The Closed Circle: An Interpretation of the Arabs

Book Description

This important book explains how Arabs are closed in a circle defined by tribal, religious, and cultural traditions. David Pryce-Jones examines the tribal forces which, he believes, drive the Arabs in their dealings with each other and with the West. In the postwar world, he argues, the Arabs reverted to age-old tribal and kinship structures, a closed circle from which they have been unable to escape, and in which violence is systemic. A healthy corrective, a thought-provoking study. --David K. Shipler, New York Times Book Review

Customer Reviews:

A Close-minded Author.......2007-06-12

Mr.Pryce-Jones' supposed expertise and background in the Middle East did not help disguise his apparent lack of deep knowledge and visible racism. Biased, eurocentric and a waste of money. I recommend watching FOX news instead. Same bashing, same point of views.

Recycling the old views of the "orient".......2007-04-15

David Pryce-Jones is a British neocon. What Pryce-Jones offers up is recycled british political views on the "oriental mind" from the Victorian era. He offers nothing particuarly new in terms of analysis. There are shelves full of books from the past where exactly the same views can be found.

He starts with old chestnut that despotism is the central feature of the oriental (read arab) political system. Following a "western" tradition that dates back to greek views of the persians, we are to believe that anyone east of greece is incapable of democracy and therefore inferior to the euro-american civilization. These ideas used to apply to Indians, Chinese, Japanese/etc but in a nod to keeping modern, Pryce-Jones only applies his ideas to "arabs".

The "arabs", being stupid orientals, are below politics or political ideology. Pryce-Jones reduces them to being primative creatures of the desert driven to do things by their historically conditioned desert brains into actions that have nothing to do with political ideas. In saying these things, he sounds like an Imperial British Official from the 1920s explaining to London that movements for Indian Independence had no political component and were just a grab for power by ruthless leaders. Pryce-Jones' does not bother to understand the realities of the "arabs" he is speaking about. He knows nothing about the people and countries he writes about. On page after page his ignorance is front and center.

Then he goes on to all the other favorites of the Victorians. The oriental is driven by honor or "maintaining face". He will always grasp for power but in his heart he is driven by his own greed for money, power and wealth. Unlike an englishman, he is incapable of democratic government by this inherit nature. I would never have figured that I would be reading such antique nonsense in this age.

In order to support his victorian ideas, he presents his views on random historical events in the arab world. We are a given a one-sided Israeli version of Israeli/palestinian history where we discover that the root of the conflict is the oriential (or arab) brain of these foolish people. We are also treated to one of the stupidest accounts of the interactions between the arab world and the oil industry I've ever read.

The oil discovery in some ways adds something new to the victorian ideas. Pryce-Jones sees the oil falling into the hands of these orientals as creating the modern disaster that is the middle east. But for the oil, these simple people of the deserts would have continued on living their simple lives indefinately. His ignorance of the urban middle east is astounding. He somehow often seems to see all arabs as being tribal nomads and seems to be unaware that arab history like the history of almost every other region of the world has been in modern times the movement of people from rural areas into cities. He also doesn't seem to understand that the arab experience includes both the oil-rich and the oil-poor.

Pryce-Jones explains as his victorian forefathers would have that democracy in the middle east is absurd and impossible. The greedy mind of the arab is unsuited to it. Unlike his forefathers, he no longer says this about places like India, Malaya and Ireland but the spirit is still there.

To Pryce-Jones, there are no valid political issues in the arab world because the arab is beneith politics and political ideas. Islamic fundementalism is just a trick by a few arabs plotting to seize power.

As with all people with his political views, the answer to dealing with the arabs is force. They should never be listened to because all their complaints and political views are false. No pity should be shown because its all their own fault. Where he ends up is where the victorians did. What the Arabs need is a good set of dictators imposed by western countries and supported by force. Since they are incapable of democracy and incapable of managing their oil, there is no moral problem in doing this.

What is seen in the book rather than a closed circle is the closed mind of a man who has constructed an anti-arab philosophy to justify his other political views. The arab world has a tremendous number of internal problems and the only thing he is right about is that those problems can only be solved by those people themselves. But having the west adopt antique notions of about Arabs from the victorian era, as Pryce-Jones does, can only make things worse.

Not tight, but basically sound.......2007-03-05

David Pryce-Jones has tackled the question that has bewildered observers for centuries: how did Arab societies manage to lock themselves into a self-destructive pattern for which no solution appears to be forthcoming? His answers are found in The Closed Circle, a metaphorically accurate title that suggests the answer. Arab culture is defined by a self-perpetuating system of beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors that allow for no deviation and no improvement.

At its heart is a shame-honor reaction that Arabs have to setbacks and affronts, and Pryce-Jones alludes to this often. From that starting point, we progress through the Arab history of a variety of influences in history. He discusses advancement in Arab society, and the relations among Arabs with differing amounts of power, including the gender differences. Starting with the colonial era, he then discusses the major influences over Arab history (oil, Palestinians, Nazism, etc). Time and time again we see the same patterns of behavior emerging.

This, at least, is the theory. I suspect Pryce-Jones is basically on the right track in his conclusions, but the writing itself tends to meander and the author makes lengthy excursions into perhaps excessively generalizing statements. They are not necessarily wrong, but large sections were not very tightly argued. The result is informative without always being convincing.

On the other hand, the author has clearly familiarized himself with the culture in question, and can produce a wealth of relevant anecdotal information to illustrate his points. These sections make up the greater strength of the work.

There is no other book as good on arabs as this one........2007-01-22

Great book. I lived with arabs for several years and I got to know them a little bit more than I inteded to. There are many things I agree with in this book except for the shame-honor system. If you replace shame-honor with lose-win system you will be on the right track.Arabs don't have moral or philosophical concept of either honor or shame. To lose is to be shamed, to win is to be honored. Simple as that.That's why they are so impervious to guilt.
I haven't finished the book yet.But in my opinion, this is the only book that is very accurate on the subject.It's like studying quantum physics:disturbingly counter-intuitive and alien.
You should absolutely read this book! Don't delay!

Arab power politics - quicksand in the desert.......2006-10-18

This is a truly profound, engrossing study that leaves an indelible impression in the mind. That impression is best summed up by Pryce-Jones in the preface: "absolute power has always been the central feature of Arab political order, and violence is the determining factor of it." I note with bemusement that the review posted by the Library Journal states that the book's "negativity inspires a sense of futility as to the future, and leaves one wondering whether the conclusions drawn are correct." So, if the Arab future is bleak, it is because the wrong conclusions have been drawn? I didn't know that logic required a happy ending.

David Pryce-Jones downplays "ideology" as a determinate in the historic motives of the Arab world: not Islam, Marxism, Baathism, pan-Arabism or any other 'ism. The moving force behind Arab political and social life emerged from the prehistoric and primordial desert itself. From the bloody rivalry of clan against clan and tribe against tribe for the scarce resources of life emerged the absolutism of the powerful ruler and all the attendant features of Arab culture. These shame-honor, power-challenging, money-favoring features have been well described by other reviewers. The unchangeable features of Arab culture have transferred from family to clan to tribe and eventually to the state. The Arab "state" is just the "tribe" writ large.

There is a wealth of information in this book about the critical issues that exist between the Arab Middle East and the modern Western world. If at times the text reads like a novel it's no doubt because Pryce-Jones is also a writer of fiction, having published nine novels along with his eleven works of non-fiction.

With a creative writer's skill the author draws upon many colorful anecdotes to illustrate his points. Included are the best short accounts of the Armenian massacre and the Palestinian problem I've read. Halfway through the narrative the most important event in Arab history is vividly described: the discovery of oil in the Arabian peninsula, "the unheard-of and unprecedented wealth that suddenly spurted upon Arabia and the Gulf without its inhabitants having to lift a finger for it." "Shame-honor necessitates that every man lay hands on as much of the new wealth as possible, and then flaunt it conspicuously in order to impress others by his status, while doing nothing that might be seen as earning it."

Had it not been for this fateful discovery of the energy resource vital to the modern West, the ancestral tribal customs in their isolation might have continued indefinitely. But with the discovery of oil, the tribal Arabs have been wrenched out of their historic course and drawn into the international world. The relationship of the Arabs and the West has become the critical issue of modernity.

To Pryce-Jones the idea of a democratized Middle East is a daydream. "At present, an Arab democrat is not even an idealization, but a contradiction in terms." And the "Islamic revival" has nothing to do with man's relationship to God but is a catch-phrase on which anyone with the will for it may mount a bid for power. "It is as though the Arabs have trapped themselves inside a closed circle from which they sense that they must break out of for their own good, but within which identity and its supportive values paralyze endeavors of rescue."

I recommend this book for an unforgettable "interpretation of the Arabs."

Average customer rating:

THE MOVING FINGER WRITES, AND HAVING WRIT MOVES ON..
Another suspenseful adventure by Mr Goddard
Love, murders, lies and more...
Lies, betrayals, and mysteries
** Not quite as good as some of his other titles **

Closed Circle
Robert Goddard
Manufacturer: Pocket
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0671890921

Book Description

A luxurious trans-atlantic liner, Empress of Britain is making her eastward passage back to England in 1931. Among he first-class passengers are two English confidence tricksters who have left ill deeds in their wake. As luck would have it, they find fresh prey in the person of the wealthy Miss Charnwood and her beautiful niece Diana. The plan of action is nothing they haven't tried before with considerable success, but who could imagine they would let their hearts take over at the most inopportune time--leading then far too deep into an increasingly troubling and dark maze.

Readers will find more than one strange echo of more recent times--notable in the Robert Maxwell story--in this riveting new novel.

Customer Reviews:

THE MOVING FINGER WRITES, AND HAVING WRIT MOVES ON.........2007-03-19

If you are a fan of Agatha Christie or Daphne DuMaurier's early works, you will enjoy this "period piece" by Goddard. Although published in 1993 it possesses the atomospheric and evocative flavor of the 1930's (the era in which it is set).

We are pulled into the lives of two con-men, Guy and Max, friends since their college days, as a chance meeting results in a set of circumstances that threatens not only their friendship but their very lives.

A conspiracy cover-up, love, murder, avarice and betrayal are all wrapped up in this tantalizing little tale.

Goddard takes advantage of his personal knowledge of history (he taught at Cambridge)in developing a story that is credible and ingenious.(Maybe things really did happen as he imagines.)

Once again, he has delivered an entertaining tome that will keep you spellbound.

Another suspenseful adventure by Mr Goddard.......2005-02-19

Mr Goddard's novel is set in England in 1931. Two "unprincipled adventurers who understand the value of nothing except money", Max Wingate and Guy Horton, are returning back to London from America where they used to deal in illegal activities for the past thirteen years. On board the "Empress of Britain" they are introduced to Diana Charnwood, daughter of Fabian Charnwood, head of Charnwood Investments. Since people like Max live by their wits and can never afford to relax completely, Wingate quickly becomes aware that "the man who wheedles his way into Diana Charnwood's affections wheedles his way into a fortune." And indeed, shortly after having been introduced to Diana Charnwood, Max writes the following promissory note: "I hereby undertake to share equally with my good friend Guy Horton all financial proceeds, however and/or actual marriage I contract with Miss Diana Charnwood if and whenever it may occur." Is this note going to be good luck charms or, as Guy soon comes to suspect, the omens of ill fortune?
As usual in Mr Goddard's novels, this splendidly old fashioned affair is full of thuggery, cross and double-cross, plot and counter-plot and the reader feels like being on a roller coaster with never ending twists and bends.

Love, murders, lies and more..........2004-11-15

This novel starts as a naive story with two crooks trying to find an easy way to make money - the only way they know. but slowly the plot becomes complicated and opens a Pandora box which free secrets one after the other...

I couldn't put the book down until I finish it all - till the surprising epilogue...

Lies, betrayals, and mysteries.......2004-10-17

Things are never quite the way they seem in this unpretentious, easy read. Goddard moves the story along quickly. He has a nice way of building suspense without keeping the reader guessing too long. There's always another twist waiting, so no need to dwell on the prior one.
If you like Goddard's frequently used device of combining a plot in the present with a mystery from the past, be warned: Closed Circle largely stays in one time period, the 1930's (except for minor references to earlier events).

** Not quite as good as some of his other titles **.......2000-10-17

This was the third Goddard title I read .. & I was a little disappointed. I wouldn't recommend reading this title first .. try (say) In Pale Batallions or Hand In Glove first. I've given it 4 stars because the writing/language is still superb Goddard. I deducted one star only because (personally) I found the ending a little far-fetched.

Average customer rating:

Disappointing
At loose in the world of the overprivileged and underdisciplined
The Closed Circle
LOSING HIS CROWN
A Searing Disappointment

The Closed Circle
Jonathan Coe
Manufacturer: Vintage
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0375713956
Release Date: 2006-06-06

Book Description

The characters of The Rotters’ Club–Jonathan Coe’s beloved novel of adolescent life in the 1970s–have bartered their innocence for the vengeance of middle age in this incisive portrait of Cool Britannia at the millennium.

Customer Reviews:

Disappointing.......2007-10-10

Having really enjoyed "The Trotters Club" I was very much looking forward to reading this follow up. Unfortunately I spent many days wondering whether I should continue or just give it up. It lacks the wit and sparkle of it's predecessor and is just hard going. Definitely not a page turner. Full of many factual events but without the "umph" I was looking for.

At loose in the world of the overprivileged and underdisciplined.......2006-11-04

This book is slightly more soapy (or, as some prefer to say, Dickensian) than "The Rotter's Club" and the adult predicaments of the characters a bit less charming, but my admiration for it only falls slightly below my enjoyment of the first book. And to be fair, I think much of my lowered esteem for this novel is because it takes place during the past seven years, years that I have experienced for myself and therefore it gives me less of an outsider looking in perspective and more of a groaning, "Oh god, he's certainly nailed that."

Part 2 in the saga of Ben Trotter and friends finds them in the age of Starbucks, cellphones, Tony Blair and alienation. Paul Trotter, more of a marginal troublemaker in the first novel, has a bigger role here and that proves to be a bit of a stumbling block on Coe's part as Paul's rather unsympathetic. Many of the characters are the same, just older but some of them, like Sean Harding, have developed in rather odd and almost unbelievable ways. To be fair, Coe alluded to this change in the very first pages of "Rotter's Club" but it still seems bizarre. The good news is that Benjamin is still as funny in his ineptness as ever.

The short three-year gap between this and "The Rotter's Club" would have me infer that Coe was probably writing these books in his head simultaneously. Questions from the first book are answered, and long simmering tensions come to a head. The book ends on a bleak, pessimistic note; am I happy with the way things turned out for everybody? Not really, but that's life. The characters are only in their 40s, and if Coe wanted to one day write more about them, I'll be one of the first in line in the States to get it.

The Closed Circle.......2006-07-06

It completes the story began in The Rotters Club, but is a
less compelling read.

LOSING HIS CROWN.......2006-06-18

Coe's crown as king of the male confessional is slipping and the likes of Dave Armitage and Mike Gayle are ready and waiting. This is a dreadfully disappointing follow up to the excellent Rotters Club. Coe walks a fine line with what he does and sometimes he slips up. Needs to come up with something better than this or risk losing a well earned following.

A Searing Disappointment.......2006-01-08

For those who don't know, this is a sequel to Coe's outstanding book The Rotter's Club, which chronicled pre-Thatcherite '70s Britain through the adventures of four Birmingham boys who enter into and pass through teenagerdom over the course of the story. Coe provides a summary of the first book's relevant plot elements at the end of this one, so that it can read this installment independently of The Rotter's Club. However, a lot of depth and richness will be missing without the full backstory. This book starts twenty years later, at the cusp of the millennium, and we find the protagonists muddling along toward middle-age. The first book was about the end of innocence and the demise of old Labour, this one's about the disappointment of growing up and the vacuousness of new Labour. In the former, the mining strikes formed the dominant backdrop and influenced the characters' lives, here they are buffeted by the Blairite ascendancy. But while the political backdrop to the first book felt organic and integral, here, issues like globalization and Gulf War II are equally important, but handled more clumsily than one can credit.

Our hapless hero Benjamin Trotter is a rather unhappily married accountant who still carries a torch for his teenage crush, and toils at the 1,000+ page Great Novel/Hypertext in his desk drawer. His younger brother Paul is now a good looking, smarmy, striving Labour MP determined to catch "Tony's" eye. Doug Anderton and Philip Chase are journalists of varying success. Claire Newman is returning from six years in Italy and a dead relationship, still mourning her missing sister. The book starts with her writing words in her journal that essentially sum up all that has changed in Birmingham over the two decades: "My first impression is that there are vast numbers of people who don't work in this city any more, in the sense of making things or selling things. All that seems to be considered rather old-fashioned. Instead, people meet, and they talk... Underneath is something else altogether -- a terrible, seething frustration." It is this frustration which consumes most of the story, as many of the characters are frustrated by where they are in their lives. Frustrated that they're still insecure, frustrated that they don't "have it all", frustrated that they have no sense of self, and frustrated by a nagging sense that life used to be much better, or at least just simpler. Of course, all of this is Coe's metaphor for the British national psyche and the state of modern politics.

Alas, it has to be said that as excellent as The Rotter's Club is, its sequel is a searing disappointment. The characters that were fully-realized, heartbreakingly bumbling teens are now barely recognizable two-dimensional adults. They've been stripped down to the bare minimum so that Coe can let loose his satirical hounds upon them in all too predictable a manner. The one significant new character (Malvina, a beautiful quasi-goth who completely implausibly ends up as Paul's media advisor) is both a representative of the next generation and an ridiculous addition. The sharp, believable dialogue of the first book is nowhere to be found, replaced here with wooden monologues or trite soap opera exchanges. And the intriguing plot twists that remained shrouded in mystery in the first book are here paid off in rather tepid fashion. Perhaps most disappointingly, the sharp political tone of the first book is replaced here with the most banal of satire: politicians who have no beliefs, parties which stand for nothing, secret policy groups, greedy corporate directors, and so forth. The entire enterprise is so far removed in quality from The Rotter's Club that one almost has to keep checking the cover to verify Coe is the author. In many ways, the book is about nostalgia, so it's somewhat ironic that what it perhaps most evokes is a sense of nostalgia for The Rotter's Club. If you liked that one, go ahead and read this, because like attending a dreadful 20-year reunion, it's it's worth it just to see how everyone turned out.

Average customer rating:

Fantastic story about friendship

The Closed Circle
Corinne Gerson
Manufacturer: Scholastic
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Customer Reviews:

Fantastic story about friendship.......2006-08-14

This is a really good story about friendship, compassion, and stereotypes. Audrey and her family have just moved to a new town. Audrey makes friends with some of the popular girls and becomes involved in their Halloween prank. They get in trouble and the girls form a club, the "Secret Six," to prove to the adults that they can do good things too. Along the way Audrey befriends Hope, whose family prefers old-fashioned ways and dress. Audrey's attempts to bring Hope and her other friends together, as well as her family's attempts to bring their Jewish friends the Goldbergs together with their Pennsylvania Dutch friends, are honest in the struggle and yet heartwarming. A near-tragedy serves to unite everyone in the end. A must-read!

Carbon Dioxide Absorption;Closed Circle Method of Administration of Gas Anesthesia;New Method for the Induction of General Analgesia and Anaesthesia With Description of the Apparatus Used;Carbon Dioxid Filtration in Inhalation Anesthesia (The History of Anesthesia Reprint Series, Part Five)

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Carbon Dioxide Absorption;Closed Circle Method of Administration of Gas Anesthesia;New Method for the Induction of General Analgesia and Anaesthesia With Description of the Apparatus Used;Carbon Dioxid Filtration in Inhalation Anesthesia (The History of Anesthesia Reprint Series, Part Five)
D. E. Jackson , R. M. Waters , Brian C. Sword , and H. Hickman
Manufacturer: Wood Library-Museum of Anesthesiology
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000N9YPPO

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Closed Circle
Wessel Ebersohn
Manufacturer: Victor Gollancz
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0575048484

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The Closed Circle
David Pryce-Jones
Manufacturer: Weidenfeld & Nicholson
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Asia | History | Subjects | Books

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Closed Circle
Robert Goddard
Manufacturer: Bantam Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000OEDBF8

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Closed Circle
Robert Goddard
Manufacturer: CORGI BOOKS (TWLD)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000K33LOE

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Closed Circle
Robert Goddard
Manufacturer: Bantam Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000GR0B9C

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Yes, Yes I know it ain't Proust !

A feel good book

LOVE LOVE LOVE IT, and I prefer Murder and gore!

I want a Heath Champion!

We matched!
Match Me If You Can: A Novel
Susan Elizabeth Phillips
Manufacturer: William Morrow
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Phillips, Susan Elizabeth | ( P ) | Authors, A-Z | Romance | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0060734558
Release Date: 2005-08-09

Download Description

Annabelle is tired of being the lone failure in a family of overachievers. She's endured dead-end jobs and a broken engagement. Even her hair's a mess! But that's going to change now that she's taken over her late grandmother's matchmaking business. All Annabelle has to do is land the Windy City's hottest bachelor as her client, and she'll be the most sought-after matchmaker in town. Nothing is going to stand in her way -- not the drunk lying comatose under her car, not her family's disapproval, and certainly not the lingering effects of a broken heart.

With his money green eyes and calculated charm, Heath Champion is the best sports agent in the country. He's wealthy, driven, and gorgeous, so why does he need a matchmaker, especially a red-haired screw-up like Annabelle Granger? True, she's entertaining, and she does have a certain quirky appeal. But Heath is searching for the ultimate symbol of his success -- the perfect wife. And to make an extraordinary match, he needs an extraordinary matchmaker, right?

Thin, rich, utterly fabulous Portia Powers has spent her career making matches for everyone but herself. Her take-no-prisoners attitude has built Power Matches into the top matchmaking agency in Chicago. So what if she has more enemies than friends and she's one breath away from a nervous breakdown? Neither an upstart like Annabelle Granger nor Heath Champion's menacing, but oddly intriguing, bodyguard, will keep her from getting what she wants -- a Power Match for Heath ... the city's very own Jerry Maguire.

Soon everyone in Chicago has a stake in the outcome, right down to Annabelle's overprotective book club. When the matchmaker promises she'll do anything to keep her star client happy ... does she mean anything? If Annabelle isn't careful, she just might find herself going heart-to-heart with the toughest negotiator in town -- a man who's beginning to ask himself: Exactly how perfect does perfect have to be?

Customer Reviews:

Yes, Yes I know it ain't Proust !.......2007-09-16

Sometimes when you're sick or tired or depressed you need to create a lovely little cave for yourself to heal. Put on your softest sweats, foot lotion and sockies, lip balm, some aromatherapy on your ear lobes and across your forehead, grab this book and disappear. It's so perfect watching many characters grow, change, fall in love, have great and clever dialogue--just put this on your keeper stack and trust 113 reviews that you can't go wrong with this purchase.

A feel good book.......2007-08-21

I really enjoyed this book a lot. I felt like I was right there with the camaraderie between the characters. I love Annabelle's wit, and felt a bond with all the characters. Loved Pipi. So cute! A bit slow in the beginning, but then you can't put it down. I'm so glad I picked up this book.

LOVE LOVE LOVE IT, and I prefer Murder and gore!.......2007-08-20

I listened to this on CD, unabridged. It was so well written, I found myself sitting in my garage after my 1 hour commutes home to hear the last little bit each day/evening. The characters were so unique, I love Annabelle from the very beginning. It was easy to imagine the Python softening to her and her clumsy, impish ways. It was a neat book. I usually prefer murder and gore, Patricia Cornwell, James Patterson, Stephen King, John Grisham, those types of books. But I love this one. I only checked it out of the local library because it is so small we don't have a lot to choose from, I have listened to every book in there! I am now going to find a larger library and check out more of her books on CD!

I want a Heath Champion!.......2007-08-17

I just finished reading this book and I loved it! I honestly wanted it to continue on. The romance between Heath and Annabelle was something you could tell would probably happen from the begining, but the way the story reached that point was very clever and witty. I know that SEB usually adds new characters into her books, but I want to hear more of the Annabelle and Heath saga.

We matched!.......2007-08-08

I have loved Susan Elizabeth Phillips sassy writing style for a very long time, have read all of her books, my two favorites being Dream a Little Dream and It Had To Be You. While this does not supplant either of those, it is fun and I stayed up late last night to finish it.

Annabelle, a soft touch trying to retool her grandmother's matchmaking business for a new generation and Heath, a hard nosed lawyer/sports agent come together with fireworks. While trying to find a match for Heath, she falls for him herself. He is a little slower coming to that realization, but he knows he enjoys their time together. Their story is fun to read, witty, touching and frustrating until they realize that they are right for each other, which of course, does not happen at the same time! With a background of semi-dysfunctional families and intervening friends thrown in to make their time story more complex, it is a laugh out loud every few pages.

The only disappointment was the inexplicable side romance of competitor Portia with Bodie, assistant/driver to Heath. It was a little distracting, but doesn't mar the overall enjoyment of the book.

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