The Great Escape: A Novel [Hardcover]

Susan Elizabeth Phillips (Author)

Book Description

Release date: July 10, 2012

Perennial New York Times bestselling author Susan Elizabeth Phillips now provides her fans with The Great Escape from ordinary women’s romantic fiction.

One of today’s most beloved writers, the incomparable Phillips follows up her utterly beguiling hit, Call Me Irresistible (“Phillips at her very best. Romantic, funny, sexy, and poignant” —Kristin Hannah) with a sequel that’s equally impossible to resist. Returning in The Great Escape are some of Phillips’s most adored characters, including headstrong, impetuous ex-president’s daughter, Lucy Jorik, who’s just abandoned her fiancé, Ted “Mr. Irresistible” Beaudine, at the altar. Now she’s looking for adventure—and perhaps a little romance—embarking on a wild and hilariously unpredictable road trip that begins on the back of a rather menacing-looking stranger’s motorcycle. The winner of more Favorite Book of the Year Awards than any other romance author, including Nora Roberts, Susan Elizabeth Phillips offers her fans an Escape to remember, and they’ll certainly want to come back for more!

Editorial Reviews

Review

“No one tops Susan Elizabeth Phillips” (Jayne Ann Krentz)

“...intelligent, funny and hot enough to make you sigh.” (People)

“With her latest flawlessly written romance, Phillips delivers the kind of complex, realistically complicated characters and richly emotional love story her fans have come to expect. Fueled with incendiary sexual chemistry, and deliciously witty, The Great Escape is another jewel from one of the genre’s most incandescent stars.” (Booklist (starred review))

With brilliant dialog, sassy humor, and laserlike insight into what makes people tick, Phillips gifts readers with an engrossing, beautifully written romance that satisfies on all levels. Another winner from a stellar writer who never disappoints. (Library Journal (starred review))

Phillips’ signature mix of complicated characters, sexual chemistry and emotionally compelling writing is irresistible. (Chicago Tribune)

From the Back Cover

The Great Escape

Where do you run to when your life has fallen apart?

Lucy Jorik is a champ at never embarrassing the family she adores—not surprising since her mother is one of the most famous women in the world. But now Lucy has done just that. And on her wedding day, no less, to the most perfect man she's ever known.

Instead of saying "I do" to Mr. Irresistible, Lucy flees the church in an ill-fitting blue choir robe and hitches a ride on the back of a beat-up motorcycle plastered with offensive bumper stickers. She's flying into the unknown with a rough-looking, bad-tempered stranger who couldn't be more foreign to her privileged existence.

While the world searches for her, Lucy must search for herself, and she quickly realizes that her customary good manners are no defense against a man who's raised rudeness to an art form. Lucy needs to toughen up—and fast.

Her great escape takes her to his rambling beach house on a Great Lakes island. Here, she hopes to find a new direction . . . and unlock the secrets of this man who knows so much about her but reveals nothing about himself. As the hot summer days unfold amid scented breezes and sudden storms, she'll also encounter a beautiful, troubled beekeeper; a frightened young boy; a modern-day evil queen; and a passion that could change her life forever.

In this dazzling follow-up to her New York Times bestseller Call Me Irresistible, Susan Elizabeth Phillips tells the funny, touching, enchanting story of a young woman searching for her destiny . . . and of a damaged man who doesn't believe in second chances.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 432 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow; 1 edition (July 10, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0062106066
• ISBN-13: 978-0062106063
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6.4 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (177 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #230,484 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

SUSAN ELIZABETH PHILLIPS is a New York Times, Publisher's Weekly, and USA Today bestseller, whose books are published all over the world.

If you'd like to know more, including info on her newest book, whether any of her books will be made into movies, how to get an autographed book, where she gets her ideas, please visit her web site. You can also see goofy vacation photos. register for her monthly contest, and chat with her on her Message Board. http://www.susanelizabethphillips.com

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

64 of 70 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Recycled disappointment July 17, 2012

By M Neary

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

I pre-order and cannot wait for SEP's latest books. I was very disappointed with this one. All through the book I had a feeling of déjà vu, not because some of the characters are from previous books (I enjoy that aspect of her writing), but because the plot is too. Running away from a wedding on a motorcycle (Hot Shot), hiding out from the press and pretending to be pregnant (First Lady), staying at a lake, baking and falling in love with a cottage (This Heart of Mine)are some of the more obvious recycled plot lines. It felt like a contest to see how many similarities one could find with previous books. I missed the fast paced story line, the likeable secondary characters, and the witty dialogue usually associated with SEP. I also had a problem as others mentioned with the name of the male lead - Panda, really? It felt silly every time I read it. Everybody has a stinker or two in them and this is one of SEP's. I am looking forward to future books more in the style of "Match Me If You Can" and "What I Did For Love".

51 of 59 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars About twice as long as it should be July 12, 2012

By MM NW Chicago

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

I'm usually a big SEP fan, but this book is hugely disappointing. The main characters, Lucy and Panda, are in about 1/4th of the book, and are together only about half of that. There are many side characters, and while they are interesting and appealing enough, their stories seem to be presented in more detail than those of the Lucy and Panda. I don't mind social issues being addressed in my light fiction, but the amount of social angst was overwhelming to the story, making this book a bit of a downer. Not much of SEP's usual humor, as found in the football series. So many of the characters spend a great deal of time brooding about one thing or another, and their ruminations are described in depth. Sorry, this book was not worth the wait.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars The Great Escape August 26, 2012

By Rena Tyler

Format:Hardcover

Thankfully, I borrowed this book from my local library. I was not impressed by this book at all. Truthfully, I didn't make it very far into it before calling it quits. I was so bored with the characters that I couldn't take it another page. I am a SEP fan so was greatly disappointed in this book.

19 of 22 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars Not SEP's usual July 15, 2012

By CLR

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

SEP is one of my favorite authors. That being said, I was very disappointed in this book. It lacked her usual whitty dialogue and sparkle. Lucy, the main character, got on my last nerve - whinny and immature. I could not even finish the book. It certainly was not "Ain't She Sweet", which is my personal favorite!

27 of 33 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Formulaic July 21, 2012

By Book Junkie

Format:Kindle Edition

I wonder if anyone has ever noticed that all of Susan Elizabeth Phillips' books always feature the same cast of characters: an adult woman who is acting out due to a crazy life experience and a repressed childhood; a male protagonist who, depending on the plot is either a man with a heart of gold disguising himself as a bad boy or a good old boy with a hidden streak of bad that he allows no one else to see except for the woman who has caught his interest. Then there's usually a kid or two who's either been abandoned by both parents or is orphaned, suffering from body issues or was homeless at some point.

Oh, and Phillips' preferred method for getting boy and girl to meet are on the side of the road with the girl usually dressed oddly (a beaver costume; ill-fitting thrift store clothes that were purchased with the last of her savings and, in this case, a wedding dress are just some examples) as she's running away from her overwhelming problems with no plan or money to her name.

It's for these reasons that I normally approach her newest books with a small amount of trepidation and, I have to admit, a little bit of disinterest. Sometimes Phillips has a tendency to overboard in making her female leads assert their newfound independence and they end up with new personalities and in situations too far fetched to be believed. In almost every book of hers that I've read, the female character ends up doing a 180 personality change, convinced that this is actually the "real" her only to realize towards the end of the story that, well, no, the "real" her is actually a hybrid of both personalities.

Lately I find that Phillips' female characters are so forced; there's a goofiness about their personalities that I don't find appealing or natural.... Lucy Jorik is a watered down imitation of Lucy Somerville from This Heart of Mine, right down to the way she dresses and the way she talks like a wannabe teenager ("That's so not true/funny"). The only difference between the two women is that Molly was a goofball screwup right from the start while Lucy manufactured her goofball persona. Molly, being the original prototype, had a more engaging and natural personality and her story was more emotional than Lucy.

While I didn't grow to love this book, I didn't hate it either, although I'm guessing that's more to do with a certain loyalty I still feel towards the author having read all of her earlier books. I just wish she could create more realistic, original and natural characters and plots in her future stories. There's no doubt that Phillips can tell a good story, but lately she's been telling the same story using the same people dressed differently. Read more ›

17 of 20 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars I'm still a fan, but.... July 11, 2012

By LaDiosa

Format:Hardcover

I am an absolute fan. I counted down the days til this book and I feel like maybe I expected too much... but this book fell short. After reading "Call me Irresistible" I just knew this one would be awesome. I found myself more interested in the side characters stories like Bree & Mike, Temple & Max, and even wanted there to be someone for Kristi. I just didn't really see the pull of a man she knew nothing about, and the only real time she spent with him was while sleeping with him. By the way, where did the name Panda come from? And Lucy referring to herself as Viper sometimes was strange. Also, I just felt like there should have been more interaction between her family. Your daughter who is always on her best behavior leaves after jilting the "perfect man" and your content with one call during months of absence?
However, I kept hoping that I'd fall in love with their story like I fell in love with Bobby Tom in "Heaven Texas", but I still wasn't able to put down the book either. There were parts that truly made me laugh out loud as usual.
Shes still a great writer, and I'll look for her next book in the future, but I won't pay over $20 for it again.