Customer Reviews

Lawman [With Earbuds] (Playaway Adult Fiction)

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

Somethings you can almost always count on in a Diana Palmer book: 1) the heroine is naive and innocent and usually virginal 2)the heroine is at least 10 but more like 15 years younger than the hero 3) the hero treats her like dirt and 4) the heroine loves him anyway. Unfortunately, Diana Palmer's latest, Lawman, doesn't break from the author's pretty standard formula.

Grace Carver (the last name must be a sick joke) survived a horrifying assault when she was only 12 years old. Grace's grandmother, a truly mean and vicious woman, raised her and let Grace know quite clearly how much she didn't love her. Despite this, Grace was devoted to her in the extreme before the old woman died. Grace herself is almost sickeningly sweet and self sacrificing. In fact, she seems to make a habit of loving people who treat her terribly.

FBI agent Garon Grier moves to town and begins working on a serial child rapist and murder mystery that has remained unsolved for over ten years. Garon meets his neighbor Grace quickly after his arrival. He tries to persuade himself that he isn't interested in this "frumpy" young girl, but her goodness and sweetness eventually win him over- after he is continuously rude, obnoxious and mostly indifferent to her for quite a while.

One of the biggest problems I had with the book is Garon. For me, he crossed the line of acceptable behavior that I'm willing to forgive. He lets Grace believe that they are beginning this relationship, but then brushes her off without explanation, hoping she'll just take the hint. When the naive girl doesn't get it at first, he cruelly humiliates her on more than one occasion in front of the town by yelling at her not to stalk him and screaming at her that he doesn't want her and that they are through.

Another problem I had with Garon is that he was just really dense. He was supposed to be this smart, hotshot FBI agent, but it took him WAY too long to figure out who the child rapist and murder was when it was COMPLETELY obvious. And the fact that he kept brushing off Grace's behavior (baggy clothing, nightmares, extreme fear of men and her refusal to allow any men to touch her) as just some "inappropriate" touching when she was a child and not a big deal, was extremely upsetting for me. This guy was just an idiot. And mean. If he had been a little smarter, had the mystery not been so very obvious and had Garon treated Grace much more kindly, then Lawman would have been a good (typical, but good) Diana Palmer book. As it was, I just could not understand why this girl would fall in love with someone like that. He had basically no redeeming qualities.

She wasn't pretty... but...
Now imagine that line throughout this book. The heroine is frumpy and not pretty, but her inner goodness and warmth makes the hero hungry for her touch.
Grace, our frumpy heroine was raped and mutilated one night when she was twelve. She was able to survive and lived with her mean grandmother. (Granny is mean because of the guilt but soon dies so she gets hers in the end). Twenty-Four years old Grace doesn't drink, which she calls alcohol "spirits", works two jobs to support her granny and hates men. Now the man hating part is understandable because of her past trauma. She wears baggy clothes and can't stand any male to touch her. But the fact that she is so innocent may grate on some nerves. It did mine. But hey, she lives in a small town where everyone is wholesome and kind, so in a strange way it makes sense.
Enter her neighbor and soon to be lover Garon who works for the FBI. He is investigating a serial child killer. He is hard nosed, cold and doesn't want marriage or kids because something that had happened in his past. He assumed Grace is looking for a kind and marriage-minded man. BUT, that doesn't stop him from kissing her and getting to know her in more intimate ways.
When Garon is not trying to find the psycho killer, he does a constant see-saw with Grace. One minute he wants her then the next he is accusing her of stalking him in front of the whole town. He simply freaks out after having sex with her a few times because he just knows she will fall in love with him and want to get married! **GASP**
Palmer again missing the mark with the over the top cold hero and the amazing innocence of the heroine regardless of the trauma she went through. Garon is so verbally abusive to Grace; he needs a good slap across his face. He honestly thinks she isn't that bright, but does a turn around when she comes out and starts speaking Arabic because she knows it as a second language. HUH?!?! That must have been some home-school!
The side mystery plot about the serial killer lacks any suspense and is dull. The whole love story between Garon and Grace was stretching some major realism.
This book is the ultimate pass.

Katiebabs

Others have reviewed the plot line, so I'll skip rehashing it. My problem with this book concerned several areas-mainly editing, character believability and plot development. Ms. Palmer needs to get a better editor. Aside from the Tess error, there were little things. For instance at Grace's grandmother's funeral she is given 4 lbs of coffee and she can't drink it for medical reasons (it is insinuated). Yet she drinks coffee in the rest of the book. Garon keeps referring to Grace at 24 as an old maid/spinster. I believe the average age right now that women in the US get married at is about 23.9. Not to be petty, but you rarely hear the word spinster or old maid anymore.
A big problem with the book was the portrayal of Grace Carver (as one reviewer said--a very poor choice for a last name) and Garon Grier as a couple. It really stretched the imagination. Grier is a hotshot lawman and he can't figure out Grace has been raped? Not to mention brutally raped? And he dismisses the most obvious suspect. Heck, I knew it was him right away and I'm certainly no hotshot lawman! Grace, is not exactly believable as a character. She was brutally attacked at 12. She suffered from cruelty when going to school. Didn't go to college, but at the end we are suppose to believe she speaks flawless Arabic and several other languages because she has a photographic memory? Arabic is a really tough language to learn visually let alone speaking it! She and Garon make love and it is wonderful for her. I'm sorry, but this slaps women who have been raped in the face. Here is this 24 year old who has had no counseling, no family support, has been ostracized by some of the town and has lived with an abusive grandmother -- and she is suddenly cured of her fear of sex by overwhelming passion for Garon? And Garon sees the marks on her and he doesn't figure out that they were made by a knife?
And what are the odds that both Cash Grier and Garon Grier would marry women who had been abused and raped as children?
On a positive note, I thought Ms. Palmer's writing was better than some of her more recent books. She tends to use certain phrases like "her eyes clung like ivy to him" over and over in a book. I didn't notice that tendency in this book. She also tends to have horrible fashion sense in her books--dressing characters in outmoded colors/clothes by passe designers. This book was much better with the clothing! I liked Garon and Grace, but would like to see Ms. Palmer quit with the Big Strong Man suffers horrendous hurt and distrusts all women and the Poor Little Trod Upon Girl wanting to be a whole woman falls in love and is willing to endure anything for love formula that she uses.
Her characters in themselves can be fascinating and watching their growth can be fun. BUT there is no excuse for the Big Strong Man and Weak Little Woman formula to be so tired and careworn as it is in this HARDCOVER book (this was better suited as a Harlequin romance book). Grace and Garon never had a lot of chemistry between them. Although I think the book with Cash and Tippy Grier was not as well written as this one, there was chemistry between the two of them that started with the Judd/Chrissie book.
Sorry for the length of my complaints, but Ms. Palmer frustrates me greatly as she has written some really good romance books and then she puts this out in hardcover and to be honest it is not worth the price!

I finished "Lawman" and believe me that wasn't easy. (I did a lot of skimming) It is embarrassing from start to finish. I have read several of Diana Palmer Books but this one goes beyond all reason. I thought "Hunter" (another of DP Books)was cruel but finally redeemable but Garon is over the top stupid. I'm sorry but Grace isn't far behind. The first couple chapters she smart mouths him at every turn and he hasn't done anything yet. (I could feel sorry for all she had been through but still her character let a lot of questions)Later in the book, her character is described as genius and she knows all these languages. Where did she learn them? Supposedly she hasn't been out of her Grandmothers house except for the couple jobs she works at so where did she get all this knowledge? She is genius but doesn't know or even suspect she's pregnant. H-m-m-m! Then there are all the secrets. I think the book should be renamed (Secrets). Even Garon's brother doesn't know he had a wife he lost to cancer. Come on now! Then Grace markets a Business out of Garon's home and he knows nothing about it?? The whole book is just not believable. I'm usually not this critical but this one really got on my nerves. I have DP's "Outsider" and "Before Sunrise"on my shelf and have read them a couple times and her Alpha Males aren't nearly as cruel or stupid. I think you can still have the Alpha Male without him being quite so cruel. Then it would be nice to have a new heroine who is perhaps a little closer in age to the hero of the book. How many books with this scenario can we read? It's time for a change. Even the dialogue in this book between the characters was difficult to read. IT is just a very disappointing book!

I can't believe this book was even printed, let alone that I actually bought it and MADE myself finish it! I even spent some time online searching for some sign that this was written in the 80's and was just reprinted with some gratuitous mention of e-mail and cell phones. The banter was straight out of some cheesy b-movie. That's not the worst of it...

Garon had NO redeeming qualities whatsoever. He thinks Grace is an unattractive, frumpy spinster even after getting to know her. Despite his better judgment he begins to date her and eventually sleeps with her only to break it off quickly after he realizes he's embarrassed to be seen in public with her. "A quiet, clinging woman who couldn't relate to him intellectually wasn't going to fit into his world." Can you imagine the person you care about thinking that about you after multiple dates and sex?! That's just embarrassing!! But poor, dumb Grace just doesn't get it so (for her sake) he proceeds to publicly humiliate the emotionally unstable little female in her hometown. His cruelty is unforgivable. Truly, it was that bad.

Trying to like EITHER of these two was excruciatingly difficult. Grace is mind-numbingly unappealing as a person. She's apparently so fragile in mind and spirit that the entire town has to take care of her. She has lived a sheltered existence rotting away in her mean grandmother's house. And yet, inexplicably at the end of the book she is a member of MENSA, a successful business woman, and an expert linguist....yeah, right!

I won't even mention the serial killer plot that is a part of the story except to say that I don't think such graphic details about crimes against children have a place in ANY fiction book let alone a damned stupid ROMANCE novel! I can't even express how many times this book pissed me off. There's even a part of the book where Garon discovers that Grace is pregnant (before she does) just by brushing against her 'hardened swollen belly' when she's just 1 month pregnant. PUH-lease!!!

I did, and am very glad as this one is not a keeper for me. I really enjoyed the book up until Garon put in motion his plan to make Grace back off. Then he turned into one of the nastiest, cruelest heroes Palmer has ever written (and there have been many jerks in her past books, believe me). I never really recovered from that, and felt like Grace let him back into her life too easily. Palmer should have made him grovel and beg for forgiveness! Anyway, it is definitely not worth the hardback price, and I personally wouldn't recommend paying paperback price for it, either. If you are a fan and just HAVE to read it, check it out for free. Just remember not to through it against the wall (like I wanted to several times)!

I rarely take the time to write reviews as I feel that people should take the time to experience the book for themselves and make their own judgements. However, this was one of the worst books I have ever read in my entire life and felt the need to share my thoughts. There were so many things wrong with this book, that I'm having a hard time pin-pointing the worst part of it. Was it the terrible writing-style of the author, the inconsistencies in the book, or the abusive male-character?

Many times throughout the book, the author repeated the same line. Does she think that three pages later that the reader has already forgotten....or has she already forgotten that she has already mentioned this many times before? It is very frustrating as you would think with proofreading and editing, somebody would catch these very frustrating editing glitches. In addition, the book just does not flow smoothly. I had a very hard time picking the book back up.

We are told that Grace is not educated and has had to work two jobs to support her ailing grandmother, has never traveled outside of her small town....but somehow starts speaking fluent Arabic. Seriously? The author makes no attempt to explain this other than to have us assume that God has all of a sudden bestowed this gift upon this girl for no apparent reason. This is just one of the many, many ridiculous things that pop up in the book with absolutely no explanation from the author.

I may not be the expert on romance novels, but can't believe that anybody would find this to be romantic in any sense. The male character, Garon, is verbally abusive and plain out obnoxious. He thinks he's God's gift to women and treats Grace like dirt. She spends a good part of the book chasing him around begging for any attention he will give her. Seriously, this is somebody's idea of a romance novel?

If you've ever watched one of those terrible talk-shows where a woman's begging a very abusive boyfriend to take her back and you've spent the hour thinking how pathetic the whole scene is.....I'd say you just got a really good preview of the book.

Read the more negative reviews, they cover the plot well and what they say is all true. But don't Diana Palmer readers know what to expect from her by now? I don't know why it is, but after reading the latest Vampire erotica, I come back to Diana Palmer and find her to be far more kinky than any other author out there.
Yes there are many holes in the plot, yes the hero is a even bigger jerk than most of her other heros (and I can think of only one who wasn't a total jerk!). I guess I got the heartrending I was seeking when our hero shouted at the heroine in front of everyone at the fishing hole, and I loved the scene where the entire town (cleverly bringing in some old favorite characters) turned against the hero. That is the kind of classic Romantic emotion I read Diana Palmer for, and I will enjoy re-reading this book again.

As a romance reader, some of the limitations of the genre are also its comforts: familiar stock characters with maybe an interesting twist or two, plot structures that follow the classic patterns, an easy read that is not that challenging so I am not complaining about the fact that there are those qualities in LAWMAN. But there is a real high level of avoidance caused by disbelief at how lame the writing is-- this is a bad book...

I have read Diana Palmer's books for years and some of her earlier ones I re-read every once in a while...her writing more than almost any of the other high-selling romance writers varies so much from book to book that I sometimes wonder if there is a rotating team of "Diana Palmers" who get assiged a plot idea to flesh out by the publisher every 18 mo or so....

this new book --LAWMAN -- is just an embarrasment---there are so many inconsistencies with characterization and smaller plot details as other posters have mentioned ... the fact that Grace's barriers to relationships/romance are totally overcome without any real inner struggles just demeans anyone who has gone thorough that type of actual experience with the same problems... but the HUGH errors in police procedural info is just MINDBLOWING---

I don't know if/when/where Palmer did any research on what actually is the duty of an FBI agent or even a city detective but even someone who only watches Without A Trace or The Closer would be able to write a better book....her publisher and editing team should just send a big apology to anyone who has read this book and to police/FBI offices in San Antonio at least...

to think that law enforcement would wait until an autopsy to look for "trace evidence" ( which is suggested very strongly in the narrative) is just stupid...the way that she has the city detective ask for help from the FBI is stupid...if a detective is trying to get reembursed for water he buys while on duty, that is really stupid...would a company reemburse an employee for a soft drink bought on coffee break??? Get real

the way she decides to have the male lead FBI agent work alone is stupid...the idea that they would fail to do a background check on someone like the man with the gloves they interviewed who said he maybe saw the girl being abducted and practically wears the word "SUSPECT" on his forehead is another lame plot device that is supposed to be subtle and definitely isn't. That and a host of others prove Palmer does not respect the intelligence of her readers...without finishing the book
(which I certainly am not) I feel pretty certain he is going to be the villan (beside the dead grandmother of course)...

I feel stupid for just reading as much as I have--it's going back to the library today for another sucker to check it out...

Just glad I did not spend money to buy LAWMAN and don't think I will be reading any more....just too embarassing to read something I can't respect even as a guilty pleasure...

Garon as a FBI agent is too much of a leap of faith. He totally misses the serial killer, even though the guy was probably wearing a tshirt that said "SERIAL KILLER IN MY SPARE TIME". He dismisses the obvious signs of Grace's trauma as just a little inappropriate touching. And then he acts like the biggest jerk because he can't tell the girl that he just screwed that it was a one-night-stand only. This ball-less wonder was just not believable as a hero. I hated him and wanted her to find some other guy before the book was done. Maybe even the serial killer. Grace is the typical Palmer herione, very isolated, never travelled, yet oddly talented in the last thing you'd expect to find in a small town in Texas (why would she even study arabic?). I actually don't mind the whole me-strong-man, you-weak-woman storyline that Palmer usually delivers but I have to see SOME kind of redeeming qualities in the hero. This time I did not. And a note to the author, leave out those odd little touches that just confuse the reader. The whole thing about Grace speaking arabic and making dolls secretly. That is just weird.