Fool Me Once [Hardcover]

Fern Michaels (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 29, 2006

Olivia Lowell always believed her father's claim that her mother died in childbirth, until the shocking day a lawyer informs her that her mother has just passed away, leaving her a fortune. The money comes with a caveat - and a confession. In her will, Olivia's mother reveals that she and two college friends committed a crime long ago, and now she wants Olivia to track down her accomplices and convince them to come clean. Feeling betrayed and unsure that she even wants her mother's tainted money, Olivia must decide if she can handle the secrets of the past. But with the help and affections of a handsome young lawyer, and the sweet companionship of her beloved Yorkies, Olivia will come to understand who her mother really was, and who she, herself, was meant to be...

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Dog antics and a dead mother's strange legacy drive Michaels's latest (Hey, Good Looking), a repetitive story peopled with caricatures. Thirty-four-year-old Olivia Lowell was reared by her father, Dennis, who told her that her mother, Allison, died in childbirth. Content with her job as a dog photographer and a ho-hum relationship with an accountant, Olivia nearly comes unhinged when she learns that her mother recently passed away—and willed her a mail-order empire as well. But a letter from Allison, written 10 months before her death, reveals that she started her successful business with money stolen from a bank. Allison requests that Olivia return her share of the money, then find her partners-in-crime and make them do the same. With the help of the romantic interest, Jeff Bannerman, a lawyer who's handler to a pesky Yorkshire terrier named Cecil, Olivia sets about resentfully fulfilling her mom's last wishes. The book's final third deals largely with the threat of having Cecil taken away, a plot twist that feels like an afterthought, as does the truth that's revealed about the robbery and its aftermath. This novel may provide escapism for dog lovers, but pat lessons and slipshod plotting will disappoint others. (Aug. 29)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Olivia Lowell always believed her mother had died in childbirth. Now she learns that her mother has just died and left her a substantial fortune. Olivia's life is already full. Her pet photography business is going strong, and she has forged a friendship with a young lawyer, Jeff Bannerman. Jeff, who has been appointed guardian for a Yorkshire terrier that has inherited its former owner's estate, now helps Olivia deal with her mother's last requests. Apparently, her mother robbed a bank when she was younger and parlayed her ill-gotten gains into a booming mail-order business. Once she found out she was terminally ill, she finally felt some regret and an urge to right her wrongs. This is what she asks Olivia to do. Whether or not to honor her absent mother's wishes is a huge issue for Olivia, a quandary Michaels makes the most of with her usual storytelling magic. Maria Hatton
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: Kensington Books (August 29, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0758216300
• ISBN-13: 978-0758216304
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (34 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,478,682 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Fern Michaels is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of Fool Me Once, Sweet Revenge, The Nosy Neighbor, Pretty Woman, and dozens of other novels and novellas. There are over seventy million copies of her books in print. Fern Michaels has built and funded several large day-care centers in her hometown, and is a passionate animal lover who has outfitted police dogs across the country with special bulletproof vests. She shares her home in South Carolina with her four dogs and a resident ghost named Mary Margaret.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars A Fool for Buying This Book, May 12, 2007

By 

B. Kearns "Book lover" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Fool Me Once (Hardcover)

This was an awful book. I normally like Fern Michaels, but this was almost unreadable. The main character was a despicable person - shrewish, nasty, petty and weak. She cried all the time, was mean to her father for no reason and had no backbone. In terms of the love story, it was just ridiculous. Olivia and her love interest, Jeff, were engaged inside of 2 weeks - the majority of the time of which was spent sleeping. Pretty much every evening ended with "and Jeff was sound asleep on the couch when she got back into the room". The story had so many holes in it, and was completely improbable. I wanted someone to just shake Olivia and tell her to stop acting like an idiot the whole time. To cap it all off, the writing style was juvenile and superficial. Overall, one of the worst books i have read in a long time. Do not let yourself be fooled too - avoid this one.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Run now-save yourself!, July 11, 2007

By 

Dawn (Haymarket, VA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fool Me Once (Audio CD)

This book was excruciating. From the narration (think the fake Jan Brady from "The Brady Bunch Movie") to the soul-crushing writing, and the main character who needs a good braining more than any main character I've encountered in a very long time, listening to "Fool Me Once" was about as enjoyable as a visit to the gynecologist.
The audio version is also dangerous, since I spent much of my long commute alternately dry-heaving and scrambling for a pen to write down such winners as "The first weekend in May would be the Apple Blossom Festival. She couldn't wait to take Jeff to the festival. She wondered if her father would come to the festival." If the writing style was actually intended to be an homage to the "Dick and Jane" books I should probably dial back my criticism. Otherwise, I stand by it.
If you're looking for a good way to spend [...] or waste several hours of your life that you'll never get back, I suggest going to Lowe's, buying a hammer, and hitting yourself over the head for a while. You'll regret it less.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars How about no stars?, July 1, 2009

By 

Christy "Christy" (Tampa, FL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fool Me Once (Mass Market Paperback)

This was one of the worst books I've ever read, and I LOVE to read. I had to get on here to see if it was just me. Glad to see it's not! Don't waste any of your life reading this.