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Annie's Rainbow
A suspenseful tale of one woman’s journey to protect what matters most by beloved storyteller Fern Michaels, #1 New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the Sisterhood, Godmothers, and Men of the Sisterhood Series. It came out of the blue. A half-million dollars on graduation day. For Annie Daisy Clark, it was the capital she needed to start a business and secure her future. Vowing to pay back every penny of it one day, she kept the bag of cash she’d found, and never looked back . . . Ten years later, Annie’s investment has paid off. The owner of a successful chain of elegant coffee bars, she is blissfully engaged and about to return triumphant to Boston for her ten-year college reunion. She also begins making good on her promise to pay back the money with anonymous monthly payments. But just as Annie’s life seems complete, the dark history of the money returns to haunt her. Someone is determined to solve the mystery of a ten-year-old bank robbery, and an enraged thief who has served his time is coming to reclaim his loot. Suddenly, Annie is plunged into a deadly chase, using her wits to keep her world from unraveling and to protect the one thing she values most—the priceless gift of love. Praise for Fern Michaels“Dramatic, riveting and a delicious page turner.” —Woman's World on Fearless“Michaels’s highly developed skills as a storyteller are evident in the affable characters [and] suspenseful plot.” —Publishers Weekly on Deep Harbor
386 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1999
1540 people are currently reading
5086 people want to read
About the author
Fern Michaels
424 books6,518 followersFern Michaels isn’t a person. I’m not sure she’s an entity either since an entity is something with separate existence. Fern Michaels® is what I DO. Me, Mary Ruth Kuczkir. Growing up in Hastings, Pennsylvania, I was called Ruth. I became Mary when I entered the business world where first names were the order of the day. To this day, family and friends call me Dink, a name my father gave me when I was born because according to him I was ‘a dinky little thing’ weighing in at four and a half pounds. However, I answer to Fern since people are more comfortable with a name they can pronounce.
As they say, the past is prologue. I grew up, got a job, got married, had five kids. When my youngest went off to Kindergarten, my husband told me to get off my ass and get a job. Those were his exact words. I didn’t know how to do anything except be a wife and mother. I was also a voracious reader having cut my teeth on The Bobbsey Twins, Nancy Drew, The Hardy Boys, Cherry Ames and the like. The library was a magical place for me. It still is to this day. Rather than face the outside world with no skills, I decided to write a book. For some reason that didn’t intimidate me. As my husband said at the time, stupid is as stupid does. Guess what, I don’t have that husband any more. Guess what else! I wrote 99 books, most of them New York Times Best Sellers.
Moving right along here . . . Several years ago I left Ballantine Books, parted company with my agent, sold my house in New Jersey that I had lived in all my married life and in 1993 moved to South Carolina. I figured if I was going to go through trauma let it be all at one time. It was a breeze. The kids were all on their own at that point. The dump was a 300 year old plantation house that is listed in the National Registry that I remodeled. Today it is beyond belief as are the gardens and the equally old Angel Oaks that drip Spanish moss. Unfortunately, I could not get my ghost to relocate. This ghost has been documented by previous owners. Mary Margaret as we call her, is “a friendly”. She is also mischievous. It took me two weeks to figure out that she didn’t like my coffee cups. They would slide off the table or counter or else they’d break in the dishwasher. I bought red checkered ones. All are intact as of this writing. She moves pillows from one room to the other and she stops all the clocks in the house at 9:10 in the a.m. at least once a week. When the Azaleas are in bloom, and only then, I find blooms on my night stand. I have this glorious front porch and during the warm months I see my swing moving early in the morning when the air is still and again late in the day. She doesn’t spook the dogs. I always know when she’s around because the five of them line up and look like they’re at a tennis match. As of this writing we’re co-habiting nicely.
Most writers love what they do and I’m no exception. I love it when I get a germ of an idea and get it down on paper. I love breathing life into my characters. I love writing about women who persevere and prevail because that’s what I had to do to get to this point in time. It’s another way of saying it doesn’t matter where you’ve been, what matters is where you’re going and how you get there. The day I finally prevailed was the day I was inducted into the New Jersey Literary Hall of Fame. For me it was an awesome day and there are no words to describe it.
I’ve been telling stories and scribbling for 37 years. I hope I can continue for another 37 years. It wasn’t easy during some of those years. As I said, I had to persevere. My old Polish grandmother said something to me when I was little that I never forgot. She said when God is good to you, you have to give back. For a while I didn’t know how to do that. When I finally figured it out I set up The Fern Michaels® Foundation.
READ FERN MICHAELS' FULL BIOGRAPHY HERE: http://www.fernmichaels.com/biography/
As they say, the past is prologue. I grew up, got a job, got married, had five kids. When my youngest went off to Kindergarten, my husband told me to get off my ass and get a job. Those were his exact words. I didn’t know how to do anything except be a wife and mother. I was also a voracious reader having cut my teeth on The Bobbsey Twins, Nancy Drew, The Hardy Boys, Cherry Ames and the like. The library was a magical place for me. It still is to this day. Rather than face the outside world with no skills, I decided to write a book. For some reason that didn’t intimidate me. As my husband said at the time, stupid is as stupid does. Guess what, I don’t have that husband any more. Guess what else! I wrote 99 books, most of them New York Times Best Sellers.
Moving right along here . . . Several years ago I left Ballantine Books, parted company with my agent, sold my house in New Jersey that I had lived in all my married life and in 1993 moved to South Carolina. I figured if I was going to go through trauma let it be all at one time. It was a breeze. The kids were all on their own at that point. The dump was a 300 year old plantation house that is listed in the National Registry that I remodeled. Today it is beyond belief as are the gardens and the equally old Angel Oaks that drip Spanish moss. Unfortunately, I could not get my ghost to relocate. This ghost has been documented by previous owners. Mary Margaret as we call her, is “a friendly”. She is also mischievous. It took me two weeks to figure out that she didn’t like my coffee cups. They would slide off the table or counter or else they’d break in the dishwasher. I bought red checkered ones. All are intact as of this writing. She moves pillows from one room to the other and she stops all the clocks in the house at 9:10 in the a.m. at least once a week. When the Azaleas are in bloom, and only then, I find blooms on my night stand. I have this glorious front porch and during the warm months I see my swing moving early in the morning when the air is still and again late in the day. She doesn’t spook the dogs. I always know when she’s around because the five of them line up and look like they’re at a tennis match. As of this writing we’re co-habiting nicely.
Most writers love what they do and I’m no exception. I love it when I get a germ of an idea and get it down on paper. I love breathing life into my characters. I love writing about women who persevere and prevail because that’s what I had to do to get to this point in time. It’s another way of saying it doesn’t matter where you’ve been, what matters is where you’re going and how you get there. The day I finally prevailed was the day I was inducted into the New Jersey Literary Hall of Fame. For me it was an awesome day and there are no words to describe it.
I’ve been telling stories and scribbling for 37 years. I hope I can continue for another 37 years. It wasn’t easy during some of those years. As I said, I had to persevere. My old Polish grandmother said something to me when I was little that I never forgot. She said when God is good to you, you have to give back. For a while I didn’t know how to do that. When I finally figured it out I set up The Fern Michaels® Foundation.
READ FERN MICHAELS' FULL BIOGRAPHY HERE: http://www.fernmichaels.com/biography/
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 186 reviews
October 31, 2019
This was one of those books you just keep reading becuase you hope it will get better. But it didn't....WOW! what a waste of time.
January 31, 2025
Average read. Takes place in Boston, Charleston and Hawaii.
Friendships that last a lifetime are really special.
Rosie, Henry, Jake and Charlie make the book. 🐾
Friendships that last a lifetime are really special.
Rosie, Henry, Jake and Charlie make the book. 🐾
February 23, 2009
Annie's Rainbow is not one of her best.
February 24, 2024
Such a good story!
April 8, 2024
Literary equivalent of Swiss cheese. There are holes everywhere in the story, and what is there has a funny taste. Although the story and writing are so bad, the badness is wildly entertaining.
August 17, 2023
one of the worst books I have ever read. TERRIBLE writing; stupid characters; terrible plot - a HUGE time waster. It was definitely not thrilling
Read
May 27, 2018It was Anna Daisy Clark's college graduation day. She went by the drugstore where she had worked to tell her boss, Elmo, good-bye. She was going to miss Elmo who had been like a father to her. She was a couple blocks away when she heard the police cars. She found out that someone had robbed a bank nearby. He was caught and she noticed a bag in the back of her car where she had left the windows open.
She graduated with her best friend and roommate, Jane Abbott. They decided to leave N. Carolina and move to S. Carolina. They opened up a coffee shop where Jane painted postcards. They did very well and soon opened up more coffee shops. Jane met and married Bob Granger who was their accountant.
Annie had been sending money to her brother for her mother's nursing home in North Carolina for years. The home was close to where her brother, Tom, lived with his wife and 3 children. Their mother was bitten by a raccoon and Anna reluctantly moved her to a better facility closer to herself and Jane. She was resentful that Tom didn't help out more.
Her previous boss, Elmo, had sold his drugstore and moved closer to the girls too. Annie hired him to work store in their coffee shops. The called the stores the Daisy Shops.
Meanwhile, the bank robbery was being investigated by Mr. Newman. Mr. Newman was certain that one of the three, Daisy, Jane or Elmo had the money. He continued the investigation for years but never found any evidence of their guilt or where the money was.
Annie was lonely the Christmas after Jane married and called Tom. She found out that Tom's wife had left him. Annie asked him to come stay with her over the holidays. Tom soon went to work with for Annie too. He later went to Annie and told her that his ex-wife was asking for money in exchange for custody of their children. Annie used some of the bank money to pay for Tom's children. Tom never asked where the money came from. She felt guilty and suspected that he knew she had the bank money.
Annie was feeling guilty over having kept the money and never returning it. She didn't really need it so she decided to return it. Annie washed the money a few times and took half of it and dropped it off where it would be found in the morning. It couldn't be traced back to her because Annie used gloves after she had washed it in bleach and dried it.
She dated a guy named Daniel a couple of times. He mentioned that he had a friend in Hawaii who owned a coffee plantation. He suggested Annie fly to Hawaii to meet him and set up a contract to get her coffee wholesale from him. She did and they fell instantly in love. Parker Grayson showed her around his plantation and the island. Their favorite spot was a water fountain that most always had a rainbow over it. Parker named it Annie's Rainbow. They fought when she found out that he was the youngest in his family. As the only male so he inherited everything and didn't share anything with his 6 older sisters. She didn't like his attitude that he was entitled and didn't see a thing wrong with the way things were. Parker Grayson told her that his sisters were happy with their lives and she didn't have the right to have any say in the matter.
Annie left him but what she said stuck with him in the months after she left. He ended up calling his sisters to arrange a meeting with them around Christmas time. He apologized to them for his manner and they ended up sharing the responsibility and ownership of the coffee business. Parker grew closer to his sisters and got to know his nieces and nephews after that. His life changed for the better but he and Annie never called each other.
It was 11 years later and Tom was in hospital after his appendix burst. Annie now had 84 Daisy shops. Jane now had a daughter she had named Daisy Jane. Tom and Annie talked about creating franchises with their stores to take some of the pressure off of them running the high number of stores. He suggested she go to Hawaii and see Parker Grayson to discuss selling his roasted coffee in the stores as well as continuing to sell brewed coffee. The stores they owned were close to college campus's and all were successful. They would keep the first 2 they opened. One would belong to Annie, one to Jane and 2 in Clemson would continue to belong to Tom. The rest of the stores would belong to franchise owners.
Annie took Elmo with her and went to Hawaii planning on seeing Parker but his sister was running the office now. Annie asked for a price reduction and and a contract to purchase more coffee but Kiki told her she had to talk to Parker first. Annie gave her a deadline for the offer but Parker couldn't be located in time to meet the deadline. After some complications, Parker found Annie. She had been moved to a different hotel due to a water leak and he headed to the island where she was when she left to go to the island where he was. It was series of missing each other. She had nearly given up when she went back to the waterfall. He had come home after giving up too and they wound up at the same place. They went back to his place and made love. He asked her to marry him and she agreed to marry him in a year and live part time in Hawaii. He wanted to merge his and her companies but she refused. She wanted to keep the companies separate. They decided to continue the discussion later.
Annie went back home and was told that Elmo had been given 6 months to live. The bank robber had been released and was looking for revenge. He was determined to find out who had taken the robbery money and had been to see Mr. Newman. He had pretended to be Peter Newman and had talked to Tom's wife. He went to see Newman and scared him. Newman called Elmo and told him that the case had been closed by his insurance company. The bank had returned the insurance money they had collected. Newman was worried about what Pearson was going to do to him and the women. Elmo called Annie and told her Newman's concerns and asked her to be careful and come home.
Annie and Jane talked and Annie was told that Jane's husband had been cheating on her for a long time. He treated Jane and their daughter horribly. His latest girlfriend was pregnant. Annie convinced Jane to leave him and move in with her. Jane and Daisy moved in and Daisy was sent to summer camp with Tom's daughter. Little Daisy felt much better being away from her father.
Annie had been traveling on the pretense of visiting her Daisy shops. She had sent a letter to Parker breaking off their engagement after he told her that his nephew was in law school and had been given the assignment of solving the bank robbery case in N. Carolina for a school project. She was afraid that she would be found out. She had also returned the rest of the money along with interest for the time she had it. Elmo's call had made her nervous. She had been gone from home for 8 weeks and decided to head out immediately rather than in the morning.
Annie got caught in a rainstorm and felt like she was being followed. She turned off the interstate and couldn't find a gas station. She decided to test the all terrain use of her vehicle and got stuck in the mud. A dog found her and she followed the dog, a golden Lab named Jake, to the home of Clay Mitchell. Annie was caked with mud and exhausted. She passed out as he cleaned her up and put her to bed.
Annie woke up with a very swollen knee. She told Clay that she thought she was being followed. He went to check on her story and found an empty vehicle with no plates stuck in a ditch. He found Annie's car and determined that she was telling the truth. Clay had played for the Lakers and then worked for the FBI. He had retired and he and his wife was killed by a drunk driver 6 months after they settled in North Carolina.
Clay called the doctor and Annie was told to stay off her leg for at least 48 hours. Clay told Annie that he would drive her home after Annie told him that she had to get home for Daisy's birthday. She had bought a miniature puppy for Daisy and she needed to pick him up. Annie told him about Daisy's father and his treatment of Jane and Daisy.
They arrived home and Clay met Annie's family and friends. Annie told Clay on the trip that she owned the Daisy Shops and she told him about her relationship with Parker. She talked with Elmo when she got home and he told her that he agreed with Annie's decision to not marry Parker. Elmo told Annie that he had never liked him. Annie then spoke with Jane who also mentioned that she and Tom felt the same way about Parker. They didn't agree with Parker's attitude and belief system.
Before Clay left, Annie's kitchen was bombed. They suspected that Andrew Pearson had done it and had also been the one following Annie. Clay went back home while Jane and Annie made arrangements to go back to Boston University for their reunion.
Annie did some thinking during that time and figured out that Parker was using her for his own purposes. He had a laboratory where he spent most of his time while letting Kiki run the business side of the coffee plantation. Parker was using her money to fund his trying to develop a coffee plant that was naturally decaffeinated. Parker didn't really love her, he loved her money. He didn't respect women and he had a motive other than her comments to him to let his sisters help him with the coffee business. That was why he didn't contact her during all those years. It was all about him and making money, and she was right.
Annie and Jane got ready to leave for the reunion. Elmo and little Daisy were going along with Daisy's new puppy, Charlie. Elmo didn't look very well but wanted to go see his old pharmacy one last time. Clay felt something was off and decided to make a trip to Boston to check on everyone. Parker was also headed to Boston to try and talk to Annie again. He seemed convinced that he could get her to change her mind. More than getting married to her, he needed her to extend her contract past the 6 months so that he would have money to continue working on the development of a decaffeinated coffee plant.
They arrived and Annie went to visit Andrew's father. She found out that he had been lying about his father giving him money to track down who had taken the robbery money. His father was seriously ill after suffering a second stroke. Andrew had been written out of his will and disowned. Annie was very frightened now. She went back to the hotel and ran into Parker. She told him that she was done with him and was not renewing her contract. She would be done with him in 3 months time. He tried to grab her but she got away. She went upstairs with a packet of legal papers given to her by Andrew's father. She told Jane that they needed to find another hotel to stay at and made arrangements to move to the Ritz Carlton. They would keep their rooms at the Four Seasons so no one would no where they were.
They were heading out when Daisy spotted Clay and his dog, Jake. He took them to the pharmacy where they were to meet Annie. She was waiting there for them and they were all happy to see that the knew owners of the pharmacy had changed very little. Elmo was asked if he wanted to fill one last prescription. He did and then he collapsed. An ambulance took him to the hospital where he confessed to the FBI that he had taken the robbery money. The FBI wouldn't listen to either Annie or Jane when they both confessed too. Elmo told Annie that he knew it had been her because she changed after that day. He was proud of her for not using the money and returning all of it. He died then.
They all returned to the hotel where they looked through the papers given to them by Andrew's father. It told a bit of the history between he and his father. They also found out that he knew how to make bombs. A warrant had been put out for his arrest. The announcement of Elmo's confession was on the late night news. Parker had once again tried to approach Annie but this time Jake knocked him over and prevented him from touching Annie.
Everyone settled in for the night at the Four Seasons. They decided it was safe enough. Police were watching over the place. Annie suggested that she and Clay head over to use the room at the Ritz Carlton.
She graduated with her best friend and roommate, Jane Abbott. They decided to leave N. Carolina and move to S. Carolina. They opened up a coffee shop where Jane painted postcards. They did very well and soon opened up more coffee shops. Jane met and married Bob Granger who was their accountant.
Annie had been sending money to her brother for her mother's nursing home in North Carolina for years. The home was close to where her brother, Tom, lived with his wife and 3 children. Their mother was bitten by a raccoon and Anna reluctantly moved her to a better facility closer to herself and Jane. She was resentful that Tom didn't help out more.
Her previous boss, Elmo, had sold his drugstore and moved closer to the girls too. Annie hired him to work store in their coffee shops. The called the stores the Daisy Shops.
Meanwhile, the bank robbery was being investigated by Mr. Newman. Mr. Newman was certain that one of the three, Daisy, Jane or Elmo had the money. He continued the investigation for years but never found any evidence of their guilt or where the money was.
Annie was lonely the Christmas after Jane married and called Tom. She found out that Tom's wife had left him. Annie asked him to come stay with her over the holidays. Tom soon went to work with for Annie too. He later went to Annie and told her that his ex-wife was asking for money in exchange for custody of their children. Annie used some of the bank money to pay for Tom's children. Tom never asked where the money came from. She felt guilty and suspected that he knew she had the bank money.
Annie was feeling guilty over having kept the money and never returning it. She didn't really need it so she decided to return it. Annie washed the money a few times and took half of it and dropped it off where it would be found in the morning. It couldn't be traced back to her because Annie used gloves after she had washed it in bleach and dried it.
She dated a guy named Daniel a couple of times. He mentioned that he had a friend in Hawaii who owned a coffee plantation. He suggested Annie fly to Hawaii to meet him and set up a contract to get her coffee wholesale from him. She did and they fell instantly in love. Parker Grayson showed her around his plantation and the island. Their favorite spot was a water fountain that most always had a rainbow over it. Parker named it Annie's Rainbow. They fought when she found out that he was the youngest in his family. As the only male so he inherited everything and didn't share anything with his 6 older sisters. She didn't like his attitude that he was entitled and didn't see a thing wrong with the way things were. Parker Grayson told her that his sisters were happy with their lives and she didn't have the right to have any say in the matter.
Annie left him but what she said stuck with him in the months after she left. He ended up calling his sisters to arrange a meeting with them around Christmas time. He apologized to them for his manner and they ended up sharing the responsibility and ownership of the coffee business. Parker grew closer to his sisters and got to know his nieces and nephews after that. His life changed for the better but he and Annie never called each other.
It was 11 years later and Tom was in hospital after his appendix burst. Annie now had 84 Daisy shops. Jane now had a daughter she had named Daisy Jane. Tom and Annie talked about creating franchises with their stores to take some of the pressure off of them running the high number of stores. He suggested she go to Hawaii and see Parker Grayson to discuss selling his roasted coffee in the stores as well as continuing to sell brewed coffee. The stores they owned were close to college campus's and all were successful. They would keep the first 2 they opened. One would belong to Annie, one to Jane and 2 in Clemson would continue to belong to Tom. The rest of the stores would belong to franchise owners.
Annie took Elmo with her and went to Hawaii planning on seeing Parker but his sister was running the office now. Annie asked for a price reduction and and a contract to purchase more coffee but Kiki told her she had to talk to Parker first. Annie gave her a deadline for the offer but Parker couldn't be located in time to meet the deadline. After some complications, Parker found Annie. She had been moved to a different hotel due to a water leak and he headed to the island where she was when she left to go to the island where he was. It was series of missing each other. She had nearly given up when she went back to the waterfall. He had come home after giving up too and they wound up at the same place. They went back to his place and made love. He asked her to marry him and she agreed to marry him in a year and live part time in Hawaii. He wanted to merge his and her companies but she refused. She wanted to keep the companies separate. They decided to continue the discussion later.
Annie went back home and was told that Elmo had been given 6 months to live. The bank robber had been released and was looking for revenge. He was determined to find out who had taken the robbery money and had been to see Mr. Newman. He had pretended to be Peter Newman and had talked to Tom's wife. He went to see Newman and scared him. Newman called Elmo and told him that the case had been closed by his insurance company. The bank had returned the insurance money they had collected. Newman was worried about what Pearson was going to do to him and the women. Elmo called Annie and told her Newman's concerns and asked her to be careful and come home.
Annie and Jane talked and Annie was told that Jane's husband had been cheating on her for a long time. He treated Jane and their daughter horribly. His latest girlfriend was pregnant. Annie convinced Jane to leave him and move in with her. Jane and Daisy moved in and Daisy was sent to summer camp with Tom's daughter. Little Daisy felt much better being away from her father.
Annie had been traveling on the pretense of visiting her Daisy shops. She had sent a letter to Parker breaking off their engagement after he told her that his nephew was in law school and had been given the assignment of solving the bank robbery case in N. Carolina for a school project. She was afraid that she would be found out. She had also returned the rest of the money along with interest for the time she had it. Elmo's call had made her nervous. She had been gone from home for 8 weeks and decided to head out immediately rather than in the morning.
Annie got caught in a rainstorm and felt like she was being followed. She turned off the interstate and couldn't find a gas station. She decided to test the all terrain use of her vehicle and got stuck in the mud. A dog found her and she followed the dog, a golden Lab named Jake, to the home of Clay Mitchell. Annie was caked with mud and exhausted. She passed out as he cleaned her up and put her to bed.
Annie woke up with a very swollen knee. She told Clay that she thought she was being followed. He went to check on her story and found an empty vehicle with no plates stuck in a ditch. He found Annie's car and determined that she was telling the truth. Clay had played for the Lakers and then worked for the FBI. He had retired and he and his wife was killed by a drunk driver 6 months after they settled in North Carolina.
Clay called the doctor and Annie was told to stay off her leg for at least 48 hours. Clay told Annie that he would drive her home after Annie told him that she had to get home for Daisy's birthday. She had bought a miniature puppy for Daisy and she needed to pick him up. Annie told him about Daisy's father and his treatment of Jane and Daisy.
They arrived home and Clay met Annie's family and friends. Annie told Clay on the trip that she owned the Daisy Shops and she told him about her relationship with Parker. She talked with Elmo when she got home and he told her that he agreed with Annie's decision to not marry Parker. Elmo told Annie that he had never liked him. Annie then spoke with Jane who also mentioned that she and Tom felt the same way about Parker. They didn't agree with Parker's attitude and belief system.
Before Clay left, Annie's kitchen was bombed. They suspected that Andrew Pearson had done it and had also been the one following Annie. Clay went back home while Jane and Annie made arrangements to go back to Boston University for their reunion.
Annie did some thinking during that time and figured out that Parker was using her for his own purposes. He had a laboratory where he spent most of his time while letting Kiki run the business side of the coffee plantation. Parker was using her money to fund his trying to develop a coffee plant that was naturally decaffeinated. Parker didn't really love her, he loved her money. He didn't respect women and he had a motive other than her comments to him to let his sisters help him with the coffee business. That was why he didn't contact her during all those years. It was all about him and making money, and she was right.
Annie and Jane got ready to leave for the reunion. Elmo and little Daisy were going along with Daisy's new puppy, Charlie. Elmo didn't look very well but wanted to go see his old pharmacy one last time. Clay felt something was off and decided to make a trip to Boston to check on everyone. Parker was also headed to Boston to try and talk to Annie again. He seemed convinced that he could get her to change her mind. More than getting married to her, he needed her to extend her contract past the 6 months so that he would have money to continue working on the development of a decaffeinated coffee plant.
They arrived and Annie went to visit Andrew's father. She found out that he had been lying about his father giving him money to track down who had taken the robbery money. His father was seriously ill after suffering a second stroke. Andrew had been written out of his will and disowned. Annie was very frightened now. She went back to the hotel and ran into Parker. She told him that she was done with him and was not renewing her contract. She would be done with him in 3 months time. He tried to grab her but she got away. She went upstairs with a packet of legal papers given to her by Andrew's father. She told Jane that they needed to find another hotel to stay at and made arrangements to move to the Ritz Carlton. They would keep their rooms at the Four Seasons so no one would no where they were.
They were heading out when Daisy spotted Clay and his dog, Jake. He took them to the pharmacy where they were to meet Annie. She was waiting there for them and they were all happy to see that the knew owners of the pharmacy had changed very little. Elmo was asked if he wanted to fill one last prescription. He did and then he collapsed. An ambulance took him to the hospital where he confessed to the FBI that he had taken the robbery money. The FBI wouldn't listen to either Annie or Jane when they both confessed too. Elmo told Annie that he knew it had been her because she changed after that day. He was proud of her for not using the money and returning all of it. He died then.
They all returned to the hotel where they looked through the papers given to them by Andrew's father. It told a bit of the history between he and his father. They also found out that he knew how to make bombs. A warrant had been put out for his arrest. The announcement of Elmo's confession was on the late night news. Parker had once again tried to approach Annie but this time Jake knocked him over and prevented him from touching Annie.
Everyone settled in for the night at the Four Seasons. They decided it was safe enough. Police were watching over the place. Annie suggested that she and Clay head over to use the room at the Ritz Carlton.
March 7, 2021
Read a million years ago and a few times since. Easy fantasy read
October 10, 2024
This one was fun and light. Loved it.
August 13, 2023
3.5 stars rounded down. My first Fern Michaels book but certainly not the last. The premise was good, it had some suspense and mystery, but there was so much unnecessary dialogue - especially the characters talking to their dogs (I have a dog but I don’t have a full-on conversation with him).
I REALLY disliked Annie. Her character was such an asshole. Treating people like they were beneath her; ordering her pilot stewardess to “get her dog his Dr Pepper NOW.” Not only is that far-fetched because it’s so insane to give a dog SODA, but at LEAST make it a good one like Coca-Cola.
Jane, well, she was just…there. Adding to my headache. She really had no purpose in the story except being the best friend that marries an asshole and ventures out of the coffee business.
Tom, the brother, he was okay. However, his ex wife demanding something like half a mill (or maybe $100k I can’t remember it was so absurd) if he wants the kids because she wants to rid of them. What??
So Annie magically gives her brother that lump of money to buy his kids…and yet, he never asked how he she had that much when she started off barely scraping by.
Parker is a misogynistic pig. At least that was one wise move Annie made: dumped his ass. But his role in the book was also useless.
Elmo…the pharmacist father figure. I couldn’t take his character seriously being named after a muppet baby (or is it Sesame Street?). But he did pull at my heart strings.
Clay was a cliche hot cop/FBI agent with a lab (they normally have German Shepherds but okay, sure the dudes retired AND was a pro basketball player before).
Synopsis: Annie is at Elmo’s pharmacy when a bank robbery is going down. Her and Jane’s beat up cars are parked nearby and they always keep their windows down…in hopes of someone tampering or stealing their cars (they were hoping something would happen to their cars so they could collect insurance money). Both robbers were caught but the money was never found. A third accomplice theory comes to fruition and (this part is seriously confusing) Andrew Newman, a rich kid, was somehow involved. He confessed to only watching the burglary but authorities were adamant that he hid it…by throwing the money into one of the parked cars.
Kid ends up in prison for a long while and once he’s out, he’s hell bent on getting his revenge and he knows it was Annie, Jane, or Elmo or all three, that had the money and let him serve a longer prison sentence because the money was never recovered.
But Annie starts paying the money back after she’s a millionaire (just pay the whole thing off and get the kid out of jail, perhaps?)
Annie starts to also throw job opportunities to complete strangers and making them partners in her nationwide famous coffee shop (literally some random woman she met in HI while lounging by the pool, then Clay right after she met him).
The ending did somewhat make up for all the 200 pages that didn’t need to be written (this should and could have easily been 150 to 200 pages), but not enough for me to give this novel anything above a 2.5-3.5
It’s one of those books that you just HAVE to know what happens so you can’t stop reading and have to finish. I have a book hangover now.
Thank you Fern Michaels and Kensington publishing for my finished copy
I REALLY disliked Annie. Her character was such an asshole. Treating people like they were beneath her; ordering her pilot stewardess to “get her dog his Dr Pepper NOW.” Not only is that far-fetched because it’s so insane to give a dog SODA, but at LEAST make it a good one like Coca-Cola.
Jane, well, she was just…there. Adding to my headache. She really had no purpose in the story except being the best friend that marries an asshole and ventures out of the coffee business.
Tom, the brother, he was okay. However, his ex wife demanding something like half a mill (or maybe $100k I can’t remember it was so absurd) if he wants the kids because she wants to rid of them. What??
So Annie magically gives her brother that lump of money to buy his kids…and yet, he never asked how he she had that much when she started off barely scraping by.
Parker is a misogynistic pig. At least that was one wise move Annie made: dumped his ass. But his role in the book was also useless.
Elmo…the pharmacist father figure. I couldn’t take his character seriously being named after a muppet baby (or is it Sesame Street?). But he did pull at my heart strings.
Clay was a cliche hot cop/FBI agent with a lab (they normally have German Shepherds but okay, sure the dudes retired AND was a pro basketball player before).
Synopsis: Annie is at Elmo’s pharmacy when a bank robbery is going down. Her and Jane’s beat up cars are parked nearby and they always keep their windows down…in hopes of someone tampering or stealing their cars (they were hoping something would happen to their cars so they could collect insurance money). Both robbers were caught but the money was never found. A third accomplice theory comes to fruition and (this part is seriously confusing) Andrew Newman, a rich kid, was somehow involved. He confessed to only watching the burglary but authorities were adamant that he hid it…by throwing the money into one of the parked cars.
Kid ends up in prison for a long while and once he’s out, he’s hell bent on getting his revenge and he knows it was Annie, Jane, or Elmo or all three, that had the money and let him serve a longer prison sentence because the money was never recovered.
But Annie starts paying the money back after she’s a millionaire (just pay the whole thing off and get the kid out of jail, perhaps?)
Annie starts to also throw job opportunities to complete strangers and making them partners in her nationwide famous coffee shop (literally some random woman she met in HI while lounging by the pool, then Clay right after she met him).
The ending did somewhat make up for all the 200 pages that didn’t need to be written (this should and could have easily been 150 to 200 pages), but not enough for me to give this novel anything above a 2.5-3.5
It’s one of those books that you just HAVE to know what happens so you can’t stop reading and have to finish. I have a book hangover now.
Thank you Fern Michaels and Kensington publishing for my finished copy
March 18, 2024
While it was worth reading, I found the dialogue a little ridiculous. At times the characters would jump from one subject to the next with each sentence. There was no depth to the conversations. I aslo found it ridiculous how fast friendships and "falling in love" happened. Not to mention the Character Annie would offer people really great jobs in her business after knowing these people for only a few hours and she had no idea if they were even qualified for the job. Very unreal.
July 23, 2014
21/3 - I really enjoyed this book, it was a reasonably lightweight book but I found it an entertaining and quick read. Unlike another book I am wading my way through at the moment (hopefully I will be able to review it sometime soon) the language was easy to read. Although I found some of the dialogue a bit odd because of the way the characters went from one subject to another in the same breath without waiting for a response to any of the things they had said in the previous few minutes. I felt it resembled the way Rory and Lorelai speak in The Gilmore Girls, but written down it doesn't work as well as it does spoken. I have already recommended it to my mum and made the comment that I felt like I could write a story like this as it did not go into too much detail on any particular subject and it didn't read as if Michaels had needed to do a whole lot of research in order to write it.
June 6, 2011
I have never read any of Fern Michaels' books and, after trying to read this one, I'm not sure that I'd care to try. In reading reviews of other books of hers, a comment made about Weekend Warriors summed up what bothered me the most. Trish said "throughout the series the dialogue really turns me off. The dialogue rambles on with each character stepping over the other making for long paragraphs of talking with no action and no give and take between speaking characters." She hit the nail on the head!
August 14, 2013
Just finished "Annie's Rainbow." What a delightful story. Elmo, Annie and Jane were great characters and I was pleasantly surprised at some new ones that came on later in the book. There are lots of dogs and I love dogs in stories, because they are so much a part of my life. So, if you want a fun summer read - this is a good one!
October 4, 2023
DNF. I thought Fern Michaels was a big shot author, but this is the first book of hers I’ve tried and it was awful. The dialogue was stilted and bad. No one really talks like that.
I gave up at 20%and then read the last few pages. The dialogue never got better. I’m glad I didn’t force myself to keep reading.
I gave up at 20%and then read the last few pages. The dialogue never got better. I’m glad I didn’t force myself to keep reading.
October 23, 2013
This book wasn't as great as some I have read by Fern Michaels. But this author is up there with my favorite books.
September 7, 2024
I didn't finish this book. Here is a bit of a summary of the things we're having problems with. Two friends in Boston are going to move to North Carolina to start a business. In Boston, they take a walk around the grounds of Boston College...which has no grounds to walk around (Jeri tells me).
Before they move, there is a bank robbery of half a million dollars in small bills that can't be traced, all stuck in a satchel which nobody can find after the robbery. Then Annie finds the satchel on the floor of her car and hides it, deciding to keep it. The money will help her start her new business...though she never uses it for that, but she spends years concerned that she has this money and trying to figure out how to send it back.
The start their business, which consists of a stand where they sell tuna sandwiches and coffee and it is so successful that within months they are rolling in money and ready to open a second shop. Now...how good are these tuna sandwiches and are people eating them every day?
Annie gets a dog who, while she is napping, find the bag with the bank money in it and chews up about $20,000 worth (that's a lot of chewing!) Annie was going to send the money back, but can't now until she can replace the $20,000 that her dog ate. (She is so careful to hide the money so nobody will find it....how was it so easy for the dog to find it?)
Before she can send the money back, she wants to wash it to remove all traces of her fingerprints. She puts it in a sack in her washing machine, but it stops the machine from working and she has to find all sorts of excuses why people can't help her fix it. Somehow she manages to get the money washed 3 times and eventually leaves half the money at a bank.
In the meantime, she flies to Hawaii to meet with a guy who sells coffee and can give her a good price. . She falls in love with him the second she meets him and by the second day they are planning their wedding until she finds out how he treats his sisters and is so angry with him she refuses to speak to him, cancels their engagement and flies home again.
It is now 11 years later and she still has not returned the rest of the money and still feels guilty about it. She goes back to Hawaii, finds the guy she fell in love with there, he proposes to her and she says yes, though in her head she knows she does not love him.
I haven't gotten any further in to the book, but everything is so ridiculous.
Before they move, there is a bank robbery of half a million dollars in small bills that can't be traced, all stuck in a satchel which nobody can find after the robbery. Then Annie finds the satchel on the floor of her car and hides it, deciding to keep it. The money will help her start her new business...though she never uses it for that, but she spends years concerned that she has this money and trying to figure out how to send it back.
The start their business, which consists of a stand where they sell tuna sandwiches and coffee and it is so successful that within months they are rolling in money and ready to open a second shop. Now...how good are these tuna sandwiches and are people eating them every day?
Annie gets a dog who, while she is napping, find the bag with the bank money in it and chews up about $20,000 worth (that's a lot of chewing!) Annie was going to send the money back, but can't now until she can replace the $20,000 that her dog ate. (She is so careful to hide the money so nobody will find it....how was it so easy for the dog to find it?)
Before she can send the money back, she wants to wash it to remove all traces of her fingerprints. She puts it in a sack in her washing machine, but it stops the machine from working and she has to find all sorts of excuses why people can't help her fix it. Somehow she manages to get the money washed 3 times and eventually leaves half the money at a bank.
In the meantime, she flies to Hawaii to meet with a guy who sells coffee and can give her a good price. . She falls in love with him the second she meets him and by the second day they are planning their wedding until she finds out how he treats his sisters and is so angry with him she refuses to speak to him, cancels their engagement and flies home again.
It is now 11 years later and she still has not returned the rest of the money and still feels guilty about it. She goes back to Hawaii, finds the guy she fell in love with there, he proposes to her and she says yes, though in her head she knows she does not love him.
I haven't gotten any further in to the book, but everything is so ridiculous.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 9, 2025
This was a hard book for me. I found myself wanting to slap Annie a few times, but by the end of the book, I liked her a little more. To me, that's the makings of a good book--one that develops characters in such a way that your opinion of them changes as the story develops. Annie and Jane are going to college in Boston. The day before their graduation, there's a bank robbery. Annie stumbles across the money and makes the decision to keep it.
The women move to Charleston, South Carolina, where they open a coffee shop on a shoestring budget. Annie moves her mother, suffering from Alzheimer's, to a nursing home closer to her. Jane meets an accountant and falls in love, marrying him and moving to San Francisco. As the years pass, the coffee shop business expands.
Thirteen years after the robbery, Annie is a multimillionaire. She goes to Hawaii, where she meets Parker, the owner of the coffee plantation supplying her shops with coffee. Sparks fly, but there's a problem. Parker is steeped in a culture that doesn't value women, and Annie is an independent businesswoman. How can they overcome their differences, or can they?
At the time of the bank robbery, one of the robbers, just a kid at the time, is convicted of the crime. When he's finally released, he vows revenge. Even though the money has since been returned, he believes Annie, Jane and Elmo, the elderly pharmacist who was like a father figure to the young women, had something to do with the missing money, and had it been returned back then, he would have served a lesser sentence. Annie is in a fight for her life now. Through it all, love finds a way into the mix.
This was the first book I remember reading by Fern Michaels. It was pretty good. I thought I had parts of it figured out but was totally wrong. I love when books do that.
The women move to Charleston, South Carolina, where they open a coffee shop on a shoestring budget. Annie moves her mother, suffering from Alzheimer's, to a nursing home closer to her. Jane meets an accountant and falls in love, marrying him and moving to San Francisco. As the years pass, the coffee shop business expands.
Thirteen years after the robbery, Annie is a multimillionaire. She goes to Hawaii, where she meets Parker, the owner of the coffee plantation supplying her shops with coffee. Sparks fly, but there's a problem. Parker is steeped in a culture that doesn't value women, and Annie is an independent businesswoman. How can they overcome their differences, or can they?
At the time of the bank robbery, one of the robbers, just a kid at the time, is convicted of the crime. When he's finally released, he vows revenge. Even though the money has since been returned, he believes Annie, Jane and Elmo, the elderly pharmacist who was like a father figure to the young women, had something to do with the missing money, and had it been returned back then, he would have served a lesser sentence. Annie is in a fight for her life now. Through it all, love finds a way into the mix.
This was the first book I remember reading by Fern Michaels. It was pretty good. I thought I had parts of it figured out but was totally wrong. I love when books do that.
August 6, 2024
I found this book to be morally wrong, on so many levels. In a nutshell: an innocent person (regardless of their dark, unstable past) should not have to spend one minute in jail, while the real criminal gets off without penalty. Even though this book is a work of fiction, it makes me wonder how many people have been falsely accused and sent to prison, while the real perp goes free. Yes, the protagonist, turned criminal, did return the stolen money which one of the robbers threw into the open window of her car; but it was too little too late. She should have returned it the next day instead of months and years afterward. I could not believe how she became a multi-millionaire, selling just coffee, tuna sandwiches, and brownies through a retail chain of stores. Most successful cafes offer tea (besides coffee), a broader range of sandwiches and salads, and other pastries and cookies. Besides that, there was no way the protagonist and her sidekick built their business without using the stolen money based on how broke they supposedly were, after leaving Boston University and relocating to South Carolina. Yeah, their pharmacist-employer-friend gave them each $1,000 after graduation, but how far does that go? It costs thousands to build a storefront business. I bought this Kindle book for $1.99 using promotional credit. Thank goodness, I returned it and got my promotional credit back, to use toward a book more worthy of my time.
December 25, 2023
Annie's Rainbow
I have been reading Fern Michaels books for a long time and they never get me bored. Another good read about 2 university girls Jane and Annie who were doing their bachelor's degree but money was right so they took jobs at the pharmacy that was fun by Elmo. The three became very close . One day the bank across from the pharmacy was rob by 3 guys who one was caught but never give information on where the money was hidden. It so happen that Annie and Jane was graduating and leaving for South Carolina so they spend all night packing her car where she found the money that was stolen from the bank. Annie never return the money , use some but put back with interest. After the guy that was in prison got released he said he was going after the person who let him go jail. Unfortunately Elmo got ill and he confess before he died that he was the one who stole the money. Their is more to this thriller very good read .
I have been reading Fern Michaels books for a long time and they never get me bored. Another good read about 2 university girls Jane and Annie who were doing their bachelor's degree but money was right so they took jobs at the pharmacy that was fun by Elmo. The three became very close . One day the bank across from the pharmacy was rob by 3 guys who one was caught but never give information on where the money was hidden. It so happen that Annie and Jane was graduating and leaving for South Carolina so they spend all night packing her car where she found the money that was stolen from the bank. Annie never return the money , use some but put back with interest. After the guy that was in prison got released he said he was going after the person who let him go jail. Unfortunately Elmo got ill and he confess before he died that he was the one who stole the money. Their is more to this thriller very good read .
April 28, 2024
I won this in a goodreads giveaway. I see Fern Michaels' books where ever mass-market paperbacks are sold. I figured I would have to give her a try and with winning a free book, why not?!
My goodness. I don't think I will ever read one of her books again. She does not create a setting or atmosphere. It is basic descriptions just enough to have you understand what room they are in. Everything is done through long paragraphs of dialogue from the characters. There is no fluidity in her character's conversations. I couldn't even describe to you what her characters look like. She does not spend any time developing visuals.
The story was funny and outlandish. That is the only thing that saved it for me. But I honestly don't know if that is how Fern wanted it read.
Kudos to her for the originality in the storyline, but this was so disjointed.
My goodness. I don't think I will ever read one of her books again. She does not create a setting or atmosphere. It is basic descriptions just enough to have you understand what room they are in. Everything is done through long paragraphs of dialogue from the characters. There is no fluidity in her character's conversations. I couldn't even describe to you what her characters look like. She does not spend any time developing visuals.
The story was funny and outlandish. That is the only thing that saved it for me. But I honestly don't know if that is how Fern wanted it read.
Kudos to her for the originality in the storyline, but this was so disjointed.
July 31, 2024
This book had a great rating and an interesting premise, but I just could not deal with all the telling instead of showing. There were long paragraphs of dialogue that were so stilted and awkward that I had to laugh out loud multiple times. Sudden jumps into the future that made it difficult to follow. No character development. The story in itself made no sense and the ending was lacklustre. But I did finish it because despite all of its faults I wanted to know the ending.
Would I recommend it to others? No. Unless that person wanted to discuss it afterwards. Books like these are great for discussions.
All in all, it was a great exercise for me to think about: if I had been the editor, what would I have done to make it better? I have a long list…
Would I recommend it to others? No. Unless that person wanted to discuss it afterwards. Books like these are great for discussions.
All in all, it was a great exercise for me to think about: if I had been the editor, what would I have done to make it better? I have a long list…
September 12, 2023
I received my copy of this book in a give-away by the author on the Goodreads.com web site. I thought Annie's Rainbow by Fern Michaels was very good. It is well written as usual for all of Fern Michaels books. The words just flowed like you were in all of the characters minds and bodies. Like you were right there seeing and listening to them in person. It tells the dilemma of right and wrong choices a person could make and the guilt a person feels when they make the wrong choice. Also tells how when the wrong choices are made, and corrected and true love is found life can be very good. I enjoyed this book very much.
July 12, 2024
This was an ok book but not a book I would read again. It was kind of slow for me in the beginning.I didn't really care for the characters especially Annie herself. I think the little mystery with the stolen money from the robbery was put in so that it didn't appear to be another cheesy,predictable romance novel. Surprisingly enough it seemed cheesy to me anyway.The plot to me didn't gel well. It had too many holes.The dialogue wasn't great.The romances in the story were lacking in heat and passion.It was kind of like drinking a soda and finding out it was flat and had no fizz or taste.I have read better books than this.
September 3, 2023
Thoroughly enjoyed.
Kind of a summer winding down (by date not temperature) beach read for me.
Several years ago, I read a lot of Fern Michael's books and I remember the comment during the steamy parts about "make my ears hot." And there were often horses around.
This book was quite a bit different and pretty unbelievable but I wanted to find out what would happen next.
I enjoyed the coffee shop chain business content.
My favorite character was a latecomer to the story which was a sweet surprise for me.
Kind of a summer winding down (by date not temperature) beach read for me.
Several years ago, I read a lot of Fern Michael's books and I remember the comment during the steamy parts about "make my ears hot." And there were often horses around.
This book was quite a bit different and pretty unbelievable but I wanted to find out what would happen next.
I enjoyed the coffee shop chain business content.
My favorite character was a latecomer to the story which was a sweet surprise for me.
December 10, 2023
Long story but entertaining!
It seemed like this book would never end but the story was good so it kept me entertained. 3.8 but I had to choose 3 or 4. There may have been some parts that could have been cut out but overall it was a good read & good well developed characters.
I wondered how this would turn out for Annie but about 3/4 of the way through, I figured out what would happen and I was correct. I would have liked more at the ending….or an epilogue would have been nice.
It seemed like this book would never end but the story was good so it kept me entertained. 3.8 but I had to choose 3 or 4. There may have been some parts that could have been cut out but overall it was a good read & good well developed characters.
I wondered how this would turn out for Annie but about 3/4 of the way through, I figured out what would happen and I was correct. I would have liked more at the ending….or an epilogue would have been nice.
July 31, 2023
I liked this book. :) it was, at times, pretty fast paced and hard to read. The dialogue scenes when a character was on a phone were super hard to read. Maybe it is just me who has a hard time comprehending large paragraphs, but it was just hard to follow a lot of the time. But I liked the characters, although I wish Annie’s relationship with Parker had not been so rushed; it was hard to be attached to it and want to root for it when they literally had like two whole minutes of interaction. I liked Clay a lot more, and I wish Annie had more interactions with him, they had so much more chemistry. I feel like the story’s climax and ending were so underwhelming, and the story had a lot of buildup that ended up being pretty disappointing. But overall, I loved the characters and Elmo broke my heart.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 1, 2023
This is the first time I remember reading Fern Michaels, where I felt I needed to work into the cadence of the book. But once I got into it, her typical superior character development shines through. There were several plot twists toward the end of the book that were surprising. I never did understand Jane's comment about needing to get away from Anna and Elmo, and it was never really explained, but the rest of the twists and turns kept me engaged until the last page left me wanting more.
February 8, 2024
What would you do if you found a bank bag filed with thousands of dollars on the seat of your car. it had been thrown in through your open window in the student parking lot on the dayhttps://www.goodreads.com/user/show/7... before you graduate from college with a Masters degree? Turn it in, save it or spend it? Maybe "borrow" from it and then return half of it with interest. Keep it for years and then finally return the rest with additional interest. Decisions are made by each of us every day of our lives and all decisions have consequences. Read this interesting book to find out what happened in this case.
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