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Rating: 
Summary: Less Than A Reader's Digest Version
Review: I bought this book thinking that it was a collection of short stories by some favorite authors. Boy, was I wrong! I was unpleasantly surprised to find out that they were just condensed versions of previous published novels, one that I know for sure I already own. The stories have been distilled down to just basically dialogue and sex scenes - any meaningful character development has been cut out, along with descriptions of settings and motivations. The sex scenes lose much of their impact when you don't really know enough about the characters to even care what they're doing.The hatchet job done to Jayne Ann Krentz' two stories (one as Stephanie James) was horrible (and the Krentz original story to begin with wasn't one of her best anyway). Continuity was the worst with the Stephanie James story. The Sherry Woods story tried to fit too much into too small a format - a lost love, losing the family farm, a tornado, a child falling down a well, etc. - all that in forty pages! Probably the best of the collection were the stories by Candace Schuler. They seemed to fit the format the best, but still, the conflicts were reduced to their most simplistic terms - white woman fitting into the Navajo world and lust, ex-spouses finally learning to compromise and lust. My recommendation? Don't Take 5 - take your five and buy full-length novels.
Rating:
Summary: Less Than A Reader's Digest Version
Review: I bought this book thinking that it was a collection of short stories by some favorite authors. Boy, was I wrong! I was unpleasantly surprised to find out that they were just condensed versions of previous published novels, one that I know for sure I already own. The stories have been distilled down to just basically dialogue and sex scenes - any meaningful character development has been cut out, along with descriptions of settings and motivations. The sex scenes lose much of their impact when you don't really know enough about the characters to even care what they're doing. The hatchet job done to Jayne Ann Krentz' two stories (one as Stephanie James) was horrible (and the Krentz original story to begin with wasn't one of her best anyway). Continuity was the worst with the Stephanie James story. The Sherry Woods story tried to fit too much into too small a format - a lost love, losing the family farm, a tornado, a child falling down a well, etc. - all that in forty pages! Probably the best of the collection were the stories by Candace Schuler. They seemed to fit the format the best, but still, the conflicts were reduced to their most simplistic terms - white woman fitting into the Navajo world and lust, ex-spouses finally learning to compromise and lust. My recommendation? Don't Take 5 - take your five and buy full-length novels.
Rating:
Summary: Reprint city...
Review: This book has 5 condensed versions of previously published books (meaning old). I bought it thinking it was a new collection of stort stories. Not only were the stories previously (and I do mean previously) published, they were condensed to the point that they were silly. As I was reading, it was very obvious when the story was being condensed, as the continuity of the story was ruined. If you like Jayne Krentz, and/or the other authors in this book, buy the previously published non-condensed works. They are easy, quick reads anyway!
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