One Day at a Time (LARGE PRINT) [Hardcover]

Danielle Steel (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: DOUBLEDAY LARGE PRINT HOME LIBRARY EDITION~ DELACORTE PRESS (2009)
• ISBN-10: 160751320X
• ISBN-13: 978-1607513209
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.6 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (52 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,101,289 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Danielle Steel has been hailed as one of the world's most popular authors, with over 590 million copies of her novels sold. Her many international bestsellers include 44 Charles Street, Legacy, Family Ties, Big Girl, Southern Lights, Matters of the Heart, One Day at a Time, and other highly acclaimed novels. She is also the author of His Bright Light, the story of her son Nick Traina's life and death.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars One Day at a Time... Danielle Steel Reader's Anon, March 6, 2009

By 

Amy Y. "Tell me, what is it you plan to do wi... (FREMONT, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: One Day at a Time: A Novel (Kindle Edition)

So, true enough that maybe there is nothing special here, nothing particularly tragic or earth-shatteringly life-changing, yada yada. I enjoyed that it was female-centric, introspective and had modern elements(lesbian sister, mother of the protagonist dating a younger man).

I read the occasional Danielle Steel book to be entertained. And entertaiined I was. She is, at least, consistent. I loved the development of the character of Coco in the beginning portion of the book. Maybe I relate too closely to the exasperation and disappointment of particular family members, who knows, but I really enjoyed the character development. I do think Ms. Steel does take a poke at the chi-chi Hollywood set who chooses names like "Coco" for their children and carries about their itty-bitty poochie-woochies.

I dowloaded this book to my kindle and felt it was a decent deal- I likely would not have paid full hardcover price for it.

I think Ms. Steel does an excellent job of capturing those depressing and at times debilitating moments when we realize that we are not all that our parents/family/ourselves wish we were. I love that Coco is a dogwalker and is happy with that, loves her dogs and their individual personalities, shares chinese food with them and somehow makes them seem just all that much more appealing than the human beings by whom she is surrounded.

How much more cliche can you get than the distraught, discombobulated, unkempt dog-walker suddenly confronted with the world-famous, accent-bearing, heart-throb who is staying at her movie producer sister's home where she just so happens to be housesitting? Yes, the accidental and unavoidable meeting of two totally different people, thrown together by fate(or, uh, Ms. Steel- who does happen to be a bit of a romance novelist, heh). They, of course, bond over a dearth of groceries and a bed-nabbing dog.

Like numerous other Steel books, Coco goes on to experience a romance that takes her around the world. Leslie, her movie-star heartthrob, turns out to have a daughter that Coco fall in love with as much as Leslie himself, setting up the picture of what could be a perfect little, ready-made family.

Then, in Italy, an incident brings things to a screeching halt. Coco is reminded of an unpleasant childhood incident that appears to be a dealbreaker for her and Leslie. Coco decides it's just not going to work out- Leslie represents too much of everything that she has always resisted in her Hollywood family- the fame, ambition, lack of privacy...

I don't want to give away more but Coco returns to find that maybe her family isn't quite as judemental as she thought and she is able to find some solace for her broken heart there. Leslie's daughter Chloe ends up being the bridge that brings the destined couple back together again. After all, who can resist the wiles of one of Steel's adorable, never ill-behaved younglings?

Sadly enough, when Coco returns to what her family calls her "shack" in Bolinas, which had been her hideaway where she had kept alive her former lost love, everything has faded and lost it's warmth for her. Steel has her moments of showing us that love transforms both people and places and while Coco's memory of her lost love had been kept a burning ember on the hearth there, the house was still a home and haven. Now, having left behind Leslie, a very real and living love, holding on to the past has lost its lustre.

Sure, maybe it's only worth checking out from the library but I found this read sufficiently entertaining. Hello! It IS a romance novel, not Jane Austen- though, honestly, I think I'd rather read this than some of Austen's stuff. Ha!

Will Coco end up with Leslie? Will she have the family she has so long denied herself through her own beliefs of dispossession. Steel hits the nail on the head that so often what we perceive to be walls between 'us' and 'them' are simply those barriers we have created ourselves. And the thing I enjoy most about Ms. Steel's writing is that she has nothing to prove and in her simple and eloquent way shows that love does, indeed, set us free.

If you are looking for a good romance with some modern elements and not just reams of steamy shower-nozzle masturbation material... this might be a good choice for you. I think most Danielle Steel fans will not be disappointed even if it is not her greatest work ever.

27 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Cookie Cutter Story, Nothing Special, February 27, 2009

By 

LuvsLabs09 "Nunya" (Ca.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: One Day at a Time (Hardcover)

Well, expect the usual Steel repetition. The first 80 pages of the story are about how Coco is the disappointment of her family. Her mom and sister never have anything nice to say about her or her life. It goes on and on.

Enter Leslie (male) a Hollywood movie star, who Coco falls in love with. She doesn't like or want the movie star lifestyle. But, she loves him. She doesn't want to face dealing with the press, but she loves him. She doesn't want to be hounded, but she loves him. On and on, we go again.

Nothing spectacular or tragic happens in this story. You don't finish this book and think to yourself that it was a great story. Anyone could have written it.

I have suspected before that Steel must get paid by the page or words. Its the only thing that makes sense of the constant repetition and lack of substance of her books throughout the last 10 years.

Get this one from the library for free. Not worth buying.

16 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars silly, sappy, soapy,, March 6, 2009

By 

Catherine Wienckowski "film buff" (Smithtown NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: One Day at a Time (Hardcover)

I had not read a Danielle Steele novel in many years and now I see why.
So incredibly unrealistic it was actually painful. Is Danielle really writing this or is a computer program? They reiterated the same sentence over and over. Maybe I was young and stupid when i used to enjoy these books. I think I will go back and read some of her earlier stories to see if it was the same sappy formula of a book.