Customer Reviews

Heartless

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

I must as usual, begin my review of Diana Palmer's latest body of work with a "sigh".

To any one who purchased this book and expected to get a new and exciting book...well shame on you. For those of us who purchased this book despite the fact that we already knew the begining, middle and end of the story...well shame on us.

We knew the heroine would be a pale blond, shrinking violet with some sort of handicap ( be it physical or mental)...and we got it.

We knew that the hero would be a dark, brooding, rich, class A jerk...with a yen for younger women ...and we got it.

We knew that thered be missunderstandings, snotty girl friends, and characters who are somehow all related to spanish royality....

and you know what...ladies...we got it.

Diana Palmer delivers as always. And yet the majority of us readers are still miffed.

We should know better by now.

If nothing else at least the story is a little more fleshed out. Although I must say the book was about 50 pages too long for me. But it wasnt as trite and rediculous as the last few books ( please see my review for winter roses and heartbreaker..or anyone elses review for that matter)

After I put the book down, I was frustrated and had a literary break down. WHY WHY, I SCREAMED to the heavens

WHY in jesus's, buhdah, and krishna's name cant this woman come up with a new story line!!!!!

WHY must the heroine always be a simpering ball of lilly liveredness ( except when she single handledly rescues her husband from a dictator... but SHE cant stand up to a waif like model?)

ISNT this the 4th story MS PALMER'S told where the heroine has hooked up with her own stepbrother?

WHY cant the female lead be pretty? (and not just have a pretty mouth and a nice figure with small breasts SEE LAST 8 BOOKS) or is it just the adversary that gets the honor of being beautiful....but then shes usually a mean spirited "man-eater" as ms palmer would phrase it. Is beauty always synonomous with nastyness?

WHEN IS HARLEY FOWELER finally going to get a life, and stop popping up as every book's every man? This poor character has been through more changes then RUPAUL.

DOES she really think we dont see another book comming, but with the dictator in this book being the lead. Didnt she do the same in ONCE IN PARIS AND LORD OF THE DESERT? where the lead character falls in love with the pale blond woman hes confined with and then meets another woman who looks just like her? Do we not see this happening again with this book?

AND LASTLY....WHY DO I KEEP BUYING IT? I keep hoping, upon hope that she will use her powers of romantic writing and create a new story, with new characters, and new hijinks...but she ...just...wont. Why....because MS PALMER AKA SUSAN KYLE ET AL knows that people like me...and those of you who purchased this book despite its preordained plot and characters will continue to buy it.

If thats not heartless....what is?

I am a HUGE DP fan. I've been reading her work for years (since the late 80s) She's given me many hours of pleasurable reading & memorable characters. However, In recent years I have not enjoyed her work because of the veering off into the drug war stuff. If you're a fan, you know what I'm talking about. However, let me say that this book is the best of her recent work. I was pleasantly suprised when I read this one. She took her time developing the characters & I felt myself responding to them as I read along. Praise for Ms Palmer on this one. If you like her old stuff, I think like me, you'll really enjoy this.

The more a man loves you, the angrier he will get with you.

The way to win a fight is to sidestep any question asked and then make your own accusation. Accusations are especially effective if they revolve around the other person wanting someone else, them using you for money, or lying about their past.

A man really wants you if he can't touch you without completely losing control.

It's just "immaturity" to hurt lots of people you care about when you're angry.

Have a PI investigate your loved one's secret past if they don't tell you everything. You have the right to know.

Horniness will almost instantaneously overcome years of abuse and negative sexual programming.

Great sex naturally equals having kids. Great sex also makes any amount of verbal abuse immediately forgivable.

Raising concerns about someone else's actions will "damage" your relationship with them.

Men can "let" women do things like keep their job and drive a car.

Apologizing makes everything better even if you continue to do mean things you have to apologize for.

Words speak louder than actions.

The main character, Gracie, is an incredibly foolish, weak woman. She accepts the hero's anger problem, his drinking, his inability to communicate and his failure to shed an unwanted fiancee because he's too wrapped up in business as "manly" qualities. This stupid woman also excuses the kidnapping villain because he's doing it to raise money for a good cause. She is unable to take care of herself, landing improbable jobs only by her social connections instead of her abilities, moving into a girlfriend's home as a show of "independence" instead of getting her own place and hawks the family jewels to pay for a clunker of a car that doesn't even make it through the entire story. She also chooses to remain trapped in archaic attitudes about sex, instilled by her sexually abused mother, that are improbable in this sex-saturated culture...."oh, it's going to hurt and men only get off if the woman suffers so I'm afraid of sex."

The other annoyance is the inconsistencies in the story: the ranch and house are located on separate properties at the beginning of the book, then on the same property at the end of the book. The author also communicates Gracie's delusion that the hero supposedly only got drunk twice since she had known him, but, wait, he recently got so drunk he wasn't sure whether or not he had slept with a swimsuit model. Later he traps another character in the men's room of a bar. The bartender tells Gracie that he can't do anything with him when he gets like that (drunk and violent)...and he got that way because he was offended by a comment about his hat!

Thankfully, women are not typically this stupid and men are not typically this pathetic. This dumb bunny gets what she deserves.

First, I want to say that I bought this book because I was bored and wanted an old-fashioned romance novel to curl up with. I was looking for an author I hadn't read before and I have to say that I doubt I'll ever read another of Diana Palmer's books again.

The description of this product on this site laid it out pretty honestly and it kind of put a grin on my face: "Palmer, a romance veteran, knows how to concoct a savory chicken-fried love plot, but sometimes the gravy's laid on a little too thick." Never were there words truer spoken.

The 'love' scenes were a little ridiculous, truthfully. I actually had to stop reading it for a little while because I was a bit put off with it. Example (p 253)..."feel me exploding inside of you!"

Just...no. I'm all for the romance stories out there--I harbor a secret love for them, in fact. But this was laid on a little too thick for me.

And when I re-read the book, I realized how big of a jerk Jason is and that Gracie really is a doormat. It's kind of sad, really. He hired a private investigator to dig up the truth about her past because she was holding things back from him on top of essentially calling her incompetent and she just forgives him? I felt like banging my head against the wall.

This book was thoroughly disappointing. I wish Amazon would allow half-point reviews because I didn't feel that it necessarily deserved only one star, but then again, it really doesn't deserve two, either.

Unless I am desperate, I highly doubt that I will ever purchase another Diana Palmer book again. One bad apple spoils the bushel...

Well. Don't know where to start about 'Heartless' which, thank goodness, was such a quick read I zoomed through it in about four hours. That being said, I wasn't overly disappointed or impressed with it-- more bemused. The plot was so strange in parts and unbelievable and the main characters were simply odd. Though I did like parts of the story... If you don't like *****SPOILERS***** don't read this review- there are a few her though basically, the back of the novel summed it up too so...

Here is what I learned from Heartless:

If you own a big ranch in Texas and you're antisocial, you'll make friends with movie stars and famous athletes that will help you to win over computer geeks.

If you ever get kidnapped and taken to Mexican, no worries, just make your kidnapper fall in love with you... "splash" across the Rio Grande and escape.

If you want to snag a millionaire, take him home drunk, get naked and curl up beside him. Hide your birth control pills to get a ring. Then show him your birth control pills but insist you still marry him.

If you get engaged to a millionaire you've known for week but still haven't slept with, be sure to get his keys from him, fly to his mansion in Texas and rearrange his life. Make sure you fire his staff, sell his heirlooms and furniture and destroy his family.

If you have a BA in History and have no job experience in your late 20's, don't you worry, just get a job at a college and be a professor. If you teach adults at night- that's all they need!

If you are a poor girl living in a millionaire's home and you ever find yourself on the streets, you should definitely take your servants with you, move in with your middle class friends and make sure they hire your staff.

If you ever want to prove your independence as a woman, be sure to live with your friends for free, sell your mother's jewelry to buy a car, and cry a whole bunch.

If you ever get drugged and kidnapped by Mexican ex-druglords and wake up to find yourself bound and gagged in a third world country camp- look to the brighter side of things: there might be some Mayan people there and you can learn about their culture!! (Yippy!!)

If your car ever breaks down on a bridge, take heed, because if you don't notify your bizarre stepbrother, everyone will assume you've jumped into the icy river below and drowned.

If you've lived in your family home for over a decade and a swimsuit model shows up, engaged to your stepbrother and threatens you, be sure to leave without question or rights and don't stand up to her. Also, leave your best clothing behind because that makes a statement.

It is totally normally when your stepbrother is so depressed over your sexual rejection of him that he gets drunk in a local bar, locks someone in a bathroom and tries to feed his hat to them. But no worries, when you show up and collect him, he'll follow you like a puppy. (AWE!!)

If someone ever heroically rescues you from a third world country kidnapping, be sure not thank him, forget him immediately and pretend that you were dropped off on the side of the road. Be sure not to let anyone know who the true hero of the story is or what he did for you. Also, throw yourself into the arms of your stepbrother when you get back home.

If you're related to anyone wealthy and you live in Texas within five hours of the border, do NOT drive your wealthy family's old beat up sports car because you will get recognized by international kidnappers and taken hostage for ransom.

If you've suffered a traumatic abusive childhood and you're subjected to the prospect of S&M style sexual abuse, you should definitely keep it a secret UNTIL you meet a Mexican crime lord who has abducted you, drugged you and taken you to a third world country. Then you should immediately spill your guts to him and feel lots better. After all, you can relate to him, yes? Who couldn't?

Last but not least... be sure when the love of your life comes to his senses and begs you to be his wife and to build a home and future with him that you refuse and hold on to your shards of independence. Because living with your friends, driving that clunker and teaching night school is everything you've ever wanted and you're proving something by being stubborn.

I thought the story was lame. All the issues and problems were perfectly resolved. Even when Gracie was kidnapped. the kidnapper turned out to be so kind and her escape was so perfect. It just didn't keep you guessing, it was so pathetic it's hard not t guess what was going to happend. The sex scenes were very explicit, I've read very nice romance books and the goods ones never really got into that much detail. Overall I would not recommend it.

This was a truly terrible book, which thankfully I didn't spend a dime on. The first couple of Diana Palmer books I read were decent, but lately they have gotten just terrible and this one was no exception. Neither character was likable and the heroine was basically developmentally delayed yet somehow manages to land a teaching job at a community college with no masters degree. If Diana Palmer had bothered to spend 5 minutes researching that, she would know that that is not only unlikely, but illegal. Consequently, this is the last DP book I will ever read. If she won't waste her time doing research or creating semi-realistic, likable characters, so I won't waste my time reading her books.

I had not read a Diana Palmer book in years. Now I remember why. Don't waste your time or money. Gracie was stupid and a doormat. Jason was bad tempered and mean. Were the kidnappings to show how sweet Gracie was? Even the kidnapper fell in love with her. The swimsuit model added a lot of drama to the story. Please!!

I bought this book on a whim and am seriously regretting it. It was just horrible. The writing sucks, the dialogue is at times ridiculous, and the characters are so friggin anoying that you end up hoping bad things happen to them. And the author keeps using nonsense analogies like "black as diamonds" or "the flames dancing like sugarplumbs." Now, how in the heck can flames dance like sugarplumbs? Do not buy this book!