Customer Reviews

Natural Born Charmer LP

5 star:		(78)
4 star:		(33)
3 star:		(16)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

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.

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.

I'd like to preface this review by saying that SEP used to be one of my favorite authors. I loved Kiss an Angel, IHTBY, Heaven, Texas, Dream a Little Dream, Nobody's Baby But Mine, and Lady Be Good, but it seems that ever since she went mainstream with hardcovers, that her books have become predictable and formulaic and NBC is no exception. Beautiful and brilliant but troubled jock with too much money falls in love with a quirky, poor woman who also has family issues. For some reason, her earlier Chicago Stars books had some elements of realism, but I feel like she's lost her touch in writing relatable characters and plausible story lines. The plot was too far fetched and didn't focus enough on the two main characters. The book lacks the steam that once made SEP famous. I think the book is less of a romance and more of a mainstream family story since the subplots really took over the book.

While it had some great lines and some great scenes, it's not worth the money.

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.

Before I bought Natural Born Charmer, I read some of the reviews on Amazon. Based upon these reviews, I was expecting this book to be a flop. I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised. This book had all the charm of SEP other novels: sharp dialogue, quirky, well developed supporting characters, and a great love story. Sure, it wasn't a 'sexed up' as her other novels, but to be honest, I was quite okay with that. I loved all the characters, even crochety Nita, owner of the town, but especially Riley, Dean's half sister, and April, Dean's mother. SEP's heroine, Blue, is spunky and interesting. Her hero, Dean, is gorgeous and kind. SEP's strength is creating a world of characters that the reader truly cares about. She has a knack for building up rag tag families which feel like our own, or ones of which we wish we could be a part. I am happy to say that SEP hasn't lost any of her natural born writing talent.

This is a lovely book, a very much SEP'like offering, I did recognize elements she used before, but in a totally new mix, so it was familiar - I mean, it was obviously a book nobody else could have written but SEP - but it was not at all a repetition (to react to a reviewer below).

I adored the characters and their development, they way SEP respects even the most difficult people, making them special or showing how they learn from their mistakes.

I liked how the interaction between all the characters is so well contructed, it does not feel like hard plotting, or contrived, it just flows.

My one issue: The old emotional hurts of Blue and Dean were real and deep. They went a long way to be healed, during the development in the book, but the final step towards healing did not convince me. The ending felt rushed, I was not really feeling that these two had truly overcome their old baggage, the resolution did not satisfy me. I do not know if I simply missed a bit more description, or if these two should have taken some additional step, if confronting Blue's childhood (=mother) would have solved it, or telling us a bit more about her new career, or re-connecting her to some friends from her past, to give her roots. I do not want to spoil the book, so I avoid details. I seriously doubt that these two are already over their problems, I think they will still have a bit of clarifying to do, now they are together, about staying together, so the happy ending is not yet fully there for me. Very probable, but not yet achieved.

Otherwise, perfect, fun, authentic, beautiful.
Less "laugh out loud" than a few older ones, but very very good.

I love this author and the series so I was looking forward to this book, but I found this book lacking depth in some areas which ended up relegating the potential five stars this book could have achieved. I give this book a
3 1/2 stars but the lack just could not make up for the rest of the good parts of the book.

The absence of the portrayal of the charaters' intimate encounters, which SEP does so well in her other novels, is lacking from this book. As a result, it felt like parts of the book were missing.

Another reason why I found this book lacking is the loose strings that are mentioned and left hanging. Dean's football career seems to be thrown to the wayside when it could have added much more depth to the book. His injury/pain is also never discussed after a cursory mention.

While this book was good as far as it went, I decided against the hardback and I really am not sure if I want the paperback when it comes out. I would rather use that money on her other books. It is still one to read along with the rest of the series.

I'm usually not a fan of celebrity male lead characters like movie or sports stars, but I read this book because I liked the main character Dean from his previous appearance in Match Me If You Can. In my opinion, SEP's male characters ride a precarious line between being men with jerk tendencies I can forgive and men that are such disrepectful jerks I want to reach through the pages and strangle them. Unfortunately, the character of Dean is the latter.

Dean Robillard is driving to his vacation home, despondent with his life. (Of course he is. I mean, who wouldn't be...he's only a handsome millionaire football player with women falling all over him.) He gets caught up with stray starving artist Blue Bailey and winds up taking her with him. Waiting at his home is his recovered alcoholic, rock groupie mother. Although this is a predictable and overdone charater type, SEP portrays her well and does a good job on the relationship between Dean, his mother, his secret father (rock star Jack Patriot), and Dean's young half sister (by his father). All of the supporting characters are interesting to read about.

The storyline from here develops pretty predictably, until Dean's team comes down to visit (and of course brings a "date" for him). When they arrive at the house with his date they assume Blue, whom Dean is sleeping with by now, is household help. They make her fetch and carry for them. Deans reaction: NOTHING. He never tells them he is dating Blue or that she is not household help. Instead, he spends time with Courtney, the "date" his teammate have brought him. I'm not sure even why, because he just complains about her (but this is nothing new because he complains about everything). Dean came up with some lame excuse as to his motives for his behavior. The excuse and the apology were VERY lacking. Dean expertly showcases that he is a disrespectful jerk with an overinflated ego. I only finished the book hoping that Blue would grow a spine and dump his sorry butt. To my dismay, this did not happen.

Not one of SEP's best. The supporting characters are well written, but can't make up for the major personality flaws of Dean. I can't recommend this book to any woman who has any self-respect.

When Chicago Stars Quarterback Dean Robillard is on a voyage if self discovery, he comes across a damsel in a beaver costume outside of Denver and offers her a ride. When they arrive at her rooming house, damsel Blue Bailey has an altercation with her ex and discovers that he absconded with all her cash (not to mention that her mother stole her life savings to help the poor children in South America). Dean feels bad and offers her a ride to Kansas City; as he is en route to his newly purchased farm in Tennessee.

Immediately the two start bantering and she sticks with him all the way to Tennessee. Despite outward appearances, the two have a lot in common, including being abandoned by their parents. When he discovers that the person in charge of renovating his farm is his estranged former groupie mother, he hits the roof, but Blue helps to smooth things over. After a disastrous first sexual encounter, Dean has to really argue his way into a second try, but soon the two are in synch. Add to the mix his estranged rocker father, a young sister who appears destined to mirror his childhood, and a town matriarch that can't find the silver lining in anything.

Known for her witty bantering and charismatic leads, this story was just so lacking that even her great dialogue can't save it. Did she write this on auto-pilot? The plot was so familiar - reminiscent of "This Heart of Mine," and "Nobody's Baby But Mine." The heroine was so bland right down to her tacky clothing (and she had more chemistry with the town matriarch). And all the name dropping of various musical groups, most of which won't be around in ten years was just totally distracting. SEP has done the seemingly impossible - written a novel that I can't rave about. Despite the flaws, it is well written, just not up to par with SEP's past efforts. I'm so glad I got this one from the library first!

I just put down this book and I feel almost stunned at the beauty and complexity of this story. SEP is the absolute best at this type of writing -- unsurpassed wit, humor and drama all mixed to create yet another masterpiece.

Yes, once again we get extremely flawed characters with major emotional issues. But isn't that what SEP does so well? In a way, it's like reading a great mystery and trying to figure out how the seemingly mismatched pair will fall in love amidst the background of events that shaped their personalities.

It is all the more heartwrenching to include the extended family and seeing those wounds healed. I must say I was surprised at the twists and turns this book took as each character was introduced.

Like Blue, SEP is truly a word artist as she paints us picture after beautiful picture of relationships in all their pain and glory. Do not miss this wonderful book!