Name: Fine Things
ISBN: 9780440244059

Danielle Steel

"After the death of his wife, Bernie Fine struggles to cope with his shattering loss and must endure further hardships until he meets a strong and caring woman who sympathizes with his ties to the past"--NoveList.

Fine Things

Lacy W

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tw: homophobic comments, cancer, death, kidnapping, mentions of drug use

This will be a pretty short review as I don’t have a lot to say about it. It’s not that I hated the book, I just don’t have a lot to say about it. A solid piece of work from Danielle Steel. This is one of her older pieces but still pretty good but it was certainly dated. There was some comments made about San Francisco and the homosexual community. This book takes place in the 80’s, I believe. Not that it defends the comments made, but it explains it. Other than that, this book was good. One of the positives about DS is that even though she is a romance writer, she often has male MCs, like this book. Which is something I absolutely respect. 

This book follows the story of Bernie Fine, a Jewish man, who is vice president of a very fancy clothing store that I can’t remember the name of. Think Goldman Sachs and the likes. He’s had a very good life as most of the characters in DS novels have, for the most part, with loving parents. He hasn’t had the best of luck with love, as it’s mostly women trying to use him for his lofty connections, until he meets his wife. Instalove ensues, then tragedy followed by the rebuilding of his entire life. 

What this book does well is display realistic emotions. Danielle Steel made me feel grief that Bernie felt. There was no end to his grief. It was always there and very much present. Even during happy days, the pain was still here and I respect that she kept that in there. You never truly get over the loss of a loved one. You can try and move on but it will always be there. 

Overall, solid work, like I mentioned with a few minor complaints that I stated above. I wasn’t in love with this book but I certainly didn’t hate it. It was refreshingly realistic (to a point) and it was a quick and easy read.