What do you think?
Rate this book
Sleight of Hand
Alicia Cannon had paid her dues in show business. In the time she'd been in New York, she'd co-starred with a flock of bleating sheep in a commercial, played a prostitute on stage, and even worn a shark costume for a trade convention. She knew her talents were being wasted. She needed a film role, and her best chance for that was to impress a producer who was visiting Atlantic City If she could just get onstage in Atlantic City, he would see that she was perfect for his next film.
Chance Weal was a magician extraordinaire. He loved the awe and wonder on the faces of the audience when he disappeared into thin air and came back in a cloud of glittering dust. At last, his agent had gotten him his big break -- a performance in an Atlantic City club. Now all he needed was a drop-dead gorgeous assistant.
Theatrical agent Monty Jackson had a problem. One of his clients, a handsome magician with curly blond hair, needed an assistant. Another client, a lovely actress with chestnut hair and vivid blue eyes, needed to get onstage in Atlantic City The solution seemed simple. So far, meetings between Chance and Ally had only produced sp arks of the wrong kind. But no matter what, the show had to go on...
Chance Weal was a magician extraordinaire. He loved the awe and wonder on the faces of the audience when he disappeared into thin air and came back in a cloud of glittering dust. At last, his agent had gotten him his big break -- a performance in an Atlantic City club. Now all he needed was a drop-dead gorgeous assistant.
Theatrical agent Monty Jackson had a problem. One of his clients, a handsome magician with curly blond hair, needed an assistant. Another client, a lovely actress with chestnut hair and vivid blue eyes, needed to get onstage in Atlantic City The solution seemed simple. So far, meetings between Chance and Ally had only produced sp arks of the wrong kind. But no matter what, the show had to go on...
- GenresContemporary Romance
Paperback
First published July 1, 2000
10 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
September 28, 2010
Interesting but not entertaining enough. I liked it, but I can’t recommend buying it.
REVIEWER’S OPINION:
Two things annoyed me. First was Ally. Her comments are frequently annoying. She blurts things out before thinking. This causes her to come across as rude, insensitive and causing problems. She is desperate to attend a benefit in Atlantic City. The only way to get there is to be a magician’s assistant. When the magician agrees to use her as a favor to his agent, she refuses to do the simple things he asks of her. She insists he change his act and only do tricks that she feels are not dangerous. He actually changes his act to appease her. I was shaking my head at this. He is doing her a favor. Why is she so uncooperative? Her actions were out of line. I did not enjoy reading about her.
The second annoyance was about 20 pages starting on page 89 in which people are asking questions, interrupting each other, and some trying to explain but only getting partial phrases out before being interrupted. The author was trying to create a scene of confusion, which worked. Because of the confusion, the witnesses weren’t listened to and the police did not secure the bad guys. Instead, the police chased the good guys who ran because they were afraid of the bad guys’ influence. There was too much confusion to allow any decent communication. I can see this kind of writing working in some stories, but for some reason it didn’t work for me in this story. It was similar to my pet peeve of conflict due to vague communication.
I am not rating the book low based solely on these two annoyances. They weren’t that bad. I liked Chance, the magician hero. My rating is more of a subjective feel. I can’t picture myself urging a friend to “go buy this.” I’m having a hard time trying to define what is missing. The plot was ok, but the events and conversations could have been better. I was interested but not entertained.
STORY BRIEF:
Ally is a talented actress who needs her big break. She wants a part in a new film by director Roland Houston. He tells her agent no. She learns that Houston will be in Atlantic City at a benefit, and she wants to go there to try to convince him to hire her. Chance is a magician hired to perform at the Atlantic City benefit. Ally’s agent asks Chance to use her as his assistant, which he does. They travel to Atlantic City together and must share a room because the hotel is full. While they are there, a jewelry theft occurs.
DATA:
Story length: 157 pages. Sexual language: mild. Number of sex scenes: 2. Length of sex scenes: 2.2 and 3.2 pages. Setting: current day New York City and Atlantic City, U.S. Copyright: 1993. Genre: contemporary romance.
OTHER BOOKS:
For a list of my reviews of other Laura Leone books, see my 4.5 star review of “Fallen From Grace” posted under 5 stars 4/03/08.
REVIEWER’S OPINION:
Two things annoyed me. First was Ally. Her comments are frequently annoying. She blurts things out before thinking. This causes her to come across as rude, insensitive and causing problems. She is desperate to attend a benefit in Atlantic City. The only way to get there is to be a magician’s assistant. When the magician agrees to use her as a favor to his agent, she refuses to do the simple things he asks of her. She insists he change his act and only do tricks that she feels are not dangerous. He actually changes his act to appease her. I was shaking my head at this. He is doing her a favor. Why is she so uncooperative? Her actions were out of line. I did not enjoy reading about her.
The second annoyance was about 20 pages starting on page 89 in which people are asking questions, interrupting each other, and some trying to explain but only getting partial phrases out before being interrupted. The author was trying to create a scene of confusion, which worked. Because of the confusion, the witnesses weren’t listened to and the police did not secure the bad guys. Instead, the police chased the good guys who ran because they were afraid of the bad guys’ influence. There was too much confusion to allow any decent communication. I can see this kind of writing working in some stories, but for some reason it didn’t work for me in this story. It was similar to my pet peeve of conflict due to vague communication.
I am not rating the book low based solely on these two annoyances. They weren’t that bad. I liked Chance, the magician hero. My rating is more of a subjective feel. I can’t picture myself urging a friend to “go buy this.” I’m having a hard time trying to define what is missing. The plot was ok, but the events and conversations could have been better. I was interested but not entertained.
STORY BRIEF:
Ally is a talented actress who needs her big break. She wants a part in a new film by director Roland Houston. He tells her agent no. She learns that Houston will be in Atlantic City at a benefit, and she wants to go there to try to convince him to hire her. Chance is a magician hired to perform at the Atlantic City benefit. Ally’s agent asks Chance to use her as his assistant, which he does. They travel to Atlantic City together and must share a room because the hotel is full. While they are there, a jewelry theft occurs.
DATA:
Story length: 157 pages. Sexual language: mild. Number of sex scenes: 2. Length of sex scenes: 2.2 and 3.2 pages. Setting: current day New York City and Atlantic City, U.S. Copyright: 1993. Genre: contemporary romance.
OTHER BOOKS:
For a list of my reviews of other Laura Leone books, see my 4.5 star review of “Fallen From Grace” posted under 5 stars 4/03/08.
May 20, 2012
Soooo, in looking for her Fallen From Grace book I found this instead. And I thought, sure. Why not. Ha! What a piece of crap.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews