Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Not My Genre


I guess you would classify Sizzle by Julie Garwood as a romance/thriller. It was recommended to me by a friend who guaranteed that I would laugh out loud. And she was right. The antics of a hapless hit man who seems to succeed in spite of himself are laughable.

It is the story of Lyra, a film student in Los Angeles who becomes targeted by unknown people for unknown reasons. She returns home to her apartment one day to find two men ransacking her apartment and assaulting her roommate. But Lyra manages to chase them off. Her roommate’s brother happens to be an FBI agent and sends 2 fellow agents to be the girls’ bodyguards. Did I mention that Lyra is drop-dead gorgeous with a body to match? By (no) coincidence her bodyguard Sam is also drop-dead gorgeous with a body to match and a Scottish accent. How long do you think it takes before this is more than a bodyguard-client relationship? I guess that is the “sizzle” of the title.

There are a few minor characters: Lyra’s social-climbing parents, her eccentric devoted grandmother and the above-mentioned hit-man Milo. A few comments on filmmaking, the requisite lovemaking scenes, a murder-suicide, a small-time mobster, a car bombing…that’s about it. The mystery is solved.
Do they live happily ever after? You would have to read the book to find out. But I think you can find something better. That's just my opinion. Lots of people seem to think otherwise as this book is in its second week on the NY Times hardcover best seller list. It's a mystery to me!

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