Rating:  Summary: Enjoyable, Quick Read Review: "War & Peace" it ain't, but if you like Danielle Steel or serial romances, you will like this book. It is a quick read and has good flow between the perspectives of the main characters.
Rating:  Summary: Not one of her better ones Review: Danielle really shows her repetitive-ness in her writing, as the plot of this novel drags along at a snail's pace. Ophelie, the main character is not the brightest bulb on the block, and the reader becomes exasperated with this main character, no matter what her plight, who refuses to get on with it! This main character here, is very similar to the one in Danielle's "Answered Prayers", only we don't have the snotty, adult, daughters of that other novel, to keep things interesting. The daughter here is 8-10 year-old "Pip", and it's kind of hard for the main character to have meaningful dialogue with an 8-year-old, that can hold the reader's interest.It could have been an interesting story but for the fact of the plodding action/plot. The "homeless" element feels thrown in. And, Danielle Steel certainly doesn't explore homelessness with any depth whatsoever. Danielle Steel is a good writer, though, still. I'm currently reading "Ransom" and loving it. "Dating Game" was very funny and innovative. I would say skip this one and read either of those other two.
Rating:  Summary: AN ARTICULATE VOICE Review: Danielle Steel continually pens stories that thrill and intrigue readers. With each succeeding novel she solidifies and increases her large base of loyal fans. "Safe Harbour" is one more such tale in an already impressive list. Once again, with her 59th saga, Ms. Steele plums the depths of human emotions. Kyf Brewer is an articulate voice for this story of devastating loss and the amazing strength of human hope. At only 11 years of age Pip Mackenzie has seen more than anyone's share of heartache - her father and brother have both been killed in a plane crash. This is a loss from which her mother, Ophelie, cannot seem to recover even enough to care for Pip. Thus the child is left to her own resources. She takes countless strolls along a beach near their home in California. It is there that she meets a friend. Matt Bowles, a painter also come to the beach frequently to paint landscapes. He notices Pip and seems to sense her loneliness, so he volunteers to teach her how to paint. This friendship between Pip and the adult Matt is disdained by Ophelie who doesn't realize that Matt, too, is recovering from a loss in his life. It's been said that love heals all wounds - quite often with Danielle Steel it does, but not before unexpected events threaten new found happiness. Give a listen for a tear and a smile. - Gail Cooke
Rating:  Summary: Blah, Blah, Blah Review: Danielle Steel has done it once again. Written a book that must have taken her all of one day. I was really disappointed after Summer in St. Tropez, but thought after a break from her books I'd try again. Sorry I wasted my time. This book is SO repetitive, same phrases are not only repeated chapter after chapter but in the same paragraph. The story line seems to drag on forever. If Steel's goal is to "dumb" her books down for the masses then she has succeeded. This book is written at about an 11-year-old's level. Don't waste your time.
Rating:  Summary: Finally!!! Review: Finally Danielle Steel has written a book that doesn't sound just like all of her others. Sure....same bit of storyline..but much better developed characters and a refreshing twist. Pip is a very sweet 11 yr-old girl who wins the heart of painter Matt. Pip's mother Ophelie was a disturbed mother who had suffered a loss but finds herself again after spending time with Matt. Add Mousse, the dog, and a few other additions and you have the perfect story. The ending was a bit far-fetched but overall, this book is a winner!
Rating:  Summary: formula formula formula Review: I stopped reading for a long time a couple years ago. I loved reading, but I found certain authors were just SO FORMULA it pushed me to stop. If you have read a dozen of their works - you read them ALL. It's a fine formula (20 years ago), but somewhere along the way you really get tired of "change the locale, change the name of the characters"; underneath it all it's the SAME BOOK over and over and over. Where are the Editors of these writers? They are driving the author into the ground by permitting them to "CHURN OUT" book after book with nothing new to say because readers "BUY ON THE NAME". Yeah, they do - for a while - then you drive those very readers away with banality! I stopped reading Steele because of that. One can only eat so much Vanilla Ice Cream till it gets boring. And Steele, has turned into Vanilla Ice Cream. I was given the book for a Present, so I thought, okay, MAYBE.... It's still Vanilla Ice Cream. The story is man and woman brought together, driven apart by contrived conflicts. Sorry, with the sharp writers in the field today, it just is so old hat style. 11 year old Pip bring together, Matt Bowles a reclusive artist, and her mother Ophelia. Matt and Ophelia form a friendship heading toward romance. Pip and Ophelia return to San Francisco, with Ophelia hoping long distance love can grow. Ophelia learns secrets about her dead husband, and then is shocked when Matt's wife shows back up and suddenly seems "in the picture". This threatens Matt and Ophelia's friendship. Steele creates, gentle, down to earth characters, giving it a richer more realistic texture than her previous works, but still there is NO surprise how the book develops or ends. May please her hardcore fans, but I'd would recommend giving it a pass and picking it up at the library.
Rating:  Summary: Safe Harbour...better than her past 5 novels! Review: I was hesitant to read Steel's latest novel, because they were all very similar in character type and happy ending stories. Out of habit, and never wanting to miss a Steel book, I read Safe Harbour, and was pleasantly surprised. The characters were likeable, and I enjoyed the pace of the story, and its ending was very moving. My only criticisms are: Ophelie's name, it gets annoying to pronounce names like that, and especially when that person is a main character, it gets distracting after a while. Second, the repetition and run-on sentences were not what I expect from a writer of Steel's caliber. Overall, this was one of her better new releases.
Rating:  Summary: Safe Harbour...better than her past 5 novels! Review: I was hesitant to read Steel's latest novel, because they were all very similar in character type and happy ending stories. Out of habit, and never wanting to miss a Steel book, I read Safe Harbour, and was pleasantly surprised. The characters were likeable, and I enjoyed the pace of the story, and its ending was very moving. My only criticisms are: Ophelie's name, it gets annoying to pronounce names like that, and especially when that person is a main character, it gets distracting after a while. Second, the repetition and run-on sentences were not what I expect from a writer of Steel's caliber. Overall, this was one of her better new releases.
Rating:  Summary: Time to Fire the Editor! Review: Okay, I give up! Who edited this book? Is Danielle Steel so sacrosanct that her editors are not allowed to edit? I agree with those who have written that this book was an improvement over the last few. Sure, the main character is the same, weak, indecisive, codependent woman but at least this one has a little gumption and actually stands up for herself. I am beginning to think that these characters have to be a reflection of Ms. Steel's own personality. Why else would she continue to create these weak women? Danielle Steel knows the pain of losing a child and offers some good suggestions for dealing with that pain. But as many steps forward as Opehlie takes, she seems to take an equal number of steps back. It is so frustrating. At least she reacted correctly when faced with the "ultimate betrayal." With some heavy editing, this book might have been a three for me. As it is, with all the run-on and incomplete sentences and constant repeating of phrases, I can only rate it a two.
Rating:  Summary: Ugh, Boring and repetitive Review: Reading this book was like reading a soap opera script. Nothing happened, the same events were rehashed over and over and everything is revealed through a secret window the reader has into the thoughts of the characters.
The story was weak, the characters far worse and the premise completely ridiculous.
Why would any woman, depressed or otherwise, allow their 11-year-old daughter to continue a strange friendship with a strange older man she met on the beach? Implausible. Especially for someone who has lost all her loved ones, to even take the chance with the daughter being lost, insane.
Danielle Steel is a terrible writer, that is if she even writes these books anymore.
Poor writing, poor editing...what a waste of my time!
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