Buy New

or
Sign in to turn on 1-Click ordering.
or
Amazon Prime Free Trial required. Sign up when you check out. Learn More
Buy Used
Used - Very Good See details
$2.93 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details

or
Sign in to turn on 1-Click ordering.
 
   
More Buying Choices
Have one to sell? Sell yours here
The Sweetest Taboo
 
 
Tell the Publisher!
I'd like to read this book on Kindle

Don't have a Kindle? Get your Kindle here, or download a FREE Kindle Reading App.

The Sweetest Taboo [Paperback]

Carole Matthews (Author)
3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)

Price: $10.95 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details
o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
In Stock.
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com. Gift-wrap available.
Only 1 left in stock--order soon (more on the way).
Want it delivered Thursday, February 2? Choose One-Day Shipping at checkout. Details

Formats

Amazon Price New from Used from
Hardcover, Import --  
Paperback $10.95  

Book Description

May 25, 2004

A story of love, life and going completely la-la in LA, from the internationally bestselling author of Bare Necessity and For Better, For Worse, Carole Matthews.

One girl in love with two guys…
Isn't that the sweetest taboo?

Sadie Nelson knows that falling in love can be big trouble - especially when she discovers that the best things in life are never free. Her heart starts causing trouble when she first lays eyes on Gil McGann, the sexy and powerful Hollywood producer at the London Book Fair. In no time, Gil is whisking her away from her dead-end job and drizzly old England to join him in the land of the perfect suntan. Then there's Tavis Jones, an irresistibly endearing -- and criminally good-looking -- actor who's soon pulling her heartstrings in a different direction. Suddenly the choices facing Sadie in the home of the famous and the desperate-to-be-famous are enough to drive a good girl insane -- especially when no-one is quite what they seem to be. It's not great to find out that Gil has a sticky ex who won't let go or that Tavis's uncertain orientation may permanently cast him in the role of "good friend". With her real life turning rapidly into a mad movie plot, what does a slightly crazed woman two much in love do?

Lights, camera, action...

Frequently Bought Together

The Sweetest Taboo + For Better, for Worse: A Novel + Bare Necessity
Price For All Three: $39.89

Some of these items ship sooner than the others. Show details

Buy the selected items together
  • In Stock.
    Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
    Eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details

  • For Better, for Worse: A Novel $14.95

    In Stock.
    Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
    Eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details

  • Bare Necessity $13.99

    In stock on February 3, 2012.
    Order it now.
    Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
    Eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details



Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

After Sadie loses her high-paying, high-powered London job, she meets Gil McGann, a Hollywood producer, while handing out leaflets at a book fair. He asks her out and they spend the night together talking, and in the morning they're starry-eyed. Gil sends her a plane ticket to Los Angeles, but it seems that he has a not-quite ex-wife, Gina, who continues to run to Gil for every imagined crisis. Despite their best intentions, every date Sadie and Gil have turns out wrong. Gil wants to take care of Sadie, too, but she finds herself a job, a roommate, and new friends, including Tavis Jones. He's hot, fun, and always knows just what Sadie needs. Sadie loves both Gil and Tavis. Will Sadie choose one? Will she try to make a go of it in sunny L.A. or fly back to rainy London? See for yourself in Matthews' unpredictable, original, and highly entertaining romp. Maria Hatton
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

About the Author

Carole Matthews worked as a secretary for six years before retraining as a Beauty Therapist. She approached Britain's Central Television with suggestions for a beauty programme and went on to write and develop a health-based magazine series called Look Good, Feel Great. After leaving Central Television, Carole worked in a holistic clinic in Milton Keyes, England and wrote freelance articles. She wrote her first fiction in 1995 -- a short story that won the Writers News competition. She used the money to fund a writing course where she met her first literary agent. The rest, as they say, it history.

Already a best-selling author in England, Carole Matthews makes her American debut with For Better, For Worse, a book Kirkus Reviews calls "a cheeky romp from a best-selling Brit with a great sense of fun." The book, which has been optioned by Pandemonium Films, tells the story of recently divorced 30-something Londoner Josie Flynn. As her marriage ends in disaster, Josie flies across the ocean to her American cousin's "big mistake" wedding. Soured on love and in no rush to meet anyone, she ends up sitting next to Matt Jarvis -- a recently divorced rock journalist who she becomes smitten with before the plane touches down. But alas, they go their separate ways. After all, Josie's got prenuptial confabs to worry about and that dreaded lilac chiffon bridesmaid's dress to wear. But Dante himself couldn't have dreamed up the hell this wedding is proving to be. Josie finds herself wondering how she -- or any unattached modern woman, in fact -- can hope to survive the new romantic rules of the twenty-first century.

For Better, For Worse was recently chosen as the fourth book club selection of the phenomenally successful Reading with Ripa book club on the nationally syndicated morning show, "Live with Regis & Kelly". "It's a big five points for humour," said co-host Kelly Ripa. "Live with Regis and Kelly" started the Reading with Ripa book club in April 2002. Ripa's previous three picks have all landed on the New York Times bestseller list.

Carole Matthews is a self-proclaimed evening class-aholic. So far she has studied garden design, golf, calligraphy, feng shui, stencilling, style analysis, watercolour painting, flower arranging, kiln glass, mosaics, stained glass and wire sculpture (to name a few!) She also runs day courses on 'Getting Your Novel Published' for Bedfordshire Adult Ed. Carole is also mad about films and of course, reading! She reads 1-2 books every week and is currently trying her hand at film scripts. Carole says she is eager to write more books(bestsellers, of course), more sitcom and maybe a comedy drama. She would also like to see the world, laugh a lot, stay healthy and eventually become wealthy and wise.


Product Details

  • Paperback: 328 pages
  • Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks (May 25, 2004)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0060595620
  • ISBN-13: 978-0060595623
  • Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.3 x 0.8 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 9.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,809,304 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Carole Matthews is an internationally bestselling author of hugely successful romantic comedy novels. Her unique sense of humour has won her legions of fans and critical acclaim all over the world.

As well as appearing on the Sunday Times and USA Today bestseller lists, Carole is published in 24 different countries. Her novel Welcome To The Real World was shortlisted for the RNA romantic novel of the year award.

In the USA, the hilarious For Better, For Worse was selected by one of America's top TV book clubs - Reading with Ripa on LIVE with Regis and Kelly - as their book of the month. As a result it went straight into the USA Today and New York Times Extended bestseller lists.

Carole co-edited two editions of the hugely popular Girls' Night In charity series called Girls' Night Out - one for the USA and one for Canada. All proceeds go to War Child. She has recently contributed a story to an anthology for the Romantic Novelists' Association, Loves Me, Loves Me Not. Carole has presented on television and is a regular radio guest.

Born in St Helens, Merseyside, Carole has always been an avid reader and dreamed of being a teacher, an air traffic controller, a travel guide or a hairdresser - writer never featured once. Leaving Liverpool for London after a torrid holiday romance in Torquay, she worked as a secretary, an ice-cream lady, a shop assistant and a beauty therapist. It was when she was working in a completely mad holistic clinic that she first thought 'one day I should write a book about this.' She still hasn't got round to it.

 

Customer Reviews

10 Reviews
5 star:
 (1)
4 star:
 (4)
3 star:
 (2)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:
 (3)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
3.0 out of 5 stars (10 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars So so, November 28, 2006
By 
Nikkie (Toledo, OH) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Sweetest Taboo (Paperback)
This is an okay book. Written in both first and third person. It was an easy read with extremely short chapters. Plot was okay at best.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews 
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No


4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars Some things are better left unsaid, or rewritten, August 10, 2004
This review is from: The Sweetest Taboo (Paperback)
The Sweetest Taboo by Carole Matthews is a mild roller coaster ride with a few predictable twists and turns for the reader to digest. While her plot line sustained my interest for most of the book, Ms. Matthews made the mistake of telling, not showing her readers how great her protagonist, Sadie, really was. Her slapstick antics made her character flat, not warm or someone to which readers could truly relate. We got beaten over the head with how poor Sadie was and we were to fall in love with her for her simple, uncomplicated personality. She seemed more a fool than a lover throughout the entire book.

Ms. Matthews wrote the book as if it were a screenplay. She found the right topic, just the wrong medium to convey her story. I can easily imagine Greg Kinnear as the quirky, I-must-act-or die waiter, Tavis; Mini Driver as the bumbling Sadie; Bruce Willis as the well-meaning, yet sorely misguided Gil; and Goldie Hawn as the luscious lush, Gina. I wish Carole Matthews well in her pursuits. It seems she has Hollywood pegged to a tee.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews 
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No


1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting twist on a trans-atlantic love triangle, December 12, 2005
By 
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: The Sweetest Taboo (Paperback)
At 32, Sadie is still experiencing the angst of a revolving door of bad jobs. She currently hands out leaflets at a London book fair, and runs into Gil, a Hollywood producer. The two hit it off, and after talking on the phone for a couple weeks (during which she has had several more "jobs"), he offers to send her an open-ended airplane ticket so that they can get better acquainted and see if this relationship is worth pursuing. She is in a dead end job, has no real ties, and so figures what the heck.

Faster than you can say "mush," she has arrived in LA, and Gil is no where to be found. At least not at the airport... he is too busy rescuing his alcoholic / drug addicted / philandering wife (from whom he has been separated for two years since she ran away with the pool boy). When Sadie discovers that not only is Gil still married, but he caters to his ex-wife's every need (and said wife plans to stay with him indefinitely), Sadie finds other living arrangements. A series of mishaps, miscommunication, and machinations on the part of his ex, Gina complicates the unconsummated relationship, while Gil tries to make it up to Sadie by buying her expensive gifts.

Meanwhile, Sadie has started a job at a talent agency specializing in body doubles. There she works with up and coming actor Tavis, and after spending extra-curricular time with him and his gay roommate, assumes they are a couple (and Tavis makes no effort to steer her into a different conclusion). After helping him with a scene from "Romeo & Juliet," she starts to feel a little more than friendship for him, especially after some racy kisses make her pulse to race, but he takes the time to assure her that it was acting, and they can never be more than friends. Her friendship with Tavis has Gil jealous. But does he really have a right or a reason?

Matthews does a good job working with an interesting premise, though Sadie seemed a bit whiny and hard to like at times (and lets face it, good things fell into her lap with no effort a bit too often). At some point, the reader says UNCLE. How many times can Gil disappoint Sadie and expert her to turn the other cheek? She does a good job of adding tension and making the reader wonder what path Sadie will choose.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews 
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No

Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
 
 
 
Most Recent Customer Reviews








Only search this product's reviews



Inside This Book (learn more)
First Sentence:
I can tell you exactly when I fell in love. Read the first page
Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
sweetest taboo
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Mary Ann, Toby Portman, Beverly Hills, The One That Got Away, Double Take, San Francisco, Noah Bender, Doctor Robert, Elise Neils, Rodeo Drive, Hollywood Hills, Larchmont Village, London Book Fair, Los Angeles, Princess Sparkle Barbie, Sadie Nelson, Cunning Stunts, Happiness Hospital, San Juan Capistrano, Venice Beach, Aunt Sadie, Danny Ziemska, Governor's Ball, Happy Families, Kennel Care Barbie
New!
Concordance | Text Stats
Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Search Inside This Book:


What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?


Tags Customers Associate with This Product

 (What's this?)
Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
 

Your tags: Add your first tag
 

Customer Discussions

This product's forum
Discussion Replies Latest Post
No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
 


Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
Search all Amazon discussions
   
Related forums



So You'd Like to...


Create a guide


Look for Similar Items by Category


Look for Similar Items by Subject