Special Delivery

Amazon.com ReviewDashing Jack Watson is the playboy owner of Julie's, a chic Beverly Hills toggery. He's sworn off marriage after the love of his life perished in a car accident a decade ago. One day, his son's mother-in-law--the glamorous ex-starlet Amanda Robbins--is suddenly widowed after 36 years of wedded bliss. Throughout their children's marriage, Jack and Amanda have always maintained a cordial loathing for one another… You can guess what happens next. Danielle Steel's Special Delivery is a bon-bon of a book only a mother could love. Well, not only, but especially--it's a paean to middle-aged romance, uxorial devotion, and maternal sacrifice. The characters are all about a micron thick (maybe less), but there are greater crimes than obviousness, to be sure. This heaping teaspoon of glitz--every car's a Ferrari, every drink “French champagne”--will cheer Steel's legions of readers. Mission accomplished.
From BooklistFollowing her recent novels Silent Honor (1996) and The Ranch, Steel has written a shorter novel, similar in format to Five Days in Paris (1995). Amanda Robbins is a former actress who gave up her work when she married and had two children, settling into her role as wife and mother. Jack Watson is the father-in-law of Amanda's daughter, owns a trendy shop in Hollywood, and is an inveterate womanizer. Happily married, Amanda has no liking for Jack, until he provides emotional support following the sudden death of her husband. (See where this is going yet?) His support gradually changes her opinion, and as the two develop a deeper relationship, they are faced with family opposition and a surprising choice. Steel provides entertaining--but extremely light--reading. The characters are rather two-dimensional; the profound decisions reached by the two main characters come too easily to draw the reader into their lives; and the novel reads as though Steel rushed it to market. But it will be in demand by Steel fans, so purchase accordingly. Melanie Duncan