Customer Reviews

Aint She Sweet

5 star:		(114)
4 star:		(25)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

This book was given to me for review and my first reaction was, "Not my kind of book!" The book's opening didn't help: -- a disheveled down-and-out southern woman returns to her hometown, driving a beat-up old car, accompanied by her late husband's only legacy: a basset hound she loves to hate.

But after a few pages, I began to care about the story line. Why did Sugar Beth dread returning home? Why did so man people hate her so much? And how can we care about a heroine who's done such despicable things in the past?

This book is a model of a book that's a crossover between romance and women's fiction. The author takes us to the edge of the cliff with a worst case scenario. Sugar Beth, high school prom queen, the girl everybody envied, has become a woman who's lost everything.

Meanwhile, Sugar Beth's former victims have all grown up and become wildly successful. They vividly remember Sugar Beth and they're perfectly positioned to take revenge.

So why doesn't Sugar Beth just go to, say, Los Angeles and get an anonymous job? Turns out she needs to find a painting she inherited. She can sell this unique art work for millions of dollars. And while she hunts for this painting, she needs a job. And who has the power to give her a job? You guessed it: Those she once scorned.

In one climactic scene, Sugar Beth is pitted against these vengeful people and she's in a one-down position. She's backed into a corner.

But Sugar Beth rises to the challenge. She handles herself with dignity and we soon learn her secret reasons for needing the money from the sale of the painting. She's different yet she's held on to the strongest parts of herself. She triumphs by her own grit and we're mostly satisfied with the ending.

The big romance between the two main characters follows conventions of the genre. If you can't figure out who will get together with whom, you haven't read enough, although author Philips throws in enough quirks to keep the romance line from being too trite.

Underneath the main story, the author raises intriguing questions that could keep a book club going for hours. Are we the same people we were ten years ago? Fifteen years ago? Should we be held accountable for dumb things we did when we were seventeen? And should people pay for those mistakes for the rest of their lives?

I'm a big SEP fan because she writes funny, quirky characters who aren't your run-of-the-mill romance novel characters and she writes the absolute best dialogue I've ever read.

This book is phenomenal. I could not put it down. Some parts had me laughing out loud and others just made me want to cry. Sugar Beth was a spiteful, mean-spirited girl in her youth, most especially to Winnie, but SEP delves so deeply into Sugar Beth's psyche that you understand why she acted the way she did. Her motivations are very clear. The Sugar Beth we meet at the beginning of the book has grown up and taken her fair share of lumps and she ends up taking several more before the book is through. But she doesn't let any of it break her spirit.

I'm a sucker for a heroine who's a wise ass and a hero who can throw it right back at her and that's Sugar Beth and Colin. They are just so funny together, yet touching at the same time. The kind hero and heroine that stay with you long after you've finished reading the book.

This is a wonderful story. I wish I could have given it more stars.

This book has great female characters--especially Sugar Beth, Winnie, and Gigi--and a wonderful sense of community. Top that off with a trademark SEP romance and it's just flat-out fun. She gets extra points with me for trying a very different kind of heroine and pulling it off beautifully. Susan truly is the queen of romantic comedy.
(Note: I posted a review of this two weeks ago and it still hasn't appeared so I'm trying it again. If two reviews from me show up, it's not because I'm padding Susan's rating, it's because the other one wandered around in the ether for awhile, although this book is worth ten stars, so it's all good.)

Thrice married Sugar Beth Carey was once the town golden girl of Parrish, Mississippi, but all her past misdeeds have caught up with her as she returns to her hometown for the first time in 15 years, in the role of town pariah. Disinherited by the father whose love she always sought but never achieved, she returns to collect an inheritance from her aunt. Instead of the family estate, she's relegated to the carriage house where she searches for a hidden valuable work of art.

Just about everyone in town is looking forward to her return to even old scores. No one is happier to see her squirm than her former teacher, Colin. Fifteen years earlier, Sugar Beth accused Colin of making a pass at her in order to deflect blame for an embarrassing incident she instigated against her arch nemesis, Winnie Davis. Colin, now a successful writer, resides in her former estate. With no one willing to give her a job, she's stuck working as Colin's maid (which makes for some of the most humorous passages in the novel, particularly when she calls him a prissy Brit and questions his sexuality), and in a turn of events, it's Winnie who is the belle of the town. While Colin entertains revenge fantasies as payback, she disappoints him by rising above it all and swallowing her pride, thereby taking the joy from him. Colin finds himself smitten with this new Sugar Beth, and her former home town finally realizes that she actually may have grown up and deserves to be forgiven for her past sins.

SEP cannot be beaten in creating endearing, flawed, and charismatic characters. Her realistic dialogue and gift for plotting make her a standout among her peers. She left the comfort zone of her Chicago Stars series, and yet has created endearing characters that for the most part, you'd want to know. I never expected to like this book as much as I did, which makes it all the more refreshing. I found it to be captivating and was glued to the final page.

This book sat on my book shelf collecting dust for months, I finally decided to pick it up and give it a try, and I'm so glad I did. It was hilarious! I was totally expecting one of those shallow, annoying, sex-filled chick-lit books...but how wrong was I!! This was a very tastefully done book about a down-and-out former beauty/princess of small town Mississippi, who finds her true inner strength and pride. I definitely recommend this book to all, it's very funny and will keep you entertained throughout. One of the best books I've read all year!!

"Ain't She Sweet?" is the Sam's Choice of Susan Elizabeth Phillip's novels--still quality, but just not quite as satisfying. As usual, the characters are memorable and quirky and the dialogue is the best to be found in romantic fiction. The snappy humor is, of course, still there. But the empathy I usually feel for SEP's characters was a little disconnected, and there was a lot less sizzle between the hero and heroine.

I think the biggest hurdle for SEP was to make some difficult characters likable- who, as some other reviewers noted, seemed to be stuck in high school, both in memory and maturity. Although by my experience growing up in a small southern town, it's a pretty accurate description, it still doesn't lead to a very likeable cast. However, SEP treats her characters objectively, with just the right note of respect and criticism. In the end, I have to say I liked all of the cast, but I don't think I'll be revisiting them like the character's in SEP's NFL series.

If you are a fan of Ms. Phillip's I recommend this book because it is certainly still good. Just don't expect it to live up to "Nobody's Baby But Mine" or "This Heart of Mine." Buy it used and you won't regret it.

I have read this book twice. First time I read it was first book by SEP that I had read so I wasn't used to her style. I had a bit difficult time following her verbal jabs which were too mean for my taste. But now that I have read most of her books and I am used to her kind of sense of humor and I really enjoy it, when I read this book I enjoyed it so much that I couldn't put it down at times, laughed out loud sometimes.

I really loved Sugar Beth's character but of course I started liking her when I was half way through the book at the Party where everyone from her past humiliated her but she still didn't break down and run. Her transformation from a shallow and spoilt teenage girl to a good mature woman was very believable. She paid for all her mistakes even before when she came back to her hometown but now that she was there people of Parrish wanted their own revenge, every one of them. I believe Winnie Davis and Colin Bryn were only people whose feelings of getting revenge were justifiable.

Romance between Colin and Sugar Beth was unique. They were fighting always, even when they admitted their attraction to each, when they made love, when they said 'I Love you' to each other and the biggest fight was on their wedding day...Ummm.What a lovely romance!

I liked secondary romance between Winnie and her husband even better. It was too close to my heart; well I am going through similar times in my marriage. It gave me hope.

So all you romance fans go get this one if you DO NOT want a sweet romance because in spite of the title of the book it's not sweet at all, it's spicy and fun.

After a year of waiting, I opened my Amazon box and dove into SEP's latest. Reading the reviews, blurbs, book jacket, I was ready to indulge in a good few hours of heart-tugging, laughter filled hours with yet another new bunch of characters I felt like I knew.
Boy was I surprised. There's nothing funny about Ain't She Sweet. It's a fantastic book, and the characterization is as good as ever, but this book is heart-wrenching. More Dream a Little Dream than Breathing Room. I don't mind reading a book with a powerful punch, but I want fair warning when it's going to happen. Every bit of publicity on this book promised comedy. By the end, the humor is there, but it's almost bitter-sweet. Reading this book reminded me of when I went to see Step Mom expecting to laugh my way through the movie and left needing a box of Kleenex. With SEP's latest, I was blindsided by a poor publicity job on all parts: SEP's, the publisher and the advance reviews.

The greatest thing about this book is that it had a story and a plot, a backbone that had romance as a definite theme, but did not rely merely on that romance to create a good story.

Sugar Beth Carey was one of those queen bee popular girls in high school, the cliched, beautiful brat that made some poor soul's life a living hell. But Phillips does a wonderful job writing her as a woman in her thirties, reflecting back on her youth and trying to grow up. Several surprises unfold along with the story: her relationship with the girl she traumatized through high school, the teacher she got fired, her past marriage. The story is full of great dialogue and wit, as well as a very strong and believable romance.

This book is among the best for modern day romances. The cookie cutter love-turns-to-hate romance is well written and not cookie cutter at all. The characters are believable and you feel for each of them. And the happily ever after makes everything worthwhile.

Since she's been my favorite author for many years I was expecting to be totally enthralled by her newest. We've waited impatiently for two years to once again jump into SEP's imagination with a great romantic comedy. I really liked Colin and Sugar Beth. Their dialogs are top notch and very witty, however, the motivation behind some of the main action eluded (and bothered) me throughout. For example, why did her high school friends hate SB so much? Just because she didn't keep in touch shouldn't make her the target of their cruelty. They seemed to have switched allegiances very easily to Winnie and then back. Some friends! What made SB third husband the love of her life? A little more detail would have been illuminating. The whole story with the mentally disabled daughter was a real stretch to set up SB's selflessness and reformation. I could go on...

But, don't think it isn't a great read. I consumed it in one evening and enjoyed most of it. My quibbles are because SEP has been the gold standard for me for so long, I was somewhat disappointed.