Old Friends (Yellow Brick Road Gang, Book3) [Mass Market Paperback]

Constance O'Day-Flannery (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 27, 2007

The Yellow Brick Road Gang, otherwise known as Metaphysical Misadventures in the Search for Enlightenment, is a circle of women who came together as a book club.  Together they began a spiritual search - one that, after eight years, has led each woman to realize that she's come full circle.  After all the mumbo jumbo of philosophy and self help... they have become women without rules.
 
In the final installment of O'Day-Flannery's uplifting and spiritual paranormal romance trilogy, it is finally Claire's turn to find love.  Her closest friends have found new promise in life through love, and while Claire is happy for them, she cannot help but feel left out. A fling under a shower of meteors may not be love, but could be exactly what she needs to shake off the doldrums.
 
But when secrets from Claire's past return to destroy her, her sexy, nerdy fling shows he's not quite what he seems. Is Claire the next of the Yellow Brick Road Gang to find love in an unexpected place?

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

When one of her best friends announces her engagement, Claire Hutchinson feels less than ecstatic. Though she puts on a brave face in front of her girlfriends, the close-knit Yellow Brick Road Gang, Claire can't help wondering when it will be her turn to find love, or more importantly, did she even want a turn? At 43, she's content to be independent, keeping her friends close and her secrets closer. A seemingly random meeting in a video store, however, introduces her to Michael, a sexy geek who seems to know a lot about her. When a death in her estranged family forces her to confront the pain of her past, she discovers there's more to Michael than he lets on and there's much more hidden inside herself than pain. Unfortunately, the interesting premise doesn't save the story from sluggish pacing and predictability; plot twists are easily spotted from a distance, defusing any attempts at suspense. Readers of the first two books will want to find out what happens to the Gang, but others should give this a pass.
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Review

"She proves that love is timeless."--Nora Roberts
 
"She is a remarkable talent."--Rendezvous
 
"The always transfixing O'Day-Flannery builds a new world view with a decidedly spiritual and metaphysical bent. A book that is both emotional and hopeful!"--Romantic Times BOOKReviews on Best Laid Plans
 
"The novel's unapologetic pro woman stance is not just uplifting but downright smart, and the plot is intriguing to the very end."--Publishers Weekly on Best Laid Plans
 
"Twice in a Lifetime is an inspirational novel of love and acceptance that should not be missed."--Romance Junkies
 
"Shifting Love is unique, thrilling and chock-full of emotion, proving O'Day-Flannery is still at the top of her game!"-- Romantic Times BOOKReviews, 4 1/2 stars, on Shifting Love
 
"Shifting Love read like Deb Smith's Alice at Heart crossed with Touched by a (Sexy) Angel. The dual heroes in the book--Julian and Marcus--will leave you guessing until the very end."--Science Fiction Romance
 
"Shifting Love is a tale that is magnificent with vivid storytelling and charm.  It is a powerful creation of fantasy, paranormal and romance that offers so much for so many readers.  It is something that all readers should have on their keeper shelves."--The Road to Romance on Shifting Love

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Tor Paranormal Romance (November 27, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0765354055
• ISBN-13: 978-0765354051
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #940,080 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #64 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Literature & Fiction > Women's Fiction > Friendship

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Angel helps woman to reconcile with her past, March 7, 2008

By 

Helen Hancox "Auntie Helen" (Essex, England) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Old Friends (Yellow Brick Road Gang, Book3) (Mass Market Paperback)

This story is the last in the series about the Yellow Brick Road gang, a group of women whose close friendship supports them as they search for spirituality and find men.

After a rather mawkishly sentimental start (to this British reviewer at least) the story gets going. Claire is 43, a successful investment manager but someone who keeps men away following her experience of being abused by her stepbrother when a child. However when she runs into a man in the video shop she thinks she has picked up a stalker; but Michael is rather more than a man, he's in fact a being from another dimension, and he says he is there to help Claire through a important time in her life. The next day she discovers her stepfather has died and left her some money but also the responsibility of looking after her stepbrother's daughter who is also being abused. Claire finds her life turned completely upside down as she looks after Beth her step-niece, gives up her job and finds another significant event.

The romantic element of this book was actually subsidiary to the story of Claire learning to forgive her parents for their appalling treatment of her as a child. There are some brief forays into discussions of spiritual issues in a rather indistinct and new-agey way but the bulk of the story is about Claire changing her life and confronting her past. Her lover, Michael, didn't actually feature in the book that much and I felt that was rather a weakness in the story.

This was a reasonable read with important subject matter and an interesting take on the world but it felt also rather superficial in places, particularly with regard to the relationship between Claire and Michael, and I was rather surprised at Claire's step-niece's ability to cope with what life had thrown at her and to accept all Claire's help without too much difficulty.

The ending of the book returned to the mawkish sentimentality at the beginning with a very predictable 'big event' during a friend's wedding. However it was an easy enough read and had a little more to it than many other stories in this genre.

Originally published for Curled Up With A Good Book © Helen Hancox 2008