Deception
Grade : C

Sometimes reviewing an average book can be difficult. The story isn't bad, just mediocre. You can't quite put your finger on what's not clicking. That's not the case with Deception. With this book, the problem jumps right out at you from the moment the heroine and hero meet. It's head-hopping. And I don't mean the occasional slip-up. I mean chapter after chapter with no clear point of view in any scene where the hero and heroine are together. Yes, Deception has a pretty good story to tell. Yes, it's got a yummy hero and a worthwhile heroine. But lack of a consistent point of view, combined with too many points of view (I counted at least six), makes reading this book a lukewarm experience.

As the story opens, entrepreneur advertising agency owner Terri Powers is returning to work after a three month hiatus. Terri's been through a horrible year that included a divorce and a miscarriage. During that time she left her Vice President, Mark Andrews, in charge. To Terri's great annoyance, Mark has been negotiating an advertising deal with Clinton Steele, a handsome and brilliant businessman with a reputation for exploitation and shady dealing. As a result, Terri's first order of business is to dismiss Mark and re-establish her position as head of her agency.

Terri and Clint had good reason to distrust each other, so I eagerly anticipated their first meeting. What a disappointment! The scene is so choppy, with bouncing points of view, that I never identified with either character. First we hear Clint's thoughts, then Terri's, then Clint's. Then Clint leaves and Terri meets with Mark Andrews and the whole thing starts again. As Deception progresses, there is not one scene where the hero and heroine are together where we see the action through only one pair of eyes. As a result, we never really identify with anybody, which is a major drawback in a romance novel.

Terri and Clint begin dating and there is real chemistry between these two. But Terri's advertising business is in serious trouble and she must make some major deals to improve the situation. This unfortunately requires her to work with her lecherous ex-husband Alan. Much of the action involves dealing with Alan and the nasty machinations of Mark Andrews, who, even after he is dismissed, continues to scheme to destroy both Terri and Clint and their respective businesses.

Clinton Steele is a charming hero. He's smart, masculine and just a bit on the overbearing side. I liked this guy in spite of his tendency to overdo it. You can see how his aggressiveness (he puts a private investigator on Mark Andrews as a matter of course) has helped him build his business. Clint's first marriage was unhappy and, he realizes that much of this was his own fault. One of the nice things about this book is seeing Clint come face to face with his own shortcomings, and work to overcome them in his relationship with Terri.

I had a few more problems with Terri's character. Terri is smart but she's one of those career women you read about who "has it all," but worries that she has nothing because she doesn't have a man. Here's an exchange between her and her friend Lisa:

"Envy me! Girl, you've got to be jokin'. You have it made Terri. You have your own business, you travel around the world, you're intelligent and beautiful."

"Believe me, its all superficial. What I want is a family of my own, a man who's crazy about me, and I want to know that I have love and security every day."

Yeah, yeah. To those of us old enough to remember Doris Day and Rock Hudson movies, this all has a very familiar ring. Terri and Clint make a great pair of lovers, though the heat of their love scenes is tempered by the ever-present head hopping. There's no doubt in my mind that this could have been a far better book had its editor taken a heavier hand.

Another problem with Deception is the over-the-top villains. Alan, the lecherous ex-husband, is so slimy that you wonder how Terri could have ever tolerated him. The evil Mark Andrews seduces Clint's second in command, then withholds sex to control her. This is the second villain I've read who behaved this way. It's an unpleasant device, and one that I hope does not catch on.

This is my first Donna Hill novel. She's become quite popular since 1996, when this book was published. She can certainly provide us with good main characters, and I'm hoping that her later books have fewer points of view and villains who are more subtle. If you enjoy contemporary stories with lots of travel, glitter and corporate intrigue, you might enjoy it anyway.

Reviewed by Robin Uncapher
Grade : C

Sensuality: Warm

Review Date : March 6, 2000

Publication Date: 1996

Review Tags: AoC PoC

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Robin Uncapher

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