Rating: 
Summary: One of the worst that I have read
Review: I have read many of BTB's books, but I must say that this is the worst of them all. The little summary on the sleeve of the book suggested that there was so much more to be expected - with mentions of going from a burnt-out war photographer to a fashion photographer. Alas! The only mention in the book about any fashion shoot is when the heroine was offered the job by her boss. There was not even a single mention about the shoots themselves.... And that's only one example of the many, false impressions that I got.The book is divided into three sections, and it might as well be three different books. The story didn't flow, there wasn't any climax at all, and the heroine seems confused, weak and indecisive. She is attracted to three men in all. It's the third, a world-famous artist, whom I question his existence in the book, as he is just someone whom she takes photos for. They have a brief kiss, and she tells herself that she has already made a commitment to her boyfriend/lover. You sense some wavering here, but she returns to her boyfriend/lover, without much ado. This is not a book that can be bought and re-read over and over again. Certainly, I made a mistake when I borrowed it from my library. Don't waste your money. In my opinion, BTB's best showing is the Woman of Substance trilogy. Fantastic.
Rating:
Summary: Disappointing
Review: I have read many, not all, BTB books, and I must agree this was disappointing. If the whole battered French woman story had been dropped, maybe the main story could have been more complete and developed. I was somewhat interested and kept reading, but the book went no where, and everything sure wrapped up very tidily at the end. Too many extraneous story lines. Skip it!
Rating:
Summary: Don't Belong!
Review: I love Barbara Taylor Bradford. I hate this book! The ending was predictable. The plot was all over the place. There was nothing driving you to finish this book. Ms. Bradford's heroines are usually strong, intelligent women. The main character in this book came across as a whiner. I was disappointed.
Rating:
Summary: Scattered and incomplete
Review: I normally have lower standards for audio books but this book was so bad that I even noticed its badness listening to the audio version. The narrator goes on and on about how she hates her mother denying any love for her, yet she never gives any example of how this was done. Did her mom never come to her graduation...didn't take her to school the first day...what? Over and over she repeats the same line about denial of love, but never gives any example that would make us sympathize. The main character seems to be well-balanced otherwise and fairly compassionate, so it does not fit that her mother's very legitimate explanation does nothing to sway her hatred. BTB also throws in tons of subplots for no apparent reason and with no or weak resolution: - who inherits Lowell's? - why was the painter thrown in at the end? - why was the abused french girl there at all? Did she and Mike finally get together? (the convenient killing of the husband was a cop-out) - were the bosses' of these two slacker photojournalists really ok with them hanging around the south of france and New York for months and months without doing any work and keeping their jobs? Were they paid during this time? - what happened to the brother and fiance? - did the mom die? - did the Lowell's IPO happen? - did they ever finish the photo book? This book was incredibly sloppy and annoying.
Rating:
Summary: You're Kidding!!
Review: I read this book only because it was lent to me by an unfortunate person who was lumbered with it for Mothers Day. It was the only BTB book I've read since "Woman of Substance" and I fine it hard to believe that it was written by the same writer! The dialogue was unbelievably twee and some of it was out of a Victorian novel---the heroine calls her brother --Brother mine!!!!!Oh brother! I finished it because it was so bad that it was funny.
Rating:
Summary: Horrible
Review: I snapped up the latest book and even though the inside jacket summary didn't thrill me, Barbara Taylor Bradford did write the fabulous Women of Substance so any of her books should be good - right? WRONG! I started this and after reading the first 71 pages I HAD to go on line to Amazon reader reviews to see if this book was as bad as I thought it was! The writing is disjointed, trivial and after skimming through the remaining pages, nothing I am going to waste my time finishing.
Rating:
Summary: Ugh!
Review: I think this might be the worst book I have ever read. But I must admit I was never bored. It was so bad that I almost liked it. I think one of the worst things is the annoying...I don't know what you call it...foreshadowing. The narrator says things like I didn't want to meet with her, but later I would find out how important our meeting would be." I wanted to scream "Stop telling me what is going to happen!" The thing with the childhood didn't make sense to me. She wallows in so much self-pity. Why? A lot of people have a parent who doesn't love them. Yeah, that's very sad. But at least she had grandparents and a nanny who loved her. It doesn't sound like she was tortured or anything. Then when her mother gives her reason for her behavior, Val has no sympathy. That didn't make sense to me. I think she would be at least a tiny bit understanding. What was the deal with kissing the painter? That seems really thrown in there. I can't believe someone actually published this.
Rating:
Summary: Worse than awful -- Horendously bad and outrageously stupid!
Review: I threw away the book without finishing it; that's "where it belongs". I could not believe the shear badness of this book. Shame on the editors for allowing this story (if you could really call it one) to hit the stores so undeveloped and uninteresting! I kept reading and my only thought was how badly I wanted to write the author and tell her how transparent her characters were, how cliche the dialog between her characters was, and how superficial and one-dimensional the characters were. I could have cared less about any of them. What a waste of a tree!
Rating:
Summary: Disappointing at Best
Review: I was so excited for this book to arrive on shelves that I could not wait to read it. Wow! What a disappointment! Lots of different stories within stories and no answers to any of them. I put it on the shelf in my den and refused to pass it along or waste anyone else's time with it. Boo. The only saving grace was the time spent in South of France. What happened to the Mother's health and the business? The chuminess of the lover's real wife and the main characters was unbelievable. I could go on and on-- but I won't.
Rating:
Summary: Wish I Had Seen the Amazon.com Rating
Review: I wish I had seen the bad reviews on Amazon.com before I bought this book from a hotel convenience store. The parts of the book are labeled "A Matter of Integrity," "The Value of Truth," and "A Question of Trust". It sounds like she is aiming high, but she addresses every one of these themes in a worn-out, shallow way. But she never fails to describe what the narrator is wearing. A subplot about a helpless French girl escaping from her violent husband never adds to the story, and ends anticlimactically. Meanwhile, the narrator goes on and on about how she was victimized by her mother, without ever telling us anything that would really make us feel sympathy for her.
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