Customer Reviews

Family Trust

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(13)

 

 

Okay, I realize from the other reviews, that I am in the minority of people who really didn't like this book. To me, though, this book lacked passion, originality, a believable plot, and likeable characters (including the little four-year-old girl who needed a lot more discipline than she was getting). Without saying too much as to spoil the ending (but, honestly, was anyone REALLY surprised by the ending?), I just have to say that I just found the whole premise, including the love story, to be ludicrous! Who would list someone as guardian of their child without consulting that person first to make sure that your child would be left in capable, welcoming hands? Did Amy and Arthur really consider Becca and Edward as the parental types? What groom-to-be of such wealth would be such a doormat that he would just meekly go along with a forced wedding in which he didn't love the bride, and really was only expected to show up the day of the wedding? Also, with Edward's incredible wealth, I didn't buy for one moment that he and Becca would have had that much difficulty getting Emily into a preschool. And, I want to know what happens after the book ends (again not to give away the "surprise" ending) (...). This book was filled with unflattering stereotypes and occurrences that were neither plausible or interesting. For those other reviewers who applauded this book for being good "light reading," I think for my light reading, I'll stick to books by Sandra Brown or Linda Howard.

I'm a big chick lit reader, and after reading a couple of reviews of this book i decided to get it. I guess my expectations were so high that i was slightly disappointed when i began reading. its hard to have a light and funny story when the first few chapters dive into explaining the contrasting personalites of the two people, and then into the tragic accident. there was not much chemistry or interaction between Becca and Edward. the shining star of the story was little Emily with her bright personality.

Even though the book was a decent read, i wouldnt recommend this book as a must read but as a if you are bored and have nothing else, why not read.

some books i definitely recommend are "Can you keep a Secret" by Sophie Kinsella, "Boy Meets Girl" & "Boy Next Door" by Meg Cabot. make sure you bring extra books because you will fly through these books.

Although I wanted to put this book down after the first few chapters, I decided that I would give it a chance and continue reading. However, by the time I got to the middle of the book I was so bored and frustrated with the story line that I threw it away. The facts about the characters are haphazardly thrown at you right at the very beginning of the book. As a result, the first few chapters read more like an on-line dating profile than an actual novel. Later in the book after Edward and Becca take custody, Emily cries over her parents demise once, I repeat once, and then never even brings them up again. As anyone who has ever seen a 4 year old cry for their mom or dad can vouch, this is extremely, extremely unrealistic. On top of everything else, Becca seems to have multiple personalties. She goes from being simply a work-aholic with no spare time to being a self-centered, rude person who is openely rude and disgraceful to both waiters and other people and Edward. She switches back and forth between her happy and sour personalities more often than most people change their underwear. Seriously - don't waste your time.

Becca Reinhart is a Wall Street workaholic, who has three reactions to anything that happens: she laughs, she smiles, or her eyes sparkle. These are the only personality traits the author has seen fit to give her, and that shallowness persists throughout the entire book. When her friend Amy is killed in an accident, Becca learns she has been named guardian of Amy's four-year-old daughter Emily. A few days later she learns that Edward Kirkland, one of Manhattan's most eligible bachelors, has also been named as Emily's guardian. The three of them move in together into the Upper East Side six-bedroom apartment (count 'em, six) Emily has inherited. (Emily also likes to go to Rumpelmayer's, an ice cream place that actually closed in the 1980s, leaving the reader to wonder if the author knows anything at all about New York City.)

The situation -- single man, single woman, one apartment -- is ripe for romance, although for quite a while nothing happens. Given how flat and boring the characters are, it's not surprising neither can find anything attractive in the other. Instead, Becca and Edward spend their time together going to disastrous pre-school admissions interviews for Emily, Becca laughing merrily all the way, and trust me, she's the only one laughing. I assume these scenes were meant to be funny. They're not.

Eventually, of course, Edward shakes off his conniving fiancee who wants to send Emily to boarding school in Switzerland (think the baroness in The Sound of Music) and the three do end up one happy family. It's an ending that anybody can see coming from the opening pages of the book; there' s no element of surprise anywhere, although Becca does wear a long orange tutu-like dress for the last chapters. Moreover, you have to wonder where the editor was, since the book is full of passages that would make any English teacher cringe: "'Thanks,' she said, 'but here's the real star,' she said, lifting Emily, who beamed at the pleasure of meeting new people in all her glorious dressups."

According to the front of the book, Amanda Brown wrote the book upon which the movie "Legally Blond" was based. The back of the book shows glowing reviews of the movie "Legally Blond." Presumably the plan is sales by association, but it would take more than Reese Witherspoon to help this one.

This is my third chic lit book after Bergdorf Blondes and Legally Blonde. I enjoyed reading the latter so I took a chance and bought Family Trust. Unfortunately, I wasn't really enjoy reading this one. The way Becca Reinhart's life being described on earlier chapter were simply vibrant, energetic and ongoing.. I enjoyed reading these part.. but when she had to drop everything in her life and followed what Emily has to say.. its just too good to be true.

I am all about mindless beach reads but this book was such a waste of time. The main characters are totally unbelievable. I was so bored with them - of course they will end up together, they had no conflict from the start! And obviously the author has little experience with children because no child happily replaces her dead parents with a couple of family friends.

Don't waste your time on this book.

If I hadn't paid money for it, I would have stopped reading. Thankfully I found it in Barnes and Noble's "Bargain Bin" so I didn't pay much. Now I know why it was there. I found the storyline to be boring, unrealistic and highly predictable. The characters were not fully developed and story lines started and were dropped, leaving you to wonder why the author included them. Don't bother picking this one up.

Becca Reinhart is thirty something who thinks about work. Edward Kirkland was born with a silver spoon in his mouth. They didn't have anything in common, until they had custody of little Emily Sterns, thats when all their lives change. But some people including Bunny Stirrup don't want this new family survive and they would anything to stop it.
This book looks like it would be fun. But Ms. Brown does bring any real emotions behind the characters. Many of the characters seem so fake would not act the why that did real life. It was an okay but seem to lack something.

"Legally Blonde" author Amanda Brown's "Family Trust" is exactly the sort of ultra-light fluff that would be more fun as a movie. It's so light and frothy and predictable that it ultimately is a lot more annoying than entertaining, with the designer brand-names and cutesy kids.

Becca Reinhart is a high-powered businesswoman. Edward Kirkland is an idling playboy with a shallow socialite girlfriend. The only thing they have in common (besides oodles of money and a disinclination to marry) is friendship with the adoring couple Amy and Arthur. Unfortunately, Amy and Arthur are killed in a tragic plane crash, leaving a four-year-old daughter behind.

But because they were unmarried and made separately, their wills leave joint custody to Becca and Edward. Despite the fact that they don't even know each other, Becca and Edward do their best to be a surrogate mommy and daddy for little Emily. They have no experience, and have to deal with nosy child shrinks, a delighted "Bubbe," and their own growing attraction.

"Family Trust" is your basic chick-lit with a precociously, sickeningly cute child thrown in, apparently because Becca and Edward would be disgusted by each other otherwise. You can basically tell within in the first few chapters just what is going to happen at the end. And the stretch of goofy plot developments, like Becca hunting down a nice Jewish man to marry quickly, don't make the trip any more fun.

Brown's writing is amusing and breezy in many places with her spoofing of yuppie childrearing, but it lacks wit. In its place, she puts dozens of brand-names, chic New York locales, and drooling descriptions of the characters' clothes, hair and furniture. It's amusing in a way for a few chapters, but then the materialism starts to wear a bit thin -- enough about tiaras, Mozart classes, mohair cardigans, and no more about "jungle cat" fads.

Becca and Edward are singularly flat characters -- they're both gorgeous single people with a soft spot for kids. Not much more to them than that. Emily herself is one of those obviously fake, idealized small children that populate such books. The one shining star is Becca's warm, flamboyantly-dressed mom, who comes across as the most real person in the whole book.

Predictable and lighter than a feather, "Family Trust" is a basic point-A-to-point-B chick-lit novel, with forgettable characters and blah writing.

Uninspired story & a total waste of time!! Cheesy characters & so unbelievable that you wonder how this story went into publication.