Saturday, February 17, 2007
****½ Heartthrob by Suzanne Brockmann. Contemporary romance.
This is a departure--a Brockmann book that's not about Navy SEALs. (insert mini-rant about fiction believing that the only people in the military--or at least the only interesting ones--are SEALs)
Jericho Beaumont is an actor who's trying to make a comeback after drug and alcohol addiction. Mary Kate O'Laughlin is trying to produce her first feature film, and what makes it even more important for her--she's also the screenwriter.
She doesn't want to hire him because she can't afford the problems he's had in the past--not showing up for work, or showing up drunk. But in the audition, he is by far the best choice, and, what's worse from Mary Kate's perspective, the actors she wants for the other roles agree to take them because they want to work with the famous Jericho Beaumont.
So she agrees, with stipulations: that he submit to daily drug testing and that he have a "babysitter" 24/7. Jericho agrees to the stipulations because it's the role of a lifetime.
Heartthrob is an intensely emotional story. It doesn't whitewash the problems Jericho faces in staying away from alcohol, but neither does it wallow in them. He's humiliated several times in the course of the story, and much of the plot is about how he deals with that. One of his plans is to pay Mary Kate back for the humiliation in kind--by seducing and then rejecting her--but anyone who's ever read a book can figure out how well that tactic will work.
There's a lot about trust, and for once it's not a matter of characters demanding instant, unreasonable trust. It's about the development of trust.
There's also a sweet coming-of-age secondary romance between the young co-stars of the movie that I enjoyed very much. Character development and growth isn't limited to the two protagonists--the secondary characters grow and change as well.
I doubt Brockmann will get back on my must-buy list any time soon, since I burned out pretty thoroughly on the whole Navy-SEAL-romance subgenre, but I'm not going to avoid her books, either.
...more
Categories: Books, 4.5stars, ContemporaryRomance
Labels: 4.5 stars, books, ContemporaryRomance
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WOW am impress that you gave this 4 half stars!! Now that really make me want to go back and re-read the book - hopefully this time, I will finish it to the end LOL
Great review!
Great review!
Hi Darla,
somehow this review made me very curious (I can't pinpoint what did it, because usually I'm not much into romance), so I went to Brockmann's site and read the excerpt. Hm, she DOES have a talent to choose a good appetizer, because I immediately had to order the book from amazon. Even dh agreed that the excerpt made him very curious about the book :-)
I hope the book arrives soon so that I can delve into it, in spite of having tons of more urgent things to do :-(
Doris in very sunny Munich
somehow this review made me very curious (I can't pinpoint what did it, because usually I'm not much into romance), so I went to Brockmann's site and read the excerpt. Hm, she DOES have a talent to choose a good appetizer, because I immediately had to order the book from amazon. Even dh agreed that the excerpt made him very curious about the book :-)
I hope the book arrives soon so that I can delve into it, in spite of having tons of more urgent things to do :-(
Doris in very sunny Munich
# posted by 
: 2/18/2007 12:52 PM
: 2/18/2007 12:52 PM
One of the Amazon reviewers said (and I concur) that this is more of a women's fiction novel or general fiction novel than a romance. I think she was talking about the feel of it.
It's... more on the order of some of Kathryn Shay's work, like Trust in Me.
It's... more on the order of some of Kathryn Shay's work, like Trust in Me.
Suzanne Brockmann is auto buy for me....And you know...I LOVE Kathryn Shay's work :)Speakin of Kathryn Shay...Her latest book CLOSE TO YOU is already out. Did you get it? I did! :)
Doris - I hope you give HEARTTROB a try! :)
Doris - I hope you give HEARTTROB a try! :)
Don't worry, Julia, I just got a notification that my copy has arrived at my post-office and I'll be off in no time :-). In fact, the book arrived faster than the message by amazon telling me they've sent it...
And if I get this must-read-bug, there's no stopping me in spite of having tons of more urgent work to do (well, I'll honour my deadline, but everything else will have to take a backseat). I'm very glad my dh knows of my "affliction" and loves me anyway :-)
Doris in Munich
And if I get this must-read-bug, there's no stopping me in spite of having tons of more urgent work to do (well, I'll honour my deadline, but everything else will have to take a backseat). I'm very glad my dh knows of my "affliction" and loves me anyway :-)
Doris in Munich
# posted by : 2/20/2007 2:40 PM
: 2/20/2007 2:40 PM
Doris - WOW that was quick delivery! I hope you enjoy it :)
Don't worry about the must-read-bug...Darla can recommend you more to bug about LOL....isn't that right Darla? ;)
Good luck on your deadline :)
Don't worry about the must-read-bug...Darla can recommend you more to bug about LOL....isn't that right Darla? ;)
Good luck on your deadline :)
I haven't read this one yet, but I will. :)
Note: Haven't finished reading her other Navy SEAL series too. Hehe. Julia will be so mad at me. LOL!
Note: Haven't finished reading her other Navy SEAL series too. Hehe. Julia will be so mad at me. LOL!
Grrr....I am mad that you not finish with navy SEAL series...but then again, I know you got HeartThrob already on your TBR piles...but your excuse not to read it is because it thick book *roll eyes* *sigh*......LOL
LOL! Julia, you must've confused this with another of her books. I don't have this book in my pile, but I will definitely add this to it! ;)
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