Pretend I'm Not Here [Mass Market Paperback]

Chris Gavaler (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 2, 2002

Spending long, languid weekends in St. Thomas would seem like a dream job for most people. For single, thirty-something Ashley Farrell, however, it comes with the humiliation of having to act as chaperone for the varlous bachelor and bachelorette winners of a popular TV dating show. But this dead-end junket shows signs of new life. Between safeguarding the morals of curvaceous Melissa and voracious Randy and avoiding the diamond-dripping wife of a reputed crime boss, Ashley is attracting the serious attention of a tall, deliciously sexy stranger she met on the airplane. Things are definitely looking up!

Until she discovers a dead bodyguard on the beach...

Until she finds herself surrounded by FBI agents...

Until she is arrested for murder...

And now there's big trouble in paradise for sure!

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Chris Gaveler teaches high school English in Viginia.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: HarperTorch (July 2, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060002530
• ISBN-13: 978-0060002534
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.3 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,361,308 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good Start, July 17, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Pretend I'm Not Here (Mass Market Paperback)

This was a good book, though I would not give it anything higher than a three. The humor was good - I liked the author's style, but the storyline was a little confusing at times and seemed to go around in circles a lot. Her heroine came off more masculine and brave than the hero and for me that was a slight put off - a romantic suspense where I couldn't find anything attractive about the hero! I would definitely buy her next book because I think the author will get better. She has a good start with Pretend I'm Not Here. I just think she needs to reign in the plot better.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not really a romantic suspense, December 1, 2002

By 

ali (Boston, MA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Pretend I'm Not Here (Mass Market Paperback)

Although I generally liked this book, I'm not sure why it was categorized as a "Romantic Suspense" instead of just "Fiction".

The heroine, Ashley, stumbles into a den of intrigue when she finds a dead body in the course of chaperoning the winners of a dating game show. She then splits her time between getting *way* too involved in trying to figure out what actually happened (and jumping to an awful lot of wrong concludions on the way) and trying to convince people that she *didn't* murder the guy.

Overall, the writing was fairly witty and gripping. It was told from the first person, which worked very well for this character, and allowed the reader to know only what Ashley knew. At times the plot really did seem to drag. Several times I thought I had everything figured out, when I realized there was more than half of the book left. But the main character was quite charming, and very self-aware of her own flaws, which made her all the more endearing.

However, I fail to see how this is categorized as a romance. The whole story is spent *chasing* the hero. They spend all of 6 or 8 *hours* together. From what little the reader knows of him, he seems like a good guy. HOwever, there is very little development of him or their relationship. I would instead classify this as a murder mystery or a suspense novel which happens to have a *small* element of romance.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Surprising Gem, September 5, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Pretend I'm Not Here (Mass Market Paperback)

Gavaler is a fine technician of the language, has an eye for detail, a keen sense of humor, a snappy writing style. I loved his characters, especially Ashley, the heroine. But they are all well drawn. Like other reviewers I believe the book was mis-categorized. It's light on the romance (not necessarily a bad thing)and heavy on action and derring-do. I enjoyed the plot's twists and turns. Mystery/thriller better describes this book. Shouldn't it have been issued as a hardback, rather than a checkout counter book? It is surely at least as good as most thrillers published these days.

All in all a worthy first effort. I'd like to see more from this author.