The Summerhouse

Rating:
Summary: Would someone please teach her how to write?!
Review: I don't usually read books of this genre, but I liked the premise of having an opportunity to go back to an earlier time, to redo a past mistake(s). And the author had received many favorable reviews. But the book was a disappointment. The writing was stilted and awkward - her words and sentences were without beauty or grace. Similarly, there was no subtlety in the way she discussed her characters. Everything was spelled out bluntly, as if she doesn't expect her readers to be bright enough to read between the lines. I will not be reading any of her other work.

Rating:
Summary: Good concept, but little imagination in the writing
Review: I would definetely recommend this book to anyone looking for a great read! I found it to be horribly close to the American home, the three women involved going through such real (sometimes exaggerated, but nonetheless real)disasters. And then a chance to do it all over again... This book teaches about the rarity of second chances. Live life to the fullest now!

Rating:
Summary: I was disappointed by the middle/ending of the book
Review: Leslie Headrick has a husband who she believes is having an affair with his personal assistant, a girl half her age named Bambi of all things. Her children don't seem to know she's alive. And her life seems to be one committee meeting after another. Her husband has taken over the house she loved and turned it into a showcase she hates. Years ago she had a summerhouse out back that she'd planed on setting us as a dance studio, her retreat from the world, but her husband put a TV out there and her children started storing their junk in it, so now even that isn't hers.

Elle Abbott is a writer who hasn't been able to write a word ever since her good for nothing husband took everything she had in a brutal divorce. He claimed he co-wrote her books and the judge believed him, so now she has to support him for the rest of his life off her royalties. And if that isn't bad enough, she's gained forty pounds since the divorce. Her life has gone to pot.

Madison Appleby, who used to have such big plans, wound up going back to Montana to care for a fiancée who had jilted her. He'd had an accident and can't walk. His wealthy parents were cheap and because Madison had some nurses training all of a sudden she was a good catch for their invalid son. She married him and her life had gone downhill ever since.

Nineteen years ago, these three woman met when they had such promise, now Elle wants to meet her friends again. She asks them to visit for a few days in a cabin in Maine. Leslie and Madison come and while out for an evening walk they decided to go to visit Madam Zoya who tells them she can send them back to any point in time and they can change their lives. Can she? And if so, will the change be for the better?

I am a voracious reader, but as a general rule I don't read romance. My tastes run more to King, Koontz, Baldacci and Grisham, but every now and then a girl just has to read a romance and when I do, there is no contest, I buy a book written by Jude Deveraux, because she writes a story as good as anybody out there. Plus she can add that certain touch of the unbelievable, a la Madam Zoya, and have the reader swallow it hook line and sinker, and come back begging for more. Ms. Deveraux never disappoints and THE SUMMERHOUSE is one of her best.

Reviewed by Stephanie Sane

Rating:
Summary: A great read even the third time!
Review: This book is just fast enough to keep you on your toes. The characters are real enough to care about and the plot although not realistic (by intent) is well plotted out and exciting to witness. You won't be bored for even a moment!

Rating:
Summary: Silly
Review: This book was amazing from start to finish. The characters are very real, tender people who make you feel as though you know them. This book ran me through a rollercoaster of emotions. It was an utter joy to read!