Rating: 
Summary: GIVE ME A BREAK!!!!!!
Review: Like many of the other reviewers, I am a fan of Catherine Anderson and have read all of her books. They are romantic and very sexy, although the heroines are generally slightly too weak for my taste. But the heroine in this book was so incredibly unappealing (unintelligent, weak-willed, whining and self-pitying, and downright physically unappealing--short, fat, ugly and stupid)as to render the book almost unreadable. There was absolutely NOTHING about her that would make the hero fall in love with her. Furthermore, the book seems to be one long essay on how sexy and attractive obesity is-- trying to justify the fact that the heroine is fat!!! There is actually a scene where the hero becomes graphically,physically aroused by his discovery that the cottage cheese lumps on the heroine's inner thighs are cellulite--GIVE ME A BREAK!!!!!! I found it ridiculous, and extremely unrealistic, that the gorgeous, tall, rock-hard, alpha male hero of this book could possibly fall in love with this repellent heroine. Miss Anderson is trying to create a "realistic" heroine by making her overweight and very flawed. But she still makes the hero tall, dark, and handsome with six-pack abs. Why didn't she make him "realistic" with a pot belly and double chin??? The answer, of course, is that romance is not a "realistic" genre of literature. Romance offers an escape from reality. It is fantasy that takes us into the lives of idealised people. We see flawed, unintelligent, fat people all the time in everyday life-- there is no reason to read about them in our fantasy lives. Frankly, I am tired of romance authors who are desperately trying to embrace "realism" by creating flawed, unappealing heroines. Romance is fantasy-- so give us characters we can fantasize about!!!
Rating: 
Summary: A TRULY WONDERFUL HEARTWARMING LOVE STORY
Review: Molly Sterling Wells arrives at Jake Coulter's ranch with a few of her belongings and an abused horse, Sonora Sunset, owned by her ex-husband, Rodney, who was planning to destroy the horse. Jake the kindest,strongest, most wonderful male hero in paperback history, feels sorry for the horse and Molly. When Molly cannot afford his fee, he hires her as housekeeper-cook. Molly is a frightened young woman totally lacking in self esteem, which self esteem has been destroyed by her ex-husband. Following the death of her father, eleven months before, Molly supposedly went beserk and was confined to a mental institution, having been released only five months before. Molly suspects her ex of murdering her father. Jake gradually finds himself falling in love with Molly and tries various methods to build her self esteem. Accidents began happening at the ranch and Molly fears perhaps she is responsible as she has been known to sleep walk. When Rodney, Jared Wells, Rodney's father, and Claudia Wells, Molly's adopted Mom arrive at the ranch to take Molly home with them, Jake intervenes and proposed marriage to Molly to keep her safe. I will not go further into the story but it really is a wonderful story, the saving of Molly and Sonora Sunset. Sunset will surprise you in the end. Wonderful story.
Rating:
Summary: I COULD READ IT A HUNDRED TIMES!
Review: Oh, OOOH how good was this book? Words honestly can't express enough what I truly thought. I could not put this book down. It made me tear up several times, it was SOOOO SOOO SO good. I wish life were like this book....I wish men could REALLY be like Jake Coulter! Man, I was so jealous of Molly! I wanted to jump into that book and be Molly, it wasn't even funny! haha! He was what we all want in a "country boy", ugh! I wanted that man so bad! haha! From the very first page to the very last...EVERY PAGE of this book is NOTHING SHORT OF AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!! READ IT NOW! You will not regret it!
Rating: 
Summary: Not bad!
Review: Sweet Nothings was my first book by Catherine Anderson. Certainly after reading it, it will not be my last. The story held my attention enough to keep me reading it. I found it good, but not good enough to warrant anything more than 4 stars. The storyline revolves around a woman running away from an abusive ex husband. He has apparently been trying to drug her for a reason and has been abusive to a horse that the heroine does not quite trust, but is drawn to save before the horse is killed. She takes it to a rancher who is known as a horse whisperer (a man who breaks in unruly horses). He is suspcious of her from the start, as she does not tell him the truth, but is immediately attracted to her. She cannot understand why he is attracted to her, but eventually she believes his attraction to be real and succumbs to it.
In the background is the threat of her ex husband, and the belief by her that she is mentally unstable. She does not want to have the hero hurt by either. This is what is the suspense of the book... what is the ex husband going to do? Is she losing her mind or is someone trying to frame her? I really enjoyed the hero. He seemed genuine in his attraction to the heroine, even if he had to keep telling her. He did not push her, yet he pursued her gently. The heroine on the other hand seemed to irritate me a little. She was weak and in my mind, never seemed to grow strong until the very end.
This book is worth it just for the hero alone. The story is evenly paced, with just the right amount of suspense and romance to make it in my mind, a good book.
Rating:
Summary: A beautiful romance
Review: The lashing her abusive former husband Rodney gave to Sonora Sunset sent Molly Wells over the edge. Unable to sit idly by while he badly hurt the helpless steed, Molly steals the horse. She travels across Oregon to Jake Coulter's Lazy J Ranch due to his reputation as far away as the Portland area as a horse whisperer.
Jake has doubts that she owns Sonora Sunset, but cannot ignore the steed's injuries. He also notices how Molly deeply cares about the horse. As Jake provides kindness and nurturing to Sonora Sunset he begins to fall in love with Molly. She reciprocates, but fears a relationship after the hell that Rodney put her through. She also is afraid that if Rodney catches up to her, he will go after Jake too.
SWEET NOTHINGS is an engaging romance that focuses on mental and physical healing of humans and horses through tenderness and affection. The story line is fast-paced as love blossoms between the lead characters and a matchmaking horse. Though the obviously brilliant Rodney going after Molly and Sonora Sunset adds suspense, the subplot seems unnecessary since this worm's devious plans were coming together and included a perfect escape if needed. Still the charming key couple and a warm support cast make Catherine Anderson's rendition of A Whisperer's Tale something worth shouting about by relationship drama fans. Harriet Klaisner
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointed.
Review: This book starts out well enough and keeps the interest level good until about a third of the way through the story when the plot just seems to fall apart. The characters are mostly believable (this IS fiction) but it's as though the author loses interest in her work. I wasn't interested enough to finish the book at that point. It seemed like too much of a bother. This author has completed some really decent work in the past but misses with this one.
Rating:
Summary: Sweet Nothing
Review: This book was great, I can only tell you to go out and get it you will enjoy it. I hope Ms. Anderson writes a book about Jake's brother Hank.
Rating:
Summary: Pretty good but sometimes a little annoying
Review: This book was well written and had a pretty good plot but I got a little sick of reading about all the insecurities the heroin felt all the time and how placating the hero had to be. I also didn't quite understand why the hero fell for Molly. Sure she had a good heart, but she was pretty darned annoying and went off the deep end a couple times. And I definately did not want to read about how much the heroin's cellulite (yes this word was used in the book) turned our cowboy hero on!!! Yuck (I personally found this part a little unbelievable). I enjoyed reading it, despite all that. I wouldn't try to deter anyone from reading it, but i wouldn't recommend either.
Rating:
Summary: Formulaic characters but a good read
Review: This is a tough book to rate because I'm so ambivalent about it. On one hand, I enjoyed reading it. On the other, I'm annoyed because I feel like I've been manipulated by utterly formulaic characters. I really want to give it 3 1/2 stars. I'm a relatively new Catherine Anderson reader, but it hasn't taken me long to catch on to the formula at work. With some admittedly important plot variations from its series predecessors Baby Love and Phantom Waltz, Sweet Nothings chronicles the story of a down-on-her-luck desperate woman who needs a hero to rescue her, give her time and space, and show her she's worth loving. There is nothing inherently wrong with this concept; it's a tried and true romance theme. Ms. Anderson weaves it like a pro so it works. You're under the spell...unless you read all three of the books in a row like I did and begin to realize that the characters are so cookie-cutter they can almost be interchanged in places. It's disconcerting, and disappointing, because her writing is good enough that Ms. Anderson shouldn't have to reuse the same character types over and over. Let me summarize: the hero is a gorgeous cowboy, mostly rich (though he may be temporarily down-and-out), principled, charming, and grows deeply in love with the damsel in distress who has fallen into his lap. He is patient and kind and loyal and alpha (but only when it's attractive). Are you getting the picture? He's mostly, just about, damn, perfect. The heroine is petite (though not necessarily thin), pretty (but not beautiful except to the hero), emotionally battered and scarred, has little or no self-esteem, is desperate for a refuge, feels confused, out of options and is unsure why the hero (or anyone) would profess to love her. She usually is dependent on the hero for work, food and support while she sorts through her miserably few options. Are you with me so far? *sigh* Every romance formula convention you can imagine comes into play here. The weird thing is, it really works for awhile. Ms. Anderson is a good writer; the settings are clearly described, and the dialogue rings true between the characters. No matter how trite the situation, the characters are interesting enough to keep you reading, at least the first time around. They're far less enthralling the third time. If you've never read a book by Ms. Anderson, then you may want to try one of the three books I've mentioned - I think Sweet Nothings was my favorite though there's little difference between them. Just be warned that once you've read the first, you barely need to read the other two.
Rating:
Summary: main character's emotions hit close to home!
Review: This is the first novel I've ever read that dealt with the devastating effects of verbal abuse. I identified with the main character and understood her emotions all too well. My own experience with verbal abuse was from a cruel step-father, but the horrible comments about Molly's body parts, her intelligence, etc., were EXACTLY the kinds of things I used to hear. Even though you can tell yourself it was all lies, the pain and self-doubt from such abuse can last a long, long time. I appreciated the fact that healing and trusting for Molly did not come easy. It took my husband YEARS to convince me that a lot of men prefer a woman with "curves." It was pretty amazing to have both Molly's sensitivity about her body and Jake's appreciation for a full-figured woman be a major part of the story. Can't say that I've seen that before! This book touched on real and painful problems in an honest and often thought provoking way. I gave my copy to a friend who is coming off a devasting marriage where she was told again and again how worthless she was. I just hope the book will comfort my friend the way it did me.
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