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However, I know you're dying to discuss it, and I'd like you to be able to do that while the story is still fresh in your minds.

So let's do it here, under this topic. Ready? Then let the party begin!

One of my favorite lines is when Michael says to Leigh, “I’m so in love with you.”

I just LOVED that.

I’m tired of simply “I love you.”

“I’m so in love with you”- made me *sigh*

Tara :0)

But oh the things to talk about!

Judith I absolutely ADORED
*the hero* !!

I thought the pewter knight was wonderful. I loved how Michael kept it and looked at it to keep him making the decisions he truly wanted to make...the ones that would make him want to be a hero to Leigh. *sigh*

And, as usual, I loved the sense of humor. I found myself giggling when Michael is talking to Leigh about making love and she imagines Logan and Michael says Oh, he was that good? LOL

I'm going to be honest Judith and say that the only part of the book that I had a problem with was the timeline. It just seemed so sudden to go from Leigh being in love with Logan, someone she considered her best friend, to falling in love with Michael. I can understand why she fell in love with Michael *grin*!! I think you know what I mean.

But this book was really good!

I loved seeing recurring characters!

Okay, I'll leave some comments for others to make! *grin*

This book was so awesome. Michael was sooooo delicious. I never stopped guessing "whodunnit" throughout the entire book.

I was pacing the floor in parts, trying desperately not to peek. Yay! I succeeded. *whew*

Jane! omg I NEVER thought it would be Jane.

I thought it was Sheila!

Boy was I wrong, wrong, wrong.

My favorite poignant scenes were when Michael sat outside Leigh's room and listened to her cry, and the entire prelude to the love scene. I completely agree with SL about the pewter knight.

I loved Michael. He was so protective of Leigh after all these years. *sniff* And it was so touching the way he sat there while she found out about Logan.

lol! SL, I giggled at that part too. And I thought it was so sweet that he kept the knight.

I have this whole rationale for why Sheila soooo could have been the one. LOL

Andrea, we're on the same wave length I think. *grin*

Luce

[This message has been edited by Lucee (edited 02-24-2003).]

Posts: 1069 | Registered: Sep 2001  |  IP: Logged | 

I thought it was Jason because, I had this whole little thing in my mind that Logan was involved with Jason. And Jason sent his friend (I can’t remember his name) to the cabin and had his friend kill him.

This book was no Paradise. It was something completely different and completely wonderful in a different kind of way. You mentioned in an earlier post that as a writer, you don't want to write the same book over and over. And can I just say, what a fabulous and profound change.

Your writing style captivates me; the flow of words and emotions are so in tune with one another that I could not put the book down. From page one until the very end of the book.

There is something very special about the way you write. I don't know whether it's word choice, the cutting and pasting of sentences (that you mentioned you were fond of doing), or just the fact that words just flow naturally out of you.

This book was every bit worth waiting for.

Okay, now the RANDOM gushing!

I loved Michael Valente. First of all, I love the name choice. Second of all, I love the love he had for Leigh. I finally understand why you deemed story to be so worthy of the title Someone to Watch Over Me.

I loved the dialogue between Sam and McCord. Particularly the part where Mack is torn between telling Sam whether he was pissed off or not. After much contemplation he decides to not do it...but at the slightest prompting, he tells her, "I'm pissed off at you!"
Also in the end, when he tells Sam to call him when she's ready, and she opens the door and he hasn't budged an inch.

The pears incident was so sweet. It made me scream, wistful, and ultimately sigh at how caring and thoughtful Michael is. The pewter statue was another one of these screaming/wistful/sigh moments.

Honestly, I was so swept up in the plot that I wasn't reading the book just to find out the "whodunit". It was more a journey of laughter, tears, wistful sighs-- not to mention anger at Logan, Sheila, Jane, and all the other "bad guys". In the end, I was pleased with the culprit, satisfied with the main hero and heroine, and in love with the secondary characters.

A job well done. I can't wait for your next novel.

I *knew* Michael was the MAN from the moment you said he had amber eyes. Actually I even suspected it when he was looking at the painting - he is such a great hero. Definitely one of the best ever
And SHE was such a fantastic heroine. I loved what a good person she was.

I saw shades of Matt and Meredith in those two, if only the fact that their romance was tortured. I thought Ian and Elizabeth had to wait a long time. 2 years! THEN i read Matt and Meredith - 11 YEARS. And now poor Michael having to wait 14 years!!

And may I say how nice it was to see pears featured as a highlight. They are NOT ONLY delicious but they are also apple green which always reminds me of all your bridesmaid dresses!

And McCord was such a fantastic hero. When the storyline first unfolded I had hopes we would see agent Paul Richardson, but you made it so clear federal involvement would not do at all so I accepted it instantly! I have to say I liked McCord even better than Paul... he and Sam's story positively made the book for me.
In Perfect, you acknowledges, among other people, a William C. McCord. Was Mictchell McCord a tribute to him??

I was also so interested in the legal aspects of this story - this isn't the first book where the hero has a lively contempt for law enforcement. Take my Ian, who designed his own defense like Michael but absolutely loathed every step of his legal trial.
Does that reflect your own views in any way?

I also really loved how Michael was pushing Leigh to move the wedding date forward - I mean he wouldn't have been a JM hero if he hadn't! Jordan/Alex and Matt/ Meredith had to get married quickly but Nick "let's fly to Vegas" Sinclair, Ian "two weeks" Thornton, and Zack "we are going to Tahoe toNIGHT" Benedict were all so cute about wanting a wedding YESTERDAY. And Michael is delightfully of their mindset

I also loved the theme of Valente's name, and how tainted it had seemed at the time - which made that last page so sweet and moving.

And I loved how, for example page 282 when Michael talks about being so proud of her. I love it when your heroes are proud of their women. I keep mentioning Ian and Matt but I love their pride in their leading ladies so much as well.

Oh and the little Knight in Shining Armor! sooo sweet
That love scene was pitch perfect but then you did tell us it would be.

I am sure you will have skipped right over this note cause it's so long but anyway dear Judith - thanks for coming to chat with us

Really, how special is Michael? A struggling student, with no money and no reason to think Leigh would -- or more importantly – should love him, went out of his way to buy her pears because he knew she loved them and wanted her to have the best. *Sigh*

One of my favorite parts is when he's telling her that he thought she was too good for him, but then tells her how angry he was that she'd chosen someone like Logan. You have got to love a man who will put his own wants and needs aside for the sake of wanting better for the woman he loves. *Double sigh*

There is so much to this book that I absolutely adored -- don't let me get started on Sam and McCord! *triple-freaking-sigh* But, I will hold off until others have had their say.

-Farrah Michelle

I didn't think it was lacking! Am I crazy or did I read so fast that the first half is so blended with the second I can't remember? Granted, it wasn't knock you over the head romantic in the beginning, but I thought it was there. I LOVE subtle things. In fact, I like the little things almost more than the big ones. (there is one book where a curse word the hero says is in italics, and it always makes my heart roll over..how sad is that) Plus, I would swear Micheal sitting outside her room was in the first half of the book, and that was soooo sweet(Although, it is very possible it was later - I did read the book very quickly). Just my two cents about it.

I loved the book. I also liked the fact that while the hero/heroine had problems to overcome, it wasn't a big misunderstanding between them. That was just...nice.

Oh, a quick question - how brutal are the contests for a new character. I am relatively new, so I have never been around for one. (I get the feeling they are rough though )

Mandy

Where do I even begin? I loved BOTH the heroes and it was such a treat having two heroes in one book! McCord and Valente were both wonderful!

One of my favorite parts of this book was when Leigh gives Michael the "Knight in Shining Armor" figure. I just KNEW that 'Falco' was going to show up somewhere! Although, it took me awhile to connect Falco and Valente...I thought, is he the stalker (please, NO!!) or maybe he rescues her from her car accident! or maybe he is Valente...I just couldn't decide which! LOL!

It was so nice having a hero who fell in love so strongly like that, and who never wavered from that love!

I LOVED the pears, that was just SOOO sweet!

I loved seeing Joe and Courtney again, and I thought Hilda was so hilarious! The sparks between her and Joe were so cute!

Enough for now! I'll add more later! LOL!

I totally agree with you that the first half was NOT lacking in romance! Like you, I love the details that bring the story together, and they were everywhere in the first half.

-I loved his name
-I loved his deep, sexy, baritone voice.
-I loved how he fell so deeply in love with Leigh
-I loved all his phone conversations with Leigh
-I loved how treasured the pewter knight
-I loved that he bought pears from D&D for her
- I loved the scene when he was outside Leigh's room

OMG, I LOVED THAT MAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I don't know if it's just me but i wanted to see MORE of him and Leigh in the book! I guess I'm one of those who wanted more romance than suspense I *adore* the few chapters of Michael and Leigh together!
HE'S SO DAMN HOT!!!!!!

Sherry

[This message has been edited by Sherry (edited 02-27-2003).]

Posts: 167 | Registered: Apr 2000  |  IP: Logged | 

.. he told her he's been married once, briefly, a long time ago, but when she asked him about it, he immediately closed the door on the conversation. page 295

It's very unlike you to simply let the hero to 'close the door' to a conversation like that with the heroine.

I'm dying of curiousity about what happened then. What kind of woman managed to make him want to marry her (albeit briefly)? Is his ex-wife still alive? Does he still keep in touch with her? How did the marriage fail? I want to know everything about the man!

Sherry

[This message has been edited by Sherry (edited 02-25-2003).]

Posts: 167 | Registered: Apr 2000  |  IP: Logged | 

I'm loving reading your posts here, and will continue to do it often all this week, but I won't be able to reply in any depth this week because I'm trying to get ready to leave on a three week tour on Saturday. That wouldn't be too difficult, except that every day and night this week, Pocket has me doing all sorts of radio, television, and newspaper interviews plus autographings. I'm feeling a little frantic.

Anyway, having explained that I won't be able to participate here and reply, I'll now contradict it by posting here a long dissertation on the topic our Ms. Farrell raised, to wit:

quote:

---

I'm going to be honest Judith and say that the only part of the book that I had a problem with was the timeline. It just seemed so sudden to go from Leigh being in love with Logan, someone she considered her best friend, to falling in love with Michael. I can understand why she fell in love with Michael *grin*!! I think you know what I mean.

---

It so happens that this same question/topic came up during the "Private Roundtable Discussions" I had via e-mail with our seven contest winners who got advance copies of STWOM. We had a lot of fun, and no one (especially me) paid a great deal of attention to the composition and style of our e-mails.

For that reason, the details of the explanation you're about to read are not properly organized in order of importance. I'll leave it to each of you to consider them, assign importance, and then put yourself in the writer's place, and arrive at your own conclusions and/or solutions.

Interestingly, the last obstacle I mention below to slowing down and lengthening Leigh and Michael's relationship was that STWOM was already a very, very long book. On the surface, that may not seem like a huge obstacle...After all, STWOM was already 500 pages long, so what would another 30 or 40 pages matter?

The answer is that it mattered a whole lot for many reasons, some of them economical, some of them practical, and some of them cosmetic. For example, everyone on our board may love my books and think, "the longer the better," but to the average book-buyer, a 500 page book is already at about the maximum size they're willing to try. Anything longer than that becomes a "turn-off" to most consumers.

Second, the paper used in hardcovers is extremely expensive, and when Pocket priced STWOM at $25 in their catalogues, they were expecting it to come in at about 380 pages -- just like NIGHT WHISPERS. They expected that because 2/3 of the way through the manuscript, *I* told them to expect that. The problem was...Michael and Leigh, and Sam and McCord, and the PLOT, all needed more time (ergo more pages) to evolve.

The only possible solution to the page-length problem would have been to use a smaller font size, but I'd campaigned vigorously from the outset for a larger font size for STWOM. For years now, I've listened to readers complain legitimately that when they pay for a hardcover, they ought to get a larger, more readable typeface than a paperback has. And I completely agree.

Having bored you all with publishing practicalities, here follows the "artistic" reasons that I didn't/couldn't stretch out the time frame for Leigh and Michael's relationship.

I should probably add one more thing: This particular time frame issue is the *only* issue in STWOM that I couldn't work out completely to my own satisfaction. Anything else that may bother you about STWOM is my deliberate choice...so have at it but don't expect me to agree with you. Another very big

Here, at long last, is the text of my e-mail on the subject. I'll miss "talking" to all of you here on our board, but I'll be reading. If the virus has been exorcised from my laptop, I'll have it with me on this tour and be able to talk to you from my hotel rooms.

quote:

---

The primary reason I *had* to "rush it" was because I wanted Michael and Leigh to become viable suspects as co-conspirators in Logan's murder.

I also wanted McCord and Sam to have a really sound *reason* to think Michael and Leigh were involved, and that meant they had to spend the night together. If McCord had leapt to that conclusion solely on the basis of Leigh and Michael having a dinner out, then we'd have subtly lost a little of our admiration for McCord who I carefully portrayed as being "the best" among investigators.

That suspicion of Leigh and Michael in Logan's death was such a good, and integral, part of the plot, but the pacing was paramount and difficult. Remember, we had a top-notch investigative task force assigned to solving this murder, and McCord, Sam, et al wouldn't have taken 6 months to figure it out. That's not feasible.

And there was another problem with them taking 6 months or even 3 months to catch the real murderer. (Like all things that seem so simple but complicate our real lives, timing becomes an endlessly forceful influence.) The problem was this: Jane Sebring would have been able to maintain her fragile grip on sanity for as long as she was playing Leigh's role and occupying her dressing room--but there was no way on earth that Leigh could have realistically ignored her legal contract and refused to play her role for six months or even three months.

And as soon as Leigh went back to work, and Jane was fired....Jane was going to go over the edge.

An alternative would have been for Michael to spend a fortune arranging with Solomon to have Jane fired, even though Michael and Leigh weren't in love yet, but would you have believed that of him? Wouldn't that have made Michael just a little to knight-in-shining-armor to be believable?

With no viable alternatives for timing, except the one I used, I compensated as best I could by portraying to readers in a variety of ways that Michael was a whirlwind force who moved things forward with incredible speed...and for that we particularly admired him.

Believe me, no one had more struggles with that abbreviated widowhood/grief period for Leigh than I did. But I explained all that, I know, in another long e-mail.

In any case, your point is very well taken. I just couldn't find a viable way to circumvent it, particularly when the novel was already very, very long.

---

[This message has been edited by Judith McNaught (edited 02-25-2003).]

1. I thought Michael was one of Judith's most special heroes. I had been very moved by her touching and emotional thoughts in the acknowledgments page so when I saw the name Michael in chapter three, I instantly knew that he would be a unique and memorable character....and he was. I thought Judith did a fantastic job in revealing his character throughout the course of the book. I liked him in chapter three, but my empathy and admiration for his character grew as more facts were revealed about him as the plot unfolded. By the end of the book, he became one of my favorite JM characters.
2. I loved many moments in this book...the pears, the love scene, and the final moments outside of the theater. One of my favorite scenes from the book takes place on page 278. It says..."Michael watched her walk away. Did he mind waiting a half hour for her? Not at all. He'd been waiting years for her." There are other more dramatic moments in the book, but those words had a lot of emotional impact for me.

Well, actually, the whole book had a lot of emotional impact!!
Donna

THEY SHOULDN'T BE THERE. I DIDN'T PUT THEM THERE.

To Ms. S L Farrell < s> and everyone else in this newly formed discussion group...

eeek

If you take that out...it should disappear.

Luce

Judith, I think you know how I felt about the book at long length, but I wanted to post it here too.

I also sent you an e-mail w/a link to our bb where STWOM is under full discussion. We didn't want the spoilers to come out in our enthusiasm to talk about it. Let me know if you didn't get it.

Jennie

PS I went into edit your post (which you can't do to other people's posts) but I did cut and paste it onto the other BB in its entirety

Posts: 5476 | From: Claymore with my beloved Royce | Registered: Apr 2000  |  IP: Logged | 

I enjoyed having Joe O'Hara in residence, again, and thought it the perfect opportunity to put the moves on Hilda. - Although three love matches in one book might have been a bit much.

And, I was so sure it was the killer who had hit Leigh's car and knocked her off the road. What a surprise to find out it was a legitimate accident.

CeeCee

I don't even know where to begin. Michael was just..... amazingly hero-worthy to me. Not to mention McCord for completely different reasons.

As for the timeline in which they fell in love... I could actually talk myself into it. Yes, it was fast, but I could also see why. First off, Michael had been in love with her for years and once Logan was dead, didn't see any reason to wait. Secondly, once Leigh found out what an @$$ Logan was, she felt betrayed and turned to the one person that was a support to her. Add to that some unresolved feelings she had from their early association with each other and then finding out about the pears and the significance of what he did and in my mind, it all adds up.

I'm a firm believer in the fact that we really don't get to choose who we love. Some of us love more than once, others love once and forever. But how many times have you heard about people falling in love with someone who just *isn't right* for them -- but they love them just the same. So in that regard, I think Leigh had feelings for Michael way back in his Falco days and she may have talked herself out of it because of what she knew of his history.

And then you add to it the fact that he wanted someone better for her than himself?!?? O-M-G!!! Does it take much more than that to fall hard for that man?!?!? Unfortunately, his selflessness opened the door for Logan to move in and for that relationship to happen.

And the rest is history!

Di

[This message has been edited by *Di Westmoreland* (edited 02-25-2003).]

Posts: 5491 | From: The Earl of Langford's Master Suite | Registered: Jun 2002  |  IP: Logged | 

First of all, I loved it. I see this as being the best written book you have ever published. I saw so much of you in the writing of this story.

As always, you developed your characters beautifully. You draw us into the story and make us feel what the characters are feeling. From Michael sitting on the chair outside of Leigh's room to McCord's chalk snapping to Joe's heart attack. I felt every moment.

I also loved that I didn't feel rushed in this book. I wanted to take four days to read it, and I did it. The book was a journey instead of something I wanted to speed through to get to the end. I didn't want to get to the ending right away, and you didn't force me to do so.

I didn't have a problem with the time frame at all. I could see it happening because it happened to me.

Michael was a wonderful hero. You made him strong, tough, tortured and extremely witty. BTW, LOVED THE AMBER EYES. Wonder why?

And McCord, so different from Michael, but WOW!!! Very strong and extremely loveable.

I thought the killer was either Jane or Jason or Eric. So many twists there.

I'll close for now because I think I've made my feelings known.

Always,

I never suspected Sheila, but I did think she was having an affair with him. Jane was a little obvious when she said sorry for your tragedy before they found Logan's body. There were so many scenario's playing out in my head. But I really suspected Jason's boyfriend. He just stood out to me.

This book was so absolutely perfectly written, and I enjoyed every single bit of it.

Thanks Judith!!

Lady Helen

To everyone else on the bb...my reason for having a problem with the time line is b/c I have a personal experience with someone losing her husband at a fairly young age. So, I have a different viewpoint than most of you b/c of my experience.

Anyway, I thought Michael was an amazing hero. The part where he sat in the hallway while Leigh cried upon learning the death of Logan...*sniff* Just made me want to sob.

And I have to say that I thought Sheila was the killer also. But when Jane ended up being the one I wasn't surprised. It caught my attention in the book how upset she was at the funeral...and how Jason kept saying Jane wanted to be Leigh. So, that was very suspicious to me.

But looking baack I can't see how I didn't pick up more about Jason's boyfriend...remember when a tabloid mentioned that Logan was cheating on Leigh with a man?? *raising eyebrows* Eric could have been the jealous lover.

Anyway, the sexual tension b/w Mac and Sam...waaaaaaaay off the charts! *sizzle* LOL And didn't you love how Sam had all brothers and Mac had all sisters? How funny was that? *grin*

And the pears? Who now feels the craving to have pears for breakfast?? LOL

For a few minutes I even thought Michael could have been the stalker, just trying to be close to Leigh. I only thought that for about 2 minutes.

I really think McCord and Michael could really share primary hero status. The book showed both stories in equal detail.

The plot did keep me guessing and I think this book was definately worth the wait.

I gave Logan my girl....and look what he did to her. That is my new ALL TIME favorite line! It made me melt! SO SIMPLE.....and so sweet!

I had no problem with the time line. I think that Logan was a JERK....and Leigh deserved to move on. I don't think she loved Michael at the beginning of the night....I know she loved him at the end. And Michael loved her for years.

As for the murderer.....I switched back and forth several times. I was shocked when Sheila ended up dead. I really thought she was no good....always wanting Leigh on medication.

I loved the book and am looking forward to reading another one just like STWOM

Sam and McCord really made the book for me. Now as for Leigh and Michael, when she sees the Knight on his shelf, I could have wept. That was one of the most poignant scenes for me.

Now what I really want to know is did Logan sleep with Winters? Because Sheila said they didn't but Logan said they did according to Jane.

So did they or didn't they?? That is the question!

The timing of this book, mainly the ages of the characters, was quite enjoyable. Everyone was very established in their life’s profession. It didn’t take away from the complexity of the story buy dragging the reader through countless pages of growing pains. I liked that a lot.

Michael Patrick Valente is a hero with an understandable core of hardness. Reading about his tribulations was very vital in his character development and Judith did an amazing job without tiring the reader. I enjoyed how JM gradually gave us sneak previews of his “inner” side with relation to Leigh. The most compelling and poignant scene that stands foremost in my mind is when Michael and Leigh are at his new penthouse.

Of course the whole significance of the pewter knight becomes abundantly clear in a verbal way, through Michael himself. When he told her that he kept it within sight in every office he ever had and that it was his beacon, was pure magic and heart stopping. If I hadn’t been so totally taken with Michael, that alone would have nailed it.

quote:

---

It was my beacon. In the early years, if I faltered over a choice, I’d look at the little pewter knight and remember that I was “gallant” in your eyes, and I would make whatever choice was ethical and right.

---

quote:

---

I didn’t have a lot of opportunities to be “gallant”, so I settled for ethical instead.

---

I did notice a lack of romance in the first half. I'll say that I noticed it, but I didn't mind it. This is something for me because I am not a real fan of romantic suspenses. But the mystery part of the first half kept me turning the pages *needing* to know what happened next.

Out of all the characters I loved Sam the most. She was drawn so great that I saw her as a real person and not a fictional character. Her characters was crafted so that, to me, I was reading about part of a particular person's life, and not a made up story about a fictional character. Loved her!

I loved how she never took the easy way out, I loved how she accepted the police station was a boys club, but that she didn't need to act like one of the boys, she was just another officer. I loved her straightforward manner and how she took chances knowing that some of them might not work.

Some of my favorite moments...

When Leigh holds out her hand to Sam after learning that Logan is dead. That is probably my most favorite part. So heartbreaking.

The pewter figure. *sniff* When Leigh gave it to Falco and then when Leigh finds that Michael had not only opened her package, but had kept it after all those years.

Sam walking into the wall after Mack says, "Well, we got over that lover's quarrel smoothly, didn't we?" So cute and unexpected.

Agreements with other posters:

I did have a tough time with the timetable of Leigh falling in love. I was fine with Michael being in love with Leigh, but I needed more time for Leigh to fully commit.

Judith, I do appreciate your comments on the timetable issue. It helps a bit to know some of the background on it. Oh, and I could never have enough of the publishing fun facts.

I also thought that Sheila was the murderer. She was just sooooo perfect for it.

I thought Jason's little friend might have been the stalker as well. Only for a little bit though. I kinda kept pinning the stalker role on everyone. :)

I knew that Falco would probably show up again, but it did take me a while to put Falco and Michael together. Well done!

Overall, I really enjoyed this book a lot. I loved the time I was able to spend on reading it, and like all JM books, I am extremely sad that I'm done with it.

Michael has replaced Matt as my all-time favorite hero – (swoon). I am also half Italian, so Michael was especially delicious to me!

Judith, thank you so much for writing a MAGICAL ROMANCE with an edge-of-your-seat suspense novel. This story stayed with me long after the last page! I must admit, I was just a teensy weensy bit disappointed in RW and NW, not because they weren’t good, but because they lacked your famous touch (IMHO). And as far as your post about the length of your books- it reminded me of the movie “Amadeus” when the German emperor thought Mozart’s opera had too many notes! How can anyone question perfection? Anyway, I thought STWOM was just PERFECT the way it was written (no pun intended).

One question for the other readers – Did anyone else think that creepy Logan had something to do with Leigh’s accident, either directly or indirectly? I thought he was somehow responsible so he creeped me out from the very beginning.