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Title: Mr. Perfect by Linda Howard ISBN: 0-671-02757-3 Publisher: Pocket Books Pub. Date: 26 June, 2001 Format: Mass Market Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.18 (306 reviews)
Rating: 3
Summary: Enjoyable, but disappointing
Comment: Although I have read very little of Linda Howard's work, I picked up Mr. Perfect because I'd heard from so many other readers how funny it was. Since I count Janet Evanovich, Jennifer Crusie and Dave Barry among my favorite authors, I thought I'd give it a try. And on that level, Mr. Perfect met my expectations. . .but only some of the time.
On the one hand, I enjoyed reading it (and I don't finish a book I don't like). Even though I found the premise a little flimsy -- I just didn't buy that The List would cause so much hoopla -- the dialogue between the protagonists, Jaine and Sam, was at times hilarious; I really liked Sam (even if I found him a little crude for my tastes at times); the pacing kept me turning pages; the twist at the end worked for me. The trouble was, I felt as if I was reading two or three different books that had been forced into one -- the writing seemed uneven, and while the various aspects of the story worked, put together, they bothered me.
Usually, when humor is combined with a murder mystery, the author takes pains to somehow distance the murder victims from the protagonist -- and the reader, as well -- by killing them off before the reader gets to know them, by making them unlikeable to the point where the reader feels no sympathy for them, by making them only peripheral acquaintances of the protagonist. Even in cases in which the protagonist knows and likes the victims, most authors give the reader time to grieve and adjust to the deaths before reintroducing the humor. In this book, two women, close friends of the heroine, are brutally murdered. Yet, in both cases, even though we see the heroine and the remaining friends completely broken up over the deaths, within a few pages we're expected to laugh. . .or go with the flow when Sam and Jaine hit the sheets. Again. (I have no trouble with sexy books, or explicit sex, but this went a little over the top for me, mainly because the sex wasn't shown in such a way as to show the characters' growth.) Few authors can juxtapose laugh out loud funny with horrible and sinister without jarring the reader. Unfortunately, in this book, Ms. Howard doesn't quite pull it off, even though I could see how hard she tried -- the ladies telling jokes and laughing at Marci's "wake", the "theraputic" sex, was supposed to help the ladies deal with their grief. Unfortunately, instead of achieving the brilliant dark humor of Crusie or Evanovich or Barry, it just didn't work.
I had other problems with the story as well. Even though I understand this isn't a romance per se, so much time was spent on the developing relationship between Jaine and Sam that one couldn't call it a subplot. Yet, without much, if any, real conflict between them -- it seemed a pretty straight line from hate to hots to marriage proposal -- that aspect, especially in light of how many pages were devoted to sex scenes, left me feeling a little gypped. I liked this couple, yes, and loved their banter. . .but I wanted to see them struggle more for their happily ever after. And while the humor between the hero and heroine really did sparkle, I didn't feel the same way about the scenes with the four women. There, I got the feeling Ms. Howard didn't trust the reader to find the dialogue funny without telling us how funny it was. The result was like reading scenes with a laugh track.
Not a horrible book by any means. Just not the caliber I expect from someone at this level.
Rating: 5
Summary: New Linda Howard Fan
Comment: I picked up Linda Howard's Mr. Perfect, because the title of the book caught my eye. Having been a fan of the mystery genre for quite some time now, I was looking for a new author to discover. Mr. Perfect combines the three elements that I like in a novel: comedy, suspense and a love interest. I had never read any of Ms. Howard's novels before but I intend to go back and discover this author. I liked the chemistry between Sam and Jaine. I particularly liked Sam's character: roughneck but very caring and sensitive. Jaine reminds me a lot of myself. I often have to put a quarter in the cuss can at work for swearing. As for the plot of the story I couldn't decide whether I wanted to read more about Sam and Jaine or find out who the killer was. I found myself taking Mr. Perfect to the bathroom, to the kitchen and even got caught reading it while I was supposed to be working. I couldn't put the book down. I hope to see more of Sam and Jaine in the future and look forward to reading more Linda Howard.
Rating: 5
Summary: Mr. Perfect is, well, Perfect!
Comment: I recently discovered Linda Howard and can only say I love this author. She writes great romance intermingled with comedy and mystery, and is absolutely the best at creating sexual tension between her characters. Cannot wait to read another one by Ms. Howard.
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Title: Dream Man by Linda Howard ISBN: 0671019759 Publisher: Pocket Books Pub. Date: 01 January, 1998 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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Title: After The Night by Linda Howard ISBN: 0671019708 Publisher: Pocket Books Pub. Date: 01 November, 1997 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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Title: White Lies by Linda Howard ISBN: 1551667339 Publisher: Mira Books Pub. Date: 01 October, 2003 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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Title: Shades Of Twilight by Linda Howard ISBN: 0671019716 Publisher: Pocket Books Pub. Date: 01 September, 1997 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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Title: Son of the Morning by Linda Howard ISBN: 067179938X Publisher: Pocket Books Pub. Date: 01 March, 1997 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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