Sweet Nothings
Sweet Nothings book cover

Sweet Nothings

Mass Market Paperback – January 1, 2002

by
Price
$7.34
Publisher
Onyx
Publication Date
ISBN-13
978-0451410153
Dimensions
4.24 x 1.27 x 6.84 inches
Weight
7.8 ounces

Description

From Publishers Weekly ick a romance cliche and you're sure to find it in this lengthy, formulaic offering from one of the genre's veteran writers. After Molly Wells steals a badly abused race horse from her nasty ex-husband Rodney, she takes the animal to Jake Coulter's Oregon ranch. Molly had hoped Jake, a horse whisperer, would be a man like Robert Redford, and she isn't disappointed; he's handsome, gentle and caring, and he has a way with horses. Since Molly is homeless and on the lam from Rodney, who had her committed for mental instability so he could gain control of her estate, she accepts Jake's offer to work as cook and housekeeper at the ranch. Molly's lack of domestic skills isn't lost on Jake, but he's willing to put up with stir fry dishes and disgruntled ranch hands just to keep her close. The situation takes a personal turn when Rodney shows up to drag Molly back to the institution. The only way to stop him, and a court order, is for Jake to marry Molly. But for Molly, marriage means letting a man take control of her life again, and she wants nothing to do with it. Fans who enjoy double-sized category romances will devour Anderson's latest offering (after Phantom Waltz), but others might find themselves yawning through the 400-plus pages of over-used phrases and predictable plot turns. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc. From Booklist Out of work, out of luck, and almost out of money, Molly Sterling Wells shows up at Jake Coulter's ranch, the Lazy J, with Sonora Sunset, a beautiful horse who has been so badly beaten he may even be beyond Jake's talents as a horse whisperer. Jake intuitively knows there is more to Molly's story, but he agrees to help if Molly will stay on as the ranch's new cook and housekeeper. Little by little, Molly and Sonora Sunset find peace and security at the Lazy J until the day Molly's past catches up with her. Anderson continues to demonstrate a gift for creating richly emotional, deeply satisfying romances with her newest tale, which features Jake Coulter, the older brother of Emily in Phantom Waltz [BKL Je 1 & 15 01], as its hero. As the book's psychologically bruised and emotionally battered heroine, Molly is an all-too-realistic combination of vulnerability and strength, and her issues of self-esteem and self-image are deftly handled. Pure reading magic! John Charles Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved "This book was just great. I loved it from beginning to end. I can never get enough. Classic Catherine Anderson"--Christy Hitchings"Her books keep you interested the whole time you never know what's going to happen"--Marjorie Sudduth"Amazing book!"--Amazon customerxa0 Verified Purchase"I love Catherine Anderson books and this one didn't disappoint!"--DgTrnr"THIS IS JUST ONE OF MS. ANDERSON'S BOOKS FEATURING ALL THE ELEMENTS TO KEEP YOU INTERESTED."--JBHSELLER"In my opinion, this is a book not to miss."--Lindsey Catherine Anderson loves dogs, cats, horses, cows, chickens, and nearly every other critter on earth.xa0 Her most guilty pleasure when she isn't writing is to chat with her followers on Facebook.xa0 Her fan page is one of the most happening places on the net, with a daily place for you to post and share pics up front and center.xa0 Ever visited a fan page, and all you can do is reply to an author's chosen feature of the day?xa0 Well, Catherine believes in community, and she wants her readers to not only have fun, but also to become lifelong friends.xa0 And she always,xa0ALWAYS replies, unless something catastrophic occurs.xa0 She doesn't want her fan page to be all about her and her books!xa0 Heaps of tried and true recipes!xa0 Funny jokes.xa0 Hilarious quotes.xa0 It's a happening place with fairly frequent contests as well.xa0 Please come and join in at facebook.com/catherineandersonbooks Read more

Features & Highlights

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Customer Reviews

Rating Breakdown

★★★★★
60%
(443)
★★★★
25%
(185)
★★★
15%
(111)
★★
7%
(52)
★
-7%
(-52)

Most Helpful Reviews

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Im shocked at all of these negative reviews!!

I Loved this book!! Jake was an absolutely AWESOME hero. I adored the way he responded to Molly. I will admit that at times Molly was frustrating..but that is what made her so real..she was ABUSED for years!!! All of the deep seeded feelings and insecurities that came along with that ill treatment cannot possibly disappear overnight!!! Also, I found it a bit wild that Jake liked all of her dimples as well, but the point is that he loved her..ALL OF HER..for who she was...why is it so unbelievable that a man would like a curvy woman?? Its not...it happens, and in this case..even though Jake was a fox..it was totally believable. I adored this book..my only reason for not giving it 5 stars is because i felt that it could have had a bit shaved off from the middle. Other than that...LOVELY!! I definitely recommend it!
20 people found this helpful
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Formulaic characters but a good read

This is a tough book to rate because I'm so ambivalent about it. On one hand, I enjoyed reading it. On the other, I'm annoyed because I feel like I've been manipulated by utterly formulaic characters. I really want to give it 3 1/2 stars.
I'm a relatively new Catherine Anderson reader, but it hasn't taken me long to catch on to the formula at work. With some admittedly important plot variations from its series predecessors Baby Love and Phantom Waltz, Sweet Nothings chronicles the story of a down-on-her-luck desperate woman who needs a hero to rescue her, give her time and space, and show her she's worth loving.
There is nothing inherently wrong with this concept; it's a tried and true romance theme. Ms. Anderson weaves it like a pro so it works. You're under the spell...unless you read all three of the books in a row like I did and begin to realize that the characters are so cookie-cutter they can almost be interchanged in places. It's disconcerting, and disappointing, because her writing is good enough that Ms. Anderson shouldn't have to reuse the same character types over and over.
Let me summarize: the hero is a gorgeous cowboy, mostly rich (though he may be temporarily down-and-out), principled, charming, and grows deeply in love with the damsel in distress who has fallen into his lap. He is patient and kind and loyal and alpha (but only when it's attractive). Are you getting the picture? He's mostly, just about, damn, perfect.
The heroine is petite (though not necessarily thin), pretty (but not beautiful except to the hero), emotionally battered and scarred, has little or no self-esteem, is desperate for a refuge, feels confused, out of options and is unsure why the hero (or anyone) would profess to love her. She usually is dependent on the hero for work, food and support while she sorts through her miserably few options.
Are you with me so far? *sigh* Every romance formula convention you can imagine comes into play here. The weird thing is, it really works for awhile. Ms. Anderson is a good writer; the settings are clearly described, and the dialogue rings true between the characters. No matter how trite the situation, the characters are interesting enough to keep you reading, at least the first time around. They're far less enthralling the third time.
If you've never read a book by Ms. Anderson, then you may want to try one of the three books I've mentioned - I think Sweet Nothings was my favorite though there's little difference between them. Just be warned that once you've read the first, you barely need to read the other two.
10 people found this helpful
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Not bad!

Sweet Nothings was my first book by Catherine Anderson. Certainly after reading it, it will not be my last. The story held my attention enough to keep me reading it. I found it good, but not good enough to warrant anything more than 4 stars.
The storyline revolves around a woman running away from an abusive ex husband. He has apparently been trying to drug her for a reason and has been abusive to a horse that the heroine does not quite trust, but is drawn to save before the horse is killed. She takes it to a rancher who is known as a horse whisperer (a man who breaks in unruly horses). He is suspcious of her from the start, as she does not tell him the truth, but is immediately attracted to her. She cannot understand why he is attracted to her, but eventually she believes his attraction to be real and succumbs to it.
In the background is the threat of her ex husband, and the belief by her that she is mentally unstable. She does not want to have the hero hurt by either. This is what is the suspense of the book... what is the ex husband going to do? Is she losing her mind or is someone trying to frame her?
I really enjoyed the hero. He seemed genuine in his attraction to the heroine, even if he had to keep telling her. He did not push her, yet he pursued her gently. The heroine on the other hand seemed to irritate me a little. She was weak and in my mind, never seemed to grow strong until the very end.
This book is worth it just for the hero alone. The story is evenly paced, with just the right amount of suspense and romance to make it in my mind, a good book.
9 people found this helpful
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GIVE ME A BREAK!!!!!!

Like many of the other reviewers, I am a fan of Catherine Anderson and have read all of her books. They are romantic and very sexy, although the heroines are generally slightly too weak for my taste. But the heroine in this book was so incredibly unappealing (unintelligent, weak-willed, whining and self-pitying, and downright physically unappealing--short, fat, ugly and stupid)as to render the book almost unreadable. There was absolutely NOTHING about her that would make the hero fall in love with her.
Furthermore, the book seems to be one long essay on how sexy and attractive obesity is-- trying to justify the fact that the heroine is fat!!! There is actually a scene where the hero becomes graphically,physically aroused by his discovery that the cottage cheese lumps on the heroine's inner thighs are cellulite--GIVE ME A BREAK!!!!!!
I found it ridiculous, and extremely unrealistic, that the gorgeous, tall, rock-hard, alpha male hero of this book could possibly fall in love with this repellent heroine.
Miss Anderson is trying to create a "realistic" heroine by making her overweight and very flawed. But she still makes the hero tall, dark, and handsome with six-pack abs. Why didn't she make him "realistic" with a pot belly and double chin???
The answer, of course, is that romance is not a "realistic" genre of literature. Romance offers an escape from reality. It is fantasy that takes us into the lives of idealised people. We see flawed, unintelligent, fat people all the time in everyday life-- there is no reason to read about them in our fantasy lives.
Frankly, I am tired of romance authors who are desperately trying to embrace "realism" by creating flawed, unappealing heroines. Romance is fantasy-- so give us characters we can fantasize about!!!
6 people found this helpful
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I was disappointed...

I was very disappointed in this book. I've read all of Catherine Anderson's previous novels and have fallen in love with most of them. There aren't very many that I haven't read more than once. I especially loved Coming Up Roses & Seventh Heaven, and Annie's Song. This book, in my opinion, just doesn't meet up to the level of her previous work. It may just be me, but I think she spends WAY too much time trying to convince the reader that the hero in the story finds this "pleasingly plump" (his exact words) heroine attractive. There's even a line in the book about how he likes the way her buttocks jiggle and how much he likes the "cute little dimples" on her butt. Now I understand and appreciate that a man in love sees his woman as beautiful, but the book takes that concept a little too far. Jake even seriously worries that his ranch hands aren't going to be able to control themselves when they see Molly in a new wardrobe. I too agree that a woman does not have to be a centerfold to be beautiful, but this book kept hitting you over the head with that, and it stole a lot of the beauty of the romance away.
6 people found this helpful
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Don't waste your time

I have loved every contemporary romance Catherine Anderson has written so I usually trust her books as being good on sight, however, this book was not deserving of that trust. It dragged on for page after page after page with the same discussion over this womens mountain sized insecurties. Get over it already! and move on with the story, the romance please. The best and most romantic part of this book was the end. Why because it was the END and there was finally some romance.
5 people found this helpful
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If You Need A Hero...

Grab your tissues and run, don't walk to get this book. I'm such a fan of CA's previous books (Phantom Waltz, Baby Love & many others) that this book was on my wish list long before it was released. Jake Coulter, who is touted as a horse whisperer (You remember Robert Redford, don't you?) takes in Molly Wells & her ex-husband's abused thoroughbred horse on his rustic Oregon ranch. Molly takes a great chance by even taking (stealing, actually) the horse to Jake, but she is so heartbroken seeing the poor creature abused that she throws caution to the wind. After a 10-year marriage to a horrible, abusive and deceitful man, Molly is but a shell of her former self. What Jake can do for the horse is nothing short of a miracle, but you'll have to read the book to see what he does for Molly! Every woman dreams of such a hero in her life, and Jake comes through! Although I don't take this to be a sequel, this book follows the Coulter's (Jake's brother is Rafe, and his sister is Bethany) and I really enjoyed revisiting many of the people in her recent books. It's a gem - and a keeper for me.
4 people found this helpful
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This one is a keeper!!!

This story is probably Catherine Anderson's best work. The heroine is not drop dead gorgeous but beautiful on the inside and appreciated by the men who get to know her. Molly is a survivor of mental abuse, but has a heart of gold. Jake is all male and learns that love comes in all shapes and sizes. Can't say enough good things about it! Enjoy!!!
3 people found this helpful
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One of the best!

I have to say that this book was one of the best I have ever read! Its not the usual romance, but I think it could stand up to any others out there. To me, it takes a less than perfect woman ( like me and a million other women in the world) and turns her into the perfect woman. Though it may a be a fictional romance, it makes me truly believe that there are men out there that dont care about a size five figure. I LOVED IT!!
3 people found this helpful
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Great read.

I always enjoy Catherine Anderson, she has the guy chases girl, girl wants to be caught, girl gets caught. Everyone lives happily ever after. Just enough sex that wants more of the same people in other stories.
2 people found this helpful

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