Plain Jane [Hardcover]

Fern Michaels (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 2001

Back in college, Jane Lewis would have given anything to be like homecoming queen Connie Bryan. Instead, she was just Plain Jane - overweight, frumpy and painfully shy. That was then. Today, a lovely and confident Dr. Jane Lewis has a thriving psychotherapy practice, her own radio talk show, a beautiful old Louisiana mansion, and her affectionate, nutty dog, Olive, to keep her company. The only thing missing is someone to share her life. Jane has never forgotten Michael Sorenson, the boy she had admired from afar in college. Now, he's inspiring her to hope for a future together. She's also never forgotten the brutal, unsolved attack that ended Connie Bryan's life - and that haunts her still. Suddenly, the present collides with the past, as Jane finds clues into the identities of Connie's attackers - clues that send her into a world of risk and excitement, challenging her to become a truly extraordinary woman . . . if she dares.

--This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

New York Times bestselling author Fern Michaels dishes up the fantasy of every awkward, spotty, nerdy young woman who dreams of one day becoming a beautiful swan. Jane Lewis's life is perfect. Isn't it? No longer the overweight, frumpy, painfully shy girl she once was, Jane has it made with a thriving psychiatric practice, a popular radio call-in show, and now the attentions of the hottest boy in high school who has since grown into one seriously seductive man. So what's wrong? Jane is haunted, unable to forget one horrific night in college when she was powerless to protect her friend. And now it appears that Jane's home is haunted, too--for real. Perennial favorite Fern Michaels takes readers for quite a ride with Plain Jane, a suspenseful romance featuring a retired police dog you can't help but love, a couple of crusty crime writers with no need for Viagra, a supportive and oh-so-sexy love interest, and a restless spirit with a need to put the past to rights. A winning combination indeed! --Alison Trinkle

From Publishers Weekly

The newest production by bestselling romantic suspense writer Michaels (Yesterday, etc.) is almost too perfectly summed up by one character's statement: "We have a couple of cans of worms here, and they're wiggling in all directions." The novel opens in 1988 when Jane Lewis, an overweight college student with low self-esteem, and a friend are attacked by a group of men on the Louisiana State University campus. Her friend is gang-raped and commits suicide soon thereafter. Jane promises to keep the rape a secret but, 12 years later, as a successful psychiatrist in Rayne, La., her feelings of guilt are dredged up by a patient she believes could have been one of the attackers. As she tries to unravel his story, Jane confides in her dog, Olive, and in the handsome Dr. Michael Sorenson, an old high school acquaintance and fellow psychiatrist with whom she falls in love. Her eccentric godparents, Trixie and Fred, who write pulp fiction and train police dogs, lend her a helping hand with the detective work. With so many story lines converging, one event appears to follow another in a marching pattern. The workaday prose is dialogue-heavy and overly simplistic--with long sequences spoken to ghosts and dogs that reply with "woof"--and the advice given on Jane's radio talk show, Talk to Me, is slapdash. Michaels turns out novels like the Ford factory turned out Model Ts; this one certainly doesn't break the mold. But that'll be good news for the writer's unflaggingly loyal fans. (Mar.)Forecast: No surprises here: the novel does its job and it'll be a bestseller.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 292 pages
• Publisher: Kensington; Book Club (BCE/BOMC) edition (March 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1575666731
• ISBN-13: 978-1575666730
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.3 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (68 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,138,899 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Fern Michaels is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of Fool Me Once, Sweet Revenge, The Nosy Neighbor, Pretty Woman, and dozens of other novels and novellas. There are over seventy million copies of her books in print. Fern Michaels has built and funded several large day-care centers in her hometown, and is a passionate animal lover who has outfitted police dogs across the country with special bulletproof vests. She shares her home in South Carolina with her four dogs and a resident ghost named Mary Margaret.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Plain Jane, January 31, 2008

By 

Kelly "Reviewer for The Sinfully Sensuous" (Littleton, Colorado) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Plain Jane (MP3 CD)

Fern Michaels is such a superb writer. The characters are very well written, which draws the reader in, and you can't help but become immediately emotionally involved with them and the story.

Jane Lewis grew up to be a strong independent woman who is still haunted by an unsolved death in her past. To be free of the past, she must resolve it. Jane and Mike are perfectly matched old friends that fall in love. Secondary characters Trixie and Fred are well developed and compliment the story well.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Most horrible book I have ever read!!!, January 28, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Plain Jane (Mass Market Paperback)

If I could give this book 0 stars I would. This is the first Fern Micheals book that I have ever read and it will be the last. I couldn't be paid to read anything else from her. I actually had to restrain myself from writing to her about how horrible the book is.

I was insulted by this book from the very beginning. Jane made a comment that She wouldn't let anyone borrow books because of the author's royalties. While this may be a problem Ms. Micheals should have picked a different place to express this.

With the exception of Trixie all of the female charachters were weak! Jane gave up a thriving practice and her radio show because she made one mistake. Then she went from helping people to helping dogs! Okay I could understand Trixie giving up her career for the dogs- that was ample enough people giving up their lives to help animals. Jane should have been stronger and stuck with her profession instead of being a quiter.

Both of the rape victims ended up commiting suicide. It sends a message that everyone who gets raped kills themselves. This is not true. This book would have been 100% better if Ms. Micheals would have shown a survivor. (I don't think there is one fighter in this book with exception to the dogs.)

Jane invited all of the Rapists to her home, knowing that the only protection that she had was a couple of dogs! How stupid is she? Then the book never resovles what happens to these men. Instead it says that Jane doesn't care what happened to them. How could she not care? This was a burdon that she carried around for most of her adult life, and she just didn't care about the outcome?

The thing that bothered me the most was that the book had the potential to be ranked at five stars. If she would have shown a survivor and told what happened to the rapists and gotten rid of one of the sub-plots it could have been better.

Unfurtunately my mother borrowed, yes borrowed, this book before I could shred it and burn it. This was also her first and last book by Fern Micheals- however if it was good she would have probably bought several more books. So maybe Fern Micheals put that little remark in because she knew that she doesn't have what it takes to keep readers. I would suggest that if she were a better writer than she wouldn't have to worry about people borrowing books. She would know that eventually that person would become one of her avid readers.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars didn't like it!, June 6, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Plain Jane (Mass Market Paperback)

This book was really hokey. The author has an odd way of writing that feels very disjointed to me. Also, I didn't like the way that both the rape victims in the story were treated by their significant others. Neither man could supposedly deal with the rape and left them. I am sure this happens sometimes, but I feel it did a diservice to men. Most men do NOT leave their spouse when they are raped or blame their spouse for the rape.