I was about 17 when I first picked a Jackie Collins novel - Chances. Probably a little young to be reading such "Hollywood trash" types of novels, but since I had been watching Days of Our Lives from the age of six with my mother and grandmother, this didn't seem like such a huge deal. Sure, there's some sex scenes in it, but it actually did have a very good plot line as well. At the time the approximately 800-page book seemed a bit overwhelming. It was by far the longest book I had tried to read up to that point, and I wasn't sure I would ever finish, but I did, and then the funniest thing happened which has never happened again since. The minute I read the final paragraph of the last page, I flipped the book over and started reading it again! I LOVED IT, and to this day, it is still probably my favorite book of all time. I have subsequently read the book three more times since those initial two, and each time I open the book I get caught up in the characters that make this novel so remarkable. It's the first in a long line of books following the Santangelo family - beginning with Lucky Santangelo and her playboy, ruthless father, Gino. Many other books have followed, but for me, Chances is still the best.
One of the things I love so much about Jackie Collins' books are her characters. I think she does an incredible job with characterization because you truly feel like you know these characters in real life - especially Lucky and her father, Gino. For me that is probably the single most important factor in whether or not I love a book. If the characters are written and fleshed out so well that I feel like I know them, I usually love the book. JK Rowling is another example of an author who is excellent at characterization.
Over the years, I have read most of Jackie Collins' books. I have really enjoyed all that I've read. I've fallen behind on the most recent two Lucky Santangelo novels, but I have one of the two on my list to read this year hopefully. I consider her books to be my "guilty pleasure" books. Ones that don't incite thought provoking questions or make me reconsider my position on any particular topic, but boy they sure are fun to read.
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