Great Book

I love long we’ll written books, and this did not disappoint! I highly recommend and am looking forward to the rest of the series.

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The Original 2007 Version So Much Better

This is one of my favorite SEP books. I saw that the most recent Version of Fancy Pants audible had 3+ hours more story than the 2007 version. I am listening to it now. All I can say is that I’m so grateful that I have listened to the original & have it in my library! It is so much richer. Raw. Real. Fun. This newer version seems sanitized & shrunken. The missing storyline of Chloe & Jack Day, of Chloe’s death is unfortunate. I’ll finish this version. I’ll probably edit my review. I hope this version does something better than this in the extra 3 hours than the last 2 chapters have. 😕

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too long

Too long, and I never say that about an audible book. Also, I love the author, and her Chicago Stars books are excellent.

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Really slow start

The book ended well but it took a really long time to get into the book. I love SEP so I stuck with it but it wasn’t my favorite book of hers.

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Too much Back Story and Back Back Story...

I do like Susan Elizabeth Phillips. But I believe this must be one of her first works or something. I hope one day she revisits it and changes it. Sorry, I struggled to give this book a three star rating. My below review kind of tells why.

Basically, There is back story, then there is back back story. And this story has a lot of both of those. The back back story: I mean we don't need like four long chapters on the heroine's parents and grandparents. They really don't have ANYTHING to do with this story other than how one of them created a very spoiled person. So really it was way overkill. You can give the necessary back story in a page or two. Then her actions would show her spoiled behavior. I listened a while, but I kept waiting for the story to start. I even skipped around until I got to where we are in the heroine's adult life.

I think someone figured out it was about 30% of the book has gone by before the hero and heroine even meet. That is way too much. I never like a book where so much time goes by without the two meeting. That just doesn't feel like a romance. And this story doesn't have all the laughs like other SEP books. Match Me If You Can and Call Me Irresistible were great. CMI is a book in this series and it takes place about 15 or so years later. If you want to ready SEP, I suggest you skip this book in favor of one of those. Then come back to this if you really want to later. Hopefully by then SEP will have fixed this one. Otherwise you will never give this author or this series a shot.

Back to the story:
While I didn't like some of the actions of both the hero and heroine. Or the way they acted because of what time period it was (1975-85). They both did things wrong, some even illegal. But we can't use the glasses of today when reading books of the past (so to speak). I had to keep reminding myself of that.

When they finally met each other, that is when the story finally started for me. I kind of hated her behavior and her spoiled self. And she really did need all of the hard knocks she went through until she was literally destitute with nothing but a quarter on a back road in Texas. Each hard knock took some of her spoiled behavior away. But it didn't feel like it was totally gone until then. Then she finally became real and likeable.

As to the hero, he needed something that took the whole book to get. I am glad she figured it out and forced him to work for that something. It made him a happier man in the end. And I am very glad he stopped being a douche to his son. I can see being stunned speechless and doing something really stupid when you find out you have a 10 year old kid you never knew about (I do NOT condone what he did). When he really tried to be make up with his son, he was doing so much better. Throughout the book, he was a pretty okay guy. Those moments above are the only moments I didn't really like him.

He always picked up strays and she was like that for a while. He tried to help her. By giving her a lift, giving her food, giving her a room to stay (this was during her spoiled days still). And when you really think about it, she needed it. If you would have taken the spoiled girl from the beginning and taken everything away right away, she would not have made it. She needed the gradual removal of all of her possessions and a slow down hill slop. The mooching off friends, the selling off her possessions for money, the consequences of her actions, the you can't get everything you want by batting your eyes, and the cold hard truth that she wasn't likeable. She needed all of that and more, or she would not have worked for it.

The ending was nice. I like the part where the heroine's in her "Mom" moment was yelling at her son for doing something completely illegal and stupid (he is a genius, but still 10) and the hero in his "Dad" moment, said "that is enough" and asked for a few minutes with his son. That was when the son and the dad finally bonded. Then when they left that room, all three of them bonded. That was incredibly sweet.

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Heartfelt entertainment

Laughter and tears! Definitely did not want this story to end. Author Susan Elizabeth Phillips is a new discovery for me and I cannot wait to listen to more books. Her character development using a down home Texan and a haughty Brit as protagonists was a “laugh out loud” experience. Nicole Poole’s performance was stellar. Thank you.

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Too long

SEP one of my favorite authors. It took me half way through the book to stay somewhat interested. Only reason I stuck with it was easy listening and SEP sense of humor.

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