Series: The Clifton Chronicles #4
Format Read: Large Print Hardcover
Source: local library
Release Date: March 5, 2014
Buying Links: Amazon* | Book Depository* | OmniLit* | Barnes & Noble
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Blurb from goodreads:
Bestselling author Jeffrey Archer's Be Careful What You Wish For opens with Harry Clifton and his wife Emma rushing to hospital to learn the fate of their son Sebastian, who has been involved in a fatal car accident. But who died, Sebastian or his best friend Bruno?
When Ross Buchanan is forced to resign as chairman of the Barrington Shipping Company, Emma Clifton wants to replace him. But Don Pedro Martinez intends to install his puppet, the egregious Major Alex Fisher, in order to destroy the Barrington family firm just as the company plans to build its new luxury liner, the MV Buckingham.
Back in London, Harry and Emma’s adopted daughter wins a scholarship to the Slade Academy of Art where she falls in love with a fellow student, Clive Bingham, who asks her to marry him. Both families are delighted until Priscilla Bingham, Jessica’s future mother-in-law, has a visit from an old friend, Lady Virginia Fenwick, who drops her particular brand of poison into the wedding chalice.
Then, without warning, Cedric Hardcastle, a bluff Yorkshireman who no one has come across before, takes his place on the board of Barringtons. This causes an upheaval that none of them could have anticipated, and will change the lives of every member of the Clifton and Barrington families. Hardcastle’s first decision is who to support to become the next chairman of the board: Emma Clifton or Major Alex Fisher? And with that decision, the story takes yet another twist that will keep you on the edge of your seat.
Be Careful What You Wish For showcases the master storyteller’s talent as never before – when the Clifton and Barrington families march forward into the sixties, in this epic tale of love, revenge, ambition and betrayal.
Bea's Thoughts:
GAH! Archer and his cliffhanger endings. I have to wait a whole year before I can read the next book and see who survives and who dies. There were a couple deaths in this one, not saying who. One was expected and one I saw right before it happened. Both were predictable in their way though I don't feel that the second one was properly set up. Archer didn't adequately lay the groundwork, in my opinion, and I was disappointed that we never spent any time in that character's head. That would have gone a long way towards laying the groundwork.
Other than that, I enjoyed this one. Intrigue, betrayal, family drama, the return of old enemies and the introduction of a new one. I love watching Emma's battle for the board and her chance to lead the company. It was unusual for her time and Archer deftly shows that. The word nerd in me was pleased to learn some new words. I read a fair amount of British authors and have for years so it's not often that British slang throws me but Archer managed it several times in this book. That said, it didn't affect my comprehension or enjoyability. In a fun twist, a few days after I finished, a Canadian friend posted a slang meme on Facebook and it had all of the words that confused me, lol. Gotta love serendipity!
After four books, the characters feel like friends and I talk to them as I'm reading, not that they listen and no, they don't talk back. :D "Be Careful What You Wish For" was gripping, entertaining, and genuinely suspenseful. Full of twists (and a few not so surprising twists), action, humor, and romance, it kept me turning the pages.
I want to read these but it sounds like I need to start at the beginning of the series! Thanks for the heads up about the cliffhanger endings. I'll make sure I have my hands on #2 before I start #1 and so on. I'm curious to see if the slang gets me with all the British tv and books! Thanks for sharing! This sounds like a series I shouldn't miss.
ReplyDeleteYou could read this as a stand alone but reading in order is the best way to go. The first two are pure soap opera, the others a little less so. It's a fun series.
DeleteGood review, Bea! Definitely sounds like a series to start at the beginning. It sounds interesting but I think it's a "someday" for me rather than a must read - at least given the current size of my TBR list and pile(s).
ReplyDeleteMaybe wait until all the books are out so you don't have to wait in between. I understand about those TBR piles. :D
DeleteOoo cliffhangers make me twitchy. I'm so impatient with those. I'll have to mark this down for once they're all out. Does sound pretty good!
ReplyDelete