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Breaking the Rules
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Review
Praise for Breaking the Rules:
‘It’s nail-biting stuff… it sweeps you up and puts you into a world of big houses, luxury yachts, international capitals and Parisian catwalks’ Express
‘Thirty years after A Woman of Substance, BTB hasn’t lost her touch’ Woman & Home
Praise for Barbara Taylor Bradford:
‘The storyteller of substance’ The Times
'Queen of the genre' Sunday Times
‘Few novelists are as consummate as Barbara Taylor Bradford at keeping the reader turning the page. She is one of the world’s best at spinning yarns’ Guardian
‘Memorable and moving…a sure-fire winner’ Express
Product Description
Thirty years ago the world was introduced to Emma Harte. Now meet M, a new woman of substance guaranteed to win our hearts all over again. A new era has begun.
When those you love are threatened, there's nothing you won't do to protect them… you'll even resort to breaking the rules.
Following a terrifying encounter in the quiet English countryside, a dark beauty flees to New York in search of a new life. Adopting the initial M as her name, she embarks on a journey that will lead her to the glamorous catwalks of Paris.
When M meets charming and handsome actor Larry Vaughan they fall instantly in love and soon this couple become an international sensation, appearing on the front cover of every celebrity magazine. M delights in her successful career and perfect marriage and believes she has truly put the demons of her past to bed.
But M's fortunes are about to take another dramatic turn when a dark figure from her past, someone who she thought she'd never see again, is back and determined to shatter M's world forever.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
59 of 63 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I've been a reader of Barbara Taylor Bradford novels for... well 30 years. Her debut, A Woman Of Substance might as well be the official novel of Great Britain. It's everything you want a good book to be. Triumph, tragedy, romance, history and redemption. The thing is, when your first book is THAT good, what do you do for an encore? In Bradford's case, you write 24 more novels over the next 29 years - some exceptional, some just okay - but none of them equaling the classic debut.
Now comes Breaking The Rules. It's a book that the publisher hypes as "a new woman of substance" with whom we will all fall in love, just like Emma Harte in the original. Lofty catalogue copy for sure, but realistically, how does Breaking The Rules stack up to Bradford's other 23 novels not called A Woman Of Substance? And how does it compare to the five other sequels in the Harte series? Dare I say it, but this one may be the best of the lot.
Here's why...
Breaking The Rules is surprising fresh. It's not a literal sequel to the series with rich Harte girls inheriting and running a department store empire. Instead, this book opens with a mysterious sexual assault on an unnamed woman in the woods of England. She escapes with her life and flees to New York City, seeking to begin a new, anonymous life. She floats around lower Manhattan, makes a few friends and tries her hand at modeling. "M" as she calls herself, is blessed with Audrey Hepburn good-looks and wonderful poise in front of a camera. She soon wins favor with a fashion photographer and her career slowly takes off. Meanwhile, "M" also gets swept off her feet by renown English actor, Larry Vaughan.
All is not perfect, however. "M" still bears the scars of her assault back home. And Larry suffers a relapse on prescription meds. He nearly dies. "M" then learns that the fashion photographer with whom she won favor has died in a car accident in Europe. Her climb to the top is not without obstacles.
In the second half of the book, we learn that "M" is actually the youngest daughter of Paula O'Neil (heroine of Hold The Dream & To Be The Best). "M" achieves stardom - an overnight supermodel - but someone is stalking her and her family. A catwalk mysteriously collapses in Paris. A bomb explodes inside Harte's department store. Older sister Tessa is seriously injured in an explosion at home.
But whom? And why?
The final act in this dramatic story is a satisfying investigation into the source of all the tumult and a plot of ultimate revenge against the psychopath who has plagued the family throughout this epic series.
Breaking The Rules certainly breaks the mold of recent Bradford novels. "M" may not be nearly as remarkable as her namesake (Emma Harte), but she is surely a fascinating heroine. M's ascent from the depths of humiliation to the height of stardom is one we can all root for. And the cameo appearances of series favorites like Paula O'Neil, Jack Figg, Linett O'Neil and Jonathan Ainsley help bring the story full circle.
Nothing will ever quite compare to the original, but Breaking The Rules may be the most satisfying and beautifully written book Bradford has penned in the years since 1979.
Now comes Breaking The Rules. It's a book that the publisher hypes as "a new woman of substance" with whom we will all fall in love, just like Emma Harte in the original. Lofty catalogue copy for sure, but realistically, how does Breaking The Rules stack up to Bradford's other 23 novels not called A Woman Of Substance? And how does it compare to the five other sequels in the Harte series? Dare I say it, but this one may be the best of the lot.
Here's why...
Breaking The Rules is surprising fresh. It's not a literal sequel to the series with rich Harte girls inheriting and running a department store empire. Instead, this book opens with a mysterious sexual assault on an unnamed woman in the woods of England. She escapes with her life and flees to New York City, seeking to begin a new, anonymous life. She floats around lower Manhattan, makes a few friends and tries her hand at modeling. "M" as she calls herself, is blessed with Audrey Hepburn good-looks and wonderful poise in front of a camera. She soon wins favor with a fashion photographer and her career slowly takes off. Meanwhile, "M" also gets swept off her feet by renown English actor, Larry Vaughan.
All is not perfect, however. "M" still bears the scars of her assault back home. And Larry suffers a relapse on prescription meds. He nearly dies. "M" then learns that the fashion photographer with whom she won favor has died in a car accident in Europe. Her climb to the top is not without obstacles.
In the second half of the book, we learn that "M" is actually the youngest daughter of Paula O'Neil (heroine of Hold The Dream & To Be The Best). "M" achieves stardom - an overnight supermodel - but someone is stalking her and her family. A catwalk mysteriously collapses in Paris. A bomb explodes inside Harte's department store. Older sister Tessa is seriously injured in an explosion at home.
But whom? And why?
The final act in this dramatic story is a satisfying investigation into the source of all the tumult and a plot of ultimate revenge against the psychopath who has plagued the family throughout this epic series.
Breaking The Rules certainly breaks the mold of recent Bradford novels. "M" may not be nearly as remarkable as her namesake (Emma Harte), but she is surely a fascinating heroine. M's ascent from the depths of humiliation to the height of stardom is one we can all root for. And the cameo appearances of series favorites like Paula O'Neil, Jack Figg, Linett O'Neil and Jonathan Ainsley help bring the story full circle.
Nothing will ever quite compare to the original, but Breaking The Rules may be the most satisfying and beautifully written book Bradford has penned in the years since 1979.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I've been a longtime fan of Barbara Taylor-Bradford's books, but unlike most of my books, don't tend to read any of them more than once, with the exception of "Act of Will" and the "Woman of Substance" series, which I've re-read more times than I care to remember. Chick lit it may be, but as a page turner, "A Woman of Substance" is hard to beat. I had high hopes that "Breaking the rules" would be riveting and well written.
You'll know by now that the story is about a mysterious English girl, named "M", who has fled to New York to seek a career as a model and also to try to exorcise the demons of a traumatic sexual assault. M gets her big break as a model and - somewhat fortuitously - finds love with Larry Vaughan, a devastatingly handsome actor who M has had a crush on since she was ten. Seemingly, nothing can spoil their wonderful life together, until a terrorist attack destroys a catwalk at one of M's fashion shows.
In the second half of the book, M's identity is revealed, and the attacks by suspected terrorists continue in various locations belonging to M's family. If you've read the other reviews, you will know by now that M is part of the Harte family, and while it is wonderful to have a continuation of the Harte saga (particularly as there were several loose ends left at the end of "Just Rewards"), it soon becomes apparent that Barbara Taylor-Bradford needs to sack her continuity editor (since when did Jim Fairley and David Amory die in an air crash?), read back through her previous books, and perhaps spend less time in the States (an English Police Inspector is referred to as "Inspector Yardley" and then a minute later, as "Captain Yardley").
Sadly, the fact that this book is a continuation of the Harte saga couldn't override the rushed and repetitive writing (at one point I wondered if BTB had employed a ghost writer), the continuity errors, and the new characters, never mentioned before and yet supposedly known to the family since childhood). I finished it and it was a good, easy bedtime read, but the sloppy writing and inconsistencies mean that I probably won't read this one again.
You'll know by now that the story is about a mysterious English girl, named "M", who has fled to New York to seek a career as a model and also to try to exorcise the demons of a traumatic sexual assault. M gets her big break as a model and - somewhat fortuitously - finds love with Larry Vaughan, a devastatingly handsome actor who M has had a crush on since she was ten. Seemingly, nothing can spoil their wonderful life together, until a terrorist attack destroys a catwalk at one of M's fashion shows.
In the second half of the book, M's identity is revealed, and the attacks by suspected terrorists continue in various locations belonging to M's family. If you've read the other reviews, you will know by now that M is part of the Harte family, and while it is wonderful to have a continuation of the Harte saga (particularly as there were several loose ends left at the end of "Just Rewards"), it soon becomes apparent that Barbara Taylor-Bradford needs to sack her continuity editor (since when did Jim Fairley and David Amory die in an air crash?), read back through her previous books, and perhaps spend less time in the States (an English Police Inspector is referred to as "Inspector Yardley" and then a minute later, as "Captain Yardley").
Sadly, the fact that this book is a continuation of the Harte saga couldn't override the rushed and repetitive writing (at one point I wondered if BTB had employed a ghost writer), the continuity errors, and the new characters, never mentioned before and yet supposedly known to the family since childhood). I finished it and it was a good, easy bedtime read, but the sloppy writing and inconsistencies mean that I probably won't read this one again.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Barbara Taylor Bradford is getting back to her old style - almost. After the debacle of her last book 'Being Elizabeth' I had decided not to bother reading any more of her books. However the synopsis of Breaking the Rules changed my mind. I found the book a reasonable read with a reasonable story but was very irritated by the use of the letter M as the nickname of the heroine of the story and it grated on my eyes. Surely 'Em' would have been better. Barbara Taylor Bradford's latest offering is still not a patch on the the Ravenscar Dynasty nor, of course, on the Harte series.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
good read
good continuity with the other harte sagas books, yet still could be read alone without reference to the previous adventures. They can only improve the understanding of the story.
Published 2 months ago by Su
Breaking The Rules, Barbara Taylor Bradford
A brilliant book as all her books are. I had not realised there was another book in the Emma Harte saga. Very good. Read more
Published 6 months ago by A. Blackman
great service
greetings, I am a Australian living in Belgium, and very happy I found Amazone UK. to buy some nice English books. Read more
Published 8 months ago by Chrissie
Angela's Library
This was a new book by BTB and a must for all her fans. I enjoyed it right up to the time when I realised that it was another sequel to the Woman of Substance. Read more
Published 10 months ago by A. Tucker
Breaking The Rules
Barbara Taylor Bradford never fails to please, this book has it all and will keep the reader busy,do not expect to be back in Yorkshire with the Harte family this book belongs to... Read more
Published 17 months ago by Derrick Wood
Half a good book
The first half of this book is brilliant. It's an exciting story of the mysterious M which is well told and interesting. Read more
Published 20 months ago by M. Stephens
The legacy of Emma Harte lives on
I love BTB books and have waited with anticipation for this book and it did not dissapoint! How does BTB do it? I do not know but she is the original woman of substance. Read more
Published 20 months ago by Mrs. Jan Falconer
Over the top
Usually a great fan of BTB, but this was too much over the top. Could have been written in 100 pages, if she had skipped half the "darlings", "wonderful", "fantastic" and other... Read more
Published 22 months ago by baumann
Breaking the rules
Not a book which holds ones interest for long. Too long winded and boring.
Disappointing book from Barbara Taylor Bradford.
Disappointing book from Barbara Taylor Bradford.
Published 22 months ago by E. H. Park
Another great BTB story
This is another great story with many twists that really tie in with her previous characters. Can't wait for the next one.
Published on 28 May 2010 by L. M. Wright
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