A violent man and the women who love him – 4 stars ****
By Gabrielle Pantera
‘Natural Born Charmer’
HOLLYWOOD, CA (RUSHPRNEWS) 9/17/08 – “It took me about 18 months to write,” says ‘Natural Born Charmer’ author Susan Elizabeth Phillips. “I met Dean Robillard in ‘Match Me If You Can’ and knew I had to learn more about him, ‘Natural Born Charmer’ centers on Dean Robbilard, the gorgeous Chicago Stars quarterback who never lacks for female companionship. But Dean has a couple issues. Commitment is one. He also has a family secret.
Blue Baily has never had a sense of family. Her mother was always off saving the world. Blue was constantly being moved home to home as her mother was always off fighting for someone else.
Who is the Natural Born Charmer? Is it Dean or Blue?
Dean first encounters Blue when she’s angrily striding down the road in a beaver costume, and no it’s not Halloween. Both characters have their baggage and their failings. But the biggest thing they have going for them is they can laugh at themselves. Blue is able to make Dean forget what he’s running from, and Blue gets a reprieve from money problems. Dean hires Blue to paint a mural in his dinning room.
Phillips is great at the one-line zingers. They come pretty fast in this book. But there is a deeper story. All the characters have problems they have overcome or are trying to and that does slow the story down at times. The addition of Riley Patriot, Dean’s eleven-year-old half-sister who comes looking for Dean after her mother dies is an interesting addition to the book.
All Riley wants is to be loved and isn’t that was we all want? Adding Riley shakes up the story and has the adults do more then worry about their problems.
You’ll laugh out loud reading the book. Further into the story it gets more serious, but Phillips keeps it from getting maudlin. Phillips also did an unusual thing in having the heroine, Blue, not be an absolute beauty, but that her looks grew on Dean.
Phillips is the author of nineteen other books. Her research for ‘Natural Born Charmer’ included going to a friend, the author Jennifer Crusie. “I asked Jennifer Crusie lots of questions about painting. I contacted my Tennessee friends for info about locale.”
Susan Elizabeth Phillips is originally from central Ohio she currently lives in the suburbs of Chicago. Phillips has two books coming out in the next six months. ‘Glitter Baby’ is a rewrite of a 1987 Dell book (releasing December 31, 2008) and ‘What I Did For Love’ (releasing February 1, 2009).
Natural Born Charmer
Mass Market Paperback)
Publisher: Avon
Release date: April 29, 2008
400 pages
ISBN-13: 978-0060734589
source:Â http://www.hollywoodtoday.net/