Neighbors

 

Neighbors

By: Danielle Steel

Summary:

When an 8.2 earthquake rocks San Francisco, the residents of one particular street come together. Lives are forever changed- in both good and bad ways. Mostly, people who once were strangers come to form a little family.

I LOVED this book!! Danielle Steel has tended to be a little hit and miss for me over the last several years. This one I read in a matter of 2 days. I loved all the characters she meant for the reader to love, and the same with the characters she wanted you to dislike. Instead of going light on the whatever subject she wrote about at the time, I felt like Danielle really did justice to the characters and the plot she wove with them.

Meredith is the former movie star who turned her back on the outside world after enduring several heartbreaks in a close period of time. No  longer drawn to movies, she spent the next 15 years within the walls of her property- which is no small piece of real estate. Her only confidantes are the married couple she employs, Jack and Debbie Speck, to help protect her from the world and manage her estate. What she doesn't know is that they never had genuine intentions when it came to her. Although, they genuinely loved the perks of their jobs and the money. Not to mention the valuables they were quietly sneak into their apartment.

Andrew Johnson is a prominent Orthopedic surgeon. His wife was once an OR nurse, but left her career to raise the 2 children they have. He's all about appearance and letting her know how lucky she is. 

Peter Stern is a writer with dreams of publishing his novel. During the day he works in advertising, but writes at night. He had a stroke of luck when Arthur Harriman, a famous concert pianist who is blind, asks Peter to live with him and be a sometime caretaker during the evening hours. 

Joel Fine is a multimillionaire from several start ups he founded. He's local playboy who loves a good time with little, to no strings attached. His current It girl is Ava who was a tradeshow model. She's starting to see beyond the fun of the moment and wanting a future for herself, but she knows it won't include Joel.

Everyone comes together one night when the earthquake hits. Meredith opens rarely used gates and offers everyone to stay with her until their own homes are safe to move back into. Within the month everyone is under her roof, secrets become uncovered and lives begin to change. Not everyone who entered Meredith's house together leaves together. 

**** TRIGGER WARNING!!! ****

There are domestic violence scenes in this book. If that is something you would rather not read , or will be an issue, you may not want to read this book. While they don't occur from start to finish, they do play throughout the majority of the book- especially he last 1/2 of the book.

Like I said, I enjoyed this book. I was gripped from the start. I loved watching the different storylines unfold. Some things weren't surprising, while others were. This was a great book to just curl up with and have a cozy time with. It wasn't fluffy, but nor was it overly heavy. I felt Danielle did a great job of growing her characters after a traumatic experience. You did feel removed from the complete earthquake experience simply because everyone stays at Meredith's mansion. However, as the story progresses, your experience to the event is widened.