Customer Reviews

if the Slipper Fits

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

 

 

This is a difficult review to write for a couple of reasons. First by the cover and the back cover description one would think that you were picking up a light contemporary comedy type book. Granted there were a few zany type characters sprinkled throughout the story as the rich heir (Connor) to this magnificent Maine property comes back after an eleven year absence due to having his heart broken irreparably by a young summer housemaid (Anne) now elevated to steward/house curator manager. Connor has returned to sell the property -- and here is where some of the secondary characters come into play as they set out trying to convince the prospective new owner that the property is ready to fall apart and is haunted so that the sale does not go through and their jobs are saved.

Unfortunately, while the plot sounds good, and should have been humorous, it fell rather flat as instead of making me chuckle over the humor my emotions were too caught up in the beastly way our hero Connor was treating Anne - as she decided that - even though it had been eleven years and not a word from him - she was going to set out and seduce him without fessing up as to the real reason she sent him packing all those years ago! BE FOR REAL GIRLFRIEND! This plot just didn't do it for me - I had to re-read the book description again to figure out what this book should have been categorized as. The first half of this book had me so caught up in Anne's pain emotionally that the humor seemed so secondary to be almost non-existent. Connor was just too angry to fall for any of the futile seduction attempts Anne was making. If it were not for the intervention of Connor's wonderfully drawn out Uncle Marcello these two never would have been reunited at all what with Connor's wicked step-mother and Anne's bitter grandmother pulling the strings to keep them apart.

The only reason I did give this book the rating I did was that the writing itself did pull me emotionally, only not in the direction that I feel the author had intended.

If the Slipper fits is a good summer book- its a quick, easy, non demanding read. The simple plot features Anne and Connor- two teenage sweethearts from opposite sides of the social spectrum. Anne worked for Connor's family in their vacation home- every summer they would meet. Eventually, they fell in love, but they were forced apart.

Years later, they meet again. This time Connor is intent on selling his childhood home and firing all the household staff- including Anne. Anne however, has other plans to keep her beloved home, save her job and win her Prince.

Elaine fox writes likeable characters including the two main ones, plus the Italian uncle, evil stepmother, idiot village suitor, gossipping townspeople etc. She also manages to keep the plot moving so you don't get bored and make the story fun.

Have you ever read a book and cringed when something happens to embarass one of the characters? That is the way I felt throughout this book. There wasn't any real chemistry between Anne and Connor and Anne was at times incredibly weak and pathetic in her attempts to get Connor to reestablish a relationship. Connor clearly did not deserve her and Anne was not as strong as the author tried to make us believe. Anne and Connor hardly spent enough time together to learn about how each other had changed and even then, they clearly weren't ready for any kind of committment. There were also several characters the book could have done without and at least 3 subplots that just sort of died without being resolved.

I was not impressed by If the Slipper Fits. I sincerely don't think the slipper fit at all.

Years ago, reticent commoner Anne Sayer and wealthy heir Connor Emory fell in love on Candlewick Island, Maine. However, with no reason as far as Connor can tell, Annie abruptly terminates their relationship. A hurt Connor flees the island never to return until the recent death of his father left him in charge of the vast family business holdings including the Sea Bluff Inn on Candlewick.

Anne surprises Connor, as she seems mature and confident in her abilities to perform as an event coordinator unlike the shy person he knew and loved. He also is disgusted with himself because though he does not rust her he still desires her with all his heart. Still he refuses to make any overtures as he will not allow his heart to be battered, but Anne is no longer the timid person who let her beloved get away. Somehow she knows this Cinderella must earn her Prince Charming's trust and eventually explain what happened to destroy their first relationship.

IF THE SLIPPER FITS is a charming second chance at love retelling of the Cinderella story. The lead characters are a delightful duo especially Connor who learns the truth about the undermining of his beloved. Though Anne's assured nature seems stretched following what she endured from so called loved ones; fans will enjoy Elaine Fox's modernization of Cinderella.

Harriet Klausner

I enjoyed this book and found it a quick and easy read. It wasn't my favorite book by Elaine Fox but it was a nice diversion.

I am a big fan of summer/teenage romances rekindled and this one fit the bill. However, I felt too much time was spent reliving the past and not enough in the present. Most of the relationship between Anne and Conner took place 11 years ago (as we are constantly reminded).

I liked Anne but there were several things I never understood. Like, why she went to college only to come back to the island and work as head housekeeper? I guess it was supposed to make us see her as a smart, strong woman, but I felt the education was wasted. Yes, she was planning parties, but it just didn't add anything to her character.

I also didn't understand what Connor did or would be doing. So he quit his father's company, what were his plans for the future? I didn't like that he had no plan other than to maybe live off of his family's money.

I also thought the end was too neatly wrapped up. There were many things sprung upon the reader that, while eluded to earlier, were discovered too late in the story to have much impact and were then neatly disposed of at the end.

The relationship between Anne and Mr. Tucci was a little strange as well and didn't fit with the ultimate ending. If that were the way things were to work out, why wouldn't Connor make the gesture?

Overall, it was enjoyable and Anne and Connor had good chemistry. I recommend it to anyone who is a fan of Ms. Fox.

The whole story had me not able to put the book down I was wondering what would come out next. I loved the end I was in tears, it really touched me!! awesome book

This book is just plain BAD. First of all, the entire premise of the book is weak. Connor was dumped by Anne a decade before and had his heart broken. Anne is throwing herself at Connor and basically intent on "winning him back". However, the spineless woman is unwilling to actually tell him (or indicate in any way, for that matter) that she wants another chance with him at love. Instead, her approach is to basically just tease him into arousal and then expect this to make him fall back in love with here. She's like some strange combination of naive idiot and slut. Secondly, nothing seems to happen until the last 50 pages the book. Most of the book is just one scene after another of the almost exact same conversation between Anne and Connor being held over and over in different locations. The most grevious problem, however, is that the reader is left completely mystified as to Anne's reasons for dumping the poor boy in the first place, especially since it is implied over and over again that she didn't really want to in the first place. The purpose of this, I assume, was to create some type of suspense by leaving the question hanging. However, this completely backfired and the only result of the "drama" was to leave me entirely unsympathetic to Anne and allow me to give a silent cheer every time Connor rebuffs Anne's advances! By the time the "mystery" is finally explained (and any idiot could have guessed what happened by the time the authors deigns to inform us), it was way too late to get over my dislike of Anne. As for the actual content of the "mystery", I guess I can believe that 18-yr-old Anne may have actually been that naive and stupid. The real problem is that naive young Anne has supposedly matured into confident, self-assured Anne and she STILL isn't the one to tell Connor the truth. Connor's behavior is not completely flawless either, but the poor man deserved so much more in a woman than what he got. And, of course, somehow he ends up in the position of apologizing and groveling. Unless you're the type that actually LIKES the romances that are completely one-sided and where the woman can do no wrong and everything is always the man's fault, do not waste your time or your money on this book!

I am a very big fan of Elaine Fox. I own her two previous books and love them so when I saw her third book I instantly bought it w/out even knowing what it was about, but le me tell you that it was a huge dissappointment. The book is not even nearly as funny as the other two and the plot wasnt that good. It got to the point where I was like "Can they just hook up and stop the nonsense". If you havent already read the "Man at Work" and "Maybe Baby", I urge you to do it and id you have then lets just wait for her next book and hope that its a good one.

I read this book in one day on the beach and completely loved it. Elaine Fox always delivers smart, witty heroines and sexy heros, but I particularly enjoyed the banter between the two of them in this book.

This book is very funny. Yeah, the set-up is a little familiar, but the plot is fresh and fun and I found the chemistry between Connor and Anne to be pretty sizzly. It's not Fox's best book but it's still better than most everything out there!