One Last Dance (Library Audio Edition)

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Summary: SIMPLY DELICIOUS!!! BEST BEACH BOOK OF THE SUMMER!
Review: do you love good old fashioned family sagas with fascinating female characters and a touch of mystery??? if so, then this is the summer book for you!!! the book starts with an amazingly beautiful cover and an intriguing story unfolds inside.... characters are marvelous and completely developed... you feel as though you've known them forever! this is one book that you think that you've got it figured out but then it hits with a total shocker!!! if you've never read eileen's books before, this one will send you running back to the bookstore for more.......try 'such devoted sisters' and the incredible saga 'garden of lies' and its sequel, 'thorns of truth'.....you'll be soooooo glad you did!!!

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Summary: A quick escape from the doldrums of real life.
Review: Imagine the shock of getting ready for your parent's 40th wedding anniversary only to recieve a call from your sister telling you that your mom shot your dad. The ensuing developments push all your petty personal concerns out of the way as you struggle to deal with the reality of your parent's marriage and splits your family. Daphne, Alex and Kitty, throughout the course of this novel realize what really matters in their life. They come to realize that each of them had their own disillusions about their parents and that they really weren't perfect. That realization forces the sisters to re-examine their current situations, and accept that blood really is thicker than water. I enjoyed reading this book. The situations that the sisters were placed in rang true for some, and a little hackneyed for others. There weren't any REAL surprises, especially if you have read other books by the author. But for a quick escape from your own life, this is probably a book for you.

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Summary: overly sentimental
Review: One of the worst books I've read in a long time. The shocker for me was that it was published by Viking Press. I would have guessed Harlequin, with its lurid panting sex scenes and sharply differentiated male and female characters. By that I mean we are given every thought and emotional reaction going on in the hearts and minds of the women ad nauseum, whereas the men are empty shells who are known only by their actions and utterances. We are not priveleged to enter into the mind of any of the male characters in the entire book, not even once. This may be satisfying to female readers, but only if they are living in an imaginary Harlequin universe. To make matters worse, each page has at least six similes. An occasional one livens up a book, but this surfeit of similes is distracting, to say the least, and causes the book to read like an exercise in an English class in which the student is asked to make up as many similes as will fit on a page. Instead of livening up the writing it has the opposite effect- that of deadening it. An attempt at suspense is ruined by the complete predictability of each event, such as the father's affair with Leanne, the impregnation of Kitty, and the ultimate demise of the mother. And finally the ultimate stupidity- what in the world was the author thinking (if I can credit her with thinking) when she had the mother plead GUILTY at the arraignment early in the novel, and spends the rest of the book gearing up for an IMPENDING TRIAL (by jury, no less) about which there is much agitation on the part of the daughters. Upon what was the jury supposed to deliberate after she had already pleaded guilty? Maybe there's something about California law that I don't know about. I filed the book in the waste paper basket.

Rating:
Summary: What a Wonderful Treat!
Review: This book is a treat, a treasure, a charm! I couldn't get over how good it is! I've read all of EG's books in the order in which they were written (which means I haven't read "The Second Silence" or that bee-keeping nun series yet). This is the best of all so far! EG's writing style has improved (even though it was already excellent). With a combination of a good writing style and a good plot, this book was wonderful! EG has changed a little in this book, it was a little different from her previous books. It is the new and improved EG! Other than this book, I loved "Garden of Lies" and "Thorns of Truth" the best. One thing, however, that I do not like about EG, is that she is way too prolific and has way too much descriptive detail (she's doing a little better now, this book was a little shorter). It seems that she has replaced a lot of that descriptive detail with similes and metaphors, which I love. I have to be honest: when I first started "One Last Dance", it was boring, I had to put it down. I picked it back up months later, I think I was on Chapter 5 by then. It took me a few more chapters before the book started picking up. When I was about halfway through the book, it started getting good, and then better and better. It got to where it was hard to put down! Before it started getting good, though, I kept saying this is the last EG book I'll ever read, it is so boring, but I'll continue reading it, and I'll probably only give it 1 or 2 stars. But after the middle of the book, it got so good. All the pieces started fitting together. There were a couple of nice little treats in the book (I can't tell you what they were, don't want to ruin it for anyone.) The last half of the book was so good, I have to give it 5 stars. I was especially impressed with the infinite family love and devotion. The book had mostly happy endings. I was sad for Lydia and how she had to end.

Rating:
Summary: A Good Long Dance
Review: This book is about three sisters forced to face a terrible reality. There mother has just killed their father. She is refusing to say what happened. She only states that it was not an accident and it was not self defense. The sisters all have different reactions and different theories on the murder. And all are dealing with different relationship problems of their own. Daphne cannot forget an old flame. Alex is struggling to raise her daughters and make peace with her ex husband. Kitty is involved with a younger man and her quest for a baby is driving them apart. The book explores all of this along with the murder. Goudge is very talented in creating true to life characters and chilling scenes. What she needs to work on is the pace of her books. They have a tendency to be slow. Certain scenes are given too much explanation where it is not needed. If you can be patient, you will find this book to be a treat. If you take note of the clues in the book you will find out why the murder took place before it is stated in the book.