Lovers & Players by Jackie Collins

Synopsis :

In Lovers & Players, the Diamonds family rules.  Red Diamond is an abusive and much loathed billionaire. His three sons, Max, Chris and Jett are summoned to New York, for a family meeting which rocks their world.

Diahann, a beautiful black ex-singer, works as Red's housekeeper - a job her daughter, Liberty, does not approve of.  A waitress who is a would-be singer herself, Liberty has dreams of her own and while she pursues them, Damon P. Donnell, married hip-hop mogul supreme, pursues her.

Young New York heiress Amy Scott-Simon in engaged to to marry Max. At her bachelorette party she runs into Jett.  Jett has no idea who Amy is.  She also doesn't realise who he is.  A one night fling leads to major complications.

As the lives of these characters intertwine, power, money, fame and love are the ties that bind - emotionally and otherwise - in this highly charged love story about family relationship and deadly choices.

I think a lot of us grew up on Jackie Collins one time or another as she was one of the top authors in the 80s and 90s.  I can't say the same for the new millennium.  Although this particular title was written in 2005, it still reaks very much of the earlier era when Jackie was at her prime.

Lovers & Players is a very typical Jackie Collins story.  The men are good looking, some rather ruthless, very few are perfect gentlemen. The ladies would either be equally good looking and some would be as ruthless as the men but one or two would be the sweet innocent beauty.

Then money, lots of money would come into play and power and position would be the name of the game.  The story would not be complete without a murder or two and not to forget the occasional blackmail to zest up the mood.

And that would be the foundation of most of Jackie Collins book and Lovers & Players's no different.

None of the characters here appeal to me.  I thought the story of Liberty was a waste of time.  Jackie should have just focused on the father, Red Diamond and the three brothers, Matt , Chris and Jett. Jackie made out to be rather chauvinistic and self centered creatures.  I thought they would have potential given more depth.

 Everything was rather predictable including the ending.  The solving of the murder was rather boring.   However, being the classic Jackie Collin's book that it is, it does make good holiday read.