Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Cute rainy afternoon read, April 28, 2003
Heroine: short, voluptuous Tired of moving around all her life, gorgeous master chef Lily Morisette is ready to settle down in one place and pursue her dream of opening her own restaurant. But achieving her goal will have to wait a little bit longer when she finds herself having to move one more time, as the owner of the house where she'd been renting a room unexpectedly returns home and decides to toss her out on the street. Marine recon Master Sergeant Zachariah Taylor was looking forward to relaxing at his own place during leave. He certainly didn't expect to find a gold-digging squatter in his residence! But there she was in all her curvy blonde beauty. Surely she was up to no good, and had just latched on to his rich baby sister roommate in hopes of a free ride? Why else would she keep Glynnis' current whereabouts a secret from him? But somewhere between their arguments over the legality of her renter's contract, and moments of sizzling attraction, Lily discovers a note left behind by Glynnis stating that she was on her way north to meet her new guy's family. Steamed over the fact that he now has two gold diggers to protect his sister from, Lily falls even further out of charity with Zach when she declares that she'll be accompanying him for the long ride north in order to protect Glynnis from her brother's ire. Zach doesn't know what makes him crazier, his sole family member going AWOL or this very feminine, luscious bit of cupcake who insists on protecting his baby sister from him. From him!? What worked for me: Lily seemed like a very sweet and savvy gal. It was fun seeing her try to puncture the "blonde bimbo airhead" stereotype that the oh-so-sexy Zach kept wanting to cram her into. I liked the secondary romance between Jessica and her husband, and it was enjoyable watching Lily help bring poor mousy Jess out of her shell. Size-wise Lily was built a la Marilyn Monroe, who (not surprisingly) seems to be the prototype for bunches of books billed as being "plus-size" romances. What didn't work for me: I'm not a real fan of stories in which the hero and heroine are butting heads all the time. A bit is ok, but the fact that it goes on for more than half of this book is too much for me, despite the validity of the big misunderstanding that prompts it all. I felt a bit at a loss because I had wandered in at the tail end of a trilogy. The recurring characters didn't really click with me because I was meeting them for the first time instead of enjoying a nice reunion with them. Overall: A solid read, especially if you enjoy having your hero and heroine firmly at odds with each other throughout most of the story. There are a few good comic as well as dramatic moments to savor in this book, but it may not be humorous enough for some readers or suspense-filled enough for others. Warning: This book features some steamy sex scenes and coarse language in it. If you liked "Getting Lucky" you might also enjoy: "Lola Carlyle Reveals All", "Runaway Bay", "This Heart of Mine", "It Had to be You", "Walking After Midnight", "Blushing Pink", "The Bridesmaid's Reward", "Plum Girl", "Fast Women", "Welcome to Temptation", "Faking It", "His Seductive Revenge", "Dear Cupid", "Looking for Laura", "Too Much Temptation", "Say You're Mine", or "Carried Away".
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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
he's not a marine - and she's not a chef, February 8, 2006
This is the first (and last) book I've read from this author. The story itself could have been okay but the details and characters were all wrong.
If you need a male lead who will not notice that he's being followed up the entire West Coast - even when the tail is someone he has trouble with before and is getting gas at the same pump, will neglect to inform his backup of the danger and will then forget all about the danger when an unrelated problem is cleared up... DON'T try to say he is a Master Sereant with the USMC with 18 years experience as a "point man on numberous recon missions involving kidnap victims".
If your female lead really is a highly trained chef, cooking on a corporate yacht and earning a paycheck with "all those zeros", she won't be preoccupied with the hot rollers, tons of jewelry & makeup and wobbling around on high "needle heeled" shoes all the time. She only owns one pair of flat shoes and those are sandles? This is not a chef - never mind all the other details (no high end chef would garnish any plate with a twist of orange slice on each side of the plate - let alone their own. This belongs at Denny's, not a corporate yacht). I know these shound like little picky details, but there are constant inconsistancies like this. If this is the character the author wanted - fine, just don't try to say she's a chef.
How many times can you use the word "jiggle" in a book? I got so tired of reading about her wiggling, jiggling body, little high heeled steps, cotton candy mouth and and lemon cookie scent...all of the make up, lotions, gold chain belts, Marilyn Monroe hair (complete with the confirmation that she's a bleached blond)... this is not an "ultra-feminine" woman, this is a bimbo. I don't care if she is able to balance a checkbook -if it walks like a bimbo and talks like a bimbo... sure, she is nice (to everyone but Zach) but please, just because the author continues to say she's not a bimbo doesn't make it true.
Basically I found Lily annoying and unlikable (the whole campground scene put me off the book for a week), Zach was a jerk at first but at least he had a reason. The plot was weak (the low-key mystery was obvious a short while after the kidnapping). I didn't bother finishing the book and only got as far as I did because it was the only unread book I had when I went to take a bath.
Don't waste your time or money.
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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Smart, Sexy, and Just Plain Fun, June 4, 2003
In GETTING LUCKY, Susan Andersen creates a world where the men talk like men and the women aren't afraid to stand up for themselves, a welcome change from romances with uber-alpha males being matched with doormat watering pot females. Marine Master Sergeant Zach Taylor arrives home from leave to find, not his sheltered heiress baby sister, but a Marilyn Monroe-like knockout named Lily Morrisette not only living in his house but actually living in his room. Given that his sister Glynnis is forever taking in gold-digging strays, he assumes the worst, especially when Lily won't tell him where his sister has disappeared to, or with whom. Lily is a chef on an exclusive corporate yacht, working on saving up to open her own restaurant. She's smart and sassy, and is well aware that her party-girl looks often make men jump to conclusions. She stubbornly refuses to straighten out Zach's misconceptions, but then she finds a note among her things from Glynnis, instructing her to tell Zach that Glynnis and her fiancé, David, have driven from California to Washington's Orcas Island to meet his family. Lily just knows Zach is going to fly off the handle about this news, so she insists on going with him, much to his consternation. When they finally arrive on Orcas, it is to discover David's family in an uproar over a ransom note - the happy couple has apparently been kidnapped. On the road trip there, Zach had begun to admire Lily as more than a hot babe, and once they arrive on Orcas, Lily really gets a chance to shine as an emotional bedrock for the distraught family members. Lily also is able to see Zach in a whole new light - beyond overbearing pig to concerned brother and lonely man, despite being very good at his job. I sometimes have a hard time with couples who get a happily-ever-after within mere days of meeting, but Zach and Lily are utterly believable as a couple. How these two relate to each other shows that Andersen really has a terrific grasp of the male-female relationship dynamic. There is a sweet side story involving Lily helping David's cousin Jessica transform from ugly duckling into a beautiful swan, and a slightly forced element involving a Columbian national with a grudge against Zach. This latter development struck me as more of a device thrown in to make Zach come to his senses about Lily than an essential part of the story, and it was a bit rushed, but like the rest of the book it was well-written. I can forgive weaknesses in plotting if the characters stay consistent and if the writing is high caliber, both of which are true in the case of GETTING LUCKY. I have a test for rating a book: am I sad to leave the characters at the end of the book? Zach and Lily passed with flying colors. GETTING LUCKY is a welcome addition to my Susan Andersen collection. I'm hoping my suspicion that secondary character John "Rocket" Miglioni is going to get his own story will prove true - and if that's the case, I'll be in the bookstore waiting to buy one of the first copies!
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