Natural Born Charmer

Once upon a time, I read several books a week. Now, I'm lucky to read one book in a few months. One of my favorite authors is Susan Elizabeth Phillips, and except for her two or three earliest books, I've read them all, at least once.

SEP books are an incentive for me to get things done. No matter what it is, her newest book always becomes a reward for finishing something, making the reading of them even more special.

I was introduced to SEP by my best friend of over forty years, who has always been a voracious reader, and although our reading tastes don't always match (she doesn't read category), they often do, and we share our favorites. I still remember the phone call when she read the opening of Kiss An Angel to me, describing the hero as the Marlboro Man. It was a great book and a very different story, and I've always felt it's one of the darker of SEP's. The next introduction my friend gave me was the opening of my all-time favorite SEP book, It Had to Be You. I adore Phoebe Sommerville and have read my many copies of it countless times. Phoebe is perfectly imperfect.


After reading Ain't She Sweet? for the third time, it comes in as my second favorite. After that, I'm at a loss as to what's next. Or was, until I read Natural Born Charmer. It really is a charmer. SEP is a master at great openings, and NBC has a terrific one. I really liked the flawed hero and heroine. Stubborn, secretive, but both full of sass and humor. The verbal sparring between the two of them is fabulous. It's a story that's both fun and thought provoking. A definite will-read-again for me.

What's up next? I haven't decided. I may take a trip to buy some new books this weekend. Not that I don't have any, but I like to have a nice, tall stack of TBRs to keep things interesting.