Rating: 
Summary: Give it time
Review: I thought the beginning was incredibly slow in this book, with a great deal of prose and very little dialogue. At right about the half-way point, though, the story really flies. I could hardly put it down after that point. The book is written in a very unique style, the story being told alternately through Annie and Arley's eyes. Interestingly, however, the author chooses to blatantly allude the the outcome of the situation. Thus, you aren't reading the book to find out what happens, but how such an odd turn of events plays itself out.
Rating:
Summary: A suspense novel with a slighty anti-climatic ending.
Review: I did not intend to read Jacquelyn Mitchard's The Most Wanted. I don't tend to like nice girl falls in love with bad-boy stories. However, when a friend told me it was so good she was staying up late, I casually started to read just the first few pages. I didn't stop reading it until I was done. As with the Deep End of The Ocean, Ms. Mitchard expertly draws us to her characters, flawed but likable, and the riveting story. The suspense and tension were building to a feverish climax that when it came, I felt it was a bit of a let down. However, I felt she resolved the characters situations very realistically and with redemption. Her use of literary references were wonderful as she interweaves the works of Alfred Noyes, Edgar Allen Poe and Sarah Teasdale beautifully into her story.
Rating: 
Summary: A complicated, engrossing book...
Review: I couldn't put this book down. I come from a similar situation and could understand how lacking in love and warmth in your childhood can make you desperate for love and attention. The author showed, through Arley, that a person with a bad childhood can make the choice to be a good and loving parent.A must read.
Rating:
Summary: This book caught me up to the very end, loved it!
Review: Jacquelyn Mitchard can write! She had created two very different and complex novels, both of which really captured my attention. Her story of Anne and Arly at first didn't appeal to me, But all of a sudden, I couldn't put it down. She makes you care deeply for the characters and live their tale with them. What's next?!?!
Rating: 
Summary: good writing, but the subject matter & story are TRASH
Review: the ability to write well is not always about correct grammar and punctuation -- it is also about interesting insights, an IMAGINATION is helpful and a clear, though unpredictable story is always a PLUS. i would recommend the dust jacket to interested readers, as it was far more interesting to read than the 450 pages of wasted time and energy, on the part of jacqueline mitchard. i honestly feel sorry for those of you who can relate with arley, a pathetic louse and slut who doesn't deserve the sympathy and understanding of the warm, compassionate woman who is annie. i too felt that the storyline with charlie should have been a little more further developed. though mentioned the least, charlie and stuart were the most believable and well-developed characters and it would have been great to have had more of their insight... for the fun of it, this summer, i read one of those original trashy romance novels (you know the kind -- _romance on the plane_, or _my boyfriend left me w/a broken heart_ -- something sappy like that, i don't remember the exact title), but it was BETTER than _the most wanted_, and i still hated it. i have nothing against jacqueline mitchard -- i should also go write a review of _the deep end of the ocean_ -- what a great book! so, i don't know what happened w/this piece of literature... the sexually explicit scenes in this book (arley's conjugal "visit" with dillon) are raunchy and perverse. at times, more revealing "scenes" in a book add to the story and compliment the writer's ability (_the horse whisperer_) to make something so intimate so accessible and understood. ms. mitchard's attempt at it seemed only to be for the purpose of her own perverse enjoyment or some bizarre form of self-fulfillment. when i had finished the book, i saw absolutely no reason for that scene or the one involving arley's brother and her best friend to be in the book at all... it could have been a much better read than it was.. i also questioned my reasons for reading it -- it started out trashy, was far too predictable (we all knew that dillon would escape from prison and in the end would not hurt annie, arley, or desiree -- couldn't you see that?) and ended up trashy in the end. but i guess that i wanted to see for myself that it did not in fact ever get better, which is too bad -- this was a great waste of time and talent, from an otherwise brilliant author. it is time to put down the pen, jackie and find another line of work -- two novels was obviously a hell of a lot more than you could handle! _the deep end of the ocean_ was a touching and frightening story about a family's (and in particular, a mother's) struggle to deal with the kidnapping of a child. again, it was also predictiable, but i started reading it and could not put it down -- i loved it -- 5 stars!
Rating: 
Summary: Good story without the epilogue and errors
Review: The story accurately reflects what can happen to someone who lacks love like Arley. I didn't care for the back and forth method between Arley and Annie. I would just get interested in the story line, but then we would get switched back to another perspective. The author could have done without the epilogue. It basically ties up the characters future for us in a mere mention. I also noticed the error which had Arley and the baby staying at charlies and the hospital in the same night. The author also had Annie inform her sister twice about her affair with charlie. The first time Annie leaves Rachael a message in code on her answering machine as to what she did. She was glad her sister wasn't home because she was ashamed. Then, the night before she visits stuart she calls her sister up and tells her again what she did. Overall the story kept my interest, but it was an average novel.
Rating:
Summary: Wow!
Review: What a great story! I finished this book several days ago and can't seem to get the characters out of my mind. Arley and Annie seemed so real. I am somewhere in between the 2 of them and could relate to both of them wholeheartedly. I can't wait until the next novel by this amazing writer! I agree with another reviewer...a sequel PLEASE!
Rating:
Summary: I'm still waiting to be"grabbed" by this book.
Review: I came to this review section to be inspired to continue with this book. I loved "Deep End of the Ocean" and purchased this latest by the author with great anticipation - but have found myself plodding through the pages, not much caring about the characters - with these reviews I've read today, I will persevere with hopes all of these readers are correct.
Rating:
Summary: good book, not great
Review: I enjoyed this book, yet couldn't quite read it with the passion that I did her previous book. I found the character Stuart annoying and his cliches like "Don't ever change Babe" put me off tremendously. The ending was very contrived. I loved the relationship between Annie and Arley, it seemed true and sweet. It broke my heart everytime the character of Rita was brought in. So many things about this book were great, so many were not. I hate to keep comparing to Mitchard's previous novel, but I loved it so much that this was a bit of a let-down. Charley was such a wonderful character, he had color and wit and kept me interested all the way through. I wish I could say the same for all the characters. So I'm torn, I liked it, but certainly did not devour it with the fervor and passion of some of my other summer reading.
Rating:
Summary: slow start--but keep reading...
Review: Got off to a slow start--put it down and read a couple of books in between--but kept on going--the story, the poetry, the style--I will always wonder what is happening with Arley and Annie--my measure of a great read...
| 
