Customer Reviews

Finders Keepers

5 star:		(48)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

Although the narrative is clear and simple, I found the plot of this best-selling book to circle and shoot off in all directions. Worse than that, though, were the characters. They would progress to a certain point and then turn around, take a couple of skips, and reemerge totally unrecognizable and unrealistic. The most blatant of these was a character (I don't want to spoil it, but watch out here) who is a very good guy, then becomes a spouse beater/rapist, and then suddenly a good guy again. Excuse me? And what's this with golden retrievers living to be twenty? Why doesn't this lead character demonstrate any responsibility for contraception? And a woman who has held no jobs before suddenly becomes the best secretary in the Senate? There is a leap of faith in all good fiction, but here my faith stumbled, fell, and finally gave up before I was even halfway through. Imho: very bad soap opera. I hope the next book pays more attention to these most crucial of writing points: plot and character.

I hated it, It was a fast read but too many plot changes. I never really got to know the characters. It made me depressed that Jessie never found love, its supposed to be a romance novel right????

I don't know her/him, but that review was right on target! This was a story with so many plot twists thrown in that the author might just as well as thrown the kitchen sink in, too. The characters' personalities underwent such a change during the course of the story as to be totally unbelievable. It became tiring, rather than interesting, trying to keep up with what was going on. The ending just left me scratching my head - it was so rushed and out of left field, and so obviously a set-up for a sequel.

I got the impression reading this book that the author was hoping that it would be made into a mini-series on TV - it had every possible hook thrown in.

This was the first book that I read by Ms. Michaels, and it was a total waste of my time. I don't think that I'll be reading another of hers for a long time.

The story was about a little girl, Jessie, who was kidnapped while asleep in her stroller. Her golden retriever dog, Jelly, was watching her as she slept. She has no recollection of the kidnapping. As she gets older, she begins to recall the name "Jelly" (the dog's name). As she grows up her parents don't allow her any friends. She does have one friend, Sophie, who feels unloved just like Jessie does. The story takes you through Jessie breaking away from her controlling parents; marrying a man, Tanner, for all the wrong reasons; and her and Sophie's strange and bizarre friendship. In the end all of the pieces of Jessie's life fall into place and she finally finds her real family. Her natural parents never gave up that she would come home. I thought the story line was captivating and it held my interest right through to the end. The ending, however, left me scratching my head. I wonder, is there a sequel forthcoming to tell us what happened after Tanner read the letter? Did Luke get tired of his ranch and search out Jessie and her child? What happened with Jessie's new found family? I guess the only one who knows the answers to those questions is Fern herself. Another 5 Star Winner for Fern. She's great and so was this book!

I hated this book and I'm a big Fern Michael's fan. She has written such wonderful books and I've read dozens of them, but this one was trash. It's just plain silly to say a woman could hold a grown golden retriever on her lap for 6 days, without sleep, without food, no bathrooms breaks. And, what Jesse did with her money is just not believable. This book was totally out of control and the characters warped.

Joan Clark

Fern MIchaels is one of my favorite authors. As you know, if you've read my other reviews, I love a happy ending. Life doesn't always have a happy ending. So when I read or write a book, it's to escape.
A child is kidnapped at a very young age by a rich couple. She has nightmares for years and always calls out "Jelly" in these dreams.
The only really good and constant thing in her life is her best friend Sophie.
Both are attracted to bad boys, ones who are dangerous. Sophie is a multi-millionaire heiress. When grown, both girls are estranged from their families by choice.
The story takes a lot of twists and turns, and at times, I had a difficult time remembering who was who.
I didn't understand the ending. I was left hanging. Did Jessie find happiness or repeat the same old patterns of bad judgement in men yet again?

This is my first Fern Michaels book, and I did enjoy it... really. As a matter of fact, I found it hard to put down. Which is probably why I was so disappointed with the ending. I can only hope that Ms. Michaels wrote it with a sequel in mind. I found some of the plot a tad bit implausible, but this is fiction...right? I did enjoy the friendship between Jessie and Sophie... that is so rare in romantic novels. I was a little creeped out by some of the parental behavior...on both the natural and unnatural parents' parts. The dialogue was stilted and trite in certain places, but Ms. Michaels more than made up for it in others. All in all, I would recommend the book... just read it knowing that it might leave you feeling like the printer accidentally left out the last two or three chapters of your copy.

I liked the book, could not put it down. HOWEVER, I thought the writer made some personality changes on her characters. First, the main character's first love was great in the beginning, I loved the teasing banter between them. Then, all of a sudden the author changed her tone on their communication. Very dissappointed in the ending,not having her love follow her to Africa. I thought she really liked the guy at the end and then he just drops off. Oh well, I will continue to read.

This was Fern at her best. I couldn't put it down and I hope there is a follow up.She has a wide U.S. following but I live in England and work in a library and she is very popular here.

I just couldn't buy the whole premise of this book. Why would Thea and her husband keep the child when, with all their millions they could simply adopt? It just didn't make sense. I also found the characters undeveloped and flat, the dialog trite. I could feel no sympathy or emotion for any of the characters. I could care less what happens to them since most of them had no redeeming qualities. Hannah/Jessie was not very intelligent and seemed to make decisions willy nilly. Overall, this was a dissappointing read. Don't even bother with this one.