Amazon.com: The Last Lover: Laura Van Wormer: Books

Amazon.com
Sally Harrington, a suburban Connecticut reporter, is in Hollywood with her new boyfriend, Spencer Hawes, a book editor who's launching a million-dollar book that's already been bought by a major movie studio. In Laura Van Wormer's romantic thriller, the initial suspense centers on the boyfriend's disappearance, which may be linked to that of Lilliana Martin, a Hollywood actress whose flirtation with Spencer at the launch party did not go unobserved by Sally or the other party guests. Back on the East Coast, Sally's job seems to be slipping away, too, until the powerful anchorwoman of a TV station owned by the newspaper that employs our heroine places her right in the center of the story that develops when Sally's identified as the last person to see Lilliana's ex-boyfriend, Cliff Yarlen, before he turns up dead.

There's plenty of plot twisting and turning to keep the somewhat limited dramatic tension going, but it's Sally, as confused about her love life as she is about her professional responsibilities, who's the real star of this comfortably engrossing, though predictable, novel. Van Wormer's holiday dish won't seem reheated to fans who've made bestsellers of many of her earlier books (Exposé, Riverside Drive, etc.), though it may taste like leftovers to readers who sample this one first. --Jane Adams --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly
With its explicit sex and overheated prose ("How can I tell him that it's not just this, not just us, but how I've lived my whole life, this all or nothing drive and crash I can't take anymore"), this tale of murder and treachery in the bicoastal worlds of entertainment and publishing will appeal mainly to fans of romantic suspense. A "small-city journalist" in Connecticut, Sally Harrington joins her beau, book editor Spencer Hawes, at the launch party in L.A. for a film exec's crassly commercial autobiography. To Sally's dismay, rising (and drunken) movie star Lilliana Martin makes it clear she wants Spencer for herself. After taking Lilliana home, Sally in a jealous rage drops her lover off on the side of the road. The next morning he shows up at her hotel. Did he go back to Lilliana's house and spend the night with her? Spencer isn't telling. Nor is Lilliana, since she's disappeared. Later, when Lilliana's estranged boyfriend, shady businessman Cliff Yarlen, turns up dead, Sally becomes the prime suspect. Van Wormer (Expos?; Jury Duty) provides surprises and plot twists galore, along with the inside dish about these so-called glamorous people and the machinations behind the media gloss. Backed by significant ad/promo, this novel will not only sell to Van Wormer's growing body of fans but, if targeted to the Jackie Collins crowd, could be the author's biggest book yet. Agent, Loretta Barrett. (Nov.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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The Last Lover (Mass Market Paperback)

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