Pretty Woman: A Novel [Abridged, Audiobook] [Audio CD]

Fern Michaels (Author), Laural Merlington (Reader)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 3, 2004

Rosie Gardener Bliss loses her best friend and business partner Vickie Winters the day she marries sweet-talking Kent Bliss in Savannah, Georgia. Vickie tried to warn Rosie that Kent is a handsome womaniser who's only marrying her for her money, but Rosie refuses to listen. She believes Vickie is jealous. Over-weight Rosie is getting married while slim Vickie remains single. Three years later on her wedding anniversary Rosie, who has gained fifty pounds during her miserable marriage, decides she's had enough of Kent. For three years he's ignored her, insulted her, cheated on her and spent her hard-earned money. When he arrives four hours late for their anniversary dinner, she kicks him out of the house. The next morning she discovers one of the five lottery tickets a gas station attendant suggested she buy bears the winning numbers in the USD302 million lottery. She won the jackpot! The only problem is Rosie's husband Kent suspects she has the winning ticket. Furious and bitter about the way Kent has treated her, Rosie denies possessing the winning ticket. She'd rather not claim the money at all than see the man who's used and abused her get half of the money. But Kent, a man ruled by avarice, sets up a plan to get his half of the jackpot or perhaps all of it. As Rosie struggles to regain her self-esteem by losing weight and getting physically fit, reconciling with her old friend Vickie, standing up to her soon-to-be-ex-husband, and falling in love with her trainer, she learns about forgiveness and what makes a person truly wealthy.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Rotund Rosie Bliss, née Gardener, is miserable. She has known all along that her husband married her for her money—she runs a successful mail-order business, Nature's Decorations—but she has always lacked the courage to do anything about it. She even lost her best friend and business partner, Vickie, over the truth. In a rare show of spine, Rosie throws out the sorry Kent when he misses their third anniversary dinner. Kent isn't sorry to leave ("You're nothing but a fat pig with big feet"), but he slinks back the next day when he discovers that Rosie has won the lottery—a $302 million jackpot. As she fights to keep Kent's hands off her windfall and resolves to become the pretty woman he never saw in her, Rosie is cheered on by wonderful trainer Jack Silver, housekeeper Luna Mae, and Vickie, with whom Rosie renews her friendship. Kent schemes alternately to get Rosie back and to steal from her, but ends by almost believably growing up, even seeing her transformation as an inspiration for his own necessary changes. Rosie, however, isn't waiting around for him. The concluding triathlon, in which Michaels's likable heroine shows her stuff, is a strong finish to a frothy read. (Apr.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Despite owning her own successful business, Rosie has lived for the approval of her husband, Kent, who never approves. He spends her money lavishly, sleeps in a separate bed, and takes every opportunity to inform Rosie how ugly and overweight she is--until she kicks him out without a cent. Kent is not happy. He is even less so when he suspects that Rosie has purchased a winning lottery ticket worth $302 million. Rosie, shocked she has won, hides the ticket. She has some decisions to make. Rosie wins back an old friend, expands her business, gets a dog, and hires Jack, a fitness trainer. Kent casts a long shadow over Rosie's life and her burgeoning relationship with Jack, but as Rosie's self-esteem grows, even Kent bows before her. Although readers may take issue with Michaels' definition of fat, fans will still love her newest romance, with its animated characters and exploration of the possibilities of inner strength. Maria Hatton
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Audio CD
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio; Abridged edition (August 3, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743536258
• ISBN-13: 978-0743536257
• Product Dimensions: 5.7 x 5.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (31 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,020,031 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

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars ANNOYING!!!, November 26, 2005

By 

phoenix102874 - See all my reviews

This review is from: Pretty Woman (Hardcover)

OK, in the prologue the main character accuses her best friend of being jealous because she's 25 pounds heavier but she's the one getting married.

The friend is a size six. The heroine is a size 14.

That's a 25 pound difference? I don't think so!

Then, three years later, the heroine struggles out of bed and hugs her knees... no mean feat for a size 16 woman! (GASP! The horror! Call Greenpeace, NOW!) She looks in the mirror and sees nine rolls of fat flowing down her body... she's HUGE! She's a BLIMP! (Never mind that the average size of women in the U.S. is a 14.)

We hear her moaning about how much weight she's gained since she got married... and yup, on page 65 she says of her marriage, "I was so miserable, I started to eat. As you can see, I packed on fifty-five pounds."

WOW! She put on 55 pounds and only went from a size 14 to a size 16? I'm soooo jealous!!!

The author's insistence that a size 16 marks a woman as a candidate for blimphood is annoying. The inconsistencies I noted above detract from what could otherwise be an enjoyable book. C'mon, you want to write a fat story? Write about a LARGE woman... size 26, size 28. NOT a woman who's a size 14/16.

They say "write what you know". Obviously this author doesn't have a clue. The least she could have done was look up some facts and tried to make this heroine's "weight problem" a little believable. (I can't imagaine a size 16 woman with 9 rolls of fat hanging off her body; that is, unless she's about 3 feet tall! Hey, maybe that's it! The heroine is a midget & the author forgot to tell us!)

I also, can't, stand the way she sticks, commas, into her sententences: randomly. Bad punctuation; sucks!!!

And no, I can't overlook these errors and "just enjoy the story"; it's like getting a salad at a restaurant with a big old hair in it & being told to "Just enjoy it! It tastes good anyway, right?"

WRONG!!!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars My first and LAST Fern Michaels, February 9, 2006

By 

S. Hanks "Book lover" (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Pretty Woman (Hardcover)

First of all I could not get over how a size 14 is so obese and disgusting. Give me a break! I also didn't like her style of writing. It was very juvenile and seemed like the book was written over a weekend. It's one of the worst books I have ever read!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Whining Whining Whining, January 5, 2006

By 

D. Connelly (New Jersey Shore) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Pretty Woman (Hardcover)

While the story line was good. The constant doubt and whining of both the heroine and the villian were hard to bear without moaning or also whining.