Rating: 
Summary: By far.....one of the best Olivia Goldsmith reads yet!!!!!
Review: "Bad Boy" seemed to be a slow read when I first started out. Wow.....I read it in under 3 days!!!!! Tracie knew what she wanted....she just didn't see it right in front of her face. Her loser boyfriend, Phil and her best friend, Laura weren't of much help to her at all. Jon is at the hands of fate with Tracie.......until she creates a monster and has to knock him down a few pegs. And.....lo and behold....loser Phil tries to make a turnaround a day late and a dollar short. Tracie is torn between her job, her man, and her soon-to-be exfriend, Jon. I laughed so hard at some places that I almost fell off my couch!!!! This book was soooo great.....maybe Olivia could write a sequel called..."Bad Girl!"
Rating: 
Summary: Good Guy Goes Bad
Review: Jon Delano and Tracie Higgins have been best friends since their college days and have always made time for each other. He's a hardworking guy who works in computer industry (nerd) who just wants to be noticed by women and of course, get laid and she's a newspaper reporter who aspires to be a good journalist but ends up with the puff features. Tracie's one major fault is that she is attracted to "Bad Boys" (good looking guys with great bodies, who are selfish in all they do and have absolutely nothing going for them). Jon comes to Tracie seeking help by way of transforming him into type of guy Tracie goes for and whom other women will also be fascinated with. Tracie succeeds in her mission only too well by turning Jon into exactly the kind of man she's attracted to. Unfortunately for Tracie she discovers she been in love with Jon along and tries to set him up for failure with the ultimate female fatale. Since Jon's now a "Bad Boy" he no longer has time for Tracie as he begins to conquer the fairer sex using all the techniques taught to him by his teacher, Tracie. I've been a major fan of Olivia Goldsmith since the release of The First Wives Club and have read every novel she's had published but this novel had a rather slow start. If you can get beyond page 186 you may find an interesting story in there. All the characters seem to be lacking self-esteem in a major way and looking for love in all the wrong places. I'm sure it's possible, but I can't imagine looking for a man who knowingly mistreats women; who has no regard for anyone but himself and is just plain selfish; although there may be many women out there seeking just that. I found it particularly amusing how a man would want to change himself from totally respectable guy into a "Bad Boy", but one never knows, does one.
Rating: 
Summary: Sara Bird Did It Better and First
Review: I may have liked this novel better if it hadn't so clearly reminded me of an earlier novel by Sara Bird called "The Boyfriend School." That book is now out-of-print but if readers really like this plotline of turning a nice guy into a bad boy so he can score with women, Bird does it better. The big difference between the two novels is that his romance author sister transforms her brother in "Boyfriend School" whereas in "Bad Boy" it is his best friend, who is a woman hooked up with her own bad boy, who undertakes this transformation. I wouldn't have even guessed that this was the same author as the one who wrote "Fashionably Late," "Best Seller," and "Flavor Of The Month" if her name hadn't been on it. I hope this is just a misfire and doesn't mean Goldsmith has run out of good ideas.
Rating:
Summary: A Wild Romp In Hilarity
Review: I just finished reading Olivia Goldsmith's "Bad Boy" tonight. I finished it with a great big sigh of "ah, how sweet!!!". But from start to finish, I was rolling with laughter. This novel is about a woman who has a somewhat-nerdy-Mr. Nice Guy best friend. He turns to her for help with his outward appearance-love life turmoil. She assists, coaches, and changes him but it backfires. It turns her computer-logo wearing, bicycle riding, workaholic best bud into a killer ladies' man that can seduce any woman with a smoldering "James Dean" leer. Eventually, after his successful makeover (and a number of women), Tracie (the main character), realizes how much she loves him. But..the plot thickens when she wonders if it might be too late. I don't want to give away the ending but I recommend this book to anyone who has ever wanted to change their looks, be attractive to the opposite sex, had a best friend, or has ever fallen in love. This is a fabulous book but it's to be expected from such a great writer as Olivia Goldsmith. Read this book but be sure to go back and read "First Wives Club", "Flavor Of the Month" and the entire collection of Goldsmith novels.
Rating: 
Summary: Why are women attracted to Bad Boys?
Review: Tracie and Jon have been friends for years. Every Sunday evening they meet for coffee and discussion of their forlorn love lives. Tracie is attracted to "Bad Boys". You know the type. Guys who are usually too good to be true. Jon falls for girls who never want him "that way". One day, Jon decides he needs to change his image and wants Tracie to teach him the "tricks of the trade". Tracie agrees and teaches him how to dress, act, the meaning of unavailability and how to make women "smolder". The new "Jonny" gets a little too good at this new charade and it puts a strain on their relationship. Eventually the both realize they made a mistake and almost lose their friendship over it. I have always enjoyed Olivia Goldsmith's books every since I read "The First Wives Club" and this book did disappoint, but just a little. I think some of the characters, such as Laura, Molly and Phil were given major roles in the story, yet they were treated as minor characters in the writing. Too much of the background material on Tracie and Jon was left out, leaving me wondering about how they met, etc. But, otherwise, it was a pretty good read. A nice break from the books I've been reading lately.
Rating: 
Summary: Deserves no star - absolutely disappointing
Review: Like other reviewers I was delighted when the new book came out and I could not wait to buy it. What a disappointment! It is not at all what I had expected. That the end is so forseeable is one of the minor problems - what is worse it that the characters, especially "heroine" Tracie, are so absolutely silly and unlikeable! No comparison to the strong, smart women in Olivia Goldsmith's former books! Goldsmiths strength were revenge stories - where the bad get their comeuppance and the good win. But in this one ... Perhaps it was meant to be a satire - but then it is a bad one. If a new Olivia Goldsmith book comes out, I will certainly not buy it impulsively!
Rating:
Summary: A Disappointment
Review: I, similar to another reviewer quoted here, always look forward to Olivia Goldsmith's novels so I too snapped this book up when I saw it. However, before I cracked the spine, I happened across a terrible review of the book. The reviewer said that BAD BOY was awful and nothing like Goldsmith's earlier works. Nevertheless, I started reading, but found myself glossing over the first 50 pages or so, and then skipping ahead and reading the last 10 pages. That did it for me. I didn't need to waste my time reading the "inside" of the book, since is was blantantly obvious as to what was going to happen from the book jacket copy and the first 50 pages. I'm disappointed, because I really do enjoy Goldsmith's writing. I hope she gets on track with her next novel, but I'll peruse that one more carefully the next time...
Rating:
Summary: Olivia, What Happened??
Review: I was thrilled to see a new Olivia Goldmsmith book... I snapped it up immediately, and began to read it. Having loved everything she'd ever written, I knew that I was in for a treat. Or was I? I was stunningly dissapointed with this novel. It contained none of the elements that make Olivia such a fun read. For example, the characters were one dimensional, at best. Tracie was a poor knock-off of Helen Fielding's Bridget Jones, but with out the humor or pithy insight. Ordinarily, Olivia Goldsmith develops her protagonist so well that you are empathetic, no matter how imperfect the character is. Compare Tracie with Sig in "Marrying Mom" and you'll see the disparity in developement. In the case of Bad Boys, I simply didn't CARE what happened to anyone. Usually Olivia is fabulous at tying up the minute details. Her books generally leave no loose ends. But there were scads of loose ends in this book. What was the deal with the waitress? She seemed to be the only one with an interesting story. And what happened to her friend Laura? Was she ever going to get together with Phil? And what was the impetus for Phil's change? What happens to Jon's dad? And how did her mom die, and will she ever find closure? As well, where were the surprising plot twists? And why no antagonist in this novel? Half the fun of the Olivia Goldsmith novels is watching justice being dispensed to the wicked. WAnd where were the wicked?? My advice? Stay away from this book. It never fulfills its promising premise. Do yourself a favor and re-read the First Wives' Club.
Rating:
Summary: A novel to remember
Review: Seattle Times newspaper columnist Tracie Higgins laments how she only loves BAD BOYS, modern James Dean types that give mothers cardiac arrest no matter how old you are. Her latest boyfriend is a loser, user, and abuser, but Tracie wants him anyway. Hi-tech genius Jonathan Delano is a good boy, a James Stewart who mothers want to adopt as their son. He does everything correctly for the good of society not just himself. Women adore Jon, but not in bed. He loathes being considered a "nice guy" and wants a piece of the BAD BOY action. At their weekly breakfast, Tracie explains to Jon her ten rules of bad boyism that leads to scoring with women. She helps her best friend change from dweeb-city to ultra cruel and crude male, but begins to wonder what she has wrought. She wants the old Jon to return as she realizes she loves him, but he is into scoring, not relationships. BAD BOY is an entertaining, often humorous relationship drama. The story line is very amusing as all the support cast is stereotyped to a satirical extreme. The metamorphosis of Jon is quite funny as he still fumbles and bumbles with women, but succeeds due to his new attire, haircut, and occasional shave. In a facetious romantic tale, Olivia Goldsmith satirizes the hi-tech relationship world with a modern take of Carlyle's clothing theory of nineteenth century industrial man. Harriet Klausner
Rating:
Summary: Very funny I thought!
Review: I read this book in less than a day and found it very funny. I was deeply impressed by Goldsmith's writing talent and I hope to read many more of her books. I recommend this book especially to single women and men under thirty-five who are still dating and who might very well see themselves reflected in one of this book's characters. I was able to see my "bad boy" boyfriend more clearly.
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