Exclusive

Rating:
Summary: Good suspense, not-so-hot romance
Review: Brown's "Witness" is the best romantic suspense novel I have ever read. Because of that, I picked up this one, but it's not up to par. The suspense aspect was gripping, but at the end there were a couple twists which were so far-fetched I felt like I'd been tricked. But I don't want to be overly harsh - the thriller aspect did hold my attention and keep me turning pages, even with its flaws.

The romance, however, was bleh. Her heroine, Barrie, is annoying and not too bright sometimes. When she meets the hero, Gray (who I kept transposing in my mind as Gary throughout the book) [WARNING: This could be considered a mild spoiler] she wanders into his house to take a nap while he's away!! Then, when he gets back, it goes basically like this: G: "What are you doing here?" B: "I've come to see you." G:"Oh, yeah?" - takes off clothes - "Well, how do you like me naked?" - pounces on Barrie- they proceed to have sex. Of course, that's a paraphrase. It actually took four pages. In the fictional time frame of the novel, I'd estimate it took five minutes. SERIOUSLY.

Maybe Brown just threw that in because she knew we wouldn't get another real sex scene. But hey, I'd rather have nothing than that! Better to set up the romance than throw in sex for sex's sake! Don't get me wrong, I like steam, but this was just too bizarre. It really turned me off.

In the last chapter, of course, the "I love you"s are exchanged. We don't see how or why Gray comes to the conclusion that he loves Barrie, though. Yeah, he obviously thinks she's hot, and they throw in how much he admires her courage....but love? Barrie isn't much better. I'm not really sure why she loves Gray. Because he believes in her?

As for character development, you get about a paragraph for poor Gray, and it's pretty standard: [paraphrase] "My parents died...my sister doesn't want to see me...my friends betrayed me...therefore, I don't pursue relationships and instead became a cold-blooded special forces agent." Barrie's professional insecurities are made clear, but her personal ones don't get much deeper than Gray's. Barrie: [paraphrase]"My daddy cheated on my mom so I shy away from men." Thanks, Freud.

In Brown's defense, these types of novels are hard to write. It's hard to mix a believable love story into a believable suspense thriller. Who has time to examine their feelings when being shot at? Still, Brown managed it in "Witness." I'll read more of her books in the hopes that she does it again.

Rating:
Summary: Speedy,sexy and sassy !!
Review: As usual with a Sandra Brown book, I was hooked after only a couple of pages. Barrie, a reporter with a small time tv station,recieves a call from the wife of the President of the United States, inviting her to meet for coffee. The Presidents wife is still in mourning for her baby son who died from S.I.D.S.A web begins to unravel involving wife beating, murder,drugs and the abuse of power.Barrie becomes involved with Gray, a former presidential aide (gorgeous of course ) and together they form a partnership which threatens to bring down the government. It's thrills a second with "Exclusive" and a very satisfying,pacy read.

Rating:
Summary: actually 3.5 stars
Review: I'm a Sandra Brown from way back but I didn't enjoy this book as much as her others.The main character annoyed me at times and i found myself skimming through some of the book.The sex scene in the first part of the book just annoyed the heck out of me because it was so phony.Usually the sexual tension between her characters is very good.The kissing scene was good however which was later on in the book.Her plot twists are always good and have always kept me guessing-don't get me wrong I do enjoy her writing but an author will always have some books that aren't as good as others and for me this was one of them.I'm finding that I enjoy Tami Hoag's writing much more than Sandra Brown's. But because I'm a fan from long back I will probably always read Sandra Brown.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent Read!
Review: This is one of the best books I have read in a long time. It has romance and suspense and the characters are very well developed. It's a must read for this summer!

Rating:
Summary: Not bad
Review: This was a pretty good read. The action was fast paced and the characters more real than some other romance novels I've read. Usually Brown's book are sexually explicit, but this one isn't as explicit as some others I've read. I appreciated the one scene in which the hero & heroine kiss for a lengthy period of time; Brown made that really sexy and avoided being trashy at the same time.

For Brown fans, this should be another good read.

Rating:
Summary: The First Novel Ever to Turn Me on To Sandra Brown
Review: My mother-in-law handed me this book one day, and I took it full of skepticism. I'd never heard of Sandra Brown, nor was I terribly interested in suspense novels. I certainly misjudged this book.
Sandra Brown presents us with a wonderful plot twisting, suspesful tail in which we follow the first lady of the united states through dealing with her child's death. She doesn't believe that her baby really died of SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome), but is having quite a bit of trouble finding any evidence to the contrary.
The first lady takes her leap of faith in confiding in a scarcely known reporter for a not-so-hot magazine. The reporter is the key to the mystery's undoing.
The book is fantastic! Since reading this book I've gone on to read at least seven other books by Sandra Brown and I certainly intend to read more!! Enjoy!!!

Rating:
Summary: By far the BEST
Review: I love anything by Sandra Brown, especially her latest suspenses, and EXCLUSIVE is by far the best book I've ever read! I can't understand why anyone would give this less than five stars; there is nothing missing. Warning, the ending will leave you with open mouth and realing mind!!

Rating:
Summary: ROMANCE AND SUSPENSE THAT MADE ME SCREAM FOR MORE!!
Review: ONE OF THE BEST I HAVE READ! I was exhausted after reading this book. There were so many twists and turns! When the book ended I was hoping there were more pages hidden away somewhere.

I loved the characters even though I really didn't want to. The possibilites of what would happen next was endless.

Rating:
Summary: There is Nothing Exclusive Here
Review: From the book: "A story. Or rather, a new angle on an old one" (173). Presumably, this is the premise from which Ms. Brown wrote "Exclusive". Unfortunately, there is NO new angle. One finds a few nicely written semi-erotic scenes, a loveable dog named Cronkite, and the formulary "crusty-yet-heart of gold" Daily-- who kindly tries to lead reporter Barrie Travis toward a respected career in journalism. And it's downhill from there.

The dialogue is weak and predictable. Barrie warns her assignment editor, "It's explosive. Secrecy is the key to breaking it." And the retort: "Gimme a break." (Having worked in TV, this and other representations of a newsroom is blatantly poor research.)

The characters are compound Jello-like figures whom we've come to know and not care much about. In short, the book is trite, predictable and vaguely annoying. That said, it was on sale at the grocery store and I was out of books.

Interestingly, the book and the author are easily redeemable. If well cast and directed, the plot loops, with their glimpses into Beltway ballrooms and bedrooms, could easily turn "Exclusive" into a worthy film--there are worse fates.

Rating:
Summary: DEFINATELY "HOT"!!!!
Review: To be honest, I've been "hot and cold" on Sandra Brown's novels. This book hooked me right away! It is the best book I've read by Ms. Brown. The story held my interest because of the plot twists and turns. Just when you think you have a certain character "pegged", you get a surprise!! "Exclusive" mixes politics, romance and mystery superbly. The characters are very believable -- you keep turning the pages, anxious to see what will happen next! You will not be bored with the book.