Rating: 
Summary: Addicted to Garwood
Review: This was a creation that kept me riveted. I was skeptical regarding the jump from historical to contemporary but Ms. Garwood pulled it off with much aplomb. It was a compelling story and one that I couldn't put down. Am eagerly awaiting her next masterpiece whether it be historical or contemporary, I'll be one of the first in line to buy. Thank you very much Julie
Rating: 
Summary: Book reads like it's written by a 19 yr old for 16 yr olds
Review: How to start! I recently read a book called Riptide by Catherine Coulter that I reviewed in Amazon and said it was the worst book I had ever read (always a slight exaggeration). How quickly I found competition for that claim. The dialogue, though slightly more serious sounded like something out of an Archie, Veronica and Jughead cartoon. The plot, such as it is, involves a confessor telling Tom, a Catholic priest, that he is going to murder Tom's sister, Laurant (a name right out a soap opera). Tom immediately tells his old FBI buddy, Nick, about this awful development. In no time at all, based on no evidence other than the statement of the would be murderer, Laurant and Tom are surrounded by 4 or 5 agents who are going to be with them until this case is solved. (It is not clear what crime has involved the FBI here) Nick has not seen Laurant since she was a "gawky" kid. Guess what, as sure as night follows day, Laurant is drop-dead gorgeous now. Not only that, she thinks Nick is a real hunk, though she is loathe to say it. Tom, the priest, is so handsome that all the high school girls in his school have a crush on him. As Laurant meets the agents who will protect her, they say things like "do you realize how gorgeous you are". She says things like "I'll bet you've killed lots of people". They respond with statements like "after the scumbags meet me, they are a lot worse off than before". You get the picture. When Laurant realizes that her being so closely guarded might frustrate her would be murderer and that he might target other helpless victims, she decides she should act as bait to draw him out to short-circuit his obvious plans. Nick (aren't you shocked) says that is much too dangerous. The FBI, in this book, is about as unprofessional as they have ever been depicted, even though the hero is one of their agents. This is one stupid book. I have never read the author before and she apparently used to write bodice busters. She should stick to that insipid genre. Oh, one nice touch, in this book the heroine is virginal and is saving herself for the right man. You won't have to read all 400 pages to guess who that is.
Rating: 
Summary: Why the change?
Review: Was quite disappointed with the change in genre. Having three copies of ALL her other books (I do love her), I regret to say this will be the only copy of this book that I will own. PLEASE go back to the historicals...they made me laugh, cry and totally fall in love with the characters...This one however, did not do any of those. Although a good storyline, I guessed the villan quickly. I reserved this book months in advance in Hard Copy, and was so disappointed, I should have waited for the paperbook...It wasn't worth the additional money. Sorry...
Rating:
Summary: Dissapointed in the master...
Review: My friends and I have been addicted to Garwood's books since high school, and considering the frequency with which she publishes them (that is at a snail's pace compared to some other romance novelists) I was incredibly excited to read this new story... and rather dissapointed when it was over. This is not the witty, organized, insightful Garwood of old. Where was the developing romance? Where was the humor? Where was the, well, interesting, imaginitive and compelling story? This book did nothing but frustrate me and I felt that the ending did in fact conflict with some of the information she leaked about the "Heartbreaker" earlier on in the book. All in all, not her best effort by far. And P.S. - when someone checks something on the internet (such as a page that teaches you how to make bombs, as her psychopathic killer does), it is called a web "site" NOT "sight" as was written in the novel. Sorry...
Rating:
Summary: The Best
Review: This was the greatest book in the world. It was funny, suspenseful, and romantic. I too am hoping for a book to come out on Noah but I am also really lokking forward to a book about Nick. I can't wait for another book to come out. G buy the book right away.
Rating:
Summary: Great first outing for a contemporary romance...
Review: I love the writing of Julie Garwood and I was excited to read Heartbreaker. I was kinda nervous about reading it at first because I had read some bad reviews. Disregard the bad reviews. Heartbreaker is great. Like some contemporary-suspense, I usually figure out who the killer is in the first few chapters. I didn't have a clue who it was until the end. It's a great read! Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Stick to historical romance
Review: This is a review of the Audio version of Heartbreaker. First let me say that I am a fan of Julie Garwood. I have read every one of her books, which were, obivously, very good. But this one was a big dissapointment. First of all she just loves the words "unsub' and "mule". She uses them constantly, to the point that it really got on my nerves. The story jumps all over the place, the villian was obvious, but the tie in to Nick was so far fetched that it was dumb. If fact I had a hard time remembering what he had to do with him. She throws in chararcters and lets them just hang - never going into any kind of depth with them. One of the characters, Steve Brennen is just laughable. The sheriff and his son Lonnie are sterotypical of small town hicks, and their characters went nowhere, so why even mention them? Same thing with Laurents lawyers, Garwood mentions them in the begining ,in what you think might be an important twist in the story but then never mentions the outcome until the last few sentences at the end of the book. Same thing with Father Tom's illness - why mention it when it goes nowhere, what's the point?Also, the narrarator is annoying. It is sometimes hard to distinguish the characters because she speaks in one tone thoughout the story. Maybe the book is better if you read it instead of listening to the audio version.
Rating: 
Summary: Heartbreaker is a surprise......
Review: I was not expecting to like this book nearly as much as I did. Nor was I expecting Ms. Garwood to do such a fine job of telling a suspense story. Laurant was not wimpy and she did not do stupid things to put herself in jeopardy as so many women do in these types of books. I thought the touches of humor were just right as was the romance. I too would like to see a book about Noah. Well done Ms. Garwood.<Ree-views>
Rating:
Summary: too many cooks in the kitchen
Review: The premise of this book is exciting, but you really have to dig through too many substories (the neighbor's lost dog? give me a break) to get to it. While she tries to wrap all the ends together (the wedding, Nick's previous service as an FBI agent, etc.) it just doesn't gel. If you like this type of writing, try Jayne Ann Krentz instead. There, the humor is clear, the characters are clear, the plots are clear. Garwood's book is like trying to see the road in a storm when your defroster is broken---hazy at best.
Rating:
Summary: Welcome to the Present!
Review: I just finished reading "Heartbreaker" and I was not disappointed. Ms. Garwood has a well thought out and taut mystery-love story in this one. I was very pleased that she wrote one in the present time, however, I hope she does not stop writing her historicals. If there are any sequels, PLEASE write one on Noah Claybourne. I love the fact that he is a Claybourne! Any rate - this is a keeper that deserves to be read again and again.
|
