Closer Than She Thinks (Zebra Book,) (Paperback)

by Meryl Sawyer (Author)
Key Phrases: Aunt Thee, Meryl Sawyer, New Orleans (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist
After years of self-imposed exile in Italy, Alyssa Rossi is on her way home after a conglomerate based in her hometown of New Orleans purchases her costume jewelry design business. She's wary of returning to the scene of the scandal that caused her to leave and the man she still has some feelings for. Jake Williams is the long-lost son of the owner of TriTech. Now in charge, he's suspicious of his new partner's purchase of a small jewelry business. The deal just doesn't feel right, and Jake decides to find out why. Alyssa and Jake meet, and his unusual sense of humor diffuses any distrust between them. Alyssa's return becomes the catalyst for a captivating tale of New Orleans society, Mardi Gras politics, kidnapping, and murder. Sawyer has created a wonderful cast, including an appealing starring couple, underworld lowlifes, and everyone in between, and a plot so rich in Byzantine twists and turns, readers won't be able to put this winner down. Maria Hatton
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product Details

• Paperback: 415 pages
• Publisher: Zebra (November 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0821772112
• ISBN-13: 978-0821772119
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #104,543 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Get As Close As You Want!, December 2, 2001

By	"paula_k_98" (Muskogee, OK USA) - See all my reviews

Meryl Sawyer has a knack for writing great romantic suspense. She is the kind of author that you just automatically buy her books when you see a new one with her name on it. With Sawyer, you get your money's worth: suspense, interesting characters, dialogue that flows, and let's face it, there is usually some hot sex in her books. What more could you ask for?

Alyssa Rossi is a costume jewelry designer with her own business in Italy. On the advice of her aunt she allows her business to be acquired by TriTech. TriTech will take over the running of her business, allow her to expand, and free her up to focus more on her designing. The only catch is she has to work at their headquarters in New Orleans. For most this wouldn't be a problem, but for Alyssa it is. Years earlier she had fled after being accused of kidnapping her cousin's newborn baby. You see, Alyssa's cousin, Phoebe, had managed to get pregnant by Clay Duvall, the love of Alyssa's life. Being from the upper crust of society, the two married leaving Alyssa out in the cold. Foul play was suspected in the baby's disappearance, but nothing was ever proven to confirm or deny Alyssa' innocence.

Jake Williams is TriTech's CEO. Jake has come up through life the hard way. In fact he never knew his father Max until the old man hunted him up and persuaded him to take over the family business. Jake doesn't give a flip about New Orleans' society. He barely tolerates it for the sake of his father with whom he is trying to build a relationship. One of the things he does have to tolerate is the presence of Clay Duvall in his company, it was part of the deal when TriTech acquired the Duvall company. What doesn't make sense to Jake is why Clay bought a small jewelry making company, a company, which doesn't fit the profile of TriTech. He begins to investigate the purchase of the company and finds himself fascinated by Alyssa Rossi. The past begins to unfold while unraveling the present and shaping the future.

This has been my lucky month for reading great books with gorgeous leading men. Jake is terrific. He has had to fight to get where he is and doesn't care what others think of him. Instead of trying to fit into New Orleans' society, he barely tolerates them and doesn't hesitate to let them know how he feels about them. Jake's dialogue reflects the man he is. While he presents himself as a suave businessman, anytime someone gets too close or he isn't sure how to handle a situation, he resorts to using sarcastic remarks that are often funny.

There is an interesting group of secondary characters, each who play an integral part of the story. Parts of their stories help weave the complex plot involved in this story. Meryl Sawyer has written a great book. Anyone who reads this one won't be bored. Carve some time out of your busy schedule, find yourself some place comfortable, and get ready to be entertained.

9 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic romantic suspense, October 21, 2001

By	Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews (#1 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Alyssa Rossi fled New Orleans for Florence, Italy because her memories of her hometown are all ugly after the betrayal from her loved ones. She succeeds in opening Rossi Designs, a costume jewelry business that performs quite well Alyssa heeds her Aunt Theodore Canali's advice to sell her company to TriTech and go home as part of the purchase.

Upon returning from Patagonia, TriTech CEO Jake Williams is shocked to learn that minority business partner Clay Duvall purchased Rossi Designs. He needs to know why because the small company is outside the obvious profile of his firm's core competencies. Uncomfortable with this particular acquisition, Jake gets even more paranoid when he sees Alyssa is a dead ringer for Clay's wife. Though a relatively small venture for what TriTech normally acquires, Jake makes inquiries to better understand Clay's motive. As Jake and Alyssa begin to fall in love, everyone within their radar has their own dangerous plans that could harm either or both of them.

CLOSER THAN SHE THINKS is an exciting romantic thriller that runs on all cylinders from start to finish. The story line is filled with action and romance as the suspense and tension heat to the melting point. Jake and Alyssa make a delightful duo and the support cast amplifies the plot by fostering their own desires at the peril of the key couple. Meryl Sawyer exhibits why she is a New York Times best selling author with this extremely effective novel.

Harriet Klausner

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not very close to a true romance, June 3, 2003

By	"readinganddreaming" (Green Country, Oklahoma) - See all my reviews

This is my second Meryl Sawyer book. Since I found that first one so fascinating, I expected the same from Closer Than She Thinks. However, this novel in my opinion, fails to deliver romance. We instead learn enough about the hero and heroine to realize they are the leads but so many secondary characters are given a lot of time and attention as well that I could only say this book was supposed to be about the leads, Alyssa and Jake, but was only a little.

Alyssa Rossi is coming back to New Orleans after living in Italy a number of years. A conglomerate based in New Orleans has purchased her successful company and Alyssa is looking forward to the cash injection into her business that was made possible by its purchase.

Jake Williams is the CEO of TriTech, the conglomerate that has purchased Alyssa's business. It was done without his knowledge and her company does not fit TriTech's profile for purchases. He begins to investigate because he suspects TriTech is being ill used by one of its officers and he visits the small jewelry business while in Europe prior to the company's relocation to New Orleans. Jake meets the owner, Alyssa and the ground is set for what had the potential to be a great romance.

This book was about one-tenth romance and nine-tenths mystery. If this were written as a mystery instead of a romance, it still would not have fared well in my rating. The mystery is just not that well written and is actually weak if we are to compare it to other mystery novels. I could hardly believe what I was reading as I read page after page about secondary characters. Sometimes, one of the leads was involved in one of these scenes. And on occasion, both leads were involved with these scenes centering on secondary characters. But when it comes to scenes with just Jake and Alyssa, those are few and far between. As their relationship develops, we wonder how because we certainly have gotten to read little about it. This is not romance writing.

This is a three star rating because it had great possibilities and my respect for Sawyer as a writer. However, I would call the book a disappointment. It was difficult to keep my interest in a slow moving plot with so many diversions into all of these other people's lives. We yearn to know more about Jake and Alyssa's individual characters as well as their relationship. The sensual scenes were infrequent and were one of the few times we got to see them together. These scenes rated no more than a 3.0 to 3.5 out of 5.0 (see More About Me for rating guidelines).

I wanted to be fair so I did finish reading this book but found it very simple to just skim the final 60 pages and not miss a thing. The ending only made my opinion worse. No additional percentage of time is given the leads. Other characters keep yapping along as the leads are in the background. It's beginning potential fell flat in the end.