Miss Fortune (Berkley Sensation)

Rating:
Summary: A novel that sizzles....
Review: ...out quickly within the first 100 pages. I was very intrigued with the premise of the novel--poor little rich girl has to learn to make it on her own. I thought, this one could be really fun! However, what I found instead was a story about a walking doormat, who let everyone and their family up to the 6th cousins take advantage of her. With this statement, I have in mind visions of MYRON floating through my head. At one point, Rachel has a box of macaroni and something else left in her fridge, with no money to get more food to make it through a whole week, but she blithely shrugs off Myron's raid on her pantry. Her attitude is, "Who cares if he eats all my food and clutters up my house? He's my FRIEND". This attitude safely does fall under the TSTL category, which I was relieved to see another reader point out. Furthermore, Rachel teaches a weaving class OUT OF POCKET...and we're all expected to believe she does it out of the goodness of her little heart, and for sheer love of weaving? Please! I could understand Rachel waiving the wee for a student or two, or bringing weaving materials for a student or two, but PAYING HERSELF for the class to take weaving? Come on! No one is that desperate and lonely that they need to PAY for other people to enjoy their company! And if they are, I certainly don't want to read about them!

One of the worst and most annoying things about this book was the horrid slang Julia London had Flynn speak in. I could understand a few slang comments thrown in, but his entire character spoke in dialect. (Most people, when taking beginning writing courses, are warned to use "dialect" SPARINGLY. So what does Julia London do? She writes a whole character who speaks in nothing BUT dialect. Help me rip out all the hairs on my head one by one for each "nancy boy" and "bit of all right" and "I rather suspect..." and "lucky chaps"!) Two of my best friends are British, and do they speak like that? NO! They have a few expressions we don't use in America, but they still speak ENGLISH! Instead of being charmed, I was desperately annoyed.

One more thing that bothered me was the way Rachel's dad was painted as a horrible villain who, although dying, didn't deserve to see his daughter for Thanksgiving. No matter how awful your parents are, if they're dying, you could at least agree to go spend the holidays with your family! This coming from a girl who pays for other people to take her classes, who rescues kittens from cruel owners, and who buys groceries for a vilely grouchy widower. But yet we're expected to believe she won't go see her dying father for the holidays? Whaaaat? Oh no, he tells her she needs to finish school--she's THIRTY! What does she expect? Yet of course, once she starts having a relationship with a man and falls in love, she suddenly is able to finish her long-stagnant thesis. Gag me!

Now, after all my ranting, were there any redeeming qualities to this novel? I'll admit, there was quite a lot wrong with this novel. However, I did enjoy the way Rachel's character tried to take her life into her own hands by doing things she'd never been good at before. She stopped whining about being overweight and went to the gym, she stopped saying she could never get a date and started flirting with a nice, normal seeming guy. Also, the tone of the novel was mostly light and humorous, especially throughout Rachel's first encounters with Flynn. It made the novel more appealing and comedic, which I enjoyed. However, all in all, I found Rachel's repeated put-downs of herself to be too much of a hindrance to the story, and her newfound self-confidence blossomed much too late in the story for me. Sorry guys, but I give this one a miss.



Rating:
Summary: The writing's good but the heroine in TSTL...
Review: After reading Ms. London's BEAUTY QUEEN, I was anxious to read MISS FORTUNE. However, the book just never caught on with me and the heroine is definitely someone I wouldn't want to know or be. I have a problem with romance novel heroines who are in their 30's and still living off their parents yet get angry when their life goals, etc. are questioned. After a while I gave up on Rachel and wondered what anyone would see in her. She really had no redeeming values. I did like the book's hero more and loved how Ms. London used a lot of British slang with this character. I found him charming, but once again, couldn't see what he saw in his lady love.

Rating:
Summary: fun contemporary romance
Review: Disgusted with how soft a mark his youngest daughter is and her role as a "perpetual student", ailing billionaire Aaron Lear cuts off her hefty allowance that she seems to always give away to others like her sponge ex boyfriend Myron. In Providence, Rachel decides she needs to find a way to make money, lose weight as she dubs herself "Tubby", and obtain a new lover.

Her best friend, practicing witch Dagne casts a spell for Rachel to meet a lover with a James Bond looks and accent. Not long afterward Rachel meets and keeps running into Flynn Oliver. As they begin to see one another and fall in love, he wonders how she will react to him when he reveals the truth about his identity.

The third Lear daughter tale (see MATERIAL GIRL and BEAUTY QUEEN) is a fun contemporary romance that ties up the loose ends of the previous stories. Rachel is a terrific protagonist as a caring chump who is unconcerned with material things and believes she too overweight to be a beauty. Jake is an intriguing male lead as he shows up wherever Rachel is; making the weird Dagne believe her spell is causing this to happen. Fans of the series will appreciate this lighthearted romp and want to see one more sequel starring the good witch of Providence.

Harriet Klausner


Rating:
Summary: A real disapointment - NOT "unputdownable" for me
Review: I LOVED the first two books in the series, MATERIAL GIRL and BEAUTY QUEEN, and I was really looking forward to MISS FORTUNE but this one just didn't do it for me. I really had to struggle to finish it and my gut tells me to give it two stars, but I didn't hate it, I did enjoy the last hundred pages or so, and I like the author thus three stars.

Rachel is the youngest of the spoiled Lear sisters and far from the free-spirited, flaky hippie chick I had expected, I found her more under-achieving, incredibly insecure, lacking-in-common-sense doormat! She's thirty-one years old but acts like she's 21. She's been in school for ten years, generally floating through life directionless and wonders why her dad gives her grief! Her father is dying and all she wants to do is avoid him because he might yell at her! I found her character both annoying and amazing at the same time. Unfortunately, rather than empathize or identify with her I kept yelling at her to grow up and gain a spine! And to kick Myron to the curb for pity's sake! I'm sorry, but she was such a cliche, whereas Robin and Rebecca were sympathetic and believable to me, Rachel just wasn't.

And if you're expecting a lot of romance, forget it. It takes forever for Rachel and Flynn to get together and even then, I never bought into the romance, nor did I feel much chemistry between them. You can figure out what's going to happen almost from the very beginning and as a result, I found myself just generally bored up until about page 300.

And Flynn just didn't do it for me at all. He seemed perhaps not cold, but remote and I never believed he had real feelings for her - except that the author told me so! Very little of the story is told from his perspective and I didn't ever have a strong sense of what he was thinking or feeling. I guess she did this to keep mystery and suspense around his character, but I had figured out who he was and what he was up to from very early on. And I think she went a bit far with the Brit slang/terminology.

So what did I like? The continuation of the Bonnie/Aaron storyline was really satisfying. And just when Dagne was getting on my last nerve, she becomes lots of fun in the last hundred pages.

Overall, disappointing but I will look forward to future books and consider this a fluke.

Rating:
Summary: After 50 pages, I skipped to the end
Review: I was so dissapointed by this book! I read the first two and thought while they were not up to Julia London's previous books, they were light airplane reads. After 50 pages of Rachel not doing anything but letting her friends use her and eat, I was bored, bored, bored.

I only skimmed throught to see her parents moving forward.

I do not recommend this book at all!

Rating:
Summary: Just Can't Say I Liked It
Review: I will not write a synopsis as this has been done very well before I put my 2 cents in. I must say that I loved the first two books in this series (and have really liked most of Miss London's previous books), but this one had me skimming which is always a bad sign. I never believed the chemistry between the two main characters. There was some good suspense and a mystery to solve which was the only reason I gave this book 3 stars instead of 2. I know others will disagree with me, and hope they do. For me, this one just didn't do it.

Rating:
Summary: Fortune Shines!
Review: Julia London delivers character-driven comedy with an emotional edge. Like her sisters, Rachel has to find her way to fulfillment with the help of an engaging cast of characters, like the charming Flynn Oliver. The chemistry between Rachel and Flynn burns right off the pages- hot, hot, hot! Romantic, intriguing, poignant, and a whole lot of fun, Miss Fortune is this season's must-read.

Rating:
Summary: Fun, fun, fun!
Review: Miss Fortune finishes Julia London's Lear family trilogy in great style. Rachel, the youngest of the three sisters, is a good friend and sister, a long-suffering daughter, overweight, too kind, and a bit lost - and she gets the hunky guy! The book has lots of laughs, some very poignant moments and the wonderful subplot of her parents story. I'd looked forward to reading this one and was delighted to find it just as strong and wonderful as the others in the trilogy. Rachel is an endearing heroine and Flynn the stuff dreams are made of.

What a lovely way to wrap up the Lear sisters' stories!



Rating:
Summary: Good, but not Great
Review: This conclusion to the Lear family trilogy is good, as London is a fun and fresh writer with great characterization and hip storytelling. Perhaps I didn't personally relate as well to Rachel as the other two sisters, and could not get into the witchcraft part of the story at all.

London's "brit-speak" for the character Flynn is funny and witty, and I loved the way she continued the story of Bonnie and Aaron and neatly tied in the other sisters and grandparents. If you enjoyed the first two, then you should read this, but you just may not re-read it as many times as "Material Girl" and "Beauty Queen".

Rating:
Summary: Fun, entertaining read :0)
Review: This is the third and last book in London's latest trilogy and I found it to be very entertaining. I loved the cast of characters, including her weird friend Dagne. Flynn and Rachel had wonderful chemistry and even though I enjoyed her Rogues of Regent Street more, these were definitely worth the read. However, my favorite of the three was Beauty Queen.