Celebration

by Fern Michaels

Fern Michaels, New York Times bestselling author of Finders Keepers, dazzles readers once again with the unforgettable story of one woman's life--the betrayal that nearly destroys her, the love that helps her heal, and the struggle to find the truth about herself and the man she thought she knew. . .

An only child who lost both parents during her first year at college, wealthy heiress Kristine Kelly had made her husband her whole world. But she didn't see what everyone else did: that handsome, charismatic Logan Kelly was a manipulator and a user. Then one cold December, Kristine got a chilling wake-up call when Logan vanished, along with the eight-million-dollar trust fund she had naively given him the power to control.

Just when Kristine's life was at it's lowest point, banker Aaron Dunwoodie offered her passion, a strong shoulder to lean on, and a relationship to believe in. But a woman once fooled is twice wary, and very vulnerable. There were still too many questions Kristine needed to answer before she could commit her heart again: what really happened to Logan. . .what did she truly want for herself. . .and what would she do if Logan--a dangerous seductive, and yet irresistible man--walked back into her life?

Genres: Romance, Fiction, Contemporary Romance, Chick Lit, Contemporary, Audiobook, Adult Fiction

430 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published February 6, 1999

About the author

Fern 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/

Reviews

[Linda · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was not one of my favorite stories by Fern Michaels. The story was very depressing from the beginning and I only kept reading out of morbid curiosity. The story ended okay, but I found the dialogue too simple minded, almost childish. The main character Kristine was not very likeable, whiny and extremely gullible. She couldn't see how badly her pathetic excuse of a husband was treating her or their kids. If this was the first book I had read by this author, I wouldn't try another one. Just my opinion.

[Brenda · Rating 4 out of 5]

What one woman can do once she is fed up with how her husband treats her. She lived happily ever after and her husband didn't.

[Pelly Christos-litsas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyed the book. Main character I felt was back and forth with uncertainty of emotions. However, it really depicts how strong one can be once they figure it all out through their heart and strength.

[Loretta · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not my favorite. Kristin, the main character, drove me mad with her wishy-washy actions. And I thought that Logan deserved a much worst fate.

[Chloe (Always Booked) · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars. This was an entertaining book but I thought it was a little too long and I didn't love the main character. She's kind of a doormat and I got tired of her being really wishy washy. That being said, I was really intrigued to know what happened to the husband and if he would come back so overall it was good and I'd recommend it.

SPOILERS AHEAD:
This book starts off with Kristine and her husband Logan living in Germany with their 3 teenage kids. Hes in the military but gets discharged because of a kidney disease. She takes the kids back to the states and he's supposed to join 30 days later but he never shows up. She falls apart when shes separated from him and its so annoying to watch her be so weak. When he doesn't show up, the kids go to college and she becomes an alcoholic. She drinks herself into oblivion until one of the town bankers, Aaron ("Woody") comes and befriends her and puts her through a sobriety boot camp. They become good friends and as the years pass, lovers. He wants a commitment from her but she wont' ever do the legal steps to divorce her husband and/or declare him dead. All of her family's money is gone (taken by the husband) so she knows hes probably not actually dead but he's definitely ditched the family. Long story short, he lived out his childhood dream and moved to Africa and started a touring company. He started a relationship with another wealthy woman and stole her money too then left to come back to Kristine and his family. She postpones her marriage to Woody and lets him stay with her but then one night he tries to rape her and she kicks him out and he leaves. She had found out their families had been terrible slave traders that took kids from their families etc. and so she was trying to right that wrong and found more money to do it with so Logan tried to steal that money too but in the end, justice was served. With the help of Woody's friends and both of the women Logan wronged, they expose him and get all the money back.

[Chelsea Norris · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked it up this book at a $20 fill-a-bag book sale on a whim, but I have no regrets. It had me screaming like I was watching an actual TV show, with so many twists, turns, ups, and downs. The full-circle moment at the end was mind-blowing. Despite my amazing context clues, I couldn't predict what would happen next. The only thing I wish I knew is what happened to Logan after the plane incident. I was tired of him, but his character was so calculated that I need to know more about his downfall.

[Sue · Rating 3 out of 5]

Older book borrowed from a friend. Hard to find on good reads but I found it. Weak character turns strong -drawn out story line - happy ending
Average read solid 3 stars

[Kelly Chester · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a great book - love this author

[Bronwyn Rykiert · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was okay but I was glad to get to the end of it. I had trouble liking Kristine Kelly, I thought she was stupid with what she put up with husband Logan. I did not like Logan at all, but that would have been the idea. All the other characters were great, the Kelly children and Woody, along with Kristine's vet Pete and Jackson the newspaper man. I had a hard time with Kristine wanting to give all of her money away to help those families who had been in slavery all those years ago, but I guess there are lots of people like (you have to have the money first though). There seemed to be so much of it in this story.

[Sandra Bautista · Rating 3 out of 5]

All in all this was a pretty good storyline... I have to say that the main character, Kristine, started to really irritate my nerves... well for most of the book. I thought her attitude was erratic at times, but it could just be me. I also thought that Logan definitely did not get what he had coming, really did not like that part of the story I almost felt cheated after reading such long storyline that all centered @ this man who wronged his entire family to only have a 2-3 page (SMALL SPOILER ALERT..SORRY) of him thinking it was a dream??!

[Carol · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't really enjoy this book as a whole. It covered too long of a time span with gaps of several years between sections. But the characters in each section were believable and some of the scenes were delightful. I could imagine clearly the scene at Christmas with all the dogs in the house when the heat in the kennel went out. But Kristine as a character bothered me and I can't believe Woody kept waiting for her. At least the villan got his in the end.

[Denise Breen · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was recommended by a co-worker, so I felt that I had to give it a chance. I am generally not a fan of Fern Michaels. I don't care for her style of writing - it seems to be too rushed, and general. She assumes a familiarity with her readers that doesn't exist, and so the stories assume a lot things that shouldn't be. I liked the basis of the story itself, just not the writing.

[Hopelessly seeking Happily Ever Afters · Rating 4 out of 5]

Logan and Kristine; Aaron and Kristine

*****SPOILER ALERT*****

Celebration by Fern Michaels. Audible Premium Plus borrow. Standalone, women's fiction. Multiple POV. Solo style narration. It's listed as 14 hours 56 minutes; I listened at speed 2.50 for 5 hours 58 minutes. Narrator Lori Gardner read well, but there were mouth noises throughout. Content warnings: both Logan's and Kristine's parents died fairly young; child abuse; theft, betrayal, cheating; alcoholism; cyber crimes and hacking; two attempted r@pes; and old family secrets of slave trading are discovered.

**Since this was an audiobook listen, some of the names may be misspelled.

Time hops: 1963, 1987, 1991, 1957, 1995

Kristine Summers (18, 42, 45, 49; aka Kris/ Kristine Kelly/Kristine Dunwoodie) is the only child of wealthy dog breeders. She's in love with Logan Kelly (aka Logan Kilpatrick/Justin Eberhart/Caleb Quasar), her family's neighbor. Her parents cruelly refuse to allow her to go to prom, so Logan takes another girl. Logan and Kristine eventually marry after her parents die in a fire trying to save their dogs. Logan handles all of the finances. Over twenty years later, they're living in Germany, and Logan is being medically discharged from the military. Logan sent Kristine, and there three teenagers ahead of him to the USA to set up house in her childhood home in Virginia. Their three children [twins Micheal (aka Mike) and Macala (aka Cala), and Tyler] have been raised abroad and along with Kristine know 4 languages. They're ahead of American schools and want to graduate early to start college. When Logan doesn't show up for Christmas, Kristine becomes frantic. She learns that her bank accounts are empty, so he also stole her $8 million inheritance. She travels back to the military base in Germany to find out where Logan is, but no one knows. She also visited their bank and learned Logan changed everything to a different account 3 years ago, and the bank refused to give her any further information. She's sent back home with the knowledge that her husband was cheating on her, wasn't well liked, and, because of him, neither was she. She also learned that her husband was beating their children and that he children don't like or respect her because she didn't stop him. Kristine didn't know. Her kids get accepted into college with the help of two family friends, and they don't speak to Kristine the entire time they're in school. Kristine became a drunk and was overwhelmingly depressed. Eventually, Aaron Dunwoodie (46; aka Woody), the local banker, intervenes and helps Kristine get sober and start her own dog breeding business. She hires Pete to be her veterinarian and help with her business. Her children graduate college, and she and Aaron start a relationship. Jack, a reporter, visits Kristine to get permission for access to her property, Logan's family's property, and all of their families' records because he's writing a story about the underground railroad. She strikes a deal with him to give him access to everything if he will use his contacts to search for Logan in return. Jack soon discovers that Logan's and Kristine's families sold slaves. Distraught, Kristine decides to search for any remaining relatives who were effected by her family's evil business to help them in any way she can. She tells Aaron that her focus will be on this project now. He wants to marry her, but because she still doesn't know where Logan is, she's not ready. Aaron retired from the bank, packed up, and traveled the world. Kristine is supposed to gain access to the rest of her inheritance when she turns 50, so she set up her future inheritance as a fund to help the families her family profited from selling. She divorced Logan and had him declared dead. Tyler is single and in the military. Macala was attacked and injured while on a date, returned to Kristine to recover, fell in love with Pete, married him, and had two daughters, Emily and Ellie. Michael married Carol and had a son, Dylan, and decided to move back to Virginia to work with his mom. Kristine finally sent Aaron a letter. He returned. She agreed to marry Aaron. Logan tires of his secret life in Kenya as the owner of a safari tour company and boyfriend to Daniella. He knows Kristine's about to inherit more money so he took one last safari booking, promised Daniella after she finishes the tour he would marry her, he cleaned out their accounts, flew to a spa to clean himself up, then returned to America. After arriving in Washington D.C., he checked into a hotel and flirted with Maureen, a married woman, in a restaurant. That night, he slept with Maureen (Aaron's ex-wife; now the wife of Steadman, an older, dying billionaire). The next day, he returns to Kristine and their children. He tells them he is dying, and they agree to let him stay until his death. Aaron gets mad and refuses to wait for Kristine for the second time. Daniella's devastated to learn that Logan left her and took all of their money, including her $5 million. Her last clients help her find her money, help her move to America, and promise to help her find Logan. Everything eventually works out in the end. Aaron and Kristine are married, the families she promised to help are receiving the funds they need, and Logan is bankrupt. PT

1.5 out of 5 on my spice scale

1st listen 05-18-24

[S. · Rating 1 out of 5]

Did not enjoy this book. Main character makes no sense. She's timid with her husband and blind to any of his wrong-doing and then belligerent with strangers who try to help her. I did not understand how this could be the same person.

[Linda Smidt · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the story line but I read the Kindle version and it seemed like some sections of the book were missing. Between the gaps, other errors in the text and my frustration with Kristine, I didn't enjoy the book as much as I could have.

[Ddahlstro · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not much to say. Just a nice little book. Not a fan of her writing style, though.

[Shauna · Rating 2 out of 5]

Two stars. The characters are so frusturating, I had to put the book aside for a while just to finish it.

[Krista · Rating 3 out of 5]

the beginning pissed me off....I just cannot handle women this weak. But the book DID pick up and was awesome once she got a backbone!

[Shannon · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dull, slow moving. I kept waiting for the story to get interesting, but it never happened.

[Hayley Shaver · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kinda disappointing. Felt contrived in some parts, as if the author had just made up things so he heroine would have a happily ever after.

[Seadaz · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars

Enjoyed this book. I didn’t think much of Kristine stringing Woodie along though, she was lucky he did come back to her, and then she continued to string him along.

The husband was a horrid selfish person, obviously quite clever to think up those ruses, and didn’t care about anyone, except himself and his dollars.

Kristine is home at Christmas awaiting her husband’s return from the military in Europe. He never returns home, she finds out he has cleaned out her bank account of many millions and also her own personal savings of just over eight grand. Kristine hits rock bottom turning to alcohol and giving up on herself. She is rescued by the town’s bank manager, Woodie.

Kristine eventually gets her dog breeding and kennels up and running and being very successful, she does her house up and her barn. Her kids were astranged from her as she pretty much abandoned them during their childhood to pander to her husband, who treated them abysmally. Her children do eventually return to her as grown adults with families and careers of their own.

Just when Kristine thinks things are finally back to normality and she and Woodie are to marry, her ex husband turns up, just in time for Kristine’s inheritance to kick in, he’s now stating he is dying and needs somewhere to stay for his last few months. She agrees to him staying, delays the wedding, and despite her kids saying they don’t believe their father, she takes him in, feeds him etc. It isn’t until he attempts to rape her, that she finally comes to the conclusion that he isn’t dying and she kicks him out.

Unbeknownst to Kristine she isn’t the only one who her ex husband has conned and swindled money from.

[Lissa Wells · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book as Fern Michaels is one of my favorite authors, however I had to stick with 3 stars on this one because I hated the way she made Kristine’s character so spineless and needy! Kristine and Logan grew up together and got married, Logan went into the military with the kids and Kristine moving around constantly. Finally the day came for Logan to retire and he sent his wife and kids on ahead to get things ready while they waited for him, and waited.. and waited! Logan disappeared off the face of the earth along with Kristine’s inheritance of millions.
Years later Kristine finally picks up the pieces and starts to move on by meeting with her banker to try to sort out what happened, and so it goes they fall in love.
Faced with having to divorce and declare her husband legally dead , the wishy washy hesitation of Kristine causes a rift between her children and Woodie.
I hated that in the end Logan got away with everything and Kristine’s lack of character kept this at 3 stars

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book, 3/4ths of the way into it I would’ve given it a five, I loved Kristine, she was funny and believable, and I was rooting for her. However near the end everything wrapped up a little too quickly, if more time was given to show the pieces coming together this book would’ve been amazing. Logan was an extremely interesting and hatable character, and even though I wish nothing but a terrible fate for him, the parts of the book from his perspective were definitely my favorite. The biggest drawback was how Kristine and Woodie’s relationship was written, there were too many love triangle cheap moments where a conflict would’ve been solved by them having a civil conversation, and he was continuously so hard on Kristine that I find it hard to say that I like the man. Overall, a good read, when I was the most invested I was talking to the pages to try to tell the characters what to do.

[Debbie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is really a 2.5 rounded up. I found this book in one of those little libraries in town where you find a book, leave a book. It filled my desire for a thick paperback to read on the beach. The story line was ok, but I did not like much of the dialogue; I felt the conversations were weak and jumped from topic to topic. Kristine was wishy-washy, like many other readers wrote. I did not think the other characters were very strong, either. My favorite person was actually Logan...not because of what he did, certainly, but because I feel he was the most developed. Celebration was the kind of book that I wasn't in love with, but didn't desert because I wanted to know how it ended. I wish she wrote more about how Logan ended up. I feel the book could have been shorter; I could have done without the dogs and the reparations.

[E Holden · Rating 2 out of 5]

meh... it was okay... if you've read other reviews I'm sure mine won't be much different. I don't like spineless women, I don't like women who don't put their children before anything, and that's the kind of woman Katherine is in the beginning. Yes, she gets a spine... EVENTUALLY... but not on her own, there is always a knight in shining armor. I would have loved it so much more if she didn't need Woodie to come in and get her sober - if she had an epiphany and did it on her own and then found Woodie. The indecisiveness and back and forth irritated me. And don't even get me started on the ending - seriously WTF - after ALL of the crap Logan pulled, he should have gotten so much worse.

[Carol cousins · Rating 1 out of 5]

no no no.

Ok i am now and finally officially ending my fern michaels reading-to-fill-time inclination. This book was just another with an incredibly weak, annoying, spineless main character and a storyline that contained doggie personalities as the best part. And for goodness sake, hire an editor or at least a proofreader. See me brushing my hands together - the end, no more. - stop trying to just pump out a book a week! So many lines, relationships and plots are just cut, copied and inserted from previous books that any reader would be annoyed by the retread. Don’t waste any valuable hours of your life with this.

[Carol Mersburgh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Celebration

What a story! It was a little slow at first, but when the story accelerated, it was great all the way to the end. Logan was so slick & despicable whereas Woodie was a keeper! I had to wonder if they would be able to be together. It was just amazing how all the pieces fit together where Daniela moved from Africa, Maureen’s husband was ill, Woodie went to the Chinese restaurant & how Logan was rounded up & got his just due. Loved it!

[Kylie · Rating 2 out of 5]

The story line and MOST of the characters were great, which is why gave it 2 stars rather than 1. However, I cannot stand Fern Michaels writing style and the main character was extremely annoying. I found myself constantly flipping through the pages to see how much more I had to suffer through. Unfortunately I am not one can put down a book no matter how bad it is. I had to see it through. This was my one and last Michaels book.

[Janet · Rating 2 out of 5]

Celebrations is disjointed and does not flow ir transition well. The language was disappointing as it seemed Ms Michaels tried t use modern curse words but unsuccessfully. The sex in this book was equally disnointed. Rather than adding sensuality to the book, it just seemed tacky. was not as good as the previous books by Fern Michaels that I've read. I do not recommend this book.