Susan Elizabeth Phillips - Dream a Little Dream

Publisher: Avon

ISBN: 978-0380794478

My rating:  5/ 5


(This is not an official Chicago Stars book, but continues the story of the Bonner family.)

After the discovery that her late husband, a popular televangelist, embezzled five million dollars from his ministry, Rachel Stone, the televangelist's widow, is an outcast—broke, unemployed, with a five-year-old son to raise. Fate and a dead car engine leave her at a shabby drive-in theater owned by Gabriel Bonner, the hostile black sheep of the town's most prominent family. Welcome to Salvation, North Carolina, where a man who's forgotten what tenderness means meets a woman with nothing to lose.
Chicago Stars Series Book #4  (www.susanephillips.com)


My thoughts

BINGO !! -  LOVED. IT !!!


I always wondered what a book would be like that I'd rate 5/5. "Dream a little Dream" is very, very close to just that, but I couldn't give it any less than 5 because of the way it got me glued to the pages for two full days and got the emotions going non-stop.

The story tugs at your heart from the very page and it doesn't stop for quite a while. I had this book read within just a few days and am very glad I did.

With only a few dollars left in her pocket, Rachel's car breaks down in Salvation - the place she left only years early when her televangelist husband is killed in an accident. Rachel is now determined to find the five million dollars, the money her husband stole from the congregation - with good intentions in the back of her mind, as well as the intentions of providing her five year old son with a better future. Then she meets Gabe - Cal Bonner's brother (from Nobody's Baby But Mine) who is still grieving for his late wife and son.

The characters, mainly Rachel and Gabe, are real to the bone - with their flaws and their goodness at heart their daily struggle to survive what life throws at them is a wonderful read and in my opinion couldn't have been put into words any better.
Ethan, Gabe's brother, is a hoot, especially when he finally figures out his feelings for Kirsty and I really enjoyed their story, which got me laughing within all the tears I shared with Rachel - I would've loved for SEP to give them a book in their own right.

The only aspect I didn't like the mean-spirited portrait of Cal. I loved him in Nobody's baby but mine and thought, even though he was the protective older brother, his actions were uncharacteristic for him.

All in all .... LOVED IT LOVED IT LOVED and will place it underneath all the books on my desk so I can read it again soon !

Go and get it if you love a nice romance with oomph!

Susan Elizabeth Phillips - Nobody's Baby But Mine

Publisher: Avon

ISBN: 978-0380782345

My rating: 4/5


The Plan: Genius physics professor Dr, Jane Darlington desperately wants a baby.

The Target: Cal Bonner, the Chicago Stars' legendary quarterback, seems like the perfect choice. But his champion good looks and down-home ways are deceiving.

The Explosion: A brillant, lonely woman who dreams only of motherhood . . . A take no-prisoners tough guy who'll settle for nothing less than surrender . . . Can passion and physical attraction propel two strong-willed yet vulnerable people to a totally unexpected love?

Chicago Stars Book #3  (www.susanephillips.com)


My thougths

Am I allowed to say it? DANG - she's done it again.

I liked the story! The plot is simple and based on a somewhat far-fetched idea. The main characters are Jane - 34, not married, very cleversome physicist who doesn't want anything more than a baby she can love with all her heart. Neglected during childhood and feeling that she's an oddity because of her brains, she's looking for someone "dumb". That someone is Cal Bonner, Football player with the Chicago Stars! Cal is 36 and avoiding the subject of age like hot fire. Retirement is a no-no word around him. Though it's not his age and the retirement, yet the angst of not knowing what the "life-after-football" will bring. It scares the devil out of him. Yet, he's no "dumb" footy player as Jane soon finds out.

So through some opportunities, Jane gets "her night", falls pregnant, Cal finds out, and honourable as he is - they get married.

That's when the fun starts! We get to know Annie, Cal's grandmother, Ethan, his brother, and his parents, who over the course of the story rekindle their marriage and fall in love again. Well, let's not forget Kevin Tucker, another Football player of the Chicago Stars who's made his way to Salvation, Cal's hometown and the place he and Jane have settled for the next few months.

The characters are well developed. There's Jane in her mid-thirties, clever, witty though not the good looking stunner. And Cal, sexy, smart, stubborn comes to mind and honorable, but also commitment-phobic  - and please nobody mention retirement! Both of them together are a hoot. There arguments and conversations are well worth the lack of sleep I had in the morning after reading through most of the night! What a cracker!

And there's Annie .... nuff said. What a gem.

Go and get that one if you're in need for a good giggle or laugh.

Favourite Quote: "I married a damned cereal killer"