Natural Born Charmer (Chicago Stars #7)

I am afraid I have become a Natural Born SEP fan (Sep=Susan Elizabeth Phillips of course) and therefore have succumbed to reading the entire Chicago Stars Series, including Natural Born Charmer. Although I find the first few chapters in these books to quite often be over the top (this one included), I nonetheless like the way they draw you in, and get you rooting for the characters. I also like the development of the characters over several books and the re-entry of characters you have come to know intimately in previous books in the series. What was refreshing about this book, was the parent-child relationships explored on different levels and the way forgiveness doesn\’t come easy but must be earned. I enjoyed the (in)famous character of Blue\’s mom, though we never meet her directly and the strange dichotomy her character creates. The lead love story was interesting and frustrating all at once. I liked Blue\’s intelligent and sarcastic sparring and her apparent casting off of societal norms. She is an unexpected feminist hero packed into a tiny, anti-conformist package. She is also honest and perceptive. I was hoping that Blue (possible spoiler, so stop now if you don\’t want to know) would break new ground in this genre by being honest about her feelings for Dean once she realized them herself–something that women learn over and over again from romance novels not to do. Why couldn\’t feminist Blue tell that sexy Dean that she loved him? But then SEP helped me understand; due to her past, Blue couldn\’t get a handle on the concept of love and commitment herself–so how could she tell it like it was to the man of her dreams? Although you can read these books out of order, it is fun to go along for the ride and see the characters develop through this whole romantic NFL world Phillips has created. Enjoyable read.

I\’ve read most of the Chicago Stars series, and they are all fun, sexy and full of real insights into the characters. The dialog is fast and clever, the characters, despite some of them having celebrity status, are real people. Both hero and heroine are products of disappearing parents; his paid for high end private schools and tutors, but left out love. Her mother let her be shifted from one family to another while she was bent on saving the world. The rest of the book\’s characters are equally quirky and/or needy: his half sister and rock star father; the small town\’s people, including the crotchety old woman who literally owns the town; the fans who fawn over the celebrity quarterback. Fun from the first \”meet cute\” to the end.

I absolutely love everything about this book from the seriously smoking hot H-Dean and totally awesome h-Blue, to the great chemistry and seriously witty dialogue between the two…there are some great one liners that had me cracking up. The secondary characters were awesome too and you couldn\’t help but to root for them as well. They all came to life due to amazing writing and full character development. This story drew me in from the first page; the opening screen was so funny. The story flowed so well it was seamless. I hated having to put this book down for any reason until I finished it and immediately started missing the characters. Ultimately I had a very enjoyable escape with this story and highly recommend it.

I have yet to read a Susan Elizabeth Phillips novel that didn\’t put me through the emotional ringer. Plus, her characters. They are a hoot–all quirky, in a very good way. And I love it. From laughing out loud to sniffing back tears, SEP is a master at putting the reader right smack-dab in the middle of everything. Highly recommend.

Review: The beginning of this story was epic – it was so incredibly random yet completely brilliant, what a way to get straight into the action already during the first paragraphs. So, you have a gorgeous, rich, successful, albeit, with a lot of baggage, guy peacefully driving in his fancy car for a small vacation … and what does he come across in the middle of nowhere? If your first guess was a beaver, then you were stop on! Well, in reality it was a woman in a beaver costume without the head part, but close enough. And then the laughs start coming. The dialogue was comedy gold and it kept pushing the limits of high class hilarity through the beaver fight, the whole gay topic, and till the newly met couple reached the destination – the farmhouse. From there the comedy took it easier, but compared to any other books I’ve read, it still remained in a class of its own. This was an awesome push and pull, I-like-you-but-won’t-admit-it, slow burn, couple attraction denying romance and I absolutely loved it. The fact that Blue doesn’t fall into Dean’s arms as he expects (come on, he’s rich, hunky, famous, fit, jada jada jada, and also subtly obnoxious about that – but not annoyingly so) totally throws him off and so the battle beings. I thought their first night in the hotel was an hilarious display for the fight to come and it showed how Dean didn’t take any prisoners, but Blue just might be steadfast enough to resist him, when in reality she wanted the same as him. Not to mention, Dean and Blue were a really sexy couple with an intriguing air about their relationship, more so than other SEP couples I’ve read about. They were both forces of nature and through banter, snarkyness, denying, sharing pain, and through the undeniable attraction burning brighter day by day, they began to sift closer and closer. And what an exciting journey that was! Next to the romance, which was my definitely highlight in this story, there were also (as is accustomed to SEP books) quite a colorful cast of secondary characters who all had their parts to play in our hero and heroine finding true happiness. Most of those characters had to do with Dean and is messed up family and difficult childhood and, while his attitude towards his parent I completely understood, I also cheered when they slowly made progress in batching up past scars and trying to make it work. I wasn’t too fond of Riley for some reason, but I guess she was still necessary to the plot. The only complaint I can think of is that the ending felt rushed and certain actions of the couple left me puzzled, but oh well, I can turn a blind eye to that and enjoy the cake with the other characters in the end of the book. Characters: Dean was a dreamboat and the whole package who had a lot of issues to overcome and people to reconcile with and forgive. He was a smart and sexy guy and fit perfectly with the bohemian and appearance-is-secondary Blue. Blue was my kind of girl – snarky, opinionated and capable. I would have preferred her to stand up for herself more in regards to her mother, Dean and most definitely that annoying old bat Nita, but her cons also made her vulnerable yet loveable. I was really fond of her as the heroine. Overall: One of my definite favorites from SEP. It had all the good stuff she excels at and not much of the bad, so if you can look aside the quite improbable plot, then sit down, relax, get your laughter ready and swoon-meter on for this great SEP masterpiece.

Galaxyaudiobook Member Benefit

- Able to comment

- List watched audiobooks

- List favorite audiobooks

- Bookmark will only available for Galaxyaudiobook member