Rating: 
Summary: Get As Close As You Want!
Review: Meryl Sawyer has a knack for writing great romantic suspense. She is the kind of author that you just automatically buy her books when you see a new one with her name on it. With Sawyer, you get your money's worth: suspense, interesting characters, dialogue that flows, and let's face it, there is usually some hot sex in her books. What more could you ask for? Alyssa Rossi is a costume jewelry designer with her own business in Italy. On the advice of her aunt she allows her business to be acquired by TriTech. TriTech will take over the running of her business, allow her to expand, and free her up to focus more on her designing. The only catch is she has to work at their headquarters in New Orleans. For most this wouldn't be a problem, but for Alyssa it is. Years earlier she had fled after being accused of kidnapping her cousin's newborn baby. You see, Alyssa's cousin, Phoebe, had managed to get pregnant by Clay Duvall, the love of Alyssa's life. Being from the upper crust of society, the two married leaving Alyssa out in the cold. Foul play was suspected in the baby's disappearance, but nothing was ever proven to confirm or deny Alyssa' innocence. Jake Williams is TriTech's CEO. Jake has come up through life the hard way. In fact he never knew his father Max until the old man hunted him up and persuaded him to take over the family business. Jake doesn't give a flip about New Orleans' society. He barely tolerates it for the sake of his father with whom he is trying to build a relationship. One of the things he does have to tolerate is the presence of Clay Duvall in his company, it was part of the deal when TriTech acquired the Duvall company. What doesn't make sense to Jake is why Clay bought a small jewelry making company, a company, which doesn't fit the profile of TriTech. He begins to investigate the purchase of the company and finds himself fascinated by Alyssa Rossi. The past begins to unfold while unraveling the present and shaping the future. This has been my lucky month for reading great books with gorgeous leading men. Jake is terrific. He has had to fight to get where he is and doesn't care what others think of him. Instead of trying to fit into New Orleans' society, he barely tolerates them and doesn't hesitate to let them know how he feels about them. Jake's dialogue reflects the man he is. While he presents himself as a suave businessman, anytime someone gets too close or he isn't sure how to handle a situation, he resorts to using sarcastic remarks that are often funny. There is an interesting group of secondary characters, each who play an integral part of the story. Parts of their stories help weave the complex plot involved in this story. Meryl Sawyer has written a great book. Anyone who reads this one won't be bored. Carve some time out of your busy schedule, find yourself some place comfortable, and get ready to be entertained.
Rating: 
Summary: Great Hero! Fun and sexy read.
Review: The suspense story is pretty good. The characters were predictable but still well described and enjoyable. Jake, the book's hero, is what escalates this book to a keeper. Smart, sexy and a tad bit rebellious (not to mention rich and powerful), Jake is the Alpha Male and then some. If Jake sounds like the kind of hero you just can't resist then you'd do well to pick up this book.
Rating:
Summary: Couldn't put this one down!
Review: This book has everything I'm looking for: a good mystery with lots of twists and a love story that isn't the same old thing. I could not put this book down, but then, I have always waited for Meryl's next book. She manages to keep me reading even when I know I should be doing something else.
Rating: 
Summary: Not very close to a true romance
Review: This is my second Meryl Sawyer book. Since I found that first one so fascinating, I expected the same from Closer Than She Thinks. However, this novel in my opinion, fails to deliver romance. We instead learn enough about the hero and heroine to realize they are the leads but so many secondary characters are given a lot of time and attention as well that I could only say this book was supposed to be about the leads, Alyssa and Jake, but was only a little. Alyssa Rossi is coming back to New Orleans after living in Italy a number of years. A conglomerate based in New Orleans has purchased her successful company and Alyssa is looking forward to the cash injection into her business that was made possible by its purchase. Jake Williams is the CEO of TriTech, the conglomerate that has purchased Alyssa's business. It was done without his knowledge and her company does not fit TriTech's profile for purchases. He begins to investigate because he suspects TriTech is being ill used by one of its officers and he visits the small jewelry business while in Europe prior to the company's relocation to New Orleans. Jake meets the owner, Alyssa and the ground is set for what had the potential to be a great romance. This book was about one-tenth romance and nine-tenths mystery. If this were written as a mystery instead of a romance, it still would not have fared well in my rating. The mystery is just not that well written and is actually weak if we are to compare it to other mystery novels. I could hardly believe what I was reading as I read page after page about secondary characters. Sometimes, one of the leads was involved in one of these scenes. And on occasion, both leads were involved with these scenes centering on secondary characters. But when it comes to scenes with just Jake and Alyssa, those are few and far between. As their relationship develops, we wonder how because we certainly have gotten to read little about it. This is not romance writing. This is a three star rating because it had great possibilities and my respect for Sawyer as a writer. However, I would call the book a disappointment. It was difficult to keep my interest in a slow moving plot with so many diversions into all of these other people's lives. We yearn to know more about Jake and Alyssa's individual characters as well as their relationship. The sensual scenes were infrequent and were one of the few times we got to see them together. These scenes rated no more than a 3.0 to 3.5 out of 5.0 (see More About Me for rating guidelines). I wanted to be fair so I did finish reading this book but found it very simple to just skim the final 60 pages and not miss a thing. The ending only made my opinion worse. No additional percentage of time is given the leads. Other characters keep yapping along as the leads are in the background. It's beginning potential fell flat in the end.
Rating:
Summary: Not very close to a true romance
Review: This is my second Meryl Sawyer book. Since I found that first one so fascinating, I expected the same from Closer Than She Thinks. However, this novel in my opinion, fails to deliver romance. We instead learn enough about the hero and heroine to realize they are the leads but so many secondary characters are given a lot of time and attention as well that I could only say this book was supposed to be about the leads, Alyssa and Jake, but was only a little. Alyssa Rossi is coming back to New Orleans after living in Italy a number of years. A conglomerate based in New Orleans has purchased her successful company and Alyssa is looking forward to the cash injection into her business that was made possible by its purchase. Jake Williams is the CEO of TriTech, the conglomerate that has purchased Alyssa's business. It was done without his knowledge and her company does not fit TriTech's profile for purchases. He begins to investigate because he suspects TriTech is being ill used by one of its officers and he visits the small jewelry business while in Europe prior to the company's relocation to New Orleans. Jake meets the owner, Alyssa and the ground is set for what had the potential to be a great romance. This book was about one-tenth romance and nine-tenths mystery. If this were written as a mystery instead of a romance, it still would not have fared well in my rating. The mystery is just not that well written and is actually weak if we are to compare it to other mystery novels. I could hardly believe what I was reading as I read page after page about secondary characters. Sometimes, one of the leads was involved in one of these scenes. And on occasion, both leads were involved with these scenes centering on secondary characters. But when it comes to scenes with just Jake and Alyssa, those are few and far between. As their relationship develops, we wonder how because we certainly have gotten to read little about it. This is not romance writing. This is a three star rating because it had great possibilities and my respect for Sawyer as a writer. However, I would call the book a disappointment. It was difficult to keep my interest in a slow moving plot with so many diversions into all of these other people's lives. We yearn to know more about Jake and Alyssa's individual characters as well as their relationship. The sensual scenes were infrequent and were one of the few times we got to see them together. These scenes rated no more than a 3.0 to 3.5 out of 5.0 (see More About Me for rating guidelines). I wanted to be fair so I did finish reading this book but found it very simple to just skim the final 60 pages and not miss a thing. The ending only made my opinion worse. No additional percentage of time is given the leads. Other characters keep yapping along as the leads are in the background. It's beginning potential fell flat in the end.
Rating:
Summary: Mrs. Sawyer does it again
Review: This was a great book. Mrs. Sawyer seems to write nothing but great books. The story line is filled with action and romance, with some wit in with it. I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it highly.
Rating:
Summary: Mrs. Sawyer does it again
Review: This was a great book. Mrs. Sawyer seems to write nothing but great books. The story line is filled with action and romance, with some wit in with it. I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it highly.
Rating:
Summary: A GOOD COME BACK FROM THUNDER BAY
Review: Well, after the awful THUNDER BAY, I wondered if MS needed to take a long break. Fortunately for her fans, CLOSER THAN SHE THINKS is a pretty good come back. New Orleans is a great setting for any story and this is no exception. You have your typical alpha male MS style and a heroine who is strong enough to stand up to him. Good mystery. The only complaint I have is sometimes the language is a little stilted, but then that's why this is not a five star book. Not as good as Linda Howard, Anne Stuart or Lauren Bach, but this MS story will hold your attention.
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