In A Class By Itself
Grade : C

Sandra Brown's Sandra Brown's In A Class By Itself is a guilty pleasure if I ever read one. It's a reissue from 1984 and make no mistakes, it's got "Eighties" written all over it. It's a curious mixture of some of the most ridiculous romance clichés packed in a very entertaining parcel I felt compelled to devour. While reading I changed my proposed grade every ten pages depending on whether I happened to be reading an infuriating misunderstanding or delightful dialogue.

Once upon a time, Dani's wealthy parents did not approve of her high school sweetheart, Logan, because he was poor. Though they eloped, her wedding vows lasted only until they stepped out of the justice of peace's office, whereupon her father had Logan arrested for stealing her car. She went meekly back to her parents who had the marriage annulled. Dani later embarked on another bad marriage, and Logan went on to prove things and become rich. Now Dani returns to her former hometown for her high school reunion with a trembling heart, simultaneously eager and afraid to meet Logan. It's been ten years but he's still bitter and angry. She needs his help in her charitable work for handicapped children but Logan demands a long-awaited wedding night in exchange.

Are you with me so far? How many romance clichés did you count? Let's see. Rich girl, poor boy, separated by her stereotypical parents. He becomes rich. She suffers hardship. He thinks she's a shallow socialite but in reality she's a saint, an angel who would do anything, even barter her body to help her cause. And she's got a big secret. Maybe all this was fresh and innovative back in 1984 but it seems well-worn now. But the same old familiar story may be a great comfort read if it’s well done.

There are more problems, however. There's a pattern in the couple's interaction: after a distrustful scene they enjoy a moment of peace and positive emotions and I get my hopes up. Then their failure to talk about their expectations spoils it and I get angry because the book could have been so much better. Then they return to pleasant coexistence, share some friendly bantering or physical closeness and I mentally upgrade the book again. But alas, another silly prejudice, secret, misunderstanding, or rape attempt appears straight from the plot device directory, and I'm forced to downgrade. Upgrade. Downgrade. Up. Down.

I loved the characters when they were being nice to each other but unfortunately that was an on-off thing as well. Logan is still in love with Dani, but since he’s been obsessed about her for ten years, he comes across as a maniac. I can understand his anger because she did nothing to defend him only minutes after promising to love and cherish him forever.

The new Dani is not much better; she just ups and leaves after a heated exchange without sufficient motivation and hurts him again. Then they get back together and she does it again. She just figures she has to go and it does not occur to her to look for compromises or talk to him to explain. Is that love, or just a way to manufacture conflict?

Generally I like Brown’s style but some prose here had a slightly purplish tinge. "Filaments of ecstasy spiraled up from the heart of her womanhood, curling beguilingly in her stomach and around her breasts, drawing them tight." Excuse me? I must tell you that when my husband peeked over my shoulder he seemed to think “filaments” was an utterly peculiar way to describe a kiss. This may sound like a damning review but actually I enjoyed this book a lot. Whenever Logan and Dani weren't misunderstanding and mistrusting each other their interaction was fun to read about. If only there had been more of the positive things and less of that darned mistrust and not-talking! There's more humor than in some other Sandra Brown works, and the dialogue could be classified as charming bantering. Some secondary characters were pleasant acquaintances. I enjoyed meeting the classmates at the reunion, especially Spud and Jerry. (Characters like the mouthy Spud could single-handedly save many books from F territory.) Even the clichéd parts were fun in a campy fashion, as my heart skipped beats trying to predict the next surprise and my brain had fun dissecting the formula.

No, don’t ask. I have no idea what the title refers to.

Reviewed by Maria K
Grade : C

Sensuality: Warm

Review Date : January 18, 2001

Publication Date: 2000

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