The arrival of a new Charlotte Vale Allen book is always a treat! One following so close on the heels of Parting Gifts makes it a double treat. One cannot get too many of her books and this is another one that is a joy to read. Grace Notes takes us into the 21st Century with computers,the internet and emails playing the major role in this book.I will not reiterate the story line as doing so would only replicate what has preceded this.I will only add that she deals with both rheumatoid arthritis and spousal abuse with great knowledge. Ms. Allen's talent with character development is unsurpassed and she more than excells in this book. Grace Loring,her protagonist,is so real she almost leaves the book and joins you. Her brother,Gus;her daughter,Nicky;her dear friend,Vinnie; even Dolly and Lucia,her salaried help,are so totally dimensional it is difficult to see them as fictional characters. The only shadowy character is Stephanie Baine,but since she is manifested on email - a cyber person - she remains one dimensional. Only close to the end is she developed fully. Ms. Allen has written another fast-paced book that is highly readable. It builds in suspense to an exciting and unexpected conclusion. It is a great book,a great read, and she has done it again! After reading this book you may never fully trust your emails.

Charlotte Vale Allen has written another powerful book titled Grace Notes. The characters are believable. Grace is a writer, but it's not a book about writing. The book shows how things can go wrong, awfully wrong, and the ending will shock you. I love suspense and this book has lots of tension. I found myself reading until the wee hours of the morning. It's a modern day story and there's something for everyone, even a gay character shown in proper light.

I don't review the plot as that's really cheating. I guarantee you that you'll want to curl up and enjoy Grace Notes from cover to cover. I did. Once, a chill crawled up my spine. I won't tell you what page. That doesn't matter. There's as much love in the book as everything else as well. I found Grace Notes both rewarding and gripping.

Once again, Ms. Allen's characters are true to life. If you want the fantasy world, rent a Walt Disney movie. Ms. Allen tells it how it is in real life with all the elements of day-to-day living.

It's interesting to note that in the book Grace is a well known writer that welcomes readers to contact her. On her website (www.charlottevaleallen.com), Ms. Allen declares the same thing.

Grace Notes involves the internet and emails and love and pain and much more. The emails become another character and it's interesting to see something not really concrete become a major character. It shows how the internet plays a major role in a lot of people's day to day lives.

There's as much seriousness to this book as there is tension (gripping tension!). But there's parts that made me laugh and some parts were very, very sad. Charlotte Vale Allen understands life and in Grace Notes has written a book about real people and a dark situation that could easily happen.

My only advice is NOT to take this book to bed with you if you have to get up early. You'll find yourself reading "just more chapter" and then another and then another.

Grace Notes is a major treat for Charlotte Vale Allen fans. New readers will enjoy how she spins a web and gets the reader caught up from the opening page. Each book she writes is different. I've read many of her books and enjoy them greatly.

I highly recommend Grace Notes in all regards.

I didn't expect the book to be so serious and thought provoking. From the back cover it sounded like a mystery but in reality it was about the life of an abused woman who escaped and ended up taking care of her beloved crippled brother. I actually enjoyed the book very much and it taught me a lot and made me think. The ending was odd and a little abrupt but I'm glad it had a conclusion. I recommend this book to anyone who has had it rough.

I picked this book up at the library. The title caught my eye and also the description of the story's content. The beginning of the book is exciting and rather sad when Snow's mother confesses her crime of kidnapping. I thought the book dragged until Snow meets her real mother and then cried when she decribed how much they looked like each other. I rejoiced with Snow and her biological mother throughout the rest of the book and when I had finished was surprised how much I actually enjoyed the book. Great summer reading!!

A wonderful storyline which, unfortunately, could also be true. You couldn't help but feel Snow's pain at her mother's deathbed confession, leaving Snow feeling that she has no identity at all. As Snow's search for her biological mother comes to a close, the mystery of the woman who raised her for the past 30 years is just starting to take hold. The author had a wonderful story going here until the end, when you are left hanging. I have never liked books that leave open storylines. Even if it is part of a series, or if there is going to be a sequel, each book should be self-contained and with completed storylines. I feel like I was left reading half a book. I do hope the author has plans to do a sequel and put closure to this.

The book is a nice combination of the (somewhat unrealistic) mystery involving the 30 year old kidnapping and the more realistic characters and their relationships. As her past becomes revealed, Snow's personality, attitude, problems, etc. become understandable. I like for stories to reflect, as I believe our real lives do, how everything that happens to us affects who we are.

Emma is attacked, raped and brutally beaten on the streets, and moments after her attackers fled, she was found by a passing stranger, Phil Aylmer. She is incoherent and distraught but is afraid to go to the police, so Phil Aylmer takes her home to clean her up and tend to her wounds. He calls her mother, Jacqueline Evannier, who comes over immediately. Sadly, Emma dies in her mother's arms. Jacqueline is grief stricken and turns to the arms of Phil for consolation and their grief quickly turns to passion.

Over the next few days during the funeral preparations, Jacqueline becomes more and more dependent on Phil, who is 13 years younger than her, and he quickly professes his love. She thinks she loves him also, but realizes that she is in no condition to commit to any sort of relationship with him. Jacqueline is a former ballerina who was also scarred and traumatized by a rape 10 years earlier. She decides to push for more compassionate handling of rape victims and enlists the support of an old friend, Viktor, in this quest.

The relationship between Jacqueline and Phil seems highly improbable, and I was never actually convinced that it would work out. The theme of older woman, younger man appears in other novels by this author, but in this case it seems implausible. Jacqueline eventually sorts out her feelings for Phil, and starts to realize some success in her campaign for rape victims' rights.

The characters aren't as finely crafted, empathetic and believable in this novel as in other of Allen's novels, but there are lessons to be learned in the handling of rape victims and the healing power of love.

I have to disagree strongly with the reviewer who claimed that this story lacks credibility. In point of fact, it has enormous credibility. In times of loss and grief, people are prone to do things that later they can scarcely believe they did. That is precisely the case in Gentle Stranger when, in the grip of overwhelming sorrow at the loss of her only child, the heroine goes into the arms of a man she doesn't know, seeking comfort and forgetfulness. Given that this book was written almost twenty-five years ago, it was very forward-thinking for the era. As is true of most of Allen's novels, she was dealing with important women's issues at a time when only "literary" novels purported to offer serious perspectives on matters such as rape. In some ways, this novel has a timeless aspect. And it still holds up well, even after all this time.

This is the story of a woman, born with a hair-lip in London, who lost both parents in World War II. She was shut in a room from birth until she was 7 because of her lip, then went to live with an uncle. The book tells of her life from age 35 until the present, how she learned to love and live a normal life. I especially liked the way the book made me feel that I was reading the words of some one telling me their life story. Nothing seemed contrived, all of the characters actions and decisions seemed real. I enjoyed reading this book and was anxious to keep reading to see how her life turned out.

This is my 10th book by Ms Charlotte and it was written in 1977 so is dated thereby. It is hard to believe that Denny was so turned off by her loving Mother for no reason that I could figure. Maybe life in 1977 was badder than in 2002. The scene where Isabel goes to the house, hoping to find her daughter, is horrendous. The last page or so was weak when Mother and daughter come together. Forgive me, Charlotte, if you ever see this. I love your work and you have really grown since 77.

This novel is like a parody of a suspense novel, bland and unsuspenseful.

After wading through 200 pages of so called character development I was still marveling at the lack of depth that the author manages. Especially Dan, the antagonist. There is absolutly no indication in his personality that he is capable of his crimes. There is vrtually no connection between the Dan of the first half and the second.

So maybe the author was trying to surprise us with this guy's character flaw, but half the fun of reading this type of story is the marvelous sense of forboding that can be developed and which can keep you looking back at the beginning for clues to the dissolution.

But we get none of that here. Nice guy one minute, terrorist the next. So Dan has some issues with his first wife, how exactly does that lead to his need to kidnap?

And are we to believe that the so called strong, independant Leigh really wants to marry a guy who calls her "my little trollop" and other sexist inanities?

The portrayal of New York City aristocrats is shallow. It seems mearly to give the characters the free time to play out the events of the novel.

The ending is totally ridiculous. After raping, beating, torturing and otherwise abusing Leigh she turns around and forgives the guy, doesn't tell the police, and starts hangin with his daughter? Come on.

I suspect that this is a basic bodice buster romance novel trying to make a leap into a serious subject, but fails.

Leigh Dunn,an illustrator of children's books, is flying to London to visit her father, from whom she has been estranged for years. Having survived the earlier loss of her husband and son, this trip was prompted by the recent death of her beloved stepson,Joel. On the plane she meets Daniel Goddard, a businessman. The two fall into a brief encounter in London,which is only that for Leigh, but is much more for Daniel. After returning to New York ,Leigh,still grieving for Joel and upset over her reunion with her father,cannot re-establish herself in her old life. Her mother, an author of romance novels, and her agent Miles try to encourage her, but she is unable to ,and a quarrel with her mother plunges her deeper into despair. In the meantime,Daniel is becomming obsessed with her and falling deeper into his obsession. Leigh slowly comes back to life,making amends with her mother, and falling in love with Miles. Just at a point where good things are happening to Leigh an unspeakable act by Daniel changes the course of everyones' life, almost destroying everyone.This leads to a very exciting ending. This is an earlier book,1987,of Charlotte Vale Allen's, but is as contemporary as today. As always,her characters have such dimension you feel that they really exist. Her story-line moves quickly forward, never missing a beat. Once started, this book is difficult to put down.

This book was like reading a dream. It drew me into the story like a magnet. The writing was mysterious, enigmatic. This is her first book I've read and I intend to read every book she's written. The sex scenes were well written and very true to life. The plot kept me guessing; I could not put this book down. A fabulous story which I highly recommend!