Nobody's Baby But Mine

Rating:
Summary: what a stretch......
Review: this is the first book i have read by the author and i must say this plot is a stretch.... from the conception right down to the last pages of the birth. but i must admit this book had me laughing with some great lines. if you don't take this book to seriously, and you can get past saying "yeah right"' it makes a great read.

Rating:
Summary: absurd bordering on insulting
Review: I have not read much of the author's work before, but I am into romance novels, so I thought I would try this out on a friend's recommendation. I have hardly ever been so disappointed with a book. The heroine (others have described her as flawed in a good way) is quite possibly one of the most grating characters I've ever encountered in fiction. Her plan (if it can be dignified with such a word) to have a stupid or average child is not only irrational and absurd, but demeaning! I can understand a mother not wanting her child to have similar negative experiences, but this is ridiculous. Not to vent somewhat irrationally, but I was just offended by the plotline.

Rating:
Summary: Nobody does romance better than SEP
Review: I just love this romance! This is my favorite book by Susan Elizabeth Phillips. I've probably reread it at least six times! This book has everything I want to read in a romance novel plus more.

Beginning with incredibly interesting characters like Cal Bonner, the quintessential football hero we've all dreamed of, not only an amazing athlete, and beautiful, but with a great flaw, the fact that he can't face growing old. Don't we all love those guys that are forever the Peter Pan's? He's in his thirties and should retire, but he's the ultimate competitor, both on and off the field.

Then there's Jane. Again, I just love this character for her perfection and flaws. On one hand, she is reported to be a brilliant, but lonely nuclear scientist, working feverishly on "The Theory of Everything", who desires a baby so badly that she tricks Cal into believing she's a groupie of the football team and sleeps with him twice to get pregnant. The twist is, she wants a normal child with a normal IQ, and she thinks Cal is a moron because he plays football, hence, an average IQ. That's not her only mistake, as we discover; Cal is not stupid. Then she thinks he won't care that she's gotten pregnant, but she finds out that she's picked the wrong football player in more ways than one. The baby is his, too, and he takes Jane to his southern home to wait out the pregnancy and the press when they discover the most eligible Chicago Stars football player has married a professor.

There are so many great scenes where Susan exploits Cal's need for competition with his reluctant bride. Jane is always one up on Cal, though, and it's his brawn vs. her brains. Like the time "Miss Big Brain" locks him out of the house and he enjoys the challenge of climbing over the roof to break in, or when he sees her drivers licence and learns her real age, or when she messes with his Lucky Charms cereal and he calls her a "cereal killer" and the bar fight between Cal and Kevin, just to name a few.

The anticipation of when Cal will actually see his wife naked leaves you turning the pages. There's page after page of newlywed discovery under the most humorous circumstances. I love the banter between the characters, especially the way Cal tries to talk tough to her and she is wise to his firecracker temper as all bluff.

The secondary characters are a roar, too, from Kevin, who thankfully we see again in my second favorite book, "This Heart of Mine", who is the young perfect quarterback replacement. He follows Cal to Salvation, North Carolina, and seeks Cal's professional help, but he falls for the beautiful Jane Bonner and is adopted by the rest of the female family. There is Amber Lynn, Cal's mother, and we learn of her courage as she raised Cal from a mere child herself, with Cal's father, Jim, who became a doctor and took care of a young family. I especially will never forget the character of Annie, Cal's rifle toting maternal grandmother who lives on Heartache Mountain, and has the reasoning of the wisest of men with the plainest of speech. All she wants to do is be left alone with her Harry Connick Jr. music (great taste in music!) and country garden.

I love how this tale takes the reader from the motel room to the classroom to the country with simple pleasures like resting in the sun while your baby grows inside you as the most important thing in life. The wholesome theme of family love is clear on so many levels that this story is truly refreshing in a world where people sometimes treat new life like an inconvenience.

Ms. Phillips never fails to disappoint with her intelligent, witty, endearing characters, and seemingly implausible situations. Her plot twists are constantly fresh and surprising, and in many situations I found myself roaring with laughter so many times I lost count. Ain't nobody who does it better than Susan!

I supremely recommend this book, and like the fan that I am, eagerly await her next. So if you're like me, this book won't make it to your keeper shelf, it will remain in your nightstand!







Rating:
Summary: One of the best
Review: I has read most of Susan Elizabeth Phillips, This one is one of the most entertaining ones It is funny, especially the lucky charm. The relationship between the character is entertaining. I would also subjest this Heart of Mine which is Kenvin Tucker story, which is also very good.