Rating: 
Summary: The new Jude Deveraux
Review: After reading Wild Orchids, I couldn't decide really whether or not I liked it. I can say it wasn't a terrible novel, but it was not memorable either. It really depends on the person, as I have read some great reviews of this book, but in the end, when I finished it, I just felt really disappointed. Jude Deveraux used to be one of my favorite authors, with incredible romance novels like Sweet Liar, or the Velvet Series. The new direction which her writing has taken, such as in The Mulberry Tree and Forever, just does not interest me at all. She did a great job in A Knight In Shining Armor, incorporating time travel and romance into a thoroughly entertaining book. But I just don't understand where these new ideas are coming from.
Wild Orchids is not your typical romance novel, in fact I would classify it more as general fiction. There were some good moments in the book, and others just too ridiculous for me to comprehend. This was how I interpreted the book: A famous author in his 60's who is in mourning for his deceased wife and past relatives, hires a young woman (in her late 20's or so) who cannot completely remember her past but is linked with the devil. They travel to this town where her past is uncovered, fall in love, and both end up speaking to the devil.
If you read this summary and are intrigued, then you'll probably like the book. However, if you read it, and just laugh, then it's probably not for you. Wild Orchids was not the book for me, Deveraux's writing from two perspectives was interesting, but her male protagonist's point of view was not very believable. Overall, I found the book to be quite boring, and honestly, a little silly. There wasn't enough romance in the book to carry it through, but the intrigue wasn't mysterious enough either. If you liked Forever, you'll probably like this book. Romance authors I would recommend instead include Susan Elizabeth Phillips (especially This Heart of Mine), Brenda Joyce (her Deadly Series), and Judith McNaught (except her most recent one).
Rating: 
Summary: Nouveau Jude Deveraux
Review: Although a far cry from her earlier writing, this book has suspense, intrigue and a little (very) romance. I enjoyed the book throughly but it was extremely reminiscent of her more recent novels. I understand that writers must evolve to stay fresh and stay true to their artistic integrities but I'd be a liar to say that I don't miss the old standards!!!
Rating: 
Summary: eerie thriller
Review: Although he is considered by the mystery genre as an "important" author, Ford Newcombe learned the meaning of life six years ago. Life is death to Ford whose beloved wife Pat died after a six month battle with cancer. Ford knows he is only surviving as he died along side of his spouse.At a party, Ford hears university research assistant Jackie Maxwell tell the story of a woman who fell in love with the devil. For the first time since his wife shattered his well being with her cancer sentence, Ford feels alive. He travels to the town that Jackie mentioned and buys a house there to live in while he works on his new tale. He persuades the vivacious Jackie to assist him on researching the story. However, he soon wonders if she witnessed a real homicide as a child. His renewed passion for life includes learning the truth even if it means putting himself in harm's way. WILD ORCHIDS is perhaps Jude Deveraux best work to date although the William James-like plot will surprise many of her fans. The story line moves forward at a fast clip with alternating first person paragraphs between Ford and Jackie. The key to this taut eerie thriller is the lead protagonists who are complete people still feeling respective tragedies from their pasts. Is the novel psychological suspense, a murder mystery, or a horror tale? Read the book as Ms. Deveraux will keep her audience hooked to learn the truth alongside the hero. Harriet Klausner
Rating: 
Summary: Captivating Novel
Review: Author Jude Deveraux is no stranger to romance novels, as her romance books have appeared on many a bestseller list over the years. With her latest, she deviates from the quintessential romance between two beautiful people to diverge into a tale of a mysterious murder in a small North Carolina town. Famed author Ford Newcombe has settled into a small town to try to begin writing again after the death of beloved wife Pat. He fires assistant after assistant, as they never seem to measure up to his standards. After meeting Jackie Maxwell at a local party, he decides to offer a job to this very forthright woman who is currently a research assistant for a local professor. When her wedding to fiancé Kirk becomes a no-go, she shows up on Ford's door to take the job he has offered. Though Ford has been researching ghost stories to write his next book, he is intrigued with Jackie's tale of a woman who was covered in stones because she was in love with the devil. Ford's journey to discover the truth behind Jackie's unlikely tale leads the pair to the small community of Cole Creek, North Carolina, where Jackie lived as a young child. Taking up residence in a Victorian-style home, Ford continues his research while Jackie assists him and indulges in her passion for photography. The true crux of this read is the mystery behind the death of the devil-loving woman. As Jackie and Ford penetrate the townspeople's silence concerning this legendary tale, Jackie discovers some surprising truths about herself especially her visions of tragedy before they occur. And romance is merely a byproduct of their close association as the twenty-something fitness enthusiast Jackie finds herself attracted to the famed writer Ford, despite his less than washboard abs and kooky extended family. A truly unique and captivating read, Ms. Deveraux's latest will hold the reader's attention despite the somewhat anticlimactic conclusion.
Rating:
Summary: WONDERFULLY ENTERTAINING
Review: For anyone who reads Sandra Brown, Nora Roberts, Linda Howard and needs a bit of change, this is a great choice. The romance is slow in developing but the storyline makes up for it. You want to keep reading this one! What I enjoyed most is the subtle wit and that it made me laugh outloud. I also cried a couple of times before I was a few pages into it. You won't be sorry if you decide to read this. It was my first Jude Deveraux book but it won't be my last.
Rating:
Summary: A very guilty pleasure
Review: Ford Newcombe became a best-selling author by tapping the emotions of his family--his birth family and the wonderful family that his wife brought to him. But now he has exhausted that resource and lost his wife as well. For years he's been hanging around, looking for inspiration. He thinks he may have found it when a young woman tells him a story about the devil and the woman who loved him. Devil stories are rare and Ford thinks that he can use it. With money no object, he hires the woman as a research assistant, buys a huge Victorian home in haunted Cole Creek, North Carolina, and thinks about writing. Jackie Maxwell is stunned when she finds out that her fiance has stolen all of her money--stunned enough that she actually takes the job Ford offers her. She knows that she shouldn't feel any attraction toward the man who has to be twice her age, is overweight, only likes eating high-fat snack food, and hopes to vampire her story ideas into his next great novel. Still, she can't deny the evolving attraction. But she finds herself recognizing everything in Cole Creek--and begins to have visions, visions that become terribly true. She also finds herself busy spending Ford's money and liking it. Jackie and Ford meander through an investigation of a long-ago murder--the death of the woman who loved the devil while denying the attraction between them. Author Jude Deveraux sure can write. It is hard to sympathize with a spring/winter relationship, especially one between an athletic young women and a couch-potato man, and Ford's self-pity could grate. Yet under Deveraux's strong writing spell, I found myself glued to the story, anxious to find out if my guesses about Jackie's strange competitive love interest were right. Deveraux's snippy insights into the difference between prize-winning fiction and romance are both insightful and clever, adding to the novel's appeal. Despite myself, I can't help recommending this book. Deveraux's writing is just too good to pass it up. A couple of recommendations, though--skip the self-pitying first chapter--it turned me off to Ford so strongly that I kept hoping that Jackie would dump him for the first half the book. The resolution of the devil portion of the story is weak--I can't believe the devil would have gone to all this trouble, or would have had to even put Ford and Jackie together to get his goals, but I still found myself smiling at the end. I know this is a backhanded recommendation, but I feel guilty about liking this book--but I did.
Rating:
Summary: A haunting story of renewal and love
Review: Ford Newcombe had a wonderful life with his beloved wife. It was with her encouragement and support that he became a best selling writer, weaving reality into fictions that enthralled the masses. With her death, Ford finds the heart of his stories dead as well. His fans have begun to turn on him, and though he lives, he feels dead, or worse. A chance meeting brings Jackie Maxwell into his life. Jackie is essentially orphaned and has few memories of her mother. One of those memories she shares with Ford, and on the strength of the inspiration it gives him, he hires her as his assistant and they move to the town that has been in Jackie's past. There they find that legendary secrets and the recent past are tied together in a haunting and dangerous mix that must be unraveled to give peace to those still living. Hope and love are the reward that await them if they succeed. ***** With her realistic portrayals of hurting characters, Ms. Deveraux reaches out to a new audience in this novel. She tells a haunting story of renewal and love sure to captivate you.
Rating:
Summary: Exquisitely Done - Rare Talent in Modern Fiction
Review: Ford Newcombe is an aging writer who has lost the desire to write and is basically living in the past. He knows he needs a jump start to get back to writing and is thinking of putting together a collection of stories of the occult. When he asks Jackie Maxwell to be his assistant, she puts him on the track of a story she had heard long ago about a woman in a small North Carolina town being presseed to death for allegedly consorting with the devil.
When Ford and Jackie move into a crumbling Victorian house in the deep woods of this town to investigate the story they start finding troubling answers that raise even more troubling questions. Such as why does Jackie seem to have so much first hand knowledge of Cole Creek? Could a body found recently point to a community using a "ghost story" to cover up nefarious activities? And if this is a true, could they be exposing themselves to real danger by exposing the killers?
It is rare to find modern fiction with character developemnt of this caliber. By page 23 I was so into the character of Ford Newcombe that I had to read privately in case something made me cry. (He recounts the best moments in his life with his late wife). The format, one chapter from Newcombe's point of view followed by one from Jackie Maxwell's gives each character time for development as well as enhancing the story line by letting us see multiple angles somtimes of the same event.
Rating:
Summary: I just kept saying oh my goodness!
Review: Ford, what a great name for a man, but Jake is the best. Anyway, from death by drunk driver, to childhood injuries, to millionaire. I loved this book. However that whole thing with the devil, it took on a new twist. I say read it and form your own opinions. I read what everyone else had to say and I still thought it was a great read and a good book. I've read quite a few of Judes books, this was one of the better ones. But the Summerhouse will all ways be my favorite. Thanks for that one.
Rating:
Summary: Disappointing for Deveraux
Review: Frankly, this one doesn't live up to standards I have for Deveraux novels. It is interesting but could be BETTER. It is good but could be GREAT. I feel that Ms. Deveraux needed Ford's dead wife Pat to edit this work... and point out the problems she created but didn't solve. A chapter from Ford's viewpoint; rehash the same happenings from Jackie's viewpoint and create a few new happenings; rehash those new happenings from Ford's viewpoint... well, you get the idea. We've got a hero(?) who is almost twice his counterpart's age (she's 26 and he's at least 49 (graduated at 22, married for 21 years, wife dead for 6 years = 49+). To work as his assistant and track down a tale of the devil, she up and moves to another state with him to live in a rundown house and doesn't even discuss salary until after they get there (get real Ms. Deveraux). Once there, Ms. Deveraux doesn't get into the "mystery" until almost the last chapters of the book. Then she solves it without telling us any of the details, other than the fact Jackie has a grandmother and that the devil tempts Ford. Oh, at the end of the book Ford snickers that Jackie now knows why he saves his energy (he supposedly wore out Jackie sexually) - ...
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