A woman spends her life building a business empire, while her children are raised and nurtured by her husband and mother. Her husband dies, leaving her floundering, trying to define her relationships with her kids and grandkids. So, she (Olivia Grayson) plans an elaborate vacation each year with the children feeling obligated to join in. The kids, on different levels, resent their mother's absence over the years and it has affected their lives. Most are willing to accept her largesse and even employment in her business.

They have tremendous wealth and the kids, who are fussing about anything, come off as tremendous whiners, who never wanted for anything, including maternal love. They got that from their grandmother.

Situationally, I found one of the daughters, who is writing a novel, to be the most interesting character. She shows the novel to her uppity Princeton sister-in-law, who hates it and honestly tells her so. Turns out it is commercially a hit and she makes a fortune on the book.

I took this as Danielle Steel's commentary on the academic world not knowing a popular bit of fiction from a hole in the wall. I think she's right about that.

As with all her books, you get caught up in caring about her characters. The stuff that is perfect in their world masks the underlying problems and angst.

It is an engaging story by a master storyteller of her time.

anyone who wants to just read and relax and not work at it too hard. It is good summertime reading.

the character of Liz. I like that she isn't always finding fault with her mommy like some of the other middle aged snots.

knows how to get the reader to care about what happens to her characters. Even if you can't identify with wealth on this level, there is a lot that I could relate to.

if you enjoy Danielle Steel's writing, (and I do) it is a good effort on her part. I found it to be a pretty fast and engaging read.

For those who look down their nose at Ms. Steel, I would only say that she sells a lot of books to a lot of people.

Critics of his time thought Shakespeare was an untalented hack.

Face it, the woman knows how to tell a story.

Get over it, literary snobs!

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Created May 19, 2014 at 2:15pm • Submit your own review...