Customer Reviews

Hello, Gorgeous! (The Gorgeous Series, Book 1)

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

 

 

When I was reading this book, it seemed to me that Mary Janice Davidson had some copies of her Undead series and some Bionic Woman screenplays sitting on her desk. What must have happened is that she knocked both of them into an industrial paper shredder, then frantically taped together the resulting pieces and presented them as her latest novel. I love the Undead series, and am passably fond of her werewolf books, but this one was inexcusable. If you feel you must read everything MJD puts out, for the love of God, borrow Hello Gorgeous from someone. Otherwise, you might as well take $14 out of your wallet and throw it out your car window as you speed along the freeway.

OK, I'm a huge MJD fan & have all of her books but I have to say I'm dissapointed in this latest release. Spanning only 194 pages, in large font, & with blank pages between every chapter it felt like she'd written a short anthology style story and the publisher needed to make a few bucks so they slapped some coming attractions in the back and an inflated price on the front. The story is still good beside the length however 3 of the main characters seem almost exact replicas of the 3 main characters in her Undead series. Instead of Betsy you have blonde slightly ditzy Caitlyn. Sinclair, Undead's dark brooding hero, is renamed Dmitri. And the black in control bestfriend is renamed Stacey instead of Jessica. Sure the dialogue is still extremely witty and funny, but we read MJD because she has fresh ideas and doesn't churn out rehashed, repetative driffle. Don't get me wrong I still have the next undead book safely tucked away for pre-order where it has lived for months. But I may wait and read the reviews on anything new she has coming up. Oh & BTW, the bit on the front cover about Manolo Blahnik's? (Hello, also very Betsy Undead!) It's just a teaser to get you to buy the book! No shoes were either mentioned nor harmed in the printing of this book.

I pick up any book that has Ms. Davidson's name on the cover. Her stories are always fresh and new and her unique voice is one that stands out among the romance genre.

Ms. Davidson has done it again and wrote a story outside the lines (in this case think modern bionic woman) including her tradmark wit and humor. This was a fast-paced read but I do have a complaint in the fact that I felt it might have been a bit too short. Otherwise this was a great read that I managed to put away in one sitting.

Caitlyn James has died and gone to Minnesota??? Yup, that's right she has died and been "fixed" in a secret lab in Minnesota. She has been fixed with nanobytes and can now jump building in a single leap, throw the bad guys across the room, and scan things. What she can't do is turn her back on the technology that she's toting around. The Boss (yes, that's his name...) won't let her. Caitlyn won't take no for an answer and goes back to her old life as hairstylist and colorist. But no matter how hard she tries life just isn't the same. Shoot, she can't even get drunk anymore! Than at one party Tall Dark and Yummy (aka Yummypants) walks in and out of her life in a blink. Before she knows it she is working one more case for The Boss that pairs these two people up. A killer is on the loose and its killing the team that put Yummypants and Caitlyn together with their computer parts. (all part of the story...trust me) Her job is to catch the baddie and than...well, who knows at this point. What she doesn't count on is falling for Dmitri (aka Yummypants...see he did have a name) and him finding her...well, to use a tired word...yummy. Will they be able to find the killer before he kills the last memeber of the team?

Again this was a fun read. Caitlyn and Dmitri were a good pairing but they weren't together that much. I would have like to have seen their relationship develope a little more than it did. Ms. Davidson's trademark wit and humor is in abundance as is the sensuality she is known for. Overall this was a good read but could have been great if it had a few more pages worth of development. In the end this is a read that I would not suggest you miss. Especially if you are a fan of this very talented author.

Official Reviewer for www.romancedesigns.com

Let me say one thing first: I like MaryJanice Davidson's work. I really do. I enjoyed the U&U series (I don't think it's hardback-worthy, but that's another story), I enjoyed the short stories, I even got a giggle out of "The Royal Treatment". Davidson's books are like literary candy; light, sweet, and fun.

Which makes the disaster that is "Hello, Gorgeous!" that much more tragic. "Gorgeous" is the story of Caitlyn James, hair-salon owner and ex-sorority girl, who awakens from a violent car crash to discover that she's been "infected" with government-issue nanotechnology that has turned her into a lethal weapon - a modern-day "Bionic Woman". She's none too happy about it, either, since it brings her under the auspices of the cold-eyed bureaucrat "The Boss", who wants her to become a secret assassin. When a killer targets members of the "Wagner team" - the scientists who "created" Caitlyn - Caitlyn meets the mysterious and sexy cyborg Dmitri and the two must race the clock to find the real murderer.

Davidson could have done so much with the idea of a feisty, unstoppable cyborg who just wants to live a normal life. But "Gorgeous" reads like a high-school creative-writing project done by someone who just wanted to get it over with. The characters are straight out of the U&U books and "The Royal Treatment" - cute but foul-mouthed heroine with paranormal powers, dark, brooding, and "yummy" love interest, sassy black best friend. The characters are shallow, the plot rushed, and the action all but nonexistent. Within a few pages of their first meeting, Caitlyn and Dmitri are flying off to his Eastern European castle and a few pages later having hot, graphic sex. The mission - saving the Wagner team - takes up a short chapter or two near the end of the book, and then the cyborg lovers are winging their way back to the castle to get married (?!?). Oh, and Caitlyn's friend Stacy meets "The Boss" when he crashes her party, they have sex shortly thereafter, and then fall in love. And let's not forget the way Caitlyn's hair changes color every chapter (you'd think a hairstylist would know better, but whatever). None of Davidson's books are exactly weighty, but "Gorgeous" isn't even featherweight. If her other books are candy, this one can best be compared to those candy-flavored perfumes - fake sweetness and no substance. You get the feeling "Gorgeous" was done solely because of a contractual obligation.

My advice? Don't waste money on "Hello, Gorgeous!", get it from the library.

I enjoy Davidson's breathless, chick-lit vampire books. Hello, Gorgeous is fluffier, more whipped, and devoid of almost all plot.

We're told by her friends that the heroine is the smartest thing ever in the history of her sorority, but we don't see it. She has no curiousity, and little love of anything outside her small circle.

The plot was mildly interesting, but the cartoon-like dialogue wasn't worth the trip. I'm going back to the "Undead and..." books.

I love Davidson's work but I only get her from the library now. Why? Because her publisher, editor, the powers that be, the mighty oz, WHOEVER it is...slaps these too-short, too much white space, big ole font things together that, fun as they are to read, just flat out aren't worth the price tag. The story of this one...not her best. The thing is, it's funny and fun and as long as I don't have to part with money for it, worth the time to read.

Oh yeah, that's the "Undead" series. This was just like one of the "Undead" books, only not as funny. The main characters were almost carbon copies from the other series.

Still a fun read, but I'm glad I checked it out from the library.

I really enjoyed this book. Was it worth the price tag - no. If the book had sold for 6.99 I would be giving it a higher score. The characters are funny, but you feel like you're missing something. Like drinking fuzzy water - where is the taste/flavor. Sure it was fun to drink but afterwards you're really thirsty. I liked the Boss and the best friend, they almost overshadowed the heroine. The hero (I can't even remember his name,just that he was tall, dark haired, wealthy and some sort of royalty) was underdeveloped. The heroine, came off as another whiny, white girl. After a while you start to say how difficult could your life really be: you have super powers, a great body, and you own your own business. Just shut up and go do the work. Stacy (the friend) finally shuts her up when she reminds her nothing in life is free. Stacy needs her own book (and a trip to AA).

Hello, Gorgeous! is a huge disappointment for this MaryJanice Davidson fan. Don't Waste a Dime on this book!

The basic plot & character elements are there, and this should have been a fun, refreshing twist in the chick lit genre. But it reads like a first very preliminary draft that never was fleshed out into a more solid plot. The characters are weak and annoying.

If I read the word "yummy" one more time I was going to throw this book across the room!

This is like a very weak cup of a delicious gourmet coffee. You KNOW how good it *should be*, but it's not. It's unsatisfying and you expect alot more and are totally disappointed.

If you started reading MaryJanice Davidson's books by reading this one first you might think she's the dullest author this side of anywhere. But it's just this book that's stupid, dumb, dull, boring with sex thrown in to get a publisher to think the story is worthwhile. Most of the other books have better plots and are more fun. If you need to read everything she ever wrote(and I'm finding out there are a lot of those)get this from the library instead of buying it. Trust me on this, once is enough.