Can this really be the end of Our Heroine?
Written: Feb 21 '02
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Fast paced, makes you want to read on to see how 'bad' good gets.
Cons: Surprisingly, nothing I can think of.
The Bottom Line: An easy read. Engaging, comfortable characters, a story packed full of action, that leaves you wanting more.
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| spalmero's Full Review: The Last Lover Books |
Not hardly.
The Last Lover is the second of Ms. Van Wormer's books that have to do with Sally Harrington, small-town newspaper reporter making a come-back in the big leagues of journalism. The first was for Expose (you can read the review at http://www.epinions.com/content_31333060228), a book by which I wasn't impressed.
I'm glad I didn't give up on Van Wormer and Sally right then. The second time, in my case, was the charm.
The Last Lover picks up where Expose left off. Sally is involved in a relationship with Spencer Hawes, an editor at a major book publisher in New York. She splits her time between working for a local newspaper in Castleford, CT -- her home town --, a local affiliate of a larger broadcasting network, and in New York, writing for the network headquarters.
As the book opens, she's at a party in Hollywood with her boyfriend, celebrating a book deal with a Hollywood producer. It's at this party that she meets Lilliana Martin, a rising star in Hollywood, and currently everyone's favorite for an Oscar. Lilliana begs an introduction from Spencer, and spirits Sally away for a brief one-on-one girl's meeting in an upstairs room.
And that, really, is where the trouble starts.
In short order, Sally, Spencer and Lilliana have returned to Lilliana's home, Sally has been propositioned for a three-way, Sally and Spencer have had a tremendous fight, Spencer has been kicked out of a limo and left at the side of the road, and Lilliana has disappeared.
Never fear, it doesn't stop there. By the time Sally's home, Spencer's gone missing too, Lilliana's editor has called demanding to know where she is, and Lilliana's ex-boyfriend, Cliff Yarlen, arrives on her doorstep, looking for the girl she left behind.
The pace is much as I've written it, with one thing happening after another. Sally is thrown back into the world of scandal and intrigue that always seems right around the corner, only this time the stakes are higher, and potentially deadly.
In a book with so much happening, it would be easy to get very confused and lost. Who's done what to whom? Ms. Van Wormer makes everything clear, and explains things so skillfully that I was neither bored by the explanation, nor left wanting for anything I needed to know. Despite the fact that she's used Sally and several of the characters in this book before, there's no need to read her other books to know who they are; they stand on their own and share their lives all over again.
The book is written in first-person (all right, I admit it, my opinion of the first-person POV has been reversed) and is cleanly written, never telling us more than Sally knows, which is difficult, at best, to pull off. I admire Ms. Van Wormer for this, more than I can say.
And if you can't tell in all of this gushing, I just flat-out liked this book. No ifs ands or buts about it. There is a teaser for the next book in this series, Trouble Becomes Her. I think I've got to go shopping.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
spalmero
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Member: Sarah Palmero
Reviews written: 58
Trusted by: 10 members
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