Yesterday

Rating:
Summary: One of the worst books I have ever read!!
Review: It does not happen often that I read a book and find it utterly boring. I found myself skipping pages, trying to see ahead and hoping that it would get better. The book description says that these are childhood best friends, it seemed to me like they were childhood enemies. I did not like any of the characters in the book, Callie especially is so selfish and unlikable. The rest don't fare too well either, Brie and Sela spend their time either quarreling or dwelling in self pity and Bode is so insecure that it gets sickening, after a while I even started disliking Mama Pearl. I made myself finish this book just because I had paid for it, otherwise, I would have thrown it away. Don't waste your money!

Rating:
Summary: Celebration
Review: One of the best books I have ever read.Fern Michaels is the best

Rating:
Summary: Yesterday
Review: One of the most gripping books to ever hit the book stores!fern Michaels is my favorite writer of all time!

Rating:
Summary: There's nothing like a Fern Michaels book!
Review: Remember the Wizard of Oz when Dorothy said there's no place like home? She should have said there's no place like home unless you have Fern Michael's newest book! Great reading. Good story. I like stories about true friendship and this was true about true,lasting friendship.

Rating:
Summary: Fern Michaels at her best
Review: The three long time friends were converging on Summerville, South Carolina for the wedding of their other pal Callie Parker to Wynfield Archer. The FBI Academy has recently accepted San Diego police officer Brie Canfield as a student. However, Brie remains in aftershock from killing a culprit six weeks ago. Interior Designer Sela Bronson still feels the aftermath of her recent divorce. Rounding out the foursome is Callie's foster brother, attorney Bode Jessup.

As children growing up at Parker Manor, Callie was the princess attended to by her three friends, who were considered beneath her by her arrogant father. However, on the way to the wedding rehearsal, a drunk Wyn crashes the car, leaving his fiancee unconscious. Wyn covers up the accident. Her three buddies nostalgically reflect back over their near perfect YESTERDAY.

YESTERDAY is an interesting concept that focuses on how individuals look back into their pasts. The well-written story line heats up the South Carolina countryside with sexual tension and drama. However, the characters seem more like stereotypes from a thirty's Southern movie or novel (Gone With the Wind?) thrown into a ninety's setting. Though this hurts the impact of the tale, Fern Michaels stirs the love-hate relationships between the foursome to a level that will elate fans of contemporary Southern novels.

Another winner by a great writer.

Harriet Klausner

Rating:
Summary: One of a kind!
Review: This book brought home to me all my own yesterdays. I cannot in words, tell you how much I enjoyed this wonderful book. I recommend it highly and tell everyone about it. I truly, truly enjoyed each character and I fell in love with Mama Pearl. I did some giggling, I laughed out loud and I cried. I couldn't wait to turn each page. Do you know what I missed in this book? There were no animals. I have come to expect them in each book this author writes. It's a given that I will read this book again and again over the years as my own yesterdays fade from my mind. Thank you so much for the hours of joy and entertainment you give me with each of your books.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent!
Review: This book did not disappoint me in any way. I hated to see it end. I liked the way the characters all came together and I fell in love with Mama Pearl. Hatch was a great character. It was so interesting to see how they developed and how the children turned out as adults. I'll read this book again.

Rating:
Summary: good start, bad finish
Review: This book reads as if it were written by a 16 year old just out of a summer writing workshop. The characters have the depth and substance of paper dolls. They aren't even consistant enough to qualify as stereotypes and the plot is just recycled drama we've all read over and over again. I got headaches from rolling my eyes at the dialogue- it's that bad. No one talks like these people. Every converstation is nothing more than the writer's attempt to give the reader more information. Most books use this technique but it fails miserably here because there is no subtlety and there is no plot to keep it flowing. I've been satisfied with books by Fern Michaels before when I needed a book that was fun to read and didn't reqire any effort on my part. Getting through this muck was like a part-time job.

Rating:
Summary: WARNING
Review: This book reads as if it were written by a 16 year old just out of a summer writing workshop. The characters have the depth and substance of paper dolls. They aren't even consistant enough to qualify as stereotypes and the plot is just recycled drama we've all read over and over again. I got headaches from rolling my eyes at the dialogue- it's that bad. No one talks like these people. Every converstation is nothing more than the writer's attempt to give the reader more information. Most books use this technique but it fails miserably here because there is no subtlety and there is no plot to keep it flowing. I've been satisfied with books by Fern Michaels before when I needed a book that was fun to read and didn't reqire any effort on my part. Getting through this muck was like a part-time job.

Rating:
Summary: YESTERDAY IS BEST FORGOTTEN...
Review: This book starts out promisingly enough. An affluent man in South Carolina has a daughter named Callie, ostensibly an only child. He adopts Bode Jessup, so Callie can have a brother. He also brings two young girls from disadvantaged and dysfunctional families, Brie and Sela, to be Callie's playmates, but they end up spending most of their time in the Parker household.

As Callie's mother is a sick woman and her father is a busy man, the roost is ruled by Mamma Pearl, a larger than life African American woman. She becomes the center of the universe for these three children, who look to her as a mother figure and love her dearly. Mamma Pearl also loves and cherishes these children, sacrificing her life to their well being.

When they are all young adults, however, intrigue and turmoil bubble under the surface, as their true feelings for each other begin to emerge on the eve of Callie's wedding. The catalyst for a great emotional catharsis is the tragic accident that leaves Callie in a coma on her wedding day. As events unfold, shocking family secrets are revealed, ripping the blinders from their eyes, as all was not what it seemed.

The book, which started off promisingly enough, begins to head south, as a series of revelations, increasingly implausible, are divulged. Moreover, the personalities of the characters seem to change at the drop of a dime, depending upon the circumstances. This tends to render them two dimensional, as there is no real character development. This deficiency in the writing serves to further highlight the implausibility of the storyline. Moreover, some of the surprises in store for the reader are positively ridiculous. The secrets about Bode and Callie are especially ludicrous, making the book almost laughable.

The only thing that seems to save this audio book is the reading by Laural Lerlington, who does an excellent job with the material with which she had to work. The fact that the book is rife with dialogue, rather than narrative, works to the advantage of the book when read aloud, and Ms. Lerlington does a masterful job of infusing the characters with as much personality as possible. While the reading rates four stars, the content of the book rates two, resulting in an overall rating of three stars.