4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Very disappointing from a good author, January 8, 2003
This review is from: Every Waking Moment (Paperback)
... That's the only way to explain how I feel after finishing Meryl Sawyer's latest romantic suspense novel. I've enjoyed many of her books in the past, especially Unforgettable, and was looking forward to this one. I was disappointed.
This soap opera of a romantic thriller is set in South Beach, FL, which is something the reader can never forget for a moment since Ms. Sawyer uses the local term for the area - "SoBe" - on almost every page. It is unnecessary, ultimately annoying, and it is attention to those kinds details at the expense of characterization that sink Every Waking Moment for me.
The plot. How to describe the plot? There is a family-owned company that the family members want to sell, but can't because they're having security issues they need to solve first. The matriarch of the family is dying of cancer and desperately wants to locate the daughter she gave up for adoption before she dies. The daughter she didn't give up, Taylor, is the heroine, and she's reeling from a series of "personal misfortunes" (as described on the back of the book), including the years-ago disappearance of her lover, who is referred to as Paul Ashford and Paul Ashton at various times in the novel. There's an uncle who married a really smart ex-stripper as a trophy wife then fell in love with her and is too afraid to tell her that they need to cut back on spending because they're up to their eyes in debt and won't recoup it until they can sell the company. Then there's Taylor's brother, who was married to Taylor's best friend until he decided he was gay and took up with a drug-addicted player who wants in on the family company. Oh, then there's the de facto hero, who is a security guy who happens to know who Taylor is because he once met the long-lost Paul many years ago in Colombia and he never forgot her face. And then there's best friend Lisa who is so close to Taylor that she disappeared for a year, came back to SoBe and never told her best friend until she'd been back for a month. Oh, but she was grieving from being dumped by Taylor's brother, so it's all OK, right? She's going to open a wildly successful sexy lingerie and sex toy shop because, hey, why not?! This is SoBe, after all.
Ay yi yi. What a mess. It's a shame too, because some of the characters show promise. Shane, the de facto hero, is actually a good one, and he deserves better than dishwater dull Taylor. Brianna the ex-stripper and Uncle Doyle have the most interesting relationship, and Brianna is actually a very interesting character. She has layers, and shows them to the reader without the reader having to be told about them.
That's the biggest problem with this book, actually. It's a classic example of the author telling the reader everything without showing them anything in particular. We get pages and pages of exposition, way too much foreshadowing, too much ANGST in general....
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Better Choices, November 14, 2002
By A Customer
This review is from: Every Waking Moment (Paperback)
I recently picked up a copy of this book and there are better choices for romantic suspense. For the large part, the characters were downright annoying, they all deserved to remain alone. Though at times, the characters' revelations or actions had me laughing out loud because they were so stereotypical.
The story has merit, but for me the hodgepodge of characters and the predictibility of the villan's identity all detracted from the story's goal of being suspenseful.
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5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Maybe there are TWO Meryl Sawyers?, October 28, 2002
This review is from: Every Waking Moment (Paperback)
I've enjoyed several of this author's books, enough so that this one made me wonder if it was written by an imposter. I finished it only because I was away from home and had nothing else to read.
None of the characters were believable, or even likeable, and the plot, while marginally possible, was without suspense.
I'd recommend giving this one a pass. Don't give up on Sawyer, though. Some of her other books are work the time and money: Thunder Island, Trust No one, Half Moon Bay, etc.
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