ooooooooo this ones a chiller.. This has been a great year for court room dramas for me. Setting a book in a court room can be a great writing tool (we did an exericise on it at uni) because its a structure most readers can relate to (not that you're all hardened criminals, but most … Continue reading Danielle Steelathon IX – Vanished pub. 1994

This is more like it. I liked this one, which was a bit of a weepy. Its the first 'modern' one I've really enjoyed as well, which is nice. Bernie Fine is the manager of a large departmnet store in New York. He is sent to San Francisco to open a new store there. Although … Continue reading Danielle Steelathon VIII – Fine Things pub. 1987

ARRRG ALMOST UNSTOPPABLE BLINDING RAGE!!!!!!!! Sorry for shouting, but this book made me soooo mad. I wouldn't mind if Steel was consistent in her hatred of anyone who wants to live their own life, but why is it perfectly acceptable for the hero of this book to leave his wife, dying father in law and … Continue reading Danielle Steel VII – Five Days in Paris pub. 1995

This is more like it! Much like 'Star', this historical drama/romance was a pleasure to read. Again, because I liked the characters, and the plot was full of twists and turns that kept me guessing and my nose firmly attatched to the spine. I don't know if its that the books being set 'in the … Continue reading Danielle Steelathon VI – No Greater Love pub. 1992

What an utterly utterly ridiculous book this is. This is, I suppose, Sci-Fi-omance, where Steel was either being exceptionally experimental or just odd. I dug in eagerly to this after enjoying 'Star' so much, and my senses were instantly put on alert by Steel's revolutionary use of the first person. That's right, I was genuinely … Continue reading Danielle Steelathon V – The Klone and I pub. 1999

What can I say, this book was a pleasure...exciting, gripping, well structured stuff that in parts was just so well written I felt like I was in the 1950s, on the ranch, watching my world collapse along with Crystal's- the 'Star' of the title. Opening just after the end of World War II, this is … Continue reading Danielle Steelathon IV – Star pub. 1989

OK, so this book, genuinely gripped by. Hero-Man-In-Forties this time is celebrated script writer Bill, creator of a daytime TV soap that wins Emmy's as well as hearts (I'm getting good at this cliche thing, aren't I?). Hero(ine)-Woman-In-Late-Twenties-Early-Thirties is Adrian (yes that is a girl's name) who lives her her husband Steven in a beautiful … Continue reading Danielle Steelathon III – Heartbeat pub. 1991

A shorter, but by no means a lesser book, this is the story of Marie -Ange, daughter of an American man and French woman, who grows up in an idyllic chateu in the 1950s. The book is in two parts. The first describes how, at the age of 11, Marie-Ange's world falls apart when her … Continue reading Danielle Steelathon II – Leap of Faith pub. 2002

Reading this book was, for me, a little like reading Marilyn French's The Woman's Room, only backwards, from the other side, and with (slightly) more foaming at the mouth. The basic premise is this (and I apologise in advance if I go off on one); Oliver (think David Cameron meets Charlotte's first husband played by … Continue reading Danielle Steelathon I – Daddy pub. 1991