Customer Reviews

Material Girl (Berkley Sensation)

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

For those who have loved Ms. London's historicals, don't be afraid to pick up her first contemporary, MATERIAL GIRL. I had such a good time with this book, I'm wondering why she hasn't been writing contemporaries sooner.

Robin Lear's pampered and spoiled world is about to come to a screeching halt. When her father informs his family that he's dying and wants to make some changes, Robin had no idea that those changes included making her learn the business she's been doing for years. On top of being demoted and put under her ex-boyfriend's supervision, Robin must also deal with the sexy contractor renovating her house. Suffice it to say that they didn't exactly get off to a great start.

Jake Manning didn't expect the beautiful woman (who he'd met at the jail, no less) to be the same determined woman who'd hired him to renovate her house. Now, he has to deal with her spoiled, donut stealing fingers, and goodie two-shoes attitude, as well as try to keep his nephew out of trouble and fend off a love struck college girl as he tries to finish his degree. Being attracted to the one woman who treated money as if it grew on trees didn't help matters. But when the sparks turn into fire, Jake sees himself falling right into the flames and love.

MATERIAL GIRL is so much fun, I couldn't put it down. Jake is to die for. Family oriented, Jake tries his best to control and love his fourteen-year-old nephew, Cole, but doesn't know how to reach him. Along the way, he grows and adapts to the changes life has thrown at him. Robin also changes and adapts, but for entirely different reasons. She's been spoiled and handed things all her life. Now her dying father wants her to be able to take care of herself, so he makes her start over in learning the business instead of giving her a decorate place at the top. She doesn't quite believe she's as snotty as she is until she is forced to take a good look at herself. The secondary characters are wonderful, complimenting the main story instead of detracting from it. And did I mention funny? How these two meet is hilarious and I found myself snorting with laughter, loving every minute of the bantering between Jake and Robin. With angst and emotion, the reader watches these two fight with each other and themselves, all the while falling in love. Ms. London does a wonderful job of setting up the next books in this series about Robin's sisters, which I will eagerly await. Don't miss this extraordinary contemporary debut from a very talented author.

Jennifer Russell, ...
(Former reviewer for The Romance Reader's Connection)

MATERIAL GIRL
Julie London
Berkley Sensation
ISBN 0-425-19278-4
August 2003

Award winning and bestselling author Julia London bursts upon the contemporary romance scene with the sassy, sexy story of young, gorgeous and sinfully rich Robin Lear. MATERIAL GIRL is the first of a trilogy about the Lear sisters - Robin, Rebecca and Rachel.

Aaron Lear has come a long way from his West Texas roots and the cotton farm he grew up on. His vast shipping empire, Lear Transport Industries, or LTI, was built truck by truck, plane by plane until he was shipping freight world wide. Now he is a multi-millionaire at age fifty-five and dying of cancer. Somewhere along the line he lost his wife Bonnie and his three beautiful daughters. Aaron does not want to die alone, and even though he and Bonnie have been estranged for the last fifteen years, when he calls her she wastes no time getting to him. Aaron also wants to see his three beautiful, spoiled and pampered daughters before he passes on. He's not very happy with the way his daughters are managing their life, and wants to prepare them for real life, not the idle rich life they are enjoying now.

Robin has been working as middle management for LTI for four years, maintaining a small office and staff in Houston. Robin's social life sometimes eclipses her business responsibilities and her mentor and ex-lover Evan Iverson has to step in to do damage control and make his reports to her father. Evan wants back into Robin's life and has Aaron's blessing, but Robin is a lot more interested in Jake Manning, the contractor that is restoring her house.

Jake Manning grew up on the wrong side of the tracks in Houston with a pessimistic mother and a younger brother that died tragically. Jake is juggling his thriving business with night classes in architecture and helping to raise his teen-aged nephew Cole. Although the money he's making on Robin's house pays a lot of bills, the attraction to this scatter brained prima donna can only mean heartbreak and trouble.

Robin's self-esteem hits rock bottom when her father "demotes" her and gives her a job on the bottom rung of the corporate ladder; but Jake helps her make lemonade out of this batch of lemons. Can a material girl find true happiness and love with a blue collar "white knight" with a whole lot of baggage?

MATERIAL GIRL is full of convincing characters, snappy dialogue, humor and sizzling sensuality. Julia London's writing is smart, clean and a whole lot of fun. Jake has both work boot shod feet planted firmly in reality while Robin's Stuart Weitzman clad feet seem to be running around in circles, but this talented author keeps your interest focused on the protagonists' personal predicaments - their highs and lows; their joys and sorrows. The peripheral characters are as finely drawn and equally entertaining. This fast paced story is first class with "attitude" and will leave you eagerly anticipating Rebecca's story next year.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED for your summertime, or any time, reading!

Betty Cox for readertoreader.com

My recommendation: stop reading these reviews and just ORDER THIS BOOK NOW! This was by far one of the very best contemporary romance novels I've read in a long time. It wasn't one of those stories where the hero and heroine fall in love and all of their problems magically work out. These two had to WORK at it.

Several reviewers have commented that Robin (the heroine) was a spoiled brat and they didn't like her. I agree that Robin was spoiled and she had a heck of a lot of issues to work through. But I think her character was written in such a way as to give us insight into WHY she had these shortcomings and therefore make us cheer for her to change. We want to see her succeed in her own personal metamorphosis, because she definitely needs one. Thankfully, her hunky hero Jake can see inside her to the real person waiting to get out and he coaxes her along.

This story had humor (lots of it!), deep characters, heavy family issues to work through, and well-rounded secondary characters. I can't wait to read another Julia London book...RIGHT NOW!

I just love this contemporary novel, and I can't wait for the next book of the trilogy. The characters Julia has built stand out and you feel that you know them personally. Jake is the epitome of a girl's dream man, so thoughtful and caring, yet still a "man's man". All the people in Robin's family are such individuals that you want to keep on reading about them. I think this book is the very best that Julia has written Shejust keeps getting better and better.

Three words I loved it!! This is my first book by Julia London, I haven't read her historical books yet, I plan to. When I first bought this book it took me a couple of months before I got to read it, I am so glad that I got to it sooner than later. I loved all the characters in this book except for Robin's father he is dying of cancer, he wants this three daughters not to depend on him and to learn to appreciate what they have and not take things for granted, so he starts with Julia, the material girl, he is really hard on her it only pushes them away from each other, Aaron wants the best for her and he thinks Evan is the best but she is in love with Jake, but to Aaron sees Jake as a handyman. Jake is in love with Robin but he can't offer her the things she is use to, the only think he can offer her is his love, but is that enough for Robin? I did not want this book to end a very enjoyable read.

Happy Reading Lisa

I have been a fan of Julia London's historical novels for several years and wasn't sure I'd like her dip into contemporary. Boy, was I wrong! Despite the cover and catchy title, this is a serious book about multi-faceted people who have learned to be survivors - at a cost. Her heroine is initially a pain, but there are reasons for her behavior that win us over quickly, and this hero is a keeper! From page one, where we meet her difficult father, to the last page, Ms. London surprised me with the depth of her characterizations. I've now put her contemporaries on my auto-buy list as well as her historicals and am looking forward to seeing what she'll do with the other two sisters' stories.

Robin Lear has a "job" in her father's transport business but what she REALLY does is sort of play at being a boss and shops and jets around with her shallow rich friends. She's always wanted her dad's approval and never got it.

Her father is in a death struggle with cancer; he's reevaluating his life and the lives of his daughters. He tells Robin she's arrogant and demotes her so she can learn the business properly. Since her offices burned down, Robin works out of her mansion . . . the mansion she's having remodeled by contractor Jake Manning.

Jake is only a few hours away from his architect degree. With one brother in prison and the other brother dead, Jake helps his negative and worn out mother take care of his troubled teen nephew. Jake is juggling too many responsibilities to fall in love. But he does.

This would have been so much better if Robin had been more likeable. She's a spoiled man-eater, sometimes as selfish and shallow as her friends. Jake was such a dream guy, I couldn't understand why he put up with her stalling and unwillingness to commit. Maybe I would have liked this story more if I'd not read the series in reverse order. I gave both MISS FORTUNE and BEAUTY QUEEN four stars.

Material Girl is an emotional contemporary romance novel. Robin is a rich girl who has no understanding of the business that she is running and her father thinks of her as the eye candy with a powerful name. Her father is dieing and decided to tell her what he really thinks of her. Robin is crushed but knows some of her father comments are true. She hires Jake to remodel her house and sparks fly and he starts teaching her to be `real'. There were moments that I wondered if they should get together. I loved the Minot ND connects since that is where I live.... The Lear Sisters Trilogy: Material Girl Berkley, August 03, Beauty Queen Berkley, April 04 Miss Fortune Berkely, November 04.

When Aaron Lear learned he was dying of cancer he decided to make his three daughters learn to stand on their own two feet and face life head on! He began with his oldest, Robin.

Robin Lear was the vice president of LTI's Southwest Operations. Since Robin had grown up with money she never thought about how much she spent or where. Expensive brand names were important to her. Taking the company's jet to Paris, France, for an afternoon of shopping was a common event. When Robin found out her father was dying, shock was her first reaction. He had always seemed invincible in her eyes. Robin and Aaron were never close because no matter how hard she tried, Robin could no nothing worthy of her father's respect. Suddenly he was demoting Robin and expected her to learn the business from the bottom ... and like it!

Jake Manning was hired by Robin to renovate her newly purchased house. It would take several months for Jake and his small team to complete. Jake believed Robin to be an ice princess. Someone he had to deal with in order to earn the money he so desperately needed to finish his degree. Jake's life had never been easy and he had a few people depending on him. So Jake knew he should do the work quickly and keep away from the tempting Miss Lear.

***** This is the first of a trilogy. It follows the oldest daughter, Robin. Author Julia London excels in Contemporary Romance and this story will show you how much. Full of sassy characters and lots of humor. I could not stop myself from reading. Therefore, I lost a lot of sleep. Excellent!

I picked up this book thinking it would be a bit of fluffy fun, but from the first page it was clear that London had a larger scope in mind. Her tryannical father, diagnosed with terminal cancer, manipulates his three daughters ruthlessly and wounds them all, but Robin finds a way through his destructiveness to the real world. She is a spoiled princess with everything,and Jake is a self-made man who has little tolerance for her, but the two find a middle ground and eventually love, with a lot of humor along the way. This is a charming story. I look forward to seeing what London will do with the other sister's stories.