Rating: 
Summary: very good love story
Review: Almost Paradise was the reason I became a fan of Susan Isaacs. It's a completely different book than her later ones- the books Isaacs wrote after this were all very good, funny and suspensful, and quick paced. But Almost Paradise is special for me, maybe because when I read it I had no idea what to expect: and what I discovered was a talented, funny, intelligent writer who decided to write a love story in her own unconventional way: and what a love story it is! The story of two people (Jane and Nicholas) who seem to belong in the real world, who seem to share problems with the majority of people, and yet...the characters that Susan Isaacs creates become something different, they become people that'll stick in your mind, people that you'll think about long after you close the book. An emotional, deep and at the same time down-to-earth and funny love story- what else can you ask for?
Rating: 
Summary: Agonizing
Review: I am 44 y/o and started reading when I was 3. I can honestly say that this is among the absolute WORST books I have EVER read! It started out ok, when Jane arrived in London and got hit by the car...after that, it SUCKED! The most BORING book...I kept trying and trying to get something good out of it, to no avail. I just couldn't take it anymore! Finally, I gave up and just read the ending - and IT sucked too!!!
Rating:
Summary: Read this at your own risk--it becomes your world!
Review: I am an ardent fan of Susan Isaacs, but I must say that as far as characters go, this one is by far the best. Tracing the two main characters back to their great-grandparents, Susan Isaacs creates a love story about two real and painfully human beings. I came to love these characters. I simply couldn't put the book down; it became an obsession. Be prepared to lose yourself in this novel. Also be prepared to laugh aloud, to feel your heart soar and your heart ache, and definitely bring a hankie.
Rating: 
Summary: Just reread after 20 years
Review: I first read this book over twenty years ago. Found it on a back shelf during a recent move. Reread it and love it every bit as much now as I did then. Yes, the ending is heart-breaking, but the characters are intriguing and the sex is scintillating. This may be an atypical Isaacs book, but it's in my top 3 favorites!
Rating:
Summary: The Best Book I Ever Read...
Review: I read Susan Isaac's "Shining Through" and just ate it up, so I figured her other books would continue with this quick paced dialogue and hunt for details. "Almost Paradise" had both, but unfortunately, it was surrounded by a story which made this reader believe that there is no such thing as fidelity, honesty, and true love in married relationships. A big dissappointment.
Rating:
Summary: Unusual ending for Ms. Isaacs
Review: I simply love the way this author writes...and her insight into character personality development is brilliant. I've read all her books, every one of them being totally enjoyable. This book however, broke my heart. It's so close to reality for so many people. As Stephen King once said, "You sell a lot more books when the endings are happy." This book is the story of heritage, ancestry and some wonderful and despicable people. Tragedy strikes the most undeserving sometimes, and this is that story. The heroine Jane is a personality Ms. Isaacs must know intimately to write with so much insight into her emotions. I just wish she'd had a different ending to this wonderful book that traveled through so many lives. I loved her character Jane Cobleigh. It's worth the read...truly a good book.
Rating:
Summary: An engaging book with a sad ending.
Review: I've read several of Susan Issacs' books, and I've found her to write good, character-focused stories that are well-paced. This is the first book of hers I've read in which the main character is not a woman; instead, Almost Paradise centers around two main characters, a woman AND a man who wind up marrying. The story is told over the course of many years: after a brief glimpse of the present at the start of the book, Issac goes into the background of the two main characters, Jane and Nicholas. This gives an intersting perspective of history, as it goes back several generations (in greater detail with Nicholas rather than Jane). The book then continues the story, going through Jane and Nicholas' childhoods, their eventual meeting and marrying, and the course of their relationship. Although I found this book engaging and moving, I was a little disappointed in the ending. After Issacs spends the entire book getting the reader to really care about the main characters [slight spolier ahead], the ending involves a tragedy, leaving the reader (and, in fact, the main characters as well) to feel somewhat cheated. I supposed that all books can't end on a positive note, but the fact that this one didn't was a huge disappointment. Luckily, the ending only minimally detracts from what was overall a good, entertaining read.
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Summary: The Funniest Woman In America is NOT a Standup Comic!
Review: In fact, the funniest woman in America is available to you in book form. I have read 2 of Susan Isaacs' novels (Lily White and Almost Paradise), and I am captive to her eye for hilarious detail, her fantastic characters, and her page-turning plots. Isaacs' writing is intelligent and thoroughly enjoyable. Instead of reading this review, I highly suggest you click 'buy' and start enjoying!!!
Rating: 
Summary: What a miserable view of men!
Review: Ok, I really hate to admit this ~~ but this book was just perfect to chase away those winter blues! It's funny, witty and so deliciously smutty that I couldn't put it down! I would put my babies on the playmat, let them play while I read pages of this book! It's a great escapism book ~~ and I plan to read more of Isaacs' books! She's really a good writer ~~ too bad the public doesn't know more of her! This book is about Nicholas and Jane Cobleigh and their golden marriage. They appear to be the perfect couple ~~ the golden actor famous for his WASP looks and the exotic housewife, who stands behind her man with good cheer. Behind the scenes show a different picture. It's not a perfect marriage by any means ~~ over the course of 20 years, both Nicholas and Jane have evolved into different people with different lifestyles. They have drifted away and will they ever get back together? Not only is this book about Nicholas and Jane ~~ it is about their respective parents as well. Jane is the daughter of an exotic dancer and a strait-laced businessman from the Midwest. Nicholas is the son of a wealthy Tuttle daughter ~~ one of the oldest families on the New England coastlines and a lawyer, whose family basically ignored him from the time he was born. Isaacs writes little of history and with her charm, she draws the reader into each of the characters' lives ~~ making you wish for more. This is the second book I've read by Isaacs and I highly recommend this one. It's a fun book, guaranteed to draw you into a different world and time passes by in such a pleasant haze. It's perfect reading for those long winter nights. 1-28-03
Rating:
Summary: Who says media reviewers are not well paid?
Review: They would have to be to praise garbage like this. Following on the heels of the hilarious COMPROMISING POSITIONS and CLOSE RELATIONS, I expected another fast-paced tale of Jewish angst. What I got instead was one of the most boring tales in the past 100 years with characters as forgettable as either the dialogue or plot. I kept thinking the whole thing was a joke - that at some point the heroine would look up from her desk and mutter how awful this stuff was, wad it up and see a dead body. But no such luck. Unfortunately Isaacs now appears to consider herself a "serious" writer which apparently to her means the same thing as "boring" writer. The story of love lost and found and lost (ad nauseum) is one that we have all seen and heard (and maybe experienced) many times. As the old saying goes, "Nothing venturned, nothing gained" and there was certainly nothing gained in this outing.
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