Gates of Paradise

The car crash that killed Heaven and Logan left Annie Casteel Stonewall orphaned and crippled. Whisked off to Farthinggale Manor by the possessive Tony Tatterton, Annie pines for her lost family, but especially for Luke, her half-brother. Friend of her childhood, her fantasy prince, her loving confidante...without the warm glow of Luke's love, she is lost in the shadows of despair. When Annie discovers Troy's cottage hidden in Farthinggale's woods, the mystery of her past deepens. And even as she yearns to see Luke again, her hopes and dreams are darkened by the sinister Casteel spell...treacherous, powerful and evil!

---

All Customer Reviews
Average Customer Review:
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:

Whine Whine Whine Whine Whine, 2007-12-27
All Annie Stonewall can do is complain and then go into long and drawn out incestuous fantasies about Luke Jr.
The aging Tony Tatterton even is overly drawn out because YOU KNOW what is going to ultimately end up happening. Yes, you will need to read if it if you're into the Casteel series but you won't enjoy it as much as the others.
Annie will make you hate her because all she can do is complain about EVERYTHING!


0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:

What is the purpose of this book?, 2007-07-28
The same events could have happened, minus 200 pages of continuing saga of Annie being mistreated by Tony. Her character is whiny, boring, and vapid; I just wanted it all to end.


0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:

This book is the worst of them... , 2006-11-17
It begins 18 years after "Fallen Hearts", when Annie and Luke Jr. are celebrating their birthday parties. They have grown up together, and are very close...too close, in fact, and Heaven doesn't like this. She tries to discourage Annie from spending too much time with Luke Jr. Drake is in this book as well, as a man in his early 20s, and he's become very unlikable; a real jerk, in fact.

At Fanny's 40th birthday party, tragedy strikes again, and Heaven and Logan meet their tragic fate. Annie becomes temporarily crippled and ends up at Farthinggale Manor, somewhere she's always dreamed of being with Luke Jr. Tony has brought her here to help her "recover", yet keeps her in his possession because he's old and senile now and stuck in the past, and he's trying to bring back Heaven and her mother, Leigh, through Annie. She's there for a week, but it seems like an eternity to her. Annie is subjected to boredom, has an intriguing encounter with Troy (who's a complete mystery to her), endures punishments from her therapist, and suffers under Tony, who tries to rape her. She finally gets out (thanks to Troy) when she's lost all hope and is in deep despair.

She's rescued by Fanny (who grew up and became responsible after Heaven and Logan's deaths) and Luke Jr., who take her back to Winnerrow. Drake doesn't like this, as he has now become the heir to the Tatterton toy empire, so he takes Tony's side. He and Luke Jr. almost come to blows because Annie and Luke Jr. were caught in an intimate moment. Both men end up leaving, with Annie remaining in Fanny's care. She continues to recover and by this time she can walk with a cane. Finally, Troy calls Annie and informs her of Tony's death. She, Luke Jr., and Drake attend the funeral.

Annie and Luke Jr. end up back at Troy's cottage after the service, where Troy explains details about Heaven's life and at last confesses to Annie and Luke Jr. that they're not really related, that they have different fathers and that HE is Annie's father. This too has a happy ending: Annie and Troy begin a real father/daughter relationship, with Annie and Luke Jr. leaving the cottage promising to return, as well as promising they'll have their forever with each other after all.

Most of this book is boring. I gave it two stars only for the fact that Troy is in it and gets to meet his daughter after 18 years. I also liked the romance of Annie and Luke Jr., because this time it was not incestuous, despite what they thought before they knew the truth.

Read this only if you intend to go through the entire series.


0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:

Not quite up to par, 2006-08-10
I'm a big fan of VC Andrews, but I found myself disappointed with this book. There were continuity problems, typos, and some of the dialogue between Tony and Annie could have been cut and pasted from the previous books. It seemed like the publishers were in a hurry to churn out the next book, without having proofread this one first. One of the things that irritated me most was a small thing, granted, but still annoying. I have the paperback, and on page 132, Annie whines about not wearing the charm bracelet from Luke. What charm bracelet? I flipped back through the previous chapters, and this was the first time it was ever mentioned. The author also talks about a bracelet from Drake that just mysteriously appeared, also. Apparently, the author can't seem to get the story straight. And, yes, Annie is a bit of a whiner. This is how I would rate the Casteel series (from favorite to least favorite):

1) Heaven
2) Dark Angel
3) Web of Dreams
4) Fallen Hearts (the ghost writer's debut)
5) Gates of Paradise

Makes one wonder what the real VC Andrews would have written if she were still alive.



1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

The sun never comes out for Annie , 2004-07-22
Though not as bad as some of the ghost writer's latest, it is still not very good.
Annie is in love with her half-brother and all they can seem to do is swoon when they look into each other's eyes and say really cheesy things to each other. The whole thing with Heaven and Logan plunges an already pathetic plot into melodrama. Annie has a few fainting spells, and when she is conscious, she's bemoaning her lost childhood. One thing I have to give GW, though, he must know that writers are not supposed to demonize the bad guys, but instead, make them seem authentically human. He tries to make us sympathize with Tony, but he fails. Perhaps he tries to compensate by demonizing the good guys. Huh? He pulls that off, I must say. I come away from the book liking no one, sad that the writer couldn't have killed off the whole cast of characters while he was at it. It worked for Shakespeare.

Price is accurate as of the date/time indicated. Prices and product availability are subject to change. Any price displayed on the Amazon website at the time of purchase will govern the sale of this product.