First Lady [Hardcover]

Susan Elizabeth Phillips (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Avon (Harpercollins) (2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0739406884
• ISBN-13: 978-0739406885
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.8 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (137 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #923,253 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

SUSAN ELIZABETH PHILLIPS is a New York Times, Publisher's Weekly, and USA Today bestseller, whose books are published all over the world.

If you'd like to know more, including info on her newest book, whether any of her books will be made into movies, how to get an autographed book, where she gets her ideas, please visit her web site. You can also see goofy vacation photos. register for her monthly contest, and chat with her on her Message Board. http://www.susanelizabethphillips.com

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another great book by Ms. Phillips, February 22, 2000

By 

"llbb8" - See all my reviews

This review is from: First Lady (Mass Market Paperback)

I usually don't write reviews about books that I have read. I like reading what other people have written, sometimes I agree and sometimes I don't. After reading some of the reviews for First Lady I have to comment! As I was reading these reviews, especially those of the last few days, I had to resist the urge to pick up F.L. and re-read it to make sure we had read the same book. The chacters names were the same, but the characters boring? Please! That was not the book that I read. SEP has a way of delving into her characters until you feel you know them well enough to be your best friends. Nealy and Mat were no exception. Now, I haven't done any kind of research on the subject of politics and first ladies, but it doesn't seem to implausible that the first lady of the US of A could be a little burned out! It also stands to reason that a man who raised 7 (I think it was that many) sisters and was surrounded by women for the first 3/4 of his life would shy away from marriage and the family scene. Unfortunately, some teenagers do act like Lucy. It was annoying, but 14 year olds ARE annoying! There were a few unrealistic scenes, but it wouldn't be a romance novel without them. I don't know about you, but if I wanted more realism I would stick to reading only Oprahs book club selections. I think that's why a lot of us read romance novels, to take a small break from real life. I know I haven't described the book in any detail, you can read some of the other reviews for that. I just wanted to write this review to tell you to READ THIS BOOK! It won't be a waste of your time. SEP promises great books and great escapes and First Lady is no exception.

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars 3 1/2 *s A little light on romance, but a nice story, September 23, 2003

By 

baltimore0502 "Hon!" (BALTIMORE, MD USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: First Lady (Mass Market Paperback)

Not so much a romance as an homage to family (the non-traditional variety) and to those decent folks willing to subject themselves to the scrutiny and ugliness that can accompany a life in politics.

First Lady Cornelia "Nealy" Case is burned out. She's been in the public eye all her life first as the daughter of the Vice President (now the party chairman) and most recently as First Lady. But the death of her President husband presents her with her first thoughts of freedom - until the new President, a widower, asks her to stay on and act as his First Lady. She very reluctantly agrees, but after six miserable months she plots her escape!

Journalist Mat Jorik is in career crisis. He's looking to regain his journalistic integrity after an ill-advised foray into tabloid TV. All he needs is that Big Story that will put him back on top again. But in the meantime, he's got other, bigger problems. He's become responsible for the two daughters of his ex-wife who has recently died. The last thing he wants is to care for two kids that aren't even his (especially after practically raising his six younger sisters!), and so he packs them into a Winnebago and embarks on a trip from Pennsylvania to their grandmother's in Iowa.

These unlikely travelers meet up at a truck stop when Nealy's car and money are stolen. Nealy, disguised as a pregnant woman down on her luck, is not recognized and Mat offers to let her travel with them if she will take care of the children and she agrees. And so begins this strange odyssey of a man who doesn't want a family, a woman who's getting her first taste of a normal life and two kids who desperately need a family. My heart went out to fourteen-year-old Lucy, sullen and cynical on the outside yet vulnerable and hopeful on the inside, she's desperate to get Mat and Nealy together so that she and her baby sister are not separated and put into foster care. As the days pass they begin to bond, but will Mat's reluctance for family life mean the girls' future is in jeopardy? And what happens when Nealy's true identity becomes known, not to mention when she discovers Mat is not the steelworker she assumes he is - that he's that sworn enemy of anyone in political life, a journalist? Is Nealy his Big Story? Would he betray her and all they shared to re-establish his journalism career?

A very enjoyable story with characters you will care about. However, as with other reviewers I do have a couple of issues. Given how much she enjoyed her freedom, Nealy's choice to go back to life in the public eye (and subjecting the girls to it) seemed odd. And I would have like to have seen more romance between Mat and Nealy, though their close proximity to the girls made intimacy difficult. The kids (Lucy in particular) were almost more interesting than the adults and the epilogue was a little too cute and idealistic. A flawed but still enjoyable read.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars What a disappointment, March 28, 2000

By 

"brookeb" - See all my reviews

This review is from: First Lady (Mass Market Paperback)

With great anticipation I bought this as we were heading to Florida on vacation. Because I was so certain it would be as wonderful as all of SEPs novels, I saved it for last.

How sad that I should've read it first, just to get finished with it. I found Mat and Nealy to be not only underdeveloped, but lacking any of the sympathetic qualities I have come to expect from this author. They were, sadly, flat and annoying. The notable exceptions were the children, Lucy and Button who, like most children in SEPs novels, were delightful.

While I certainly applaud the attempt to try a new kind of character, I look forward to Phillips' next novel.