Library Journal
In Fool Me Once, 34-year-old pet photographer Olivia Lowell is shattered when a lawyer appears on her doorstep, announcing the death of her mother, whom she thought had died in childbirth. Further adding to Olivia's confusion and shock is the news that her mother left her a multimillion-dollar mail-order business, a confession, and a request that she anonymously return money stolen more than 30 years earlier to its rightful owner. The listener shares Olivia's frustration as she struggles to comply with her mother's wishes and come to terms with her life being based on a lie.
At some point, almost everyone dreams of seeking revenge, and in Sweet Revenge, architect Isabelle Flanders is no different. Several years earlier, a colleague and employee stole Isabelle's fiancé and architecture firm, then framed Isabelle for a drunk-driving accident in which three people were killed. Isabelle has finally regained her architect's license and is rebuilding her life as a single professional, but she has not forgotten what Rosemary did to her. With the help of her friends and their informal club, The Sisterhood, Isabelle arranges to have Rosemary's life come apart at the seams. Both programs, read by Laural Merlington, are professionally produced, with consistent volume levels, accent-free speech, and no background noise or tape hiss. Merlington, an experienced actor, presents a well-timed delivery with a wide range of voices that work well with both audiobooks. Of most interest to public libraries and Michaels fans; purchase where needed.
—Laurie Selwyn
Kirkus Reviews
The Sisterhood takes on yet another evildoer in their endless quest to right wrongs against unjustly maligned women. Architect Isabelle Flanders's life was destroyed when her coldly ambitious employee Rosemary Hershey framed her for vehicular manslaughter and stole her ideas and her fiance Bobby Harcourt. Now the Sisterhood (The Jury, 2005, etc.) has devised a diabolical plan to help her get revenge and recover her reputation. Wealthy Sisterhood stalwart Myra Rutledge installs Isabelle in a luxurious office and buys a Virginia property to set up a bogus contest in which local architects will be invited to design a sumptuous horse farm, planning to make Isabelle and Rosemary the only finalists. Meanwhile, Bobby, long fed up with Rosemary's greed, sues for divorce, planning to start his own architectural firm. Rosemary, who's receiving anonymous letters reminding her that it was she and not innocent Isabelle who ran down and killed a family, is sinking into a funk as the Sisterhood increases the pressure. A rainy night in a cemetery, bogus snakes and a broken rope finally get Rosemary to confess and leave the Sisterhood ready to plot their next adventure. Michaels's fan base isn't likely to be increased by this improbable distaff pastiche of Mission: Impossible.
JUN/JUL 07 - AudioFile
Several years ago, architect Isabelle Flanders lost everything—her livelihood, her reputation, and her fiancé—when her former assistant framed her for a drunk driving accident that killed a family. Now Isabelle is asking her six friends‚ a.k.a. the Ladies of Pinewood‚ to help her, which they do with relish. Isabelle finds that there's nothing sweeter than revenge. The latest in Michaels's popular series finds an enthusiastic narrator in Laural Merlington, who sounds as though she's having a wonderful time throughout. And since the colorful cast of characters‚ including a terribly proper former MI6 operative, a newspaperman straight out of a 1940s movie, and a kittenish borderline-psychotic femme fatale‚ is any actor's dream—she probably is. C.E.W. © AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine
