Okay, so I originally planned to write about the cute
Three Kisses series by Christie Ridgway (it’s great – check it out), but I went to the library yesterday and actually thumbed through the hardcover section. I admit it,
I am a paperback snob. I don’t like big, bulky books. They remind me of textbooks. You can’t convince me that there is anyone who wants to read a text book! Though speaking of textbooks, I read a paperback version of
The Lexus and the Olive Tree while in college, and it was so thought provoking. I would recommend that book.
Anyway, I am strolling through the hardcover fiction section and what catches my eye? Susan Elizabeth Phillip’s
Natural Born Charmer.
I actually read this book when it first came out. In fact I sought after it. I think I went to four libraries looking for it. To say I was sourly disappointed would be an understatement. I could not for the life of me get into the characters. And the fact that her name was Blue was terribly distracting. Anyway, I look over it and decide to take it out again. I mean, it’s been two years! I can’t be as terrible as I remember it, can it?
Well, it’s pretty bad; not as awful, though, as I recalled it. Anyway, so I decide to take out all the SEP books that I don’t own (I am ashamed to admit I own at least nine). I have never really liked SEP books. I never saw the glamour or reality in them. I was pretty sure that every single one of her books was based on the same two characters changing their names. Anyway, I end up taking out the book
What I Did for Love. I read it. I can’t put it down. It’s actually really captivating. I need to know what happens next.
Over all, I would definitely say that
What I Did for Love is my favorite SEP book to date. I was trying to think of why this was, and I actually can’t think of much, which is quite shameful. I liked the hero a lot. I think it mostly had to do with the fact that he was a liar, and as the reader I knew he was a liar the whole time. I did not like the whole insinuation that Bram followed Georgie to Vegas and planned to make her miserable . . . or whatever SEP was actually insinuating. I imagined the worst, so when it was not really that bad, everything was rosy for me. I did not really care for the fact that the main character was based on a real person (please! Jen Aniston – come on!), but I took pleasure in the fact that Jade was super cold (just as I imagine Angelina Jolie would be). And poor, poor Lance (aka Brad Pitt). The heroine’s father pointed out his fatal flaw – he changes himself to fit the person whom he is with. So true!
I liked Georgie and Bram together. They had a lot of history together and that added to the story. Their animosity to one another made sense. Though, for a thirty-one year old woman, Georgie was so naive. What was up with that? Chaz, whom many reviews claim stole the novel, was flat for me. I did not connect with her on any level; same with Laura. I liked Paul and Aaron. They were good and had gentle, but important transformations. With the exception of its briefness I was thrilled with how the novel ended, though that epilogue I could have lived without.
While
What I Did for Love was not the best novel ever, I would recommend it to readers. It was charming, sexy and cute. For the first time in one of SEP’s novels, I felt like the dialogue and tension were validated. Other reviewers claim that
Ain’t She Sweet is SEP’s best work. Well, I am reading that on tonight. That was the first SEP novel I read, prior to realizing she was SEP. You know, I just thought she was a crazy writer who got off on humiliating and punishing woman. (
Seriously, though. Does anyone else get that vibe from her novels? It super bugs me.)
Love, Adrienne
Breaking Point by Pamela Clare
Can't Hurry Love by Christie Ridgway
Playing Dirty by Susan Anderson
