Extreme Bachelor (Berkley Sensation) [Mass Market Paperback]

I found this book, Extreme Bachelor, to be barely readable. It's about two people who break up for no reason, meet 5 years later and try not to patch things up. Well, he tries, she tries to avoid him, and it's not clear to me what the point was.

Halfway through the first scene where the author is setting up the romance that drives the novel, I was thinking "so she's disposable" not "he can't live without her". I REALLY didn't like what the author did with the heroine's life - the dichotomy between her lack of sucess and his extra-super-glorious success was a total turnoff for me. I would have preferred that the heroine wasn't such a loser, even though she was working on it. I would have preferred that the hero wasn't such a player. I basically didn't like either character much, and it never improved.

I didn't like the Dialogue:

Your best friend of 5 years doesn't say "my oldest daughter Ariadne made this for me" (not a direct quote). You would say "my oldest daughter" or "my daughter" or "my daughter Ariadne" and the last only if it was clear that there was more than one daughter. In this case, I don't remember the daughter's name, but this happened twice in the first couple chapters and annoyed me. There was opportunity to add the name in a more realistic way.

I also didn't like the competency of anyone:

How is dodgeball a *team* sport? It's a collection of folks on each side playing individually. The fact that they used it for building teamwork, especially without giving people time to discuss strategy, was just dumb.

Most of the actresses came off as unprofessional bimbos who would rather be doing anything but be at their jobs. And the heroine denegrated the ones actually trying to work. What's likeable about these people?

At any rate, I think I've read something else of Julia London's that was reasonable. I won't be reading this series, though, because I already hate it. The only reason it didn't get 1 star is that, aside from the dialogue, it is reasonably good prose. If a person came to care about these characters for some reason, and could suspend disbelief about the capability of all characters, it would be easy enough to read - unlike this sentence.

Michael Raney is a former orphan and CIA operative who is now one of the hottest stunt coordinators in Hollywood (along with his band of brothers in Thrillseekers Anonymous). Life is going well, one starlet after another, until he runs into the one that got away on his set. Well, actually, the "chance" meeting is orchestrated by his buddy and partner, Jack, who thinks it will be fun to put lots of Michael's old flames on the same set together. Needless to say, Michael is not amused. The one that got away is Leah who is, five years after Michael left her high and dry, just pulling her life back together. The last thing she needs is Michael coming back in with all of his smooth lines and cute looks. The fact that he claims to have been a CIA operative the entire time they were dating (and she thought he was an international financial analyst) only confirms his ability to lie convincingly to achieve his own goals.

Most entertaining are the random e-mail clips to her best friend (who lived through the first fall of Michael and is currently obsesseed with planning her own wedding) back in New York. Overall, this is a fun, quick read.

Michael Raney is a CIA agent finding himself falling for his actress girlfriend. When he finds himself getting too close, he decides the best thing to do is break it off before they fall deeper into a relationship which could put her in danger. Little does Michael know that when he dumps Leah, she is utterly devastated and broken. It takes her years to get over him and leaves her career in shambles. Now retired from the CIA, he is a member of an elite stunt coordination/adventure travel group called Thrillseekers Anonymous. When he spies Leah in a commercial, his buddy Jack notices that the normally detached Michael is very interested in the woman in need of a decent laxative.

Michael negotiates what he thinks is the premier assignment - stunt coordinators for the film "War of the Soccer Moms." All he knows is that they will be surrounded by tons of sexy starlets. When Jack is forced to do the casting of the bit players, he thinks it will be funny to cast some of Michael's former lovers. And a lothario like Michael has many, including Leah, who fled to LA after her career on Broadway came to an abrupt end.

Suddenly Michael finds himself in close quarters with several "ghosts of girlfriends past", including the one he still loves. When Michael admits he broke up with her because he was in the CIA, she manages to make him a laughing stock on the set. Leah is not about to let him have a piece of her heart again, and Michael is forced to prove his worthiness to her, with hilarious results, mostly enjoyed by his fellow Thrillseekers, who are happy to see Michael on the receiving end for a change. Though the career in the CIA is over, danger is lurking around the corner.

And just when Leah lets her guard down and opens herself up to the possibility of a future with Michael, another one of Michael's "girls" arrive on set to wreak havoc in the barely there relationship, and a persistent Latin lover waits in the wings to steal Leah from Michael.

London adds another humorous chapter in the Thrillseekers series (following the hysterical "Wedding Survivor"). While it isn't quite as good as its predecessor, it definitely had its moments and I really liked the camaraderie between the guys - and look forward to their further escapades.