Riverside Drive

Alexandra Chronicles #1

by Laura Van Wormer

(There are five households on the Drive that share a common bond, a wisecracking but fiercely loyal cleaning woman, Rosanne DiSantos, who is forever stumbling onto the kinds of dirt her employers dearly wish would remain under the rug. There the Cochrans--beautiful Cassy, handsome Michael, and perfect son Henry. For people in television, as the Cochrans are, appearances are everything, and the Cochrans' marriage is no exception as Cassy wonders whether it's going to be Alexandra Waring (the stunning young anchorwoman who has taken New York by a storm), alcohol, or her own identity crisis that is going to tear her family apart for the last time.)

Genres: Romance, Fiction

416 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1988

About the author

Laura Van Wormer grew up in Darien, Connecticut, graduated from the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University, and has spent most of her adult life working in publishing. She is the author of eleven previous novels. The Kill Fee is the fifth in the Sally Harrington series, although some of the characters - most notably the group at DBS News - are in her earlier novels Riverside Drive, West End, Any Given Moment and Talk.

Laura divides her time between Manhattan and Meriden, Connecticut.

Reviews

[Dru · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting story of 5 families and the woman who cleans for them. All the twists and turns.

[HeatherMarie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Couldn’t finish; for me that is very rare. And I usually love older books set in the 70s, 80s,…but the characters in this book weren’t very likable nor memorable- I found them rather two-dimensional and bland. Almost like caricatures. Also, the dialogue was that haphazard slapdash offhand style that I guess is meant to seem “real,” but just fails somehow. The whole thing felt contrived and didn’t resonate with me at all. I see that a lot of people enjoyed it- good for them. It just wasn’t meant for me.
*Editing to add that it USED to be a rare thing if I couldn’t finish a book. Since then, I’ve stumbled across several that I either couldn’t finish at all or that I had to put down for a bit. I think I’m losing patience as I get older.

[Sara · Rating 2 out of 5]

It took a minute for me to get into this story because there were so many characters to keep up with; once I figured out who everyone was, I actually liked the novel up to a point. Towards the end, it just got a little trite and ridiculous for me.

[Kelly Bainbridge · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved the characters and their lives, a good read. Couldn't wait to read West End

[Olivia · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun read! Enjoying looking into the lives(and apartments) of the characters.