Customer Reviews

It Had to Be You

5 star:		(86)
4 star:		(21)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

This is the first in the Chicago Stars/Bonner Brother series. After fleeing the family years prior due to a traumatic incident from her past, Phoebe is back in Chicago at the reading of her father's will when she learns that she has inherited his beloved football team - provided they win the AFC championship. Otherwise, it automatically goes to her cousin Reed, who has always given her the creeps (and later in the book, anyone can understand why).

The problem is that Phoebe is a bit of a bimbo and knows nothing about football, contract negotiations, or salary disputes. And no one really wants to help her understand. She knows the inheritance is dad's way of having the last word, since he did not think she is cut out for it. Coach Dan Calebow just wants a new owner, until of course, he finds himself attracted to her. And he resents it when she wants to give the guys a pep talk, or come up with her own game-day rituals.

Dan is a little down on women. His ex-wife is a senator with a sordid infatuation with sex games that she constantly drags him into. He is looking for a nice gal to settle down with, and pursues a grade school teacher with lots of fervor, but his real passion appears to be Phoebe. They fight the attraction but constantly end up in each others beds.

It is also the story of the coming together of two estranged sisters. Molly has always been shuttled off to boarding school, which was Phoebe's initial plan since she appears to be such a trouble maker. But the two will need to learn to love and trust each other to take their relationship to the next level.

While many readers criticized Phoebe for being a bimbo - I thought it was a good move. Finally - a sexually aggressive woman who knows what she has and goes after what she wants. It is about time that a romance novel did not have a 35-year old virgin as the lead just waiting for that one perfect hero (or worse, has not had an intimate relationship in a decade since her one and only and let's face it, bad experience!)

The series includes (in order of publication): It Had to be You; Heaven, Texas; Nobody's Baby But Mine; Dream a Little Dream; This Heart of Mine.

"It Had To Be You" is my favorite book by S.E.P. It is also the first book in her Chicago Stars football team series. Phoebe Somerville is the sexy and outrageous (like Marilyn Monroe) daughter of Bert Somerville, owner of the Stars. After Bert's death, Phoebe learns, to her surprise, that she inherited the team with the stipulation that she can retain ownership if they win the championship. If they loose, the team ownership will be passed on to her obnoxious cousin, Reed Chandler. This is Phoebe's wake-up call. Everyone considered her to be a bimbo. Even her father thought she was a failure. But with the help of General Manager Ron McDermitt, she proves to be more than capable to run the organization.

Dan Calebo, head coach of the Stars, is everything Phoebe despises--a sexist jock with a one track mind. Dan thinks she is a meddling bimbo. Phoebe and Dan are both stubborn and sparks fly between these two from the start. Before long, there is more at stake than just winning the championship.

This was my first SEP novel and to date it is my favorite of all her work. The story will make you laugh, cry, cheer and leave you with a well-satisfied feeling. You don't have to be a fan of football to enjoy this wonderful story. SEP's website indicates that "It Had To Be You" will be reissued in March, 2002.

"I guess we're like oil and water."

"I'd say we're more like gasoline and a blowtorch."

This quote from _It Had To Be You_ basically sets the undertone for the whole book. I love Susan Elizabeth Phillips, and I was thrilled to get my hands on _It Had To Be You_. I'd heard so many things about her football series that I couldn't wait to read the book that started it all.

Pheobe Sommerville just got herself a football team. After her dog, Pooh, peed on her father's grave, she found out that her father left her his Chicago Stars. Now, all she has to do is learn what to do with that little ball covered in pig skin called a "football". For, even though her father has owned the team for about a decade, Pheobe hasn't come in contact with him for longer then that. She's been spending her time flouncing around the world and making a name for herself as a sexpot bimbo. Little does anyone know that behind her curvy body lies an intelligent mind and a wounded soul.

Dan Calebow, the Stars coach, has overcome childhood poverty and abuse to become a successful football player and coach. Needless to say, he is furious that Pheobe inherited the team. When the two meet, sparks fly, tempers flare, and passions roar as the reader gets ready for the time of her/ his life. Pheobe learns how to deal with the team as Dan learns how to deal with Pheobe. And, the two are undeniably attracted to each other. Can the Stars win the AFC Championship so Pheobe can keep the team? Will Pheobe and Dan put away their pride so that they can have a love for all time?

I really loved _It Had To Be You_ and for many reasons. When I first met Pheobe, I thought, Oh great, I'll have to read about her for the rest of the book. But, I quickly saw that she was an amazingly complex character and she goes through a wonderful change through out the book. Dan is this big chest thumping, beer belching, womanizing chauvanist, and I usually don't like my heroes to be quite this alpha. But, he is definitely a charmer and as Pheobe fell under his spell, so did I.

Susan Elizabeth Phillips is known through out the romance world for her witty, uncanny humor. It shines in _It Had To Be You_. Although there are definitely the darker sides to this book, it has such a cornball, smart humor to it that everyone will love it. Susan Elizabeth Phillips has an amazing talent for romance and humor, a combination that is dynamite. Not many books can have you laughing in stiches one second and crying your eyes out the next. _It Had To Be You_ is one of those special few. So, if you enjoy lovely romance and knock your socks off humor, _It Had To Be You_ is a must read.

This was the first book by Ms. Phillips that I had ever read. Since then, there is only one -Hot shot- that I have not loved. This book is so lovable! Phoebe Sommerville is such a great character! Strong yet vulnerable, she is the kind of heroine that stays with you. And Dan Calebow is simply gorgeous in so many ways. The plot ans subplots are interesting and complex, and most of the characters grow and develop through the book just like people do. The pace of the book is fast and the dialogues are natural and funny. The love scenes are sensual and hot, and so real -these are people not cardboard cutouts-. I've found out that you just can't put this book down, even when you are reading it for the umpetenth time!

When is a bimbo not a bimbo? When she's as smart as Phoebe Sommerville, that's when. Free-spirited Phoebe has inherited a football team and her half sister, but she's not about to let either cramp her style. Phoebe and her dog, Pooh are Susan Elizabeth Phillips' answer to Dorothy and Toto in the "Wizard of Oz" -- complete with unlikely Scarecrow, Tin Man and Cowardly Lion. Phoebe's following her own yellow brick road through the football season toward the AFC championship title that will secure her legacy. Along the way she finds Coach Dan Calebow, another one of the author's good-old boys with a heart of gold. He and Phoebe are like oil and water, but it doesn't prevent sparks from flying in some of the most unusual and funny love scenes I've read in quite a while. While this is the third book, I've read in Phillips' Chicago Stars series, it's her first novel. The pacing isn't as quick as it is in subsequent novels. It's good to watch a writer develop. "It Had to Be You" is a keeper.

This book was so clever and extremely well written. SEP's love scenes are hot and creative. I will never look at football coaches the same way ever again. I can't wait to read the next in this series. By the way, this is the order to read the Chicago Stars series:

IT HAD TO BE YOU (Phoebe Somerville and Dan Calebow)
HEAVEN, TEXAS (Bobby Tom Denton and Gracie Snow)
NOBODY'S BABY BUT MINE (Cal Bonner and Dr. Jane Darlington)
DREAM A LITTLE DREAM (Gabe Bonner and Rachel Stone)
THIS HEART OF MINE (Kevin Tucker and Molly Somerville)

Phoebe Somerville is what most men would call a bombshell. She has a killer body, a husky Katherine Turner-esque voice, and the attitude and candor to back it all up. What Phoebe also has is a painful sexual past that she uses her hot body and quick wit to cover up. So when she attends her father's funeral, a man who owned the Chicago Stars football team and was ruthless in his desire to make her a lady, Phoebe comes dressed to the nines with her poodle and gay boyfriend in tow. The results are hilarious, and after the funeral Phoebe learns that, while her father considers her his only failure, he's given her an opportunity to make it up to him. Phoebe has one season to lead the Stars to the AFC Championship or the team will go to her cousin.

Dan Calebow, the head coach of the Chicago Stars, wants nothing to do with Bert Somerville's vendetta against his useless, socialite daughter and he wants to keep his players out of it as well. Dan just wants to coach his players, for the team to win, and for him to find himself a nice, comfortable, baby makin' woman to settle down with. And he doesn't think that's too much to ask for. Which is why when Phoebe disappears after inheriting the team--leaving contracts unsigned and his players' futures in question--Dan decides to bring her back. He realizes that she's a vapid sexpot who cares more about what she's wearing than the future of his team, but he's determined to make her stand up and take notice. Because if his future and that of the Stars rests on the bombshell blonde's shoulders, he's going to make sure she doesn't squander them away.

Okay, so I'm on a kick right now where I'm reading all of the books from All About Romance's Top 100 Romance Books and this book is #14. I think that's a pretty fair ranking. It Had to Be You is contemporary chick lit with a lovably flawed heroine and a delightfully arrogant hero. Watching these two tussle is the stuff that romances are meant for and Susan Elizabeth Phillips does a great job of making the sparks fly between hero and heroine without ever going over the top. Phoebe is a force of nature with her bombshell body and smart mouth, but it's really all covering up a painful past. The fact that Dan can break down those walls and is the only heterosexual man she's been able to trust in more than a decade was endearing, and the fact that he both earned and deserved her trust was appealing. As for Dan, I love alpha male arrogant heroes. I can't help it. And Dan fits the bill. His team and his players come first. Always have. Only he's now got to make room in his life for his woman, and it's great to watch him navigate this transition.

I think three or four books from the Chicago Stars series actually made the AAR cut, and I'm more eager than ever to read them after enjoying this story so much. In fact, this is my first book by Phillips, but I can guarantee it won't be my last. Next up, book 2 in the series Heaven, Texas.

I love this author. I was laughing out loud hysterically many times. I didn't like the crisis at the end forcing Dan to compromise his principles, which left a sour feeling in my stomach. I wish the author had given us a different crisis or resolution to it. But, the rest of the story was so funny and wonderful, that it's still one of my favorites. This is the first book in her series about the Chicago Stars football team, and I recommend reading them in order. For a list of all of her books, see my review of Glitter Baby, mentioned below.

DATA:
Sexual content: moderate. Genre: contemporary romance, romantic comedy.

OTHER BOOKS:
For a list of my reviews of other Susan Elizabeth Phillips books, see my 5 star review of "Glitter Baby" posted 1/15/09.

SEP is coming out in hardback shortly with her newest football book. I absolutely hate football and couldn't imagine at first liking these books. This held true until I read my first one, out of order in the series, "Nobody's Baby But Mine." I finished that one at about 3am of the morning after the day I'd bought it. Did I sleep late? Oh, no, I got up first thing to go to the bookstores to track down her other books! I read the entire series, as it then existed, in about 3 days. Essentially, every book involves a hero in football in some capacity and a heroine who is either also in football or who intersects with him for some other reason. In this book, the heroine, Phoebe, inherits the football team for Chicago from her recently deceased father. She inherits with a tricky provision though and has every chance of losing the team to her cousin. The hero, Dan, is the coach for her football team, a former player himself. Dan thinks Phoebe is a total airhead because she lived with and modeled for an artist in New York, has many gay friends and looks like a present day Marilyn Monroe. Phoebe has a way of giving people the business too who make stereotyped judgements just looking at her. She is no dim wit. Phillips combines LOL hilarity with great tenderness and heartfeltness. I'm happy to report that you really don't need to know anything about football since Phillips uses it primarily as a way of moving her plot and fully developing her characters. Even I found myself totally enmeshed in this football world.

I'm just now getting around to writing this review even though I read this book several years ago, but it's never too late to start in on a great series. This is the first in the Chicago Stars series by Phillips and none are to be missed. I believe there are seven all together but I could be wrong but if you haven't read any and are interested I encourage you to start at the beginning here and just enjoy. My personal favorite is 'Match Me if You Can' which I believe is book six, but several of my friends claim this one as their fav. Instead of doing a review for all the books I'm just doing this one because it's the first and I give a five star rating for the whole series. You'll fall in love with these characters and then get to revisit them over the course of the later books and get to watch their lives play out even after the happily ever after. Phillips is a gifted author that rarely disapoints. She can always make me laugh and sometimes cry, which I don't normally do. Please try this book. You have nothing to lose but good times to gain.