Susan Elizabeth Phillips - Natural Born Charmer

Publisher: Avon

ISBN-13: 978-0061233050

My rating: 3/5

Chicago Stars quarterback Dean Robillard is the luckiest man in the world: a bona-fide sports superstar and the pride of the NFL with a profitable side career as a buff billboard model for End Zone underwear. But life in the glory lane has started to pale, and Dean has set off on a cross-country trip to figure out what's gone wrong. When he hits a lonely stretch of Colorado highway, he spies something that will shake up his gilded life in ways he can't imagine. A young woman . . . dressed in a beaver suit.
Blue Bailey is on a mission to murder her ex. Or at least inflict serious damage. As for the beaver suit she's wearing . . . Is it her fault that life keeps throwing her curveballs? Witness the expensive black sports car pulling up next to her on the highway and the Greek god stepping out of it.
Natural Born Charmer is for everyone who's ever thought about leaving their old life in the dust and never looking back.

Chicago Stars Book #7 (www.susanephillips.com)


My thoughts

Okay - those who read my "reviews" know I like SEP books! They're funny, witty, full of romance and make my day. I found the exception to the rule :-(

The story is simple: Blue gets picked up by Dean (one of the Chicago Stars) who's on a cross country trip to figure out what's missing in his life. So far so good! He gives Blue a lift and they somehow end up together on his new farm.

The usual SEP-recipe in her books doesn't work this time - we add Dean's mother, his father and his half sister -  oh yes, not to forget, Nita, the owner of the town nearby the farm. That should work, shouldn't it?

First of all, I couldn't warm to Blue. For me she was a pain in the butt with all her whinging and attitudes .... only to end up in Dean's bed, so she, for once in her life, could have something "good". Dean was ... not a charmer, but something else and his character not well developed, witty or even "sensitive" as all the other Chicago Stars. And the ending was confusing and irritating.

I loved April - she had style, attitude, character and was well developed. And again, not to forget Nita ... she gave the story the oompf it needed!


Bottom line ... if you've read all the other Chicago Stars Books, you should read this one, yet don't expect too much. If you haven't .... don't start with this one!

Susan Elizabeth Phillips - Match me if you can

Publisher: Avon

ISBN-13: 978-0060794361

My rating: 4/5

You met star quarterback Kevin Tucker in This Heart of Mine. Now get ready to meet his shark of an agent, Heath Champion, and Annabelle Granger, the girl least likely to succeed. But that's going to change now that Annabelle’s taken over her late grandmother's matchmaking business. Why does the wealthy, driven, and gorgeous sports agent Heath Champion need a matchmaker, especially a red-haired screw-up like Annabelle Granger? When the determined Matchmaker promised she'd do anything to keep her star client happy . . . did she mean anything? If Annabelle isn't careful, she just might find herself going heart-to-heart with the toughest negotiator in town.

Chicago Stars Book #6 (www.susanephillips.com)

My thoughts

Being still on sick leave I wanted to read something familiar and something I knew I would like. And SEP delivered!!!

 This book is a feast for Chicago Stars fans! Not only do we get served the wonderful story between Annabelle and Heath, but we can also reacquaint ourselves with friends like Molly and Kevin, Phoebe and Dan as well as the Tucker campground.

In short, the plot is Annabelle Granger inherited a matchmaking business from her grandmother and with the help of her friend Molly she lands a deal with Heath Champion (Kevin Tucker’s agent) as one of her clients. But, she not only has to cope with his demands, but also with Portia Powers owner of the matchmaking competition.

A special treat is the subplot – Portia’s romance with Bodie, Heath’s bodyguard. I LOVED IT!

 So in true SEP style, it’s a great book. The dialogue is witty, funny and “just right”. The characters are loveable and all we are used to in Susan’s stories. I loved the chapters at the campground with most of the characters from previous books – Phoebe Somerville and husband Dan (“It Had to Be You”) and Molly Somerville and husband Kevin Tucker ("This Heart of Mine") ... plus quite a few little kids.

Phoebe is great and I loved every scene she was in. She’s a real character nowadays and IMO deserves another book!

Molly’s little one is a hoot and I loved every single line she and Heath were in it.

A great story and it made my days "in bed" enjoyable!

Susan Elizabeth Phillips - This Heart of Mine

Publisher: Avon

ISBN: 978-0060188030

My rating: 4 / 5

Molly Somerville (IT HAD TO BE YOU) loves her career as the creator of the  Daphne the Bunny children's book series, but the rest of her life could use some improvement. Then there's her long-term crush on the quarterback for the Chicago Stars football team her sister owns—that awful, gorgeous Kevin Tucker (NOBODY'S BABY BUT MINE), a man who can't even remember Molly's name! Molly and Kevin battle their attraction and each other as they face one of life's most important lessons. Sometimes love hurts, sometimes it makes you mad as hell, and sometimes—if you're lucky—it can heal in a most unexpected way.
Chicago Stars Book #5    (www.susanelizabethphillips.com)


My thoughts

She does not disappoint, does she! Another wonderful book, which I read within only a few days - boy I love those men from the Chicago Stars! AND their women.

The story is pretty much straight forward. Molly, who we got to know from "It Had to be You" is now in her mid-twenties, author of the Daphne children's book series and owner of a big crush for Kevin Tucker ("Nobody's Baby but Mine"). These two coincidentally end up in a cottage together and because of circumstances better not told her, they get married a few weeks later. Okay, now this is a bit worn - they "have" to get married. Yet, in true SEP-style they fall in love. The campground is a wonderful setting and I envy SEP for her ability to put so many metaphors into the story as well as the way she lets the characters "grow" so subtly. Molly and Kevin are a wonderful couple, each with their insecurities and troubled past, I'm sure everyone else will like them as well. The witty and funny dialogue between them made me laugh out loud quite a few times. One of the funniest parts of the book was near the end when Kevin took Molly to the lake to show her "how romantic" he can be.
The subplot is about Lilly, an aged TV star in her 50s, who happens to be connected to Kevin and when she finds out about his marriage, makes her way to the campground as well. And that's where she meets Liam, a brilliant artist. I've also got to say a big Hooray to SEP for so beautifully addressing the issue of the aging female body. It was a delight to read Liam's comments about Lilly's looks!

Now having said all that - it should be a 5/5. But sorry I can't! Being a writer myself I do know that we sometimes have to stretch certain "plots" to find a start, or even ending, but somehow deep in my heart -even though it's a book - I cannot go past the reason why Molly and Kevin had to get married. It seems wrong to me.

BUT if you can see past that - definitely a book I'd wholeheartedly recommend to anybody who likes a nice and solid romance! Susan Elizabeth Phillips has delivered again !

Favourite Quote
"Did anybody tell you that you're a few french fries short of a Happy Meal?"   

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"

Susan Elizabeth Phillips - Heaven Texas

Publisher: Avon


ISBN: 978-0380776849

My rating: 3/5


Come heck or high water, Gracie Snow is determined to drag the legendary ex-jock Bobby Tom Denton back home to Heaven, Texas, to begin shooting his first motion picture. Despite his dazzling good looks and killer charm, Bobby Tom has reservations about being a movie star—and no plans to cooperate with a prim and bossy Ohio wallflower whom he can't get off his mind or out of his life. Instead, the hell-raising playboy decides to make her over from plain Jane to Texas wildcat.  (www.susanephillips.com)


My thoughts

Dang!!! She's done it again. SEP has written a book that made me cringe for reading it and at the same time not wanting to stop.

Main characters of this story is Bobby Tom Denton, a retired (though unwillingly) football player with the Chicago Stars (not to mention extremely sexy!!!) and Gracie Snow, a little wall flower who’s just escaped her life so far only to get the almost impossible job to escort Bobby Tom to the movie set – the two couldn’t be more opposite.

The main issues as I see them were Bobby Tom’s struggle with coming to terms of his retirement at only in his early thirties; Gracie’s strive for wanting to change her life and in a more secondary plot, Bobby Tom’s mother’s grief and romance in her fifties.

I’ve got to say, the start was again a bit of a turn off, but once these two got onto their road trip I loved their bickering and teasing – it was funny, witty and sometimes even thought-provoking. But then it went slowly downhill. There was a lot of repetitive “thoughts” mainly Bobby Tom’s struggle with his retirement or Gracie’s self-doubt about her appearance or the lack of it. Though doing her best in trying to characterise Bobby Tom as a generous, intelligent and good-natured person, I thought he was still quite selfish and superficial. I would have wished for a more obvious change in him and his attraction towards Gracie.  I also couldn’t warm up to Gracie and her self-doubt, but liked the way she verbally hit back at this ueber-guy as well as she blossomed after the make-over, though I was hugely disappointed when she showed up in her old clothes again when it was most important to demonstrate growth.

All in all a nice romance, but too long in some and too little in other parts.

Read here what I thought about Susan Elizabeth Phillips - It had to be you







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Susan Elizabeth Phillips - It had to be You

Publisher:  Mass Market Paperback

ISBN-13: 978-0380776832

My thoughts: 3/5


The Windy City isn't quite ready for Phoebe Somerville—the outrageous, curvaceous New York knockout who has just inherited the Chicago Stars football team. And Phoebe is definitely not prepared for the Stars' head coach Dan Calebow, a sexist jock taskmaster with a one-track mind. Calebow is everything Phoebe abhors. And the sexy new boss is everything Dan despises—a meddling bimbo who doesn't know a pigskin from a pitcher's mound.

Chicago Stars Book #1   (http://www.susanephillips.com/)

My thoughts

I accidently got hold of this book a few weeks ago and even though I had read a few reviews I started it not knowing what to expect. I’m not fond of the AFL here in Australia, hoping I didn’t need any knowledge about American Football for this book. I did okay.

Reading the book was a constant battle of putting it aside and wanting to keep reading. I disliked Phoebe Somerville and at the same time really liked her. We’re getting to know her as a “Bimbo” who has just inherited her father’s football team, with a serious of conditions. Initially Phoebe is running off ignoring the football team yet Dan Calebow is able to convince her to do her job – and so she does, with finesse that makes you shake your head and leaving a smile on your face.

A few things ... I would have liked for SEP to develop the side characters a little more, the Kindergarten Teacher and the angry father, but more importantly I would have loved to read more about Phoebe and Molly’s relationship.

Overall – the start was ridiculous and I nearly placed the book back onto the shelf. I persisted and liked the idea of the story, especially Phoebe’s background and how she’s handled life and was going to tackle the future. Yet, over the I-don’t-know-how-many pages we have to go through quite a few intimate scenes between Dan and Phoebe and their constant teasings and bickering as they both are slowly getting to know the truth about each other’s past. In my opinion – it took too long!