she discover the truth of what happened all those years ago, but she faces a new mystery as well, a strange ring that holds powers beyond her ken. As the hunt for the serial killer escalates, Savich realizes he's become the killer's focus, and perhaps the next victim. It's up to Lucy to stop this madness before it's too late.

Want to learn more information about Split Second?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now

Read More...

Lowest Price The Ideal Man Review

Are you looking to buy The Ideal Man? here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on The Ideal Man. check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Lowest Price Offers

The Ideal Man Review

I am a huge Julie Garwood fan and have read every one of her novels. Saving Grace is my absolute favorite and I have read it multiple times. I was really disappointed in this book. It took me a long time to get into it and put it down several times. Normally I can't put down a Garwood novel and read it cover to cover forgoing sleep when necessary. The conversations were choppy and the amount of detail detracted from the story because it just didn't flow. It read like an amateur novelist during the conversations. I did like the characters a lot and wish that I could have enjoyed their dialogue more because they had merit. It was also such a contrived and convoluted plot that had elements that were not essential to the story and should have been left out. Some of the relationships were poorly developed and not resolved, especially the relationship between Ellie and her evil sister, Ava. I kept waiting for Ava to "get it" or at least get what she deserved but then it just kind of fizzled out. I wasn't able to really lose myself in the book and then it wrapped up with a few quick lines. All of this being said, I would still rather read a bad Julie Garwood book than a good book by many other authors. This is definitely not worth the $12.99 kindle price and I would wait until it drops below $9 to purchase.

The Ideal Man Overview

New York Times bestselling author Julie Garwood delivers a contemporary romance that's pulse-pounding in every sense of the word.Dr. Ellie Sullivan has just completed her residency at a large urban hospital. While jogging in a park nearby, she witnesses the shooting of an FBI agent in pursuit of wanted criminals, a couple identified as the Landrys. The only person to see the shooter's face, Ellie is suddenly at the center of a criminal investigation.Agent Max Daniels takes over the Landry case. A no-nonsense lawman, he's definitely not the ideal man that Ellie has always imagined, yet she's attracted to him in a way she can't explain.Ellie heads home to Winston Falls, South Carolina, to attend her sister's wedding. Shortly after she arrives, though, she receives a surprise visitor: Max Daniels. The Landrys have been captured, and she'll be called to testify. But they've been captured before, and each time the witnesses are scared into silence-or disappear before they can take the stand. Max vows to be Ellie's shadow until the trial, and it isn't long before sparks fly.

Want to learn more information about The Ideal Man?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now

Read More...

Best Buy for The Paris Wife: A Novel Review

Are you looking to buy The Paris Wife: A Novel? here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on The Paris Wife: A Novel. check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Cheapest Deals

The Paris Wife: A Novel Review

At the end of Ernest Hemingway's memoir, A Moveable Feast , he writes of his first wife, Hadley Richardson, "I wish I had died before I loved anyone but her." After their divorce, Hemingway marries three more times, each one prompt to follow, like serial wives. This is the story of the woman that loved him before he was famous.
Paula McLain researched their biographies, letters, and Hemingway's novels, culling the material to imagine a story of their charmed and battered marriage in Paris, from 1921-1926. The tortured life and tragically foreshadowed suicide of Ernest Hemingway is public knowledge, as was his legendary womanizing. McLain's novel dodges the palaver, blending the facts that are known together with credible inference, creating a plausible, informed depiction of Hemingway and Hadley's marriage--the quotidian, the famed, the halcyon, the harsh.
The author writes from Hadley's point of view, inviting the reader inside their most tender and demolishing moments. A few choice sections belong to Hemingway's perspective, urgent and telling. The narrative deftly folds in their histories--the years before they met--artfully revealing early and private woes, which ripple and sometimes hiss beneath the ardor. We get the back stories without muddled exposition; by the time it arrives at the failure of their union, readers have acquired a fluency of Hadley's nature and Hemingway's core.
Hadley sustained several painful childhood experiences that eerily parallel Hemingway's, and was a recluse and "spinster" at twenty-eight, when she met and was courted by the twenty-one-year-old Hemingway. He was a struggling, ambitious writer, home after the shock and agonies of the Great War, where he endured trauma and its aftereffects, described today as PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder). He couldn't sleep without a light. His mother was an insufferable controller, and he didn't want to marry a woman like that.
The pliable and less progressive Hadley was a sound match for the needy, talented, and egocentric Ernest. He required a woman who would unshakably support his career. Hadley was a generous lover and devoted supporter who sacrificed her personal ambitions for Ernest. She was also playful and warm and smart, but not savvy and edgy like the emerging modern women of the 1920's.

In prose that reflects the style of the era, McLain illustrates a glittering world of élan expatriates and literati. Hadley and Ernest (and their baby, Bumby) lived in the (then) modest Latin Quarter, and soon became a vibrant part of the Left Bank artists, such as Gertrude Stein, Zelda and F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ezra Pound, James Joyce, Ford Maddox Ford, Jean Rhys, and many others. Open marriage, and mistresses living in the same house with wives, were not unheard of in this set.
Blithe talk, bottomless glasses of whiskey, and bottle after bottle of wine was the norm in their active social lives. In the mornings, the hair of the dog was the cure for the night on the town. Jaunts to Pamplona to see the bullfights were illustrated by McClain in all their gory splendor.
During this time, Hemingway wrote copiously and tirelessly, jealous of some of his peers who were already established. The germination and completion of The Sun Also Rises is covered, as well as his ruthless parody of Sherwood Anderson's work, The TORRENTS OF SPRING. Hadley loved him utterly, propped him up buoyantly, and assured him of his inevitable success. Eventually, Ernest acquired more expansive needs, and Hadley needed less, but got more than she bargained for. McClain limns their marriage as more than just a cautionary tale.
"To keep you from thinking, there was liquor, an ocean's worth at least, all the usual vices and plenty of rope to hang yourself with. But some of us, a very few in the end, bet on marriage against the odds."
This isn't standard "chick-lit" fare, nor is it cloying. I recommend this to anyone interested in the psyche of Hemingway, his first marriage, and his genesis as one of the greatest American authors of our time--from a wife's perspective.

The Paris Wife: A Novel Overview

Want to learn more information about The Paris Wife: A Novel?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now

Read More...

Special Prices for Portrait of a Spy Review

Are you looking to buy Portrait of a Spy? here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on Portrait of a Spy. check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Cheapest Deals

Portrait of a Spy Review

Okay, here's the thing from a reviewer's viewpoint. You would probably not be reading the reviews of Daniel Silva's newest book in his Gabriel Allon spy series if you weren't already familiar with his writing. Silva's written 10 or so novels in the series and I think I've read most of them. And this one, "Portrait of a Spy" is a very good Daniel Silva/Gabriel Allon book. But it is similar to all the others I've read. And for me, a reviewer, it's a difficult book to review for that reason.
Daniel Silva is deeply concerned with the Middle East and the problems with radical Islamism that have risen from there in the last 60 years or so. Silva uses his books - characters and plots - to speak intelligently about those problems and the repercussions - terrorist bombings in both the Middle East countries and in Europe. Silva seems to publish a new book in the series every July. Now, this year and this book, 2011 and "Portrait of a Spy", pose a fairly tricky problem for Daniel Silva. How much of the "Arab Spring" - which actually began in mid-December, 2010 - does he include in his story? And does he include the assassination of Bin Ladin, which occurred fairly close to the time of publication? I could tell that he makes reference to Bin Ladin's death in a line towards the end where the text could still be changed in final proofs. The "Arab Spring" is mentioned towards the end. That's the problem he may have faced with the plot. But it's with the characters he's really facing problems.
Gabriel Allon has not changed much in the 15 or so years he's been the subject of Daniel Silva's pen. And Chiara, his younger Italian wife is still gorgeous. They are still trying to retire to the English countryside and really go back to art restoration. But the Mossad is still trying to drag Gabriel back in to work on missions for them. Shomrom is still the aging lion of King Saul Boulevard, still hunting down the same Islamic terrorists. Other peripheral characters like English art dealers are still doing their selling and Israeli, British, and American agents are still doing their spycraft. In effect, not much has changed in the lives of Gabriel Allon and his cast of characters. I would love to see some further character development by Silva in next year's Allon book. Give him a kid - who is not killed in a terrorist attack. Let Chiara age a little and maybe become less gorgeous. Give her a haircut. Finally kill off Shomron, who seems to be a pain in everyone's side in Israeli intelligence.
So, why am I giving "Portrait" five stars, even with my silly complaints and comments? Because, it is a very good Daniel Silva/Gabriel Allon book. It gives the reader - who is usually well-acquainted with the characters and on-going plot line - another good read. And that's really the reason for a reviewer to write a review and for a reader to read one.

Portrait of a Spy Overview

Art restorer. Assassin. Spy.

Gabriel Allon has been hailed as the most compelling creation since "Ian Fleming put down his martini and invented James Bond" (Rocky Mountain News). A man with a deep appreciation for all that is beautiful, Gabriel is also an angel of vengeance, an international operative who will stop at nothing to see justice done. Sometimes he must journey far in search of evil. And sometimes evil comes to him.

In a dangerous world, one extraordinary woman can mean the difference between life and death. . . .

For Gabriel and his wife, Chiara, it was supposed to be the start of a pleasant weekend in London—a visit to a gallery in St. James's to authenticate a newly discovered painting by Titian, followed by a quiet lunch. But a pair of deadly bombings in Paris and Copenhagen has already marred this autumn day. And while walking toward Covent Garden, Gabriel notices a man he believes is about to carry out a third attack. Before Gabriel can draw his weapon, he is knocked to the pavement and can only watch as the nightmare unfolds.

Haunted by his failure to stop the massacre of innocents, Gabriel returns to his isolated cottage on the cliffs of Cornwall, until a summons brings him to Washington and he is drawn into a confrontation with the new face of global terror. At the center of the threat is an American-born cleric in Yemen to whom Allah has granted "a beautiful and seductive tongue." A gifted deceiver, who was once a paid CIA asset, the mastermind is plotting a new wave of attacks.

Gabriel and his team devise a daring plan to destroy the network of death from the inside, a gambit fraught with risk, both personal and professional. To succeed, Gabriel must reach into his violent past. A woman waits there—a reclusive heiress and art collector who can traverse the murky divide between Islam and the West. She is the daughter of an old enemy, a woman joined to Gabriel by a trail of blood. . . .

Set against the disparate worlds of art and intelligence, Portrait of a Spy moves swiftly from the corridors of power in Washington to the glamorous auction houses of New York and London to the unforgiving landscape of the Saudi desert. Featuring a climax that will leave readers haunted long after they turn the final page, this deeply entertaining story is also a breathtaking portrait of courage in the face of unspeakable evil—and Daniel Silva's most extraordinary novel to date.


Want to learn more information about Portrait of a Spy?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now

Read More...

Best Price State of Wonder Review

Are you looking to buy State of Wonder? here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on State of Wonder. check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Best Offers

State of Wonder Review

I am amazed by Ann Patchett's ability to write such riveting books about such a breadth of topics. Bel Canto (P.S.) is one of the most beautiful books I've ever read, and I never thought she'd be able to match that. With this book, I think she has come close.
State of Wonder is the tale of an epic journey. After an employee of a pharmaceutical company dies in the Amazon, a fellow researcher is sent to find out exactly what happened to him. She is also tasked with clarifying on the company's behalf exactly how much progress has been made on the drug being studied there. The visual picture of the Amazon painted by Patchett is vivid and captivating and the characters are very well-defined and sharply rendered. The plot moves along at a nice pace, though admittedly it does slow a bit in the middle.
As for criticism, the science in the book is a little vague and seems slightly "off". However, the experiments are a sort of backdrop and not the main focus so it's not that big a deal. And Patchett does manage to cover an awful lot of political and ethical issues related to drug development and reproduction that are so nuanced as to appear to occur using sleight-of-hand.
Overall, another very strong book from Patchett and a definite recommend.

State of Wonder Overview

Want to learn more information about State of Wonder?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now

Read More...

Best Price Bossypants Review

Are you looking to buy Bossypants? here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on Bossypants. check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Great Deals

Bossypants Review

I enjoy a good memoir. It seems there's always something good to learn from other people's life experiences. And while I'm not a huge Tina Fey fan, I enjoyed her as Sarah Palin on SNL and occasionally watch 30 Rock. So after reading a review of the book, and being without anything to read at the moment, I took a chance and bought Bossypants, and I'm glad I did.
It seemed a little uneven starting out, but quickly transitioned into some very interesting pieces about her early jobs, her work with Second City, and then her transition into writing for SNL and her eventual creation of 30 Rock. Interspersed are stories about growing up and dating, her eventual marriage, and her struggles to balance work and family life, as well as some candid advice for other women on how to make it in a male-dominated industry.
Perhaps what I liked most about the book is that even though there is a lot of self-deprecating (and distancing) humor, my sense in the end was that Fey gave us an honest look at who she is: imperfect, stumbling, but always rising again, persevering, and continuing to do what she loves. I would say the book is well worth reading for any fan of Tina Fey, 30 Rock, or SNL, as well as for any woman who struggles to balance the roles of worker, spouse and mom. It was a good read!

Bossypants Overview

Want to learn more information about Bossypants?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now

Read More...