Return To Sender

I don't usually feel compelled to write negative reviews, but somehow this book just irked me enough to do so. Where to start? In a nutshell, the plot is incredibly weak and full of holes, loose ends and moments requiring huge suspension of disbelief; the main characters are to a person unlikable; and the writing is mediocre at best. The female lead tries for sympathy about a bad childhood, but she behaves in such a mean and inconsistent way that I had a hard time even feeling sorry for her. Her son's character is so poorly delineated that he scarcely counts, and the "father" in the plot is equally hard to like, even though he's intended to be (I'm guessing) wrongly maligned and dying. As for the plot! How believable is it that a starving single mother working as a waitress in a diner somehow puts together enough money to buy said diner and become wealthy from it? It's not as if she's smart... The whole plot revolves around her missing an "address unknown" stamp on dozens of letters mailed over many years and returned "to sender", despite the fact that she apparently never leaves the house without them. Either stupid, or blind, but either way not a shoo-in for a miraculously successful business woman. Add to that she behaves without any empathy or morals herself, but then is constantly reminding her GROWN son to mind his manners and be respectful. Nauseating. Let's not even mention the dumb murder plot where a wife tries to kill her husband, with no consequences. I wish I could give it less than one star.

This story starts out with lots of empathy toward the main character, Lin Townsend. Abused her entire life by her beastly father, Lin becomes pregnant at age 17 and is thrown out of the house. I was really liking the character and feeling her pain, admiring her hard work in trying to survive her circumstances until . . .the story took an about face and became the most ridiculous tale that a supposed professional author has written. All of a sudden Lin goes from pauper to millionaire on the salary of a waitress and then this kind-hearted person becomes a vindictive lunatic and doesn't even see the error of her ways. I actually felt sorry for Nick Pemberton with all the stupid, crazy antics Lin was pulling on him. She had no conscience about the mean pranks she, Sally and her PI were concocting and what really got to me was how they played down their nasty revenge (they should have all ended up in jail). The story got way too over the top as it progressed and just plain dumb at the conclusion. What I would have liked to know is did Will have a relationship with his father and was he able to help save his life? The writing was terrible as was the continuity of the script. I am still trying to figure out why Fern Michael's is a NY bestselling author; this is the second of her books I have read and I am really not impressed in the least bit.

Another Fern Michaels stand-alone novel that does not disappoint. I never tire of Fern Michaels stories. It may sometimes be predictable but I still love them all.