Customer Reviews

Will of Steel (Harlequin Desire)

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(13)

 

 

OK so when I bought my kindle last year I made a point of buying Diana Palmer's books, especially the series in Jacobsville, Medicine Ridge, etc and I've read most of them one right after the other. Probably not a good idea, because ALL of her books are starting to read the same. I wonder if she just uses the "Find / Replace" function on MS Word to change the names.

This particular book I'm already 40% of the way thru and NOTHING has happened. Yes the heroine is not yet 21. Yes the hero is in his 30's. She is a nervous virgin with no world experience. He is able to read minds and knows exactly what she's thinking with every facial expression. So far... I don't know what the book is about other than their uncles say they have to marry to keep land that isn't profitable. But all of this is covered in 2 pages with the rest of the book being about the National Geographic and History channel shows.

I'm BORED.

How about a book where we have a "woman" older - say late 20's or early 30's. I man closer to her in age and experience. Two people put in a circumstance that seems real where working together they fall in love. When I read a romance novel, I want to imagine myself as the heroine and dream of the perfect man as my hero.

These books (in this day and age) that continue to write about "women" being 19-20 years old with men 10-16 years older just remind me of the guests on Maury, Jerry Springer, etc.

Please... write to the maturity level of your audience. I'm begging you.

I love Diana Palmer. This book was not up to her usual standard. First off, it was really slow. It was more of a history lesson then a romance. A book from the Desire series should have been more.....sexy. I blame the publisher. Shame on them. They knew this was a stinker, so what did they do? They add Reluctant Father, which most Diana Palmer fans own or have read, and increase the price, which we would have to pay if we wanted to read Will of Steel. They probably guessed bad reviews might keep people from buying. I gave one star for the book, and one for being Diana Palmer.

First off, let me say that I LOVE Diana Palmer's books. She is by far one of my favorite authors...but this book was the worst I've ever read. I can say that it was a nice change of pace to have a kind hero, but once again, the heroine was way too shy and needed to speak up for herself when she was getting harassed.

One thing I've noticed with Palmer's books is that she repeats certain verbs and phrases way too much. Like "she flushed...she bit her lip...etc." Also, it was said multiple times that the hero "couldn't boil water" or "could burn water" and yet halfway through the story he makes the best omelet that she's ever tasted.

The worst thing about the book was the repetition of random historical facts. The conversations they have are not realistic at all! Everytime I read one of her books and this happens (which is happening more and more lately) I can't help but think of the scene in Wayne's World when they meet Alice Cooper backstage and everyone starts talking about where the name Milwaukee originated from. It's so random but the difference is that in Wayne's World it's supposed to be funny.

To all of Diana Palmer's new readers...DO NOT start with this book. You probably shouldn't even end with it. I would highly recommend Lawless and True Colors.

I own every single Diana Palmer that she has written. I have been collecting them for years, and eagerly await each new release from her.

However this book, I haven't even finished reading. I may not bother. It's like all the lame, boring parts from previous books harvested and made into the Worst Book Ever. I am sorry, Diana, b/c I truly LOVE your books, like I said, I own them all, and have paid a lot of money on ebay for your old, out of print collector's books, etc-b/c they are So worth it. This though, was not worth the $3 and space on my kindle it's taking up. Blech. And throwing in random pop culture references, meh, I'm not a fan. I like the timeless feel of your books, how usually you can read them in any year and it's not noticeable what time it is...but not this one.

:(

DO NOT PURCHASE THIS BOOK!
I'm a huge Diana Palmer fan and I love her earlier work. I am noticing as I read her newer books, that more and more, they're lacking the personality, the passion and the character development of her earlier works.
The conversations in this book are so stilted and lack warmth, depth and character. I found myself thinking, "Surely, it'll get better in a minute." Sadly, it never did.
The book's hero is very one dimensional. Ms. Palmer glances over his background. Why are ALL of her male characters 8-10 years older than the female characters? How come Ms. Palmer's male characters can tell what the female characters are feeling and thinking by reading their facial expressions? In this book, like all her other books, the hero can't "boil water" or "burns boiling water", but yet, he makes a mean omelet?
The book's heroine is 19 and a virgin, like most of Ms. Palmer's female characters. The book's heroine has a calf for a pet whom she protects and the hero teases her about. Why does she have a calf for a pet? Like most of Ms. Palmer's heroines in most of her other books, this heroine loves anthropology; loves studying meteorites; loves history. The heroine has to get a job, but Ms. Palmer never fully develops the story on WHY the heroine has to get a job. Ms. Palmer never develops the storyline on the uncles and the will.
It also touches on the Lakota Sioux and Cheyenne history, which as a Native American I'm grateful for, but it read more like a history lesson than an actual conversation.
When the character, Rourke, pops up, why didn't Ms. Palmer fully develop his relationship with the heroine? He popped in and popped out. In "Tough to Tame" where Rourke is a character, she never mentions he owns a ranch in Kenya, he speaks with an Afrikaner accent, etc., but now he does and has all the aforementioned? NO CONTINUITY! But of course, this isn't the first time continuity has been an issue with Ms. Palmer.
And finally, after getting halfway through the book, the characters show some passion towards each other, but it was stilted, underdeveloped and read like a "See Tom Run" book.
It's like she just made a half-hearted attempted at writing this book. HQN Desire realized what a shoddy piece of work this book was and decided to put it with another book Ms. Palmer had written in the past and publish it as one book. Shame on HQN!
I read in Ms. Palmer's letter in this book that she has a chronic illness. Maybe this is her excuse for throwing something on the storyboard and seeing what sticks and not taking the time to fully develop this story.
All in all, this book was AWFUL. I was bored with this book. I suggest to Ms. Palmer that she go back and reread some of her best books, "True Colors" and "Lawless" to remind herself how to fully develop plots, characters and storyline for her next romance novel.

Been reading Diana Palmer for over 20 years. Her last few books have been difficult to get through and this one was one of the worst. She gets on these subjects that have no interest and the two main characters talk about through the ENTIRE book. I only finished the book since I bought it. This book, and the last few, are the same - the poor traumatized girl who is scared of her own darn shadow and the tough man.

Diana please go back and READ your first three Tall Cattleman's book - that is what we want! Not this!

Off my list to read ... same category with Nora Roberts.

First off. I am a huge Diana Palmer fan. I am usually very excited when she releases a new book and can't wait to dig in. This book was the worst! It was like it wasn't even written by Diana herself. I felt like I was reading a rough draft. There are horrible one liners, the characters had no harmony. The conversations were stilted between the characters. I really wanted to put the book down, but finished it, simply because it was by a favorite author of mine, not to mention I wanted to see how many times "Jillian" could say how much she hated guns and "Theodore"'s response. Ughh. If you have not read Diana Palmer before, or are a fan, skip this. It should be offered to customers as a free holiday reading. It's not worth the money.

I love Diana Palmer books and read them over and over but I have to say I was disappointed in this book. I normally buy her books and read them the first day but this time, it took me several days. I felt the female character was too weak and to blame herself for being assaulted was an insult to other women that have had that happen. I understand waiting on marriage to love someone but "Jillian" was afraid of the physical side of marriage for most of the book and then all of a sudden she was fine with physical intimacy? I don't think so. Also, why is it bad for a women to want to work and develop a career yet have a family too? There was too much of a fuss made on Jillian's need to not "climb the corporate" latter and to be completely dependent on Ted. Many of the conversations the main characters had in this book were the same conversations of other main characters from the last few books written by Diana Palmer. This story was undeveloped and lacked any substance. I hate that this book wasn't up to Ms. Palmer's other books; I hope the next one is much better.

Im a Diana Palmer fan. I buy her books by name only. If she has a book out I buy it without looking to see what it is about. She disappointed me. I had to force myself to finish reading this book. BORING

The best character in the book was a female calf.
The continuity fairy fails with this book-one of the secondary characters, Rourke, was in "Tough to Tame" and worked for the CIA, and nowhere is it mentioned that he has a South African accent, or is a South African. But in this book, not only is he South African, but owns a huge ranch in Kenya. This is not the first continuity issue in a Palmer book.
The history "lessons" in her books are getting to be a little much-the character mentions something and what little narrative that exists comes to a screeching halt as a clumsy history lesson is given. I guess it's a good thing she isn't a teacher, if this is how she would do it.*
"Will of Steel" is not enjoyable, and is, in fact, quite dull. I would spoil the "grand climax", but I might get in trouble.

*I am a history teacher, and have, like Diana, a Masters' in History. If I presented history as it is in her recent books, my students would tune out. It needs to be relate-able, and relevant TO THE PLOT.