I Like Roller Coasters...right?

Having just read (and liked) Susan Elizabeth Phillips' What I Did for Love and in the midst of listening to Lisa Kleypas' newest contemporary, Smooth Talking Strangers, via audiobook, I got to thinking about emotional roller coasters. 

Emotional roller coaster books are exactly like they sound. The emotions run the gamut and takes the reader through high highs and extreme lows, usually where tears threaten to prickle the eyes and your heart clenches for these imaginary characters. Like I've mentioned before, one of my Good Read Triggers is that tightening of my gut where I don't know how the story can possibly end happily even though logically, I know that it does. So, if I base a good book on that, then I must like those emotional coaster reads, right?

Surprisingly, the answer is, not always.

I've recently come to this conclusion because I've noticed myself buying books from authors that I've read and really enjoyed in the past, but putting them aside for some reason. And then I realized why I've been doing that--those authors are known for an emotional read and I just wasn't in the mood for something that takes so much out of me to read.

Having just finished What I Did for Love and working on Smooth Talking Stranger, I realized that there are times where those flat emotional reads are much better suited to me. Both of these books take the reader on a sort of plateau in terms of emotions. It sets the bar in the beginning and doesn't deviate very far from the plan. And there are times where these reads are just plain comforting. You want a feel-good read and these deliver. 

There are good points and bad to these non-emotional reads. These tend to be the books that pick up when I'm looking for a Romance reread. But these also tend to be the ones where when I'm finished, I wonder if they are a keeper copy because they feel so...interchangable. A good portion of these books feels like they lack substance.

But there are times where those emotional reads set themselves apart from the vast category of Other Romance. By that I mean, the giant numbers of Romances that mean nothing. There's no depth of plot, no real planning of character development, and no sizzle to the chemistry. Those that set themselves apart in my opinion, are most often the emotional reads. Because of their nature to take the reader up and down, they really stand out in the sense that they have substance and depth and makes the reader care for the characters beyond the end of the book. These authors cultivate active message boards and the devoted fan base will want to know of the characters' well-being after their books are written.

While I've recently discovered that my palette for books is diverse, one is not better than the other for they balance each other out to create the beautiful range of Romances.

Not Original Enough?

In past reviews, I've made my (sorta) love-hate relationship with Susan Elizabeth Phillips' books clear. I find her writing funny as hell at times, to the point of laughing out loud, but I'm generally left feeling unsatisfied at the end. Doesn't bode well for a Romance. Insert all jokes about "feeling unsatisfied" here.

So after the disaster of Glitter Baby, and whew, does that disappointment list run long. I had such high hopes for it too. So many reviews raved about Phillips' first romantic work as being epic and the love story as unsurpassed. My confusion was clear when I cracked open the re-issue and found that the story began decades before the birth of the heroine and that somehow, we were taken back to read about her mother and her story. What? 

Long story short, I was entirely disappointed by the plot, I didn't feel the heat between Jake and Fleur, and basically didn't care how the book ended one way or another. However, I feel like I'm being harsh on the book. If it were labeled as a coming-of-age story versus a Romance, I would have been happy. It really is a book about a girl coming into her skin and becoming a woman. But the so-called love connection between her and Jake? Didn't buy it. Nope.

And when SEP released her newest book, What I Did for Love, I wasn't flying to the bookstore to pick it up. Coupled with the fact that it released into a hardcover...well, I wasn't going to spend so much on an author that wasn't an instant hit with me. I checked Amazon to read the reviews about the new book and they certainly didn't help. Reviewers criticized the plot as being a thinly veiled attempt to fictionize the Jolie-Pitt-Aniston triangle and the uncomfortable divorce and husband swapping.

And really, the plot to the book is almost identical. Georgie York was America's sitcom darling and though the show has been off the air for eight years, she still can't shake that image. By the opening of the book, Georgie finds herself divorced from her movie-star husband who left her for an exotic looking, humanitarian actress who recently announced her pregnancy. Come on...anyone can see where Phillips got her inspiration from. 

The real story starts when Georgie finds herself pulling a Britany Spears a la the Vegas nuptials, and married to her old co-star Bram, whom she detests (the hate is basically mutual between the two). Desperate to pull together her ruined image, she agrees to pay Bram to stay her husband. Bram, the bad boy actor who ruined his career by way of drugs, drink, and women, is also desperate to renew his credibility in Hollywood. Although he's not as outwardly desperate as Georgie, each has a stake in their pretend marriage.

Despite what should have been a recipe for disaster, it surprisingly wasn't. In the past reviews of SEP's books, I complained about the secondary romances. I felt like they dominated the books and that the main pair didn't get their deserved room. But in What I Did for Love, that wasn't the issue. Yes, there was a secondary romance. Two actually. One that involved Georgie's father and her agent, and another with Bram's housekeeper/chef and Georgie's personal assistant. But the wonderful part about these romances? They collectively added up to be about less than fifteen pages total, versus what normally would've been at least a good third of the book. That was the biggest plus in endearing me to this book.

Another reason I thoroughly enjoyed the book is the nicely time-lined romance. Bram and Georgie genuinely don't like each other in the beginning. I was suspicious about Bram's feelings because it's so typical for the hero to have those love/hate feelings but secretly lust after the heroine. But not so much in this case. Bram might have the ability to appreciate the nice picture that Georgie's legs might make, but they really don't like each other. Georgie especially for the heartache Bram caused her as a kid. 

But the romance between the two evolved progressively and steadily. It wasn't as if they went from hate and full-throttled into lust and then love straightaway. They bickered for a good third of the book with them taking cheap shots liberally laced with sarcasm at each other's expense. If I wanted to nitpick, I would say that Bram's fall into love was kinda cheesy. One minute he's not, the next he has some ocean-induced revelation about his feelings and finds himself in everlasting love with Georgie. But by then, I'd already fallen in love with the characters and book that I excused that use of "divine intervention."

In addition, if you've read other SEP books, you'll notice consistent appearances by other characters. Natural Born Charmer and Glitter Baby characters make an appearance as friends of Georgie's and Bram's.

All and all, this was an enjoyable book. I'd go so far as to say it might be my favorite SEP so far. It doesn't have really heavy emotional tones like her other ones, but if you're looking for a nice read that doesn't have too many emotional ups and downs and is pretty predictable and sweet, this is the read for you.

I enjoyed it enough to say that when it comes out in paperback, I'll be buying my own copy to put on the shelf.

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4 out of 5: Predicable and sweet with the emotions pretty much on level for the entire length. 

Secondary Romances

Since Lori Foster is publishing her latest SBC Fighters, My Man Michael, I decided to pick up my copy of Causing Havoc to get in the mood for the January 27 release date. When I was reading Causing Havoc, I got to thinking about secondary romances.

In Causing Havoc, the main couple is Dean and Eve but there is a secondary romance that occurs between Dean's fellow fighter, Gregor, and Dean's youngest sister, Jacki. Jacki was a character that was rife with body image. Tall and not particularly well endowed up above, she's a character that doesn't know her own appeal and doubts Gregor's attraction to her. So while their courtship is layered in miscommunication with Gregor ultimately letting her know that he loved her and her body for just the way it was, I found their romance to be sweet but ultimately too short to feel satisfied. 

In best case scenarios for secondary romances, that's how I feel: Like the romance was too short. However, more often than not, that's not how I feel. I finish the book and feel like the author didn't have enough plot to write an entire novel about one couple and threw in the second couple to pad the book. Plus, I'll feel cheated out of the main couple by having to suffer through pages of another couple's course to a happy ending.

In my readings, I've found that Susan Elizabeth Phillips is particularly fond of this secondary romance device. The second couple is usually a family member or close friend of either the hero or heroine and they go through quite an elaborate courtship. In Causing Havoc, Gregor and Jacki's romance was short, maybe less than twenty pages all together. However, for Phillips, her secondary couple will go through an entire courtship and sometimes I find myself flipping ahead to see when I'll get back to the main couple again. 

I basically don't like secondary romances for reasons I've stated above. I've heard from some readers that they like them because it's like getting a novella within the larger book. Those who like secondary romances feel like they're getting a two for one deal. But for me...eh, it's not my thing. I feel gypped that either 1) the main couple's courtship is getting pared down because there's not enough content to write about or 2) the secondary couple is better than the main couple and they're not getting enough page space.

Personally, when I read a romance, the couple described on the back cover is the only story I want to read about. Do I want a good supporting cast to round out the book? Yes. But do I want to have a part of the book cut out to make room for another couple that could best serve their purpose in their own book or a novella? No. Just give me the story I signed up for when I bought the book, thank you very much.

P.S. I am very much looking forward to My Man Michael. Especially since it appears that she's added in a paranormal twist with the heroine...

Lost In Time: Historical or Contemporary?

Reading all the praises for Susan Elizabeth Phillips' books on Amazon from those who claimed that reading the genre would not be complete without her novels, I was excited to try for myself. And I was looking forward to read what was considered to be the 'leading voice.' But what I found was both enjoyable and disappointing. 

While I know it's impossible to like every single book written by an author, I've yet come to one where I'm split halfway between liking her and hating her. Usually with authors that I continually read from, even the books that I don't like, there's an obvious reason for my dislike. Perhaps it's evident that the author didn't have sufficient time to plot out their book before their deadline. Or maybe it's because something about the characters just didn't appeal to my personal tastes. 

But that is not the case for Phillips. It's not the characters. It's not an obvious time rush. It's just the book itself.

While they are not all winners, not even close, the one that surprised me the most was Kiss An Angel. I remember reading it, about forty or so pages in, and flipping the cover around to check that I was actually reading the correct genre. I had to look for the 'contemporary' label on the spine of the book just to make sure. I was so surprised. And not in a good way at first. 

Kiss An Angel has a plot straight out of a historical novel. Daisy Devreaux, the rich socialite, is arranged into a marriage by her father. She's never laid eyes on this guy and doesn't even know his name when she recites her vows. Alex Markov doesn't want Daisy. He doesn't want a wife. But he agrees for personal reasons and makes it clear to Daisy that they will stay married only long enough to satisfy her father and after that, they part ways. No engaging of feelings, just a business agreement, through and through.

As if that plot isn't taken right out of a Regency novel, did I mention that Alex comes from a circus family and has taken Daisy to live, work, and breathe in the Ringling Bros-esque environment? Let's not forget the fact that Daisy's afraid of animals...

I thought that this book was a joke. A total waste of paper. And not to mention, a waste of my time. My only consolation was that I didn't actually purchase it for retail price. But even after reading hundred pages, I thought that the library bookstore overcharged me by pricing the book at fifty cents. 

Good thing I was stuck with a large block of time in which I had nothing to do but read the only book I had on hand. Good thing I stuck it out. Once I got over the feeling that I was reading a historical novel where the characters just so happened to have contemporary jargon and wore jeans and t-shirts instead of corsets and knee-high riding boots, I did find that there was something unique, if not misplaced, in this book. 

There are the typical misunderstandings in the book. Alex has pulled Daisy along, letting her think that the circus is actually his profession and life. He has brought her along because he has his own agenda, but also because he knows that the rich girl won't stand for doing manual labor. And he's right. At first. Daisy balks at having to wake up at the crack of dawn to tend to the animals and living on the constant go. Alex is relentless. He wants Daisy to work and he doesn't take no for an answer. 

It's terribly hard not to feel for Daisy's character. She's vulnerable and definitely not the spoiled rich girl that Alex thinks she is. When Daisy realizes that she has no choice but to accept her surroundings, she constantly tries and fails. She tries harder and fails greater. Phillips definitely pulls heart strings when Daisy takes hit after hit from Alex, the animals, and the other circus members. But at the same time, the reader doesn't hate Alex. It's apparent from the beginning that Alex is the type of hero that has a hard exterior. It's in the quiet moments between him and Daisy, when they're not fighting, that readers see his tender side. When Daisy is injured time after time, it's Alex who comes to her aid, though he does so reluctantly mostly. But there are plenty of behind the scenes moments where Alex shows that even though he's trying to maintain his distance from Daisy, he can't help but slowly admire her inner strength. The circumstances in which the reader comes to feel for both characters must be read to fully understand. Sometimes I think Phillips went a bit overboard with gathering sympathy, but I've come to realize that it's an almost standard with her writing. 

It's all in the characters. Especially towards the end, when the final blow is given, the way that the characters are in a sense, reversed, just breaks the reader's heart. I for one, no matter how many times I've picked it up, cannot help but be immensely moved by Daisy and Alex. 

The equal growth of the characters and their very slow evolution of trust and admiration of each other made for a good read. Once I got over the feeling that it was more suited as a historical novel, I found that the little things really did make this one of my top Phillips. 

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3.5 out of 5: A general feeling of a plot anachronism, but if that can be overlooked in the eyes of the reader, there is genuine feelings to be experienced with the characters. The larger plot itself is not that fantastic. It's the characters that move the story instead. Keeper copy. Reread when in the mood for emotional character trials.

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Kiss An Angel