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51 of 56 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Enjoyable contemporary romance, February 7, 2007
I liked smart mouthed heroines and I understood Blue's motivations. She understood herself well enough to know that falling for Dean Roubillard would be disastrous. She uses everything that she can think of to ward him off, to turn away his natural born charm. Her best weapon is her brain and her mouth. Yet, for all her knowing, like many romance heroines, she fails to see that her being a challenge is the best way to attract him. Dean knows women and he is pretty sure that Blue is attracted to him, after all he's rich, famous and gorgeous. That's enough to make any girl's heart rate rise. On the other hand, he's a little disconcerted that she doesn't fall easily into his hands. As a super competitive person, Dean becomes challenged. Soon everything between Dean and Blue becomes a contest. Who can give the most witty retort. Who can confuse the other the most. Who can be the most frustrating. The story would have been good just watching Blue and Dean spar, but this more than a love story, its a story about families and their capacity to love, betray, hurt and forgive. It's about second chances and who deserves them. What you have to do in order to deserve them? Does a mother who spent her time high and floating from one man to another in search of a better hit deserve forgiveness and a chance at a relationship with her son. Does a father who wanted nothing to do with his son except when the son becomes famous deserve the same? The problem that this book has is that because of the mostly lighthearted overtones, the chance to explore the deeper themes of love and betrayal is missed. Those parts are glossed over. They maybe be glossed over because neither Dean nor Blue really want to explore their past, but their methods of coping can't continue to work if they are to grow as characters. Where I felt really cheated was that the patterned behavior of abandonment learned by Dean is re-enacted against Blue, Dean doesn't really come to see the truth of his own actions. In fact, I thought there was a point of great betrayal by Dean to Blue that is simply explained away with a sentence or two. There needed to be groveling. Lots of it and publicly done. The lack of the good grovel after the humiliating event coupled with the superficiality of some themes cast a minor pall over the end pushing the grade of this book down to a B.
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24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
One True Note, February 9, 2007
SEP has done it again. In Blue Bailey, she's created another terrific female character you'll never forget and hate to let go, like Phoebe and Sugar Beth and Isobel. Someone touched on the darker themes in this book and SEP doesn't shy away from these: abandonment, drug abuse, etc. But as an author, SEP always writes with a non-judgmental approach to her characters and through her talent, she peels away layers until she finds that one true note that explains her characters' motivation. And suddenly you understand. SEP writes comedy with human drama mixed in and although she touches on these darker themes, she doesn't allow them to steal the story. It takes a deft touch to handle these themes the way she does because the stories could so easily become humorless. As usual, there's the great dialogue, the funny one-liners, the peerless descriptions that make SEP one of a kind, and the love for her flawed characters that sparkles on every page. I wish we could clone Susan, or just compel her to write faster.
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
4 1/2 Stars, February 22, 2007
I ordered this from Amazon on Wednesday, it got here yesterday and I read it in one sitting last night. I'm a ginormous SEP fangirl. I've loved all her books but one. I think she's got an amazing gift with creating flawed characters that just appeal to me on so many levels. So I'm not surprised to say I thought NCB was a fabulous book. I absolutely loved Blue. I thought as a heroine she was wonderfully messed up but filled with heart and fight and strength. I wasn't baffled by her behavior at all, I really connected with her. I loved the secondary characters - April, Jack, Riley and Nita. As usual, SEP takes characters you would find unredeemable in the hands of other authors and makes you root for them. And I liked Dean a lot. In fact, I loved him for 98% of the book. However, here's the quibble that took it from 5 stars to 4 1/2 for me - he was a total d*ck at the end of the book. I won't say what he did and give spoilers but I didn't think he suffered enough for it and I don't think he redeemed himself enough. Otherwise, I was cheering for them to end up together, I loved their chemistry. This was a very sexy book and it had loads of great tension and eroticicism in it. Lots of funny moments and bright, vivid characters, including the town and Dean's house. This is one I'll definitely read again.
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