Customer Reviews

The Secret of the Villa Mimosa

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

From a writer who delivers great novel after great novel, comes one that truly has everything. The suspense and mystery are first-rate as clues to a decades old murder are revealed. An amnesiac searching for her past, two orphans looking for their future, a handsome stranger, a dedicated psychiatrist, and an elderly eccentric are some of the characters you will take to heart. But it is homicide cop Franco Mahoney who is my personal favorite as he combines the best of Irish charm and affability with his innately Italian love of opera and gourmet cuisine.

Set in San Francisco, Paris, and Hawaii, this story follows the key characters as their lives overlap in a well-plotted, page-turning story. Accident victim Bea French finds a true friend in psychiatrist Phyl Forster who has forgotten what a personal life is. Naturally, Franco Mahoney hopes to give her one, until a handsome stranger with an erotic obsession whisks her off to his private island. Can the good guy win the girl? Will ancestors long dead be avenged? Will Bea's memory return, and at what price? Will a cat named Coco and a dog named Poochie save the day? This is one you won't want to put down and one that leaves you wanting more from these characters and this writer.

First of all, this book had me from the beginning. The way she opened this book peaked my curiosity and never let go. Following the storyline from continent to continent was fun, and you could feel Bea's frustration at trying to recover from amnesia while trying to figure out who she is and what she did that would cause somebody to want her dead.

Why everyone did not enjoy this romp from San Francisco to the Cote D'azur beats me. It may not be Dickens, or be recommended as one of the 100 greats of the century, but the story was fun, the reading fast and the conclusion satisfying. Recommended for a long rainy Sunday afternoon.

I enjoyed the book. I don't remember reading any of her books before, so was pleased that it kept me entertained till the end. I would probably give it a three and a half star rating as the story line was a little too coincidental and Cinderella like, but I enjoyed it. Dr. Phil Forster sees on t.v. that an unidentified woman has been found in a ravine. At first they think the woman is dead but she is still barely alive and she is rushed to the hospital. Phyl is drawn to her and soon is treating the young woman who, when she finally comes to, has amnesia. Franco Mahoney, a likeable homicide cop is assigned to the case and he is trying to identify the woman, but is not having much luck. It looks like a homicide attempt. Through the course of the story Bea French (made up name for victim) ends up going to France while working for a rich lady as a companion of sorts. Bea can speak French that much she knows and she remembers a house but doesn't know where it is until by chance she runs across it and discovers another murder years before was committed in that very house. The story keeps your interest til the end. Not a spectacular mystery but still a decent one. I would read more of her books.

This book definitely is not a thriller, but is a good story that will keep you reading, sometimes it goes out of the main story and the way that Phyl met Brad the first time is one in a million. This is a very easy book to read so you will read it very fast, and as many books, the end is like Cinderella but that doesn't mean that the book or the story aren't good.

This was my first Elizabeth Adler book and found the storyline different and interesting. There were several villianous people going into the past and difficult to read of the character of Bea's father and such an abusive childhood. There were a few too many abusive situations in the book and found I just had to skim some of them. Another thing I don't think I had found in a book by any of my favorite authors was for the main character to have a love affair with the villian. She was a Psychiatrist and she couldn't figure out he was psychotic?? His first jealous rage would have had me running to the nearest exit. Of course Detective Mahoney was my favorite character and again Ms Adler ended the book and leaving you guessing whether he and the heroine end up together. Actually I wasn't sure who the main characters were. The villian plays such a large role, it sort of makes him a main character. I would have liked Mahoney to have played a bigger part in the book but it just seemed there were too many main characters. It was still a good read tying all the characters from the past and present together.

Elizabeth Adler's "Secret of the Villa Mimosa" tries to combine romance with a thriller, and it works as neither. Dr. Phyl Forster is drawn to a "Jane Doe" who has amnesia. She is named "Bea French" by the doctor, mainly because she could speak French fluently. Then, Phyl tries to restore the woman's memory, while keeping detective Franco Mahoney at bay. We know instantly that these two will become close, as both try to discover who almost killed "Bea." Then, Bea gets a job with a rich French socialite, and start having her memory jogged in France, while Phyl has a chance meeting with Brad Kane, a rich Hawaiian with a terrible secret. The thriller unfolds as the reader is keyed into the connections between the Kane family and Bea, and the reader starts to feel that things would have added up quicker if Bea and Phyl had talked more in the second half of the book.

If you like intricate plots with charming romance and colorful characters, you'll love this book!

I loved this book, it was full of steamy romance, and a well-developed plot. I passed it to my family and friends and they enjoyed it also. It was recommended to me by a book store clerk. It was a great read for the beach, and I found myself wanting to skip eating, drinking, sleeping. and working.

Dr. Phyl, a psychiatrist, was intrigued with the story of a young woman who has been found injured in a ravine. When the girl gains consciousness, it is discovered that she has lost all memory of who she is or how she came to be lying in the ravine. One of the first fragments of memory to return is of "a child sitting on the steps of a wonderful pink villa". This is a novel of betrayals and family secrets, madness and survival. While I read it all, I would not put it towards the top of the many Adler books I have read.