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Summary: WELL, WHAT ARE THE OTHER "TOP TIER" ROMANCE AUTHORS WRITING?
Review: I love this author. I have all her books and have watched her grow in breadth and skill. When she has a new book, I buy it immediately - new and in hard cover or revisions of earlier books.This one was a "small disappointment" - those who have read her STARS books will recognize the quote. Actually, it was a big disappointment. I found the main characters unsympathetic and somewhat boring. The concept of the book is great, making its reality somehow worse. SEP has a sense of humor about the realities of life, the challenges of growing beyond where a character currently is - fun, sexy, human and positive. BREATHING ROOM disappoints.
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Summary: Worth Reading Again
Review: I originally bought Breathing Room when it came out in hardcover. As with all SEP books, I was thrilled when I saw it waiting for me in my mailbox and couldn't wait to read it. And it's promise came through. Ren has so many private demons and Isabel is just the right person to help him. At the same time, Ren, with all the baggage he carries, manages to settle the ghosts of Isabel's past. I've re-read this book at least 3 times, and it gets more interesting with every read. Little nuances you miss in the excitement of the first read pop out at you the second and third times. For example, the background story on the real estate agent and tour director couple is touching as they try desperately to have a child. If you haven't read this story, don't wait. It's a romance you'll not want to miss. If you've read it, get your copy out, curl up with a cup of hot chocolate and spend a winter's day under the Tuscan sun.
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Summary: Read this book!
Review: I really enjoyed this book. The characters were well drawn, especially our hero Ren Gage, who was hot enough to steam up the pages and my dreams. And Dr. Isabel Favor was the perfect antidote to all of Ren's badness (even if most of it was in his imagination). In fact, the only thing I didn't like about the book was how much Dr. Favor prayed. The secondary love story, featuring Ren's ex-wife, was good fun to read as well.
I always enjoy Susan Elizabeth Phillips' books because she makes the conclusions seem so unreachable and then when it happens the reader is left to wonder why we ever thought it was so unobtainable in the first place. And she manages to blend humor, romance and soul-wrenching emotions all into one tale about people who need to find themselves. It was a great book and I truly recommend it!
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Summary: There's room for more...
Review: I will probably get some negative votes on this one but... I just had a hard time getting through it. I didn't care for the main characters- he was flaky and she was difficult. I, too liked sub-characters Tracy and Larry, better than the main ones. Ren is a dashing playboy- a "stuck on himself" movie star that needs to find himself. Isabel Favor is a "self-help guru" and author of The Four Cornerstones of a Favorable Life. She thinks her life is perfect until it falls apart. They both end up in Italy to get away from it all - at the same villa. Ren owns the villa but Isabel refuses to leave since she has put down a large deposit for it in good faith. There's a past here. They've met before. They had a rather unusual one night stander of which both want to forget. Surprise! They are now sharing the same villa. Sparks and tempers start to fly! Meanwhile, something is going on around the villa- Isabel is trying to be run off by the villagers. Why? I'm not going to tell incase you want to read it for yourself. Hey, you might enjoy it. It just wasn't for me. Too silly at times.
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Summary: One of her best from one of the best
Review: I've been wondering how to review this book without relating to it personally. OK, I just can't. I read this book two weeks after someone I loved very much died. Susan's most current book was full of life -- it had wonderful characters, humor, romance, spirituality and fantastic, intelligent dialogue. It lightened my sad heart. The charmingly flawed, bigger than life yet all too human, funny characters of Isobel and Ren involved me in their Tuscany world. They made me laugh, cry and reflect on marriage. I was bereft when this book ended. My new friends were gone! WAH! Until I immediately reread my favorite chapters. And then reread my other SEP favorites -- Heaven Texas; Kiss an Angel; Nobody's Baby But Mine...I could go on. I would give this particular book 10 stars. SEP is one of my very favorite authors. Breathing Room is the best of her books to date. BUT read ALL of Susan Elizabeth Phillip's books. Your heart will thank you.
Rating:
Summary: Its Like Eating Chocolate!
Review: It's orgasmic, addictive, and just makes you want more when you're finished. I bought the book the day it came out and let it sit on my shelf for a week. I couldn't bring myself to read it because I knew I'd finish it in one reading and then I'd be craving more. Each one of SEP's books is interesting and written pretty well, but her last two hardcovers..."This Heart of Mine" and "The Breathing Room" are her best work. "The Breathing Room" isn't a conventional romance, it's a novel that comes alive and wraps itself around your heart. SEP sinks her hands into the depths of the human soul and truly captures every emotion in words that come together like poetry.
Both Ren and Isabel are well-developed, a truly complimentary couple. I love the fact that all of SEP's novels feature characters that are almost polar opposites, usually very stubborn, independent and righteous. Even the sub-plot between Ren's ex-wife and her husband is fully developed and thoroughly enjoyable. I'm the kind of reader that usually flips through sub-plot scenes but you can't really pull this one away from the rest of the story. It fits in there perfectly and without it the book really couldn't be whole.
You won't regret buying this one, don't wait for the paperback! Buy it. You'll probably be reading it more than once.
Rating: 
Summary: Really Disappointed
Review: We all know what a gifted writer SEP is but I couldn't finish this book because I was so let down with the story. For one, I could NOT believe that gorgeous, RICH Lorenzo found the dowdy, plain Isabelle attractive. Because we know in real life that does not happen. Lorenzo was previously married to a gorgeous person, he has dated tons of Hollywood beauties...and he's gonna fall for a self-righteous non-descript therapist? Please. Talk about contrived. Not only that, but Isabelle had NO sex appeal whatsoever...at least it didn't come across that way in the book. How the heck did Ren see her across a crowded outdoor cafe and want to make mad passionate love to her. What-ever! The whole fertility story was trite. It was a stretch and one that afforded SEP to work in the Tuscan countryside and the people in it. The best part of the story was the secondary couple (Ren's ex)...there was a wonderful story there and SEP is gifted in working in those secondary couples (like in THIS HEART OF MIND...the old couple..they were HOT, HOT HOT.) What I do love about SEPs books is the sexual energy, the humanity, the love, the emotion she puts in her characters. As long as her stories have somewhat of a realistic element I will enjoy it. I don't enjoy a story that is not believable.
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