All She Ever Wanted (Paperback)

by Barbara Freethy (Author) "Pick a card, any card..." (more)
Key Phrases: sorority house, Santa Cruz, San Francisco, Garrett Malone (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
During a college party gone awry, vibrant but physically fragile Emily Parish, ringleader and emotional pivot of a group of female friends self-christened the Fabulous Four, falls to her death from their sorority house roof. Traumatized, the remaining three go their separate ways and lead outwardly successful yet personally problematic lives. Then 10 years later, a mysterious, pseudonymous author publishes a bestselling novel packed with intimate details about the thinly disguised Fab Four—and accusing one of them, Dr. Natalie Bishop, whose own memories of the tragic night are a blank, of murdering Emily. As Natalie delves into the past to save her reputation and career, she not only rediscovers her old gang (including Emily's brother Cole, an ex-boyfriend who'd always blamed Natalie for his sister's death) but, gradually, disquietingly, realizes that all had motives for murder. Unfortunately, the real killer's character gets short shrift, making the book less than compelling as a mystery. Still, Rita Award–winner Freethy (Summer Secrets, etc.) succeeds in developing a suitably eerie atmosphere that doesn't eclipse the story's main focus on the renewal of fabulous friendships and romances.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Product Description
She was their closest friend, or so they thought -- until years later, when her secrets send them on a perilous search for the truth about who she really was... and why she died...

Bestselling author Barbara Freethy delivers an involving, emotional new story of sisterhood, secrets and lies ...

Ten years ago, during a party gone out of control, beautiful, vibrant Emily plummeted to her death, leaving her three best friends and sorority sisters -- Natalie, Laura and Madison -- devastated. None of them has ever forgotten that night -- or the role each may have played in Emily's death.

Now an unknown writer has rocketed onto bestseller lists with a novel that eerily mirrors their own story. Who is he? How does he know the intimate details of their lives? And why is he accusing one of them of murder? As they begin to unravel the startling truth about their friend, each will discover a love she lost long ago and uncover secrets that will change her life ...

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Product Details

• Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: Signet (December 7, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0451213653
• ISBN-13: 978-0451213655
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 3.9 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #485,239 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Maintains suspense right until the end, June 2, 2005

By	Tracy Vest (Northern California) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

An unknown novelist describes an event from the past that four sorority sisters from Santa Clara University. Each of the three surviving sisters has moved on to another chapter in their lives and would rather forget the events that led to the tragic death of golden girl, Emily.

Her former roommate and best friend, Natalie bears the brunt of accusations, as the story takes both fact and fiction and concludes that she is a murderer. A chance meeting with her former flame, Cole (who also happens to be Emily's brother), has the two reluctantly joining forces to get to the bottom of the mystery and meet the elusive writer, which only opens even deeper wounds, and causes them to examine their still smoldering feelings for each other.

Freethy does a great job of maintaining the suspense and tossing around several red herrings until the actual circumstances of Emily's death are revealed.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fast and easy read, May 30, 2006

By	Shon - See all my reviews

This was my first book by the author and I couldn't put it down. I didn't figure out the killer until the author revealed him/her to the reader. I will read more by this author.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Hard to put this one down!, December 11, 2004

By	Ratmammy "The Ratmammy" (Ratmammy's Town, CA USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

ALL SHE EVER WANTED by Barbara Freethy
December 11, 2004

Courtesy of WWW.LOVEROMANCES.COM

Three women are reunited, after the publication of a murder novel informs the world about a past they had tried to forget, in ALL SHE EVER WANTED by Barbara Freethy.

Natalie Bishop is currently a resident at San Francisco's St Timothy's Hospital, achieving the goal she had worked for so hard while a student at Santa Cruz University ten years ago. Back in college, she was one of four young women who called themselves the Fabulous Four - Natalie, Laura, Madison, and a fourth girl, Emily. They were part of the same sorority and had banded together as four special friends who were different as night and day, yet they shared a great friendship. Natalie was the studious one, the one that had promised to take care of Emily. Laura was the all-American girl next door. Madison was the ultra-sophisticated girl, who was experienced in more ways than one. And finally, Emily was the glue that held the group together. She was full of life and adventure, but had a number of secrets that she had taken with her when she died. They were as close as sisters, and no one would have guessed that one night their lives would be changed forever, the night when Emily fell to her death from the roof of their building during a party. According to the novel that is penned by a new author named Garrett Malone, Natalie was the one that supposedly pushed Emily to her death.

Natalie learns about the book by accident while on a break at the hospital. The names had been changed, and she panics when she realizes the book is about her, the Fabulous Four, and Emily's accidental death. While Malone may have thought he had disguised the characters in the book, most people recognize who these girls really were. Natalie's career is now on hold, due to the damage the book is doing to the hospital's reputation. And her ex-boyfriend Cole, who was Emily's brother and is now working for the family newspaper, the San Francisco Tribune, finds himself in a situation where he tries to defend Natalie's innocence, which angers his parents who believe that Natalie did indeed kill Emily. His loyalties are torn, and he also realizes that he has never gotten over Natalie, the girl that broke his heart.

Laura and Natalie reunite to solve the mystery of the book, to find out who Garrett Malone really is, and to discover what really happened that fateful night. Madison does her own investigative work, trying to find out if there is any truth to the novel that is making front-page news. It's been years since they have all been together, but the novel that should never have been written is uncovering skeletons from their past and forcing them together again. Although they had missed the camaraderie of their college years, each of them secretly suspects the other in pushing Emily off the roof that night. With the help of Cole and a few others from their past, they solve the mystery of Garrett Malone, as well as uncover the story of Emily's death.

Freethy had this reviewer guessing until the very end as to who killed Emily, and at one point it almost seemed obvious as to whom the murderer was. Freethy did a good job with adding plot twists here and there to confuse the reader, keeping one in suspense until the very end. This reviewer feels that the author was quite successful with this romantic suspense novel, using Natalie and Cole as the star-crossed lovers who try to convince themselves that they no longer love each other. The romance was not too overwhelming to detract from the mystery that needed to be solved, and the characters all felt believable and logically written. A surprise ending, at least for this reviewer, may catch other readers off guard as well, and kudos to Freethy for achieving that shocking finish. The book was fast paced and judging by how fast this reviewer read the book, it was definitely one that was hard to put down. ALL SHE EVER WANTED was a well-done romantic suspense novel, and it is not always that an author can get it "just right". This novel is highly recommended.