Heartthrob

Rating:
Summary: Did Suzanne Brockman really write this awful book?
Review: Suzanne Brockman should stick to her alpha-male SEAL characters. The premise of this one -- that somebody (the hero, in this case) can be completely and repeatedly humiliated and degraded and yet STILL be attracted to the oppressor -- is so unpleasant that it's degrading for the reader. I flew to the end, thinking I had to be wrong, she could save it. But I wasn't, and she couldn't.

Rating:
Summary: Shouldn't be missed.
Review: Suzanne Brockmann has a hit on her hands with HEART THROB. Not only has Brockmann taken on the tricky subject of drug and alcohol abuse, but she's tackled the taboo "actor"hero in a romance and she's done is successfully. In HEART THROB, Brockmann has melded the two seamlessly into one dynamite package. And what a package he is. Jed is hero enough to make every reader want one. Watching Jed come to the realization that loving someone means that you have to open yourself and vulnerable, certainly brought a tear to my eye. In Kate, Brockmann has created a wonderful blend of sex-kitten and repressed sensuality. Kate has problems reconciling a painful childhood and her current-day accomplishments. Funny, sensual, fearless and realistic, HEART THROB should not be missed. Lisa Hamilton, BookNook Romance Reviews

Rating:
Summary: A hero with heart
Review: Suzanne Brockmann has given us a true hero in Heart Throb. Jed's struggle with alcoholism is uncomfortably realistic and his vulnerability is touching. Kate has her own demons as well, making their story memorable. I've never been on a movie set, but the descriptions and personalities were believable. This is my first book by Ms. Brockmann, but won't be the last!

Rating:
Summary: Fantastic
Review: Suzanne Brockmann won me over with "No Ordinary Man", and she hasn't lost me since. While I agree with some of the more recent reviewers that Heartthrob isn't quite up to the standard of a few of her more recent novels, I would consider it on par with others--a fine accomplishment, considering that this was her very first full-length novel.

SB's greatest strength has always been in the touching realness of her characters, and Jed and Kate don't fall short. This book is an apt demonstration that as much as we may resent celebrities of having "perfect" lives, EVERYONE has demons.

A couple of the other reviewers expressed disgust for the way in which Jed/Jericho was "degraded", and blamed Kate. I didn't see it that way. I have read many books--especially romances--in which one or both characters is routinely degraded (usually the woman), and while both characters in this one have their moments of embarassment, it is done entirely realistically and without triumph on the other's part. Kate layed out demands (someone to watch Jed, drug testing, etc.) that WERE an invasion of his privacy. However, she did not know him at the time, and his past behavior gave her no reason to trust him. Those demands were the only way in which she could get funding to produce the movie. The most humiliating incident, the one involving handcuffs, was not Kate's fault (the guard did it on his own, and Kate fired him as a result), though she does not escape blame. As the two come to know eachother better, they earn each other's respect. The book was impressive because it manages to make clear that trust must be earned. No one owes it to you, and that makes it all the more valuable a gift.

Both Kate and Jericho are haunted by their pasts, and that does not necessarily improve them. As in real life, adversity may make us stronger, but it also makes us suspicious, remote, and occasionally selfish--the traits of survivors who have learned to rely only on themselves. The beauty of this story is past hurts don't necessarily destroy your chances of future happiness. The abused are still capable of giving and receiving love, and the objectified can still find strength and self-confidence in themselves.

One of the few authors who can rival Suzanne Brockmann, Mary Jo Putney, has a novel very similar to this one, with possibly even more punch. It is called "The Spiral Path", and I would recommend it to anyone who enjoyed Heartthrob. It, too, deals with issues of abuse, so if you're squeamish, avoid.

Rating:
Summary: Fantastic
Review: Suzanne Brockmann won me over with "No Ordinary Man", and she hasn't lost me since. While I agree with some of the more recent reviewers that Heartthrob isn't quite up to the standard of a few of her more recent novels, I would consider it on par with others--a fine accomplishment, considering that this was her very first full-length novel.

SB's greatest strength has always been in the touching realness of her characters, and Jed and Kate don't fall short. This book is an apt demonstration that as much as we may resent celebrities of having "perfect" lives, EVERYONE has demons.

A couple of the other reviewers expressed disgust for the way in which Jed/Jericho was "degraded", and blamed Kate. I didn't see it that way. I have read many books--especially romances--in which one or both characters is routinely degraded (usually the woman), and while both characters in this one have their moments of embarassment, it is done entirely realistically and without triumph on the other's part. Kate layed out demands (someone to watch Jed, drug testing, etc.) that WERE an invasion of his privacy. However, she did not know him at the time, and his past behavior gave her no reason to trust him. Those demands were the only way in which she could get funding to produce the movie. The most humiliating incident, the one involving handcuffs, was not Kate's fault (the guard did it on his own, and Kate fired him as a result), though she does not escape blame. As the two come to know eachother better, they earn each other's respect. The book was impressive because it manages to make clear that trust must be earned. No one owes it to you, and that makes it all the more valuable a gift.

Both Kate and Jericho are haunted by their pasts, and that does not necessarily improve them. As in real life, adversity may make us stronger, but it also makes us suspicious, remote, and occasionally selfish--the traits of survivors who have learned to rely only on themselves. The beauty of this story is past hurts don't necessarily destroy your chances of future happiness. The abused are still capable of giving and receiving love, and the objectified can still find strength and self-confidence in themselves.

One of the few authors who can rival Suzanne Brockmann, Mary Jo Putney, has a novel very similar to this one, with possibly even more punch. It is called "The Spiral Path", and I would recommend it to anyone who enjoyed Heartthrob. It, too, deals with issues of abuse, so if you're squeamish, avoid.

Rating:
Summary: Fantastic
Review: Suzanne Brockmann won me over with "No Ordinary Man", and she hasn't lost me since. While I agree with some of the more recent reviewers that Heartthrob isn't quite up to the standard of a few of her more recent novels, I would consider it on par with others--a fine accomplishment, considering that this was her very first full-length novel.

SB's greatest strength has always been in the touching realness of her characters, and Jed and Kate don't fall short. This book is an apt demonstration that as much as we may resent celebrities of having "perfect" lives, EVERYONE has demons.

A couple of the other reviewers expressed disgust for the way in which Jed/Jericho was "degraded", and blamed Kate. I didn't see it that way. I have read many books--especially romances--in which one or both characters is routinely degraded (usually the woman), and while both characters in this one have their moments of embarassment, it is done entirely realistically and without triumph on the other's part. Kate layed out demands (someone to watch Jed, drug testing, etc.) that WERE an invasion of his privacy. However, she did not know him at the time, and his past behavior gave her no reason to trust him. Those demands were the only way in which she could get funding to produce the movie. The most humiliating incident, the one involving handcuffs, was not Kate's fault (the guard did it on his own, and Kate fired him as a result), though she does not escape blame. As the two come to know eachother better, they earn each other's respect. The book was impressive because it manages to make clear that trust must be earned. No one owes it to you, and that makes it all the more valuable a gift.

Both Kate and Jericho are haunted by their pasts, and that does not necessarily improve them. As in real life, adversity may make us stronger, but it also makes us suspicious, remote, and occasionally selfish--the traits of survivors who have learned to rely only on themselves. The beauty of this story is past hurts don't necessarily destroy your chances of future happiness. The abused are still capable of giving and receiving love, and the objectified can still find strength and self-confidence in themselves.

One of the few authors who can rival Suzanne Brockmann, Mary Jo Putney, has a novel very similar to this one, with possibly even more punch. It is called "The Spiral Path", and I would recommend it to anyone who enjoyed Heartthrob. It, too, deals with issues of abuse, so if you're squeamish, avoid.

Rating:
Summary: Suzanne Brockmann has done it again!
Review: Suzanne Brockmann writes such wonderful books. I loved the way she took Jericho Beaumont down to the depths and brought him back up to the top. She did a wonderful job with the lead characters in Heartthrob. The sexual tension between Jericho and Kate was so thick you could almost see it. I thought Kate was the perfect foil for Jericho. She also made great use of her secondary characters, especially Susie and Jamaal. She threaded their story through very nicely. Suzanne Brockmann is an automatic buy for me.

Rating:
Summary: Not as much "romance" as I had expected.
Review: The book is all about the filming of a movie, with a couple different plots going on. One is with the main characters Kate and Jericho, and another (with a lot of pages) with younger actors Susie and Jamaal. They are all filming a movie that Kate is convinced is going to win Best Picture and Screenplay Oscars, but the movie sounded rather like Oprah's "Beloved" to me, so I kept thinking, it isn't going to happen. The hero is suitably complex, but I lost count of the number of urine/drug tests Kate kept making him take (part of his contract to keep clean). This book wasn't as good as I had expected, and there was a lot of underlying nastiness (alcoholism, drug abuse, kinky movies, racial divides, child abuse). I thought I picked up a Harold Robbins book by mistake.

Rating:
Summary: Overall ok book.
Review: The child abuse and alcoholism references are disturbing. I didn't consider this book a romance novel. I've read other books by Ms. Brockmann and this is not one of her best.

Rating:
Summary: Heart Breaking
Review: This book made you feel the emotions of the characters! Jed's struggle with substance abuse & Kate's fear of being hurt again were so realistic. Very good book!