TEST
I enjoyed several of Meryl Sawyer’s books in the past, especially Unforgettable, and was looking forward to my time with Every Waking Moment. I’m sorry to say, I was highly disappointed.
This soap opera of a romantic thriller is set in South Beach, Florida. The reader isn’t allowed to forget this fact for a moment because it feels like Ms. Sawyer uses the local term for the area – “SoBe” – on nearly every page. It’s clear that she went to great lengths to include local flavor in the descriptions of the setting and in the plotline itself. While, I’m sure this is fun for local readers (place recognition factor is always enjoyable), to a more casual reader, the degree of detail is unnecessary and ultimately annoying.
It turns out as the book progresses that attention to the “locale” details comes at the expense of characterization. We learn an enormous amount about SoBe life and style, but we don’t ever really learn why we should care about these people and their myriad of convoluted personal and professional problems. I never found a character I cared enough about to get sucked into the ride I think this was supposed to be, and that’s a pretty major flaw in romantic suspense novel.
The plot is a doozy. It’s a daytime television soap on paper, with story arcs going every which way.
To The Maxx is a family-owned makeup and perfume company that Maxwell family members want to sell, but can’t because of security issues requiring resolution. And the family’s matriarch is dying of cancer and desperately wants to locate the daughter she gave up for adoption before she dies.
Taylor, the daughter she didn’t give up, is the heroine, and she’s reeling from a series of misfortunes, including the long-ago disappearance of her lover. Said missing lover is referred to as Paul Ashford and Paul Ashton at various times in the novel. I know, it’s just a proofreading error, but in a book this disappointing, even those small things become major irritations.
ButI digress… back to the soap opera at hand. There’s an uncle whose second marriage is to a really smart ex-stripper; Â he married her as a trophy wife, then fell in love with her. They’re up to their eyes in debt, but because he doesn’t want her to leave him, he’s afraid to tell her that they need to cut back on spending. Then there’s Taylor’s brother, who was married to Taylor’s best friend until he decided he was gay and took up with a SoBe club player who wants in on the family company, and may or may not be on drugs. Are you with me still?
The de facto hero, Shane Donovan, is a government agent-turned computer security guy who knew about Taylor before they met because he met the long-lost and over-lamented Paul A years ago in Colombia (that can’t be good). At that time, Paul showed Taylor’s photo to Shane and, supposedly, he never forgot her face. I guess it could happen, but, sorry, I don’t buy it. Shane’s a sexy and appealing ex-agent/security guy hero, but he suffers right along with the others in this crowded stewpot.
Then there’s Lisa, Taylor’s long-time best friend. They are so close that Lisa traveled abroad for nearly a year, came back to SoBe, and waited a month to tell her best friend she was back in town. This despite the fact that she knows Taylor is still traumatized from Paul A’s disappearance. While away, Lisa studied the Kama Sutra and now she’s going to open a sexy lingerie/sex toy shop because, hey, why not?! This is SoBe.
Had enough yet? I haven’t even mentioned the Louisiana stripper (yes, another stripper) who claims to be Mrs. Maxwell’s long-lost daughter and comes to visit SoBe at Mrs. Maxwell’s invitation, complete with her possible con man papa. No one really believes that she is Mrs. Maxwell’s daughter except Mrs. Maxwell, who proceeds to lavish love and affection – and riches – on the newcomer. You can imagine how the rest of the clan takes this.
Then, (I swear we’re still only on page 100-something), one of the above winds up murdered. More chaos and much finger-pointing ensues. Everyone suspects everyone else. Obvious red herrings abound. At this point, I was still trying really hard to find a character to care about. That’s important when you’re witnessing the fallout of a murder, don’t you think? Alas, I looked in vain.
Taylor is the obvious choice, but she did nothing for me. Our heroine is a long-suffering sister/daughter/niece/best friend who spends her time longing for a lover who vanished, longing for the funds to start her own company, and longing for the nerve to tell her brother not to bring her yet another stupid product idea from his new lover. She even longs for a dog, but the two-years-gone Paul A is allergic, so she doesn’t want to get one in case he comes back. Several days later I’m still puzzled and somewhat disgusted by that bit of circular logic.
Though she’s clearly supposed to be a sympathetic character, she’s a wet noodle, mopey before she has anything to mope about. Her life really does stink by the midpoint of the book, and that’s when I might have felt bad for her had I not already lost interest with the whole thing. Thank goodness she (at least!) gets to have some good sex with Shane or all would be truly in vain.
There’s just too much going on in Every Waking Moment. Too many characters, too many people with a point of view, and too many minor mysteries add up to confusion and bemused detachment rather than gripping suspense. It’s a shame, because some of the characters show promise. Shane, the hero is actually a decent, if clichéd, character. He deserves better than Taylor.
Brianna – the ex-stripper trophy wife – and Uncle Doyle actually have the book’s most interesting male-female relationship, dysfunctional though it is. Brianna is a character with depth, and I would have enjoyed spending more time with her since she breathed life into just about every scene in which she appeared. Unlike glum Taylor, Brianna doesn’t long for anything; this is a woman who makes things happen. She would have made a far more interesting heroine than Taylor.
Less of everyone else and more of Brianna and Shane (together?!) would have helped this book, but I’m not sure anything could have saved it. I hope Ms. Sawyer regains her more Unforgettable form with her next release. This one is eminently forgettable.
Grade: D
Book Type: Romantic Suspense
Sensuality: Warm
Review Date: 18/01/03
Publication Date: 2002
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Recent Comments …
Yep
This sounds delightful! I’m grabbing it, thanks
excellent book: interesting, funny dialogs, deep understanding of each character, interesting secondary characters, and also sexy.
I don’t think anyone expects you to post UK prices – it’s just a shame that such a great sale…
I’m sorry about that. We don’t have any way to post British prices as an American based site.
I have several of her books on my TBR and after reading this am moving them up the pile.