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Summary: Storyline info
Review: Safe, steady...and unsatisfying - that pretty much summed up Maggie Stanton's life. Until a stranger stirred her imagination until she blushed, a stranger who made Maggie do the unimaginable: take a risk....Shockingly, the man who'd compelled her to forsake predictability for passion was the full-grown version of her childhood best friend. Only, this Matthew Stone wanted marriage, not a walk down memory lane. For a while, Maggie almost believed that their whirlwind wedding was the union of soul mates. Almost. Then she learned the secret Matthew was keeping.
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Summary: Easy on the eyes and fun!
Review: Scenes of Passion is a fun story, that is both easy on the eyes and loads of fun!
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Summary: Into The Night
Review: Suzanne Brockman is one of my favorite authors and this is not an example of her work. What this is is one of the worst books I have ever read. We start with the pathic heroine - her parents take advantage of her, her sister is a drunk, her boyfriend cheats on her with her drunk sister, her best friend tries to sabotage her romance with the girl friend's old boy friend; these are the good moments of the book.
We then go to the mis-understood hero who would rather have people think he is a drug addict then a cancer sufferer, when did having cancer become so shameful that you would rather submit to random drug tests and someone publicly demanding you go pee in a cup??. He doesn't just hide this from the public at large but lets his own father think he is in rehab not on death's door. We finally have these two get together only to have our heroine decide the hero is a liar because a hospital won't give her confidential patient information on the hero over the phone. What hole has she been living in to think a hospital will release any patient information over the phone to someone that is not even a family member of the patient? This book is beyond bad. If you want a good Suzanne Brockmann book purchase one of the Tall, Dark, and Dangerous series, do not waste your time or money on this miserable read. If like me you have purchased this PLEASE burn it don't take this one to the book re-sellers, remember you would then be responsible for this book getting into another innocent person's hands.
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Summary: Run, don't walk, away from this book!
Review: Suzanne Brockman is one of my favorite authors and this is not an example of her work. What this is is one of the worst books I have ever read. We start with the pathic heroine - her parents take advantage of her, her sister is a drunk, her boyfriend cheats on her with her drunk sister, her best friend tries to sabotage her romance with the girl friend's old boy friend; these are the good moments of the book.
We then go to the mis-understood hero who would rather have people think he is a drug addict then a cancer sufferer, when did having cancer become so shameful that you would rather submit to random drug tests and someone publicly demanding you go pee in a cup??. He doesn't just hide this from the public at large but lets his own father think he is in rehab not on death's door. We finally have these two get together only to have our heroine decide the hero is a liar because a hospital won't give her confidential patient information on the hero over the phone. What hole has she been living in to think a hospital will release any patient information over the phone to someone that is not even a family member of the patient? This book is beyond bad. If you want a good Suzanne Brockmann book purchase one of the Tall, Dark, and Dangerous series, do not waste your time or money on this miserable read. If like me you have purchased this PLEASE burn it don't take this one to the book re-sellers, remember you would then be responsible for this book getting into another innocent person's hands.
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Summary: At best average. Not destined to be a classic 'keeper'.
Review: Suzanne Brockmann is in a class of her own with her two SEAL series. Although I'll risk saying I prefer the Harlequin/Silhouette Tall Dark and Dangerous series than her longer books, but that's just a matter of personal taste, not a comment on their content. But when she steers into more traditional territory that she seems to be going further and further astray, sadly just like Nora Roberts before her. The best I can say about this book is it's average - A bit twee but nothing special. The plot has been clearly covered by other reviewers so I won't repeat it here. I didn't come to care about the characters: The age old man who lies by ommission for the heroine's "own good" and a woman who believes him, finds out the truth and then forgives him with really no reason to, (or explanation) has been done time and again (and better) elsewhere. In fact a miraculous 'happy' ending would have been in keeping with the whole tone of this story. I confess I didn't really like Letters To Kelly (her last Harlequin title) either but the writing and plot were a lot tighter and more cohesive there. I'd be a happier fan of Ms Brockmann if she was allowed, or gave herself the time, to only write what she really feels will work. At her level of productivity and popularity there really can be no excuse for churning out under par formulaic books. However, since she's not the only Harlequin / Silhouette / Mills&Boon author doing this one has to wonder if outstanding contractual obligations are being forced on authors from above. Whatever the reason, I would rather have read the superb Gone Too Far (just out in HB and worth every penny)or waited for her next Harlequin book; Night Watch (due in a scant 3 months)and seen Ms Brockmann have more time for writing as she can do rather than seems forced (for whatever reason, by whomever) to do. This book is, at best, average. Not destined to be a classic 'keeper'. Read Frisco's Kid, Prince Joe, Get Lucky, Forever Blue or any of the dozen+ titles in her Tall, Dark and Dangerous series to get a un-put-downable story and a feel for how good a writer she really is. Or her longer SEALs series. Both are superb, highly addictive and currently being reprinted in full!
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Summary: Give Ms. Brockmann a break!
Review: This book rates 3 stars for being an average read in the romance genre, however, I wanted to say something about Ms. Brockmann's work as a whole -- which I feel rates 5 stars easily. I have been a fan of her writing since before she published any of her SEALs books; I read her when she was published by Loveswept and I bought Prince Joe the instant it first came out and realised that she had something really great in store for her readers. She hasn't really let me down over the years, but I have become disturbed by the rampant pigeon-holing I have read in the reviews for her non-SEAL books. One of the delights of her books is how varied her characters can be. Different types of men and women; different levels of physical health -- I think I remember one book where the hero was a paraplegic who raced specially made bikes; different personalities. It was the depth of feeling her characters showed and how open the male characters in particular were about how they felt that really set her apart for me. Occasionally she writes things where I simply cannot identify with the main characters, but you know what? Someone else might and her books are still a good read. Her heroines aren't always the perfect weight or the perfect height; they don't always have the perfect mindset or the perfect personality, but that makes the books more human to me, more real, and I admire her all the more for offering someone the chance to have "their own" love story told. In this book in particular, the woman's life isn't so great and maybe she made bad choices, but the point of the book isn't the choices she made in the past but where she goes from where she is. For someone whose life might be in the same state, it could be a great comfort and encouragement. So I say thanks a lot Suzanne for being a writer of vision, reaching out to everyone and not just supplying us with romantic fantasies of perfection. While such fantasies may be fun to read, there's no way they could have the same impact as reading about someone just like you finding love and happiness.
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Summary: Into The Night
Review: This book was excellent, can't wait for Gone Too Far to come out in paperback. I Love all the Navy Seal Stories and the way each book interacts with the others. My only problem is that I read faster then Ms. Brockman writes the next in the series. Thank you for such interesting and serious thoughts on the Navy Seals.
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Summary: enough, already
Review: This has to be one of Ms. Brockmann's early (earliest?) attempts at writing romance, updated with a nod to the internet and published for heaven knows what good reason. How many plot lines can you sandwich into one story? There's the fiance who loves the heroine's sister instead line. The old friend back in town line. The help me save my inheritance line. The cancer in remission line. The sterility line. The jealous friend line. The pretend marriage line, and to top it all off, a community musical? Pick three, and write a decent book instead of this silly mish-mash that ties up prettily with each character writing little notes to clear up the inconsistencies. Ms. Brockmann usually has complete control of seriously complex plots (in her Troubleshooters series), so this total train wreck was both a surprise and a disappointment.
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Summary: Obviously earlier writing...
Review: This is obviously a book that was written 10 years ago and published recently. The characters and plot were apropos of an early 90s book. I didn't connect with the hero or heroine, and thought that their reactions (especially the heroine's) were unrealistic. Stick with her TDD series, folks.
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Summary: Not her best work
Review: This story represents everything that I hate about romance books. The story was a cookie cutter story. They meet again, he has always loved her, she falls for him, she thinks he has lied, they break up and then she realizes (without any proof) that he isn't a liar. I have always expected better from Ms Brockman and was very disappointed.
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