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Darling Enemy. (1984)

by Diana Palmer(Favorite Author)

3.48 of 5 Votes: 1

ISBN

0340353228 (ISBN13: 9780340353226)

languge

English

genre

Romance

publisher

Hodder and Stoughton

review 1: I have three words for this title: Diana Palmer tropes. Seriously, if you've read even a handful of her books (the non-action ones, though they also follow similar patterns with each other and incorporate elements from her purely romantic books), you know what I'm talking about. Granted, this was written in 1983 and romance novels by many different authors back then featured the typical arrogant, macho, experienced men and shy, delicate, naive women. I know this because I have read plenty of these kinds of romance novels though I was born in 1989. But even exasperated by the interchangeable characters and plots, I don't know why I keep reading Palmer's books. Okay, fine, I do. I admit it, they're definitely a guilty pleasure. No matter how much I rage at the problems cause... mored by simple miscommunication and introduction of completely unnecessary love "rivals," not to mention generally overbearing "heroes" and backbone-less "heroines," I find the situations thrilling, which leaves me unable to put the dang book(s) down until I'm good and done. That said, a brief synopsis in my own words: model is crazy about her best friend's brother, but because said man is a narrow-minded jerk with misconceptions about the heroine, despite his oh-so-deep love for her, trials and tribulations abound before they get their inevitable HEA. On to the review.Characters: I've already described the hero and heroine personality-wise in my first paragraph. Physically, he's good-looking, she's good-looking (duh, model), blah blah whatever. Typical of Palmer's other books, the heroine basically has this mindset: "I love him, but he hates me and he's mean to me so I hate him too! Ohhh, but I still love him so much! I want him to want me and love me! Oh, why doesn't he!?" Hero: "Damn it, she's too young. And she's pretty, so she sleeps around, never mind that I don't check the sources the gossip comes from because I only see what I want until it's almost too late. But I still want her! And I love her! Therefore I must humiliate and traumatize her whenever possible so she doesn't use my feelings against me!" Very little character development until maybe 20 or so pages before the end of the book. My made-up internal monologues should give you an idea of what these protagonists are like and how the dialogue/interaction works between the two for most of the story. I'd like to add that the hero is 13 years older than the heroine (who's a few months shy of 21), which though not terrible, isn't something I'm keen on, especially considering the fact that they met when she was 15 and he's wanted her since. Plot: Drama, drama, drama fueled by miscommunication, lack of honesty, and a stupid villain. Again, typical Palmer tropes, as I mentioned earlier. The resolution was uber rushed and lacked believability for me.Setting: Takes place mostly in Calgary, Canada, with great descriptions that bring the location to life, with occasional brief scenes in NYC and the girls' college campus in Connecticut. Writing: I can handle Palmer's tropes for the most part, but her dialogue sticks in my craw sometimes because I just can't believe normal people say half that stuff or speak in exclamatory tones a majority of the time. On some occasions, the heroines come off whiny and superficial while the heroes come off angry and superficial when they talk, and even think. Having read dozens of her books in the past decade or so (I started young), I'm kind of over it by this point because I'm so used to her style. Most of the time though, the dialogue fits the situation/characters. Narration-wise, Palmer's writing flows pretty smoothly, especially when she's describing landscapes, though she has a tendency to use over-the-top flowery language during intimate scenes.Overall, because I am a sucker for soap opera-style romances and constantly hope for some positive change in both the hero and heroines, I give this book three stars despite the issues. Don't get me wrong, more often than not, Palmer delivers character development in a (mostly) realistic manner because even though she starts them off with the aforementioned molds, they do change. I just didn't really see it here though because she spent so much time piling on the problems, literally almost a few pages shy of the end. Read it if you're a Diana Palmer fan (like me lol)
review 2: Diana Palmer dulunya termasuk salah satu pengarang favorit aku, tp koq ya 4-5 novel terakhir DP yang aku baca, ga ada satupun yang bagus T.TYang ada hanyalah jalan cerita yang miripp satu sama lain, karakter hero- heroine yang setipe smua. Hero yang nyebelin, kasar, curigaan melulu dan heroine yang lugu, polos dan pastinya masih V. Si Kingston di Darling Enemy ini bener2 super duper menyebalkan! sebentar sinis sebentar lembut. diprovokasi dikit langsung jahat lg sama Teddi.Teddi jg terlalu lemah sebagai cewe. ah pokoknya baca yang satu ini bener2 bikin bete dan buang2 waktu aja. kalo buku ini aku baca 5 tahun yang lalu mgkn masih bs suka. less

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