Review: Sunset In St. Tropez (Danielle Steel)

I read my first Danielle Steel novel, Miracle, (review) a couple of months ago and surprised myself by liking it. No such luck with this book, though. I'm not writing a proper plot introduction here, but this description that I borrowed from the back cover of the book (and edited slightly) should be enough for the purposes of this review:

Spending New Year's eve together was a sacred tradition for Diana Morrison, her husband of 32 years, Eric, and their best friends, Pascale, John, Anne and Robert. The future looked rosy as the longtime friends sipped champagne and talked about traveling together to the South of France.

Just two weeks after New Year’s, tragedy strikes the heart of their close circle, as Robert Smith suffers a sudden, unexpected loss. Without hesitation, Diana and Eric, Pascale and John rally to his side, united in their support, love, and shared grief. Convinced that a change of scenery is just what Robert needs, they urge him to join them on the Riviera in August. But as they soon discover, the ramshackle old mansion they rented in St. Tropez--sight unseen--is far different from the exquisite villa and sun-drenched gardens touted in the brochure.

But the biggest surprise of all is the woman Robert invites to the villa as his guest--a lovely, much-younger and very beautiful film actress whom Diana and Pascale hate her on sight. But the men are dazzled. And amid the crumbling furniture and the glorious sunsets, the strained relationships and the acts of forgiveness, more surprises are in store for the villa’s occupants. With the last days of summer fast approaching, each couple finds themselves changing in unexpected ways, as old wounds are healed, new love discovered, and miracles unfold... all beneath the dazzling sun of St. Tropez.

There are such strong similarities between this book and Miracle that I just got tired of reading a book that sounds so much like another. Just look at how the two plots are built: man, aged around 60 -> woman, aged around 40 -> loss of a loved one -> caring friends -> a house by the sea -> ships/yachts -> romance -> live happily ever after.

The two books I just compared aren't exactly identical -- there are six main characters here instead of three, this one is set in France instead of California and there is a gorgeous actress here instead of a reclusive schoolteacher. Okay, I was being ironical about those differences... There can only be so many stories about a recently widowed older man falling for a younger woman as he comes to terms with his loss, but two such stories by the same author? NO WAY!

This book is readable but you can safely skip it, especially if you've already read Miracle. There are too many good books out there waiting to be read, and too little time to read two very similar books by an author who seems to be plagiarizing her own plot ideas.

Rating. 3/10

Review: Miracle (Danielle Steel)

Three strangers, Quinn Thompson, Maggie Dartman and Jack Adams meet each other amid the destruction caused by a storm that hits northern California. Quinn, a retired businessman has recently been widowed and is still grieving the loss of his wife. Maggie recently lost her son and soon after that her marriage fell apart and is now divorced. Jack Adams is a carpenter who comes to repair Quinn and Maggie's homes after the devastation caused by the storm. This book is about how these three strangers go about building a relationship of love and friendship among the ruins around them.

I have never been a fan of romance novels, which is why I have avoided Danielle Steel novels so far. For some reason that I can't put my finger on, I've always expected not to like Steel's novels. I picked up this book just to try reading a DS novel which is why I didn't have very high expectations of the book. And the low expectations is perhaps why I ended up liking this book.

Steel does go overboard with describing Quinn's regret at not having paid enough attention to his wife when she was alive, and for such a short book (180 pages of large font text) a lot of space is reserved for this. But the relationships between Quinn, Maggie and Jack was handled very well and halfway through the book I started liking these characters. The ending did seem a bit awkward, but on the whole, the book wasn't all that bad.

I am still surprised at the fact that I liked this novel. I was expecting a badly written mushy romance, which is why novel might have seemed a little better than it actually is, but I'm definitely going to give DS novels another chance and this time I'll try to keep an open mind.

Rating: 6/10