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Type of bind: Mass Market Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.6
EAN num: 9780743477291
ISBN number: 0743477294
Label: Pocket
Manufacturer: Pocket
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 384
Printing Date: January 27, 2004
Publishing house: Pocket
Sale Popularity Level: 187945
Studio: Pocket
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Editor's Notes and Comments:
Product Description:
Following her white-hot debut novel, 'Tropical Getaway,' Roxanne St. Claire captures the passion and intrigue of France in a dazzling romantic suspense adventure. Janine Coulter has just gotten her big chance to prove herself, managing a prestigious exhibit at the Palace of Versailles -- and Luc Tremont, the security specialist, is clearly trouble. He's making decisions without her, under-cutting her authority. He's also too smooth, too virile, too dangerously handsome, too...well...French And Janine has the uneasy suspicion he's not all that he seems. Luc resolutely ignores the powerful sizzle of attraction he feels when he meets Janine -- the quintessential California girl with her blond hair, blue eyes, and legs that seem to go on forever. But when thieves steal priceless treasures from the exhibit, and Luc and Janine give chase across the lush Burgundy countryside, their forced intimacy ignites the passion both have tried to ignore. Luc wonders what will happen when Janine learns his true identity -- but with dangerous men pursuing them, they may not live to find out....
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Rated by buyers 
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French Twist is very well-written, fast-paced, intriguing, engaging, suspenseful, entertaining and sexy. Our two heroes, Luc and Janine, are drawn to each other immediately, which frustrates and distracts the hell out of them. The author enjoys teasing her characters and the reader with the tension that's building between them. Luc and Janine are trying to figure out each other's intentions while forcing themselves to ignore the sparks, and it's juicy fun for the reader, as there are as many twists and turns to the plot as there are scintillating moments and near-misses leading to that inevitable joining of lips and bodies.
Roxanne St. Claire, while she has an unfortunately chosen pen name (I can't imagine that's her real name), has a real gift for story-telling. She writes descriptively enough to give the reader the ability to clearly envision the setting of each scene, but succinctly enough to keep us from getting bogged down in those images. Her dialogue is engaging and smart, and each narrative moves the story along, establishes character and relationships, or teases the reader with another plot twist to keep our interest. There are few stereotypical romance genre clichés, at least, not enough to distract or cause headache-inducing eye-rolling.
This is a fresh departure from what can often be a stale genre. I enjoyed this book immensely and will be picking up St. Claire's other novels in short order!
Rated by buyers 
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I'm a big Roxanne St. Claire fan. Her combination of romance and mystery is hard to beat. "French Twist" had both of these characteristics as well, but not in St. Claire's usual heart- pounding style. I was surprised to find myself bored at some points in the story.
Janine Coulter is an art history professor from California. She has traveled to France to lead the opening of a major historical exhibit at the Versailles Palace. Three priceless vases from the time of Louis XV have been discovered. Janine has studied the vases for years. Presenting them to the world is a dream come true. However her exhibit is being interrupted by the annoying head of security, Luc Tremont. He insists on keeping the vases locked away from open viewing, stating that they are far too likely to be stolen. What Janine doesn't know is that Luc is an ex-thief who is trying to earn a pardon from the FBI. He will help the FBI use the vases as a means of capturing a dangerous crime leader by the name of Benazir.
Everything has gone wrong with the trap Luc had set. The criminals have managed to escape with the vases. He will chase them in an effort to recover the vases and bring down Benazir. Luc has 5 days to achieve these tasks before the FBI will refuse his chance at freedom. He has no choice but to allow Janine to go with him. She is the only person capable of distinguishing the real vases from forgeries.
Over the subsequent few days, Luc and Janine travel over France's wine country in pursuit of the vases and thieves. Each hour they spend together, they fall for one another more. Both do their best to keep their minds focused on their goal. As the plot unfolds, they learn that one of their biggest enemies is a person with whom they have entrusted their lives. When the final confrontation erupts, Janine and Luc each realize that they will gladly give up all they have worked for and all they had planned for the own futures in exchange for keeping one another safe.
All in all, this story could have been very exciting. Unfortunately, there was too much time spent on the characters reminiscing about their pasts. A lot of time was also expended on discussing art and history facts. It interrupted the pace of the mystery and romance. Just when things would get exciting, the story would switch to something far less interesting.
St. Claire did bring "French Twist" to a very romantic ending. She gave Luc some of the most romantic lines I've read in a long time:
"I love you more than life. More than I thought it was possible to love another person. More than anyone will ever love you as long as you live. You are the reason I wake and breathe and eat and drink and sleep. I love you, Janine Coulter."
Now that is true romance.
If you like exciting romantic mysteries, I suggest Roxanne St. Claire's "Bullet Catchers" series:
Kill Me Twice (The Bullet Catchers, Book 1)
Thrill Me to Death (The Bullet Catchers, Book 2)
Take Me Tonight (The Bullet Catchers, Book 3)
and
St. Claire's fast- paced romantic NASCAR mystery:
Killer Curves
Looking for more romantic mysteries? These are some others I enjoyed:
Contemporary:
Extreme Exposure
Hard Evidence
Historical:
Swept Away
Rated by buyers 
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Janine Coulter has been given the big break she has been wanting by proving herself managing the prestigious exhibit at the Palace of Versailles in France. Things are not going well as the locals seem to be put out with the American bossing them around and then there is the security specialist Luc Tremont. She can't make a move without the Frenchman getting in her way. He is everything she can't stand. Too smooth, too bossy, and too controlling. He is also handsome for words and speaks to her as a woman. But the suspicious nature of his behavior keeps her guard up. Just who is Luc Tremont and what is his secret.
This story was amazingly fast-paced with plenty of imagery to help place the reader right in France along with Luck and Janine. Their romance and attraction is smoldering and when combined with the fresh and unique spin Ms. St. Claire puts on this story the reader will feel as if they've stepped into a 1950's jewel heist movie. I loved the atmosphere the author has created. It's a perfect drop back for the race to the finish romance. Secondary characters add depth to this entertaining read. This is the very first time I've ever read Ms. St. Claire and it won't be the last. This is a writer who knows how to capture the readers attention.
Rated by buyers -
Historian and museum curator Janine is working at Versailles to present a collection of pottery from Louis XV's mistress featuring vases with her likeness, but French security agent Luc Tremont tries her patience when he takes a little too much interest in the vases. He tries to encourage her to display reproduction vases instead of the real ones to keep them from being stolen from notorious jewel thief "the Scorpion." Luc is actually Nick Jarrett, formerly known throughout Europe as the Scorpion, and has spent the last five years working for the FBI to avoid prosecution. This last assignment will ensure his freedom and give him a sense of redemption.
When the "Pompadour Plums" (as the vases are nicknamed) and the reproductions both disappear at the opening gala, Luc and Janine travel across the continent in pursuit of the hot pottery, attracting danger at every turn.
In a plot reminiscent of Hitchcock's classic film "To Catch a Thief," St. Claire's intriguing novel blends breathtaking European locales, fast-paced action and plenty of romance and sizzle to tell a rollicking and adventurous story. St. Claire has quickly become a must-read author.
Rated by buyers -
Once there was a beautiful woman who symbolized the height of French art and politics in the 18th century. She was La Marquise de Pompadour, patron of the arts and mistress of King Louis XV. The recent discovery of three unusually colored Sèvres vases bearing her image has made headlines around the world and brought Dr. Janine Coulter to Versailles. Taking over as curator of the Pompadour Plums exhibit, Janine is determined to finish the lifelong dream of her mentor Albert Farrow, who recently died under mysterious circumstances. But in the days leading up to the exhibit's premiere, rumors abound that an infamous art thief known as The Scorpion is planning to steal the Plums, and Janine is forced to work closely with security expert Luc Tremont to stop the heist.
If all went as planned for "Luc Tremont," he would soon be getting a pardon and his old identity back. Once known as one of the most successful thieves of the modern era, Luc Tremont aka Nick Jarrett aka The Scorpion has spent the last five years atoning for his crimes by working undercover for the FBI throughout Europe. When his old nemesis Karim Benazir escapes from prison and assumes the Scorpion persona, Luc arranges to use the Pompadour Plums as the ultimate bait. Switching the Plums with a fake set, the trap should have been perfect. Unfortunately, when the theft is discovered, the real vases are also missing. Now, Luc and Janine -- the one person who can tell the difference between the fake and real sets -- must track and find the Plums before they disappear forever. And with them, Luc's last chance at redemption.
FRENCH TWIST is an absolutely grand adventure. The charming and chameleon-like Nick and the intrepid Janine are an attractive pair whose sizzling chemistry will have readers thinking of those romantic art/jewel heist movies of the 50's and 60's. Interesting and varied secondary characters provide depth and layers to the story, and in Ms. St. Claire's narrative, France has never been portrayed so vividly and lovingly. With her flair for romance and suspense in exotic locales, Roxanne St. Claire is well on her way to the bestseller lists.
TheSchemer
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