Just Like a Man

OPUS #0.5

by Elizabeth Bevarly

Hannah Frost is used to being surrounded by cute, sweet, troublemakers. After all, she's the principle of Indiana's upper class private elementary school, a popular repository for kids who "don't fit in" at public school. But even though she's been single since dinosaurs roamed the earth, what is interesting Hannah these days isn't her worst student㟩t's his father,

What she can put her fingers on? Michael Sawyer, aka Raptor, former FBI computer specialist, has a few good ideas. Trouble is, he's too busy trying to save the world––or at least the world's internet connections––from certain doom at the hands of an old enemy, and trying to get his imaginative son back on course at school. But there's always time for a gorgeous, oh–so–prim, slightly mysterious headmistress, isn't there? Michael plans to make time, and do whatever it takes to convince Hannah to do the same.

Genres: Romance, Contemporary Romance, Contemporary, Fiction, Chick Lit, Teachers, Ebooks

352 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published December 28, 2004

About the author

Elizabeth Bevarly was born and raised in Louisville, Kentucky and earned her BA with honors in English from the University of Louisville in 1983. Although she can’t recall ever wanting to be anything but a novelist-oh, all right, she toyed briefly with becoming an archaeologist, until she realized how awful she looked in khaki and flannel, and there was a brief fling with the interior decorator thing, until she realized she had trouble distinguishing chintz from moiré, and… (Where was I? Oh, yeah. My brilliant career.) Anyway, her career side trips before making the leap to writing included stints working as a bartender, a waitress, a movie theater cashier, a soap-hawker for Crabtree & Evelyn, an apparel-hawker for The Limited, and a bridal registry consultant for a major department store. She also did time as an editorial assistant for a medical journal, where she learned the correct spellings and meanings of a variety of words (like microscopy and histological) which, with any luck at all, she will never use again in this life.

She wrote her first novel when she was twelve years old. It was 32 pages long-and that was with college rule notebook paper-and featured three girls named Liz, Marianne and Cheryl, who explored the mysteries of a haunted house. Her friends Marianne and Cheryl proclaimed it “Brilliant! Spellbinding! Kept me up past dinnertime reading!” Those rave reviews only kindled the fire inside her to write more.

Since sixth grade, Elizabeth has gone on to complete more than 60 works of contemporary romance. Her novels regularly appear on the USA Today and Waldenbooks bestseller lists, and The Thing About Men was a New York Times Extended List bestseller. She’s been nominated for the prestigious RITA Award, has won the coveted National Readers’ Choice Award, and Romantic Times magazine has seen fit to honor her with two-count ‘em TWO-Career Achievement Awards. Her books have been translated into two dozen languages and published in three dozen countries, and there are more than ten million copies in print worldwide. She has claimed as residences Washington, DC, northern Virginia, southern New Jersey and Puerto Rico, but she now resides back in her native Kentucky with her husband and son and two very troubled cats where she fully intends to remain.

Reviews

[Christa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Just Like a Man was not a book that I enjoyed. The contemporary romance with a spy theme was surely meant to be funny, but the author continually used long sarcastic phrases, some of them repeated numerous times, that were annoying instead of humorous. The book felt disjointed to me, jumping back and forth between two romances that didn't seem to have enough connection to be in the same book. The main female character, Hannah Frost, was the director of a school where the female character from the secondary romance, Selby Hudson, taught, but other than a parent/teacher/principal conference at the beginning of the book, there was no interaction between the characters from the two romances. All of the sudden, almost a third of the way through the book, which had been about Hannah Frost and the father of one of her students, Selby becomes the primary focus of a chapter. After this, the novel switched back and forth from Hannah to Selby, but there was no connecting of the two stories. We are told that Selby's love interest, Thomas Brown, owns a company where the villain of Hannah's story works, but the story has no interaction between Thomas and the villain, and the villain is never even mentioned when Thomas is in a scene. I don't remember ever reading a secondary romance that had this lack of connection to the main story. It felt like this story should have been a totally separate novella.

The director of a "tony private school," (this description of the school is given over and over), Hannah Frost must attend a conference with a parent whose nine year old son tells stories that she believes are outrageous lies. The father, Michael Sawyer, is an attractive accountant. He has an obvious interest in Hannah from the beginning, but she resists her attraction to him. Michael has actually been pulled out of retirement and ordered to go on assignment for a government agency called "OPUS." A few years earlier, Michael's former best friend and OPUS partner, Adrian, went rogue, and Michael is called in to attain information on Adrian's plans. He has placed his son in Hannah's school because Adrian is on the board of directors of the school and seems to want a personal relationship with Hannah. Michael places listening devices and cameras in Hannah's office and home, but as her appeal grows, he confronts her with the truth of his actions. Hannah decides to help OPUS, and as she and Michael spend more time together, they realize they have feelings for one another. When Hannah feels betrayed by Michael, she ends their budding relationship, but continues to assist him in his efforts to bring Adrian down. Michael must attempt to gain back the trust of the woman he loves.

Selby Hudson is the teacher of Michael Sawyer's nine year old son, and she is in on the conference where Michael and Hannah meet. A member of a poor, unambitious family, Selby is working hard to save money so that she can attain her dream of seeing the world. Selby works several jobs to accomplish this, and she has found a position as a teacher in an adult education class for high school dropouts. In this class, she meets "bad boy" type, Thomas Brown, who is actually billionaire T. Paxton Brown. Thomas comes on strong to Selby and offends her, but she eventually enjoys his attention. Just as she gives in to the attraction between them, Selby finds out that Thomas is not the unemployed bad boy she believed, but the owner of the city's largest and most profitable company. She feels betrayed, and wants nothing more to do with him. Although Thomas first intended to seduce Selby and move on, he has developed strong feelings for her and cannot let her go.

I had several problems with this book. The attempts at humor I didn't usually find at all funny. The two stories in the book didn't have interaction between them, so the book did not have a smooth flow. I felt as if I were switching between two totally separate books by the same author. I didn't find it credible that a man who was a billionaire with three college degrees would go back to school incognito to get a high school diploma. The villain just disappeared toward the end without Michael and Hannah feeling too concerned. I know the author picks up the villain's thread in another book, but it left this one with too much unresolved. There were times that I would start to enjoy the story and think the book was going to redeem itself for me, but there was always quickly something else that was a problem for me. I would not read more by this author without a strong recommendation from someone with similar reading tastes.

[Sblprl1 · Rating 2 out of 5]

Disappointed is the best I could say about this book. Two stories that are barely connected by thin thread. Thomas never interacts with anyone but Selby and Selby's only scene with the other main characters was the opening scene in Hannah's office. As for the spy story, it was never wrapped up. Adrian getting lost in a crowd and disappearing was stupid. What was his agenda? What was he after? and Why?

[Sam · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this series years ago and remember liking it. This time through was a little different. First, I hate third person point of view. Hate it. It makes things feel a little disjointed. In the same conversion it will switch narrative form person to person. Also something I hate about third person. I enjoyed the characters and wanted to see their storyline but didn't really see how all four of them they really connected. Not much real development in them either. Two complete different storylines. I am a very sarcastic person but the constant in here got to be a little much. They used the word 'gee' and 'gosh' a lot. Repetitive sentences at times while sarcastic was a thing too. I didn't hate it but felt maybe it was a little lacking. I will finish the series still though. I committed so I was going to finish. From what I remember catching Adrien is the constant theme.

[Kshydog · Rating 2 out of 5]

Enjoyed writing being light, humorous occasionally. Idea of original plot was good of a principal excited for a better life with a secret agent. But never a good follow through to the ending. Even realizing this is prequel to series, there could have been a more exciting ending. Hannah having a made up life was interesting especially with Michael accepting it. Waited for Shelby and Pax which was interesting story to intertwine with other storyline.

[Becky · Rating 2 out of 5]

2* for the first half, a lukewarm 3* from middle to the end. Two random couples who never interact, although the secondary characters are more interesting IMO. Lots of boring, repetitive sentences that are supposed to be funny, and a poorly executed plot. The dialogue between characters is much better than their individual monologues.

[Debbie Dodd · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading.

[Sammi · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really liked the side romance in this book, but found the main story a bit tedious to read.

[Louisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was such a fun read, I loved these characters and their story!

[Quinn Fforde · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved the word play. It was very funny.

[Robin · Rating 2 out of 5]

When a pupil claims his father is a spy, Headmistress Hannah Frost decides it is time to talk to Michael Sawyer about his son's storytelling. But it turns out that Micheal is working undercover to unravel a web of intrigue involving her school. He reluctantly enlists Hannah's help. As Hannah and Michael grow closer, Hannah is trust into a world far more exciting than she's ever known.

I had a hard time with the author's cutsie writing style. I know she was trying to be funny, but a little of it went a long way. The story itself was good enough to keep me reading, but I didn't like how the mystery was wrapped up. There is a secondary romance which was interesting, but didn't seem to have anything to do with the rest of the book. Overall, this book was kind of blah. My rating: 2.5 Stars.

[Ashley Rothberg · Rating 3 out of 5]

Precursor to her "Male" trilogy. Not a great introduction to the other three in my opinion, I found the 1st in the trilogy introduced the situation and the bad guy better. Took a little while to get into this one but eventually turned out to be a good read. The 2nd couple had a slow start, did not really like them in the beginning but by the end their story outshone the main couple in my opinion.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

it took me a little bit to get into the book, but once I did, it was good...funny. the story line was a bit weak and I'm not sure it all fit together...I didn't understand exactly how the Thomas/Selby story really fit with the storyline although it was cute. It was also left a little too open for a series without enough closure.

[Bronwyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Two stories move along in this book. There are secrets everywhere. All the main characters are trying to hide something and only when they realize that their secrets are not any worse than someobe elses do they find each other. The main mystery is a left hanging. I guess this is part of a series.

[Joy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a really good book and I can't understand why folks are dissing this book. Read it slowly! If you like laughter, humorous situations, shaken up and mixed with romance and intrigue, this is the book for you.

[Sylvia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Modern

[Just - The romance reader · Rating 3 out of 5]

For some reason I just didn't love this one. The concept sounds really good, but I found myself skimming through. Overall, the story just didn't keep my attention.

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

She is confused by his son's knowledge of international affairs and blatant lies. He thinks she's a spy dating Sorcerer. These two lonely people finally end up with a loving life.

[Janjohn · Rating 1 out of 5]

a very lame book from a very lame author! i just wasted my time reading this!

[Niki · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great til the end...no climax in the plot. I was waiting for something big to happen and it never did.

[Trudy Whatnot Books · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just reached a passage with a spinach salad made with chocolate chips and caramel dressing. Actually sound intriguing.

http://florida-house.ecrater.com/p/11...

[Sara · Rating 2 out of 5]

Wow. The writing in this was really clunky. Two parallel storylines than never really tie together made it even more bizarre. Finally, and ending that wasn't really an ending... hmmm.

[Allison · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good wasn't expecting the second story line. Didn't like how a major part of the book was left unfinished

[Sonia189 · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has two romances. I give 3 starts foe one of them because it had almost all the elements I love in a romance, but the rest of the book was boring.

[Charlotte · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was not at "family-friendly", so I simply could not finish it. I should have known by the title that it was more sexually descriptive than mysterious.

[Karen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mostly skimmed through it. A few men get their comeuppance. People have sex. Everyone's happy in the end. Yawn.