So cliff guy saves her in the most boring way. Ex husband dies - shot by the cops. He moves cabin lady into his 5000 sq foot Paris apartment, his kids love her and they buy new furniture 🙄 This. Book. Is. Awful. I don't say that lightly. I try to be as fair as I can because I realize how hard it is to put a book out and let the world see a piece of your work. But some books should not be written or published and this is one of them. Steel has been skating by for at least 15 years being one of the top authors in the US and this book is a prime example. Why? Let me tell you. Ill leave you with this food for thought... In the story, it has a way of giving you a perspective on what life could be like if you just decided to get up and walk away. So I ask you, "What would you do if you had the chance to start all over, but have your loved ones left behind without knowing where, when, or if you will return"? Charlie had been brought up to respect and achieve intellectual excellence, and his writer father was puzzled by his interest in “commerce.” Charlie’s mother had died when he was in college. She had been a gentle woman, a college professor at the Sorbonne and a poet laureate. None of that meant anything to Isabelle. She was familiar with her father’s relatively ruthless success. Her three sisters had married prominent men, but none as successful as Charlie had been for sixteen years, and she was proud to be his wife then, and infinitely less so once he was unemployed.

I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.*** Charles was the CEO of the biggest plastics manufacturer in France, Jansen Plastics. It was his second career, a reincarnation after an earlier life. The job at Jansen had saved him eleven years ago. I almost gave up on this book after the first few chapters. But, I must admit that Ms. Steel does bitchy, money-grubbing wife really well, so I keep going. But, unfortunately, the story got increasingly ludicrous as it went on. I must say that it took me a while to understand that while in America, the family would have had to wait a number of years for him to have been declared dead since there was no found body, and then they could split the estate. I was surprised at how fast everything works in France.Charles Vincent appears to have everything he’s always wanted in life, his two children are grown and off doing their own thing, and while his marriage isn’t perfect, he’s worked hard to keep it together. His job pays well, which helps his wife maintain the lifestyle she desires, but his job isn’t what he’s always wanted to do. But, overall he’s content with his life, but he hasn’t felt true happiness in a long time. Now, what do you think the money-grubber will think about this? She already has issues with splitting his estate with their two children. The setting is gorgeous, part of the book is set in Paris, some of it is set in Charles’s lavish château in Normandy, and part of it is set in Aud’s small cabin, also in Normandy. All of these places are well described and made for a bit of escapism.

Charles Vincent feels trapped in his treadmill of a life. He’s wealthy and successful, doing a job he doesn’t want to do, in a marriage to a woman where the romance died many years ago. All that interests Isabelle is his money to fund her extravagant lifestyle. The children have left home and there is nothing for him to look forward to. From #1 New York Times bestselling author Danielle Steel, a powerful story about fighting for a chance at happiness--whatever the cost. Repetitive, silly, unrealistic, far-fetched and without giving away character or theme storyline’s, I keep saying, “there’s no way that person would do that”.

Success!

If the plot wasn't bad enough, the characters of this book are just...I don't even know. First, they aren't likable. They don't read as real people. They're the same stereotypes Steel loves to use. Gorgeous young blonde. The icy older wife who is money hungry. Poor, put upon rich white guy. There wasn't a single character of substance in this book. Plus, the main character, Charles is a garbage human. Anyone who can let their children think he is dead for months is no hero. The fact that Steel thought she could make him the hero of this book shows how out of touch she is. Without a Trace by Danielle Steel is a fast-moving romantic suspense set in France, about a man who decides to change his life after a near-fatal accident. How can Ms. Steel write eight books in 2022 with another four lined up for very early 2023? I don't want to falsely accuse someone of using ghostwriters, but I cannot see how this is physically possible. I did like the book The Whittiers, which came out in November, and that is why I agreed to read the next two books, this one (published in January 2023) and Worthy Opponents, which I hope isn't as far-fetched as this book was.