Rating: 
Summary: A real stinker
Review: This book was incredibly disappointing. I was expecting SEP's trademark humour but it just wasn't there. The characters were poorly drawn, the main storyline was weak and the secondary plot was just plain silly. Who could believe that a woman who had a PhD in psychology and who had earned a place as a life skills guru could fall apart so completely simply because she was defrauded of all her money? Who could believe that this selfsame guru could not know that her relationship with her fiancee was dysfunctional and that he was bound to fall in love with someone else, someone normal and loving? In fact her whole life is dysfunctional and in an effort to fix things she decides to do something incredibly dangerous and pick up a stranger in an Italian cafe and have [relations] with him! She follows this up with a decision to have a meaningless fling with him. Instead of being healed by her behaviour, I can only think that she would be mentally and spiritually damaged. How can anyone find this mindless drivel romantic or entertaining? From its tawdry beginnings to it's lacklustre relationship development, it stinks. Don't waste your money. I was lucky it was available in soft cover over here. I guess you poor Americans get to pay for hardcover. I'm writing this review in the hopes that some of you will save your money.
Rating: 
Summary: lovely!
Review: I loved this book. I went once to Italy (part of one of those bus tours across the continent) and absolutely loved it. Felt so at home there. Reading this book transported me back there.. I kept reading her wonderful descriptions and thinking, man, it's really like this there...was like an instant vacation! Just what I needed.. and yes, of course, like all her other readers.. sigh.. the wait for the next one to come out.... Thank you Ms SEP!!!! Bless you for such wonderful stories!
Rating: 
Summary: Very good book! Loved it........
Review: I loved this book. A really great romance story. I loved the setting, in Italy, it gave it an even more romantic view. I really enjoyed her style of writing. Great love scenes, too! Hot! Great job Ms. Susan Phillips....will be reading more of your books soon. I recommend this book for everyone who likes a good romance novel.
Rating:
Summary: DON'T MISS THIS ONE!
Review: Not as much angst as HONEY MOOM or DREAM A LITTLE DREAM (two more don't miss books) but so much more fulfilling than SEP's football series romances. What we have here is really fine character development, humor, sparkling dialogue, sexy romance, interesting secondary characters and, of course, the happy ending. I found this book to be refreshing plot-wise and, unfortunately, a quick read. This is the type of story you will want to read over and over again. A definite keeper. Don't miss this one.
Rating:
Summary: Breathing Room is an enjoyable, love story
Review: If you're a SEP fan like me, you'll love this book. As is her wonderful tendency to do, we get to meet two characters and see how they appear to outsiders and then she slowly and seductively unwraps the outer layer to reveal what REALLY makes them tick. And as she shows us their hearts, she endears ours to them as well.Isabel is or was successful but it's not until she runs into Ren to see how deep her commitment to her profession really goes. The depth of that commitment affects Ren more than he wants to admit. And of course, it takes Isabel to carefully observe why Ren only thinks he can play the bad guy roles in the movies he does. SEP hits on an issue that everyone can relate to: everyone has lied to themselves (deceived themselves, denied themselves)one time or another for one reason or another. I love books like this that ends happily ever after and there is nothing really sad to make me get all moody over. (no one has to die and I'm not forced onto an emotional roller coaster ride) Real life is emotional enough for me and that's why I turn to the world of fiction like this. Thanks SEP for this keeper of a feel good book.
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.
Rating:
Summary: Breathing Room
Review: I have read a lot of SEP books and I think Breathing Room is one of her best.The heroine, Dr. Isobel Favor is an ingenious creation and one of her best heroine too. I think I am going to remember her for a long long time. And the 'saint meets sinner' theme was wonderfully original.The romance was as usual very good, the chemistry between the main characters was crackling. However towards the middle the pace just dropped a few degrees, and that could be largely due to the secondary romance which I am sorry to say just didn't work for me. Even then it is still a very good book. I loved the ending and what set this book apart was that I think empathised more with the hero than the heroine. How he was understanding her and falling in love with her at the same time.I think this book has tremendous potential to be a movie and you know what, Julia and Tom, just might be the people to play the parts!!
Rating:
Summary: I Agree...NO Magic
Review: I have read every one of SEP's books, so I think I qualify in saying that this one had no magic to it. The couple in this book was boring! Too much emphasis on the scenery, not enough emphasis on building the characters in this book. Stupid premise to begin with. Every author has a book that bombs, this is definitely a stinker! Read any of SEP's other books!
Rating:
Summary: Wonderfully done!
Review: In a plot that could have originated in today's headlines, best selling self help guru Dr. Isabel Favor finds her world crashing down around her when her personal assistant does a false, tell all interview, her accountant embezzles her money, and her fiance tells her she has sexual problems and leaves her for a frumpy older woman. Desperate for escape, she flees to Italy, where she soon finds romance with a handsome stranger who can not even speak English. One night of passion is what she needs to help her sore feelings. However, the good doctor is in for another shock when she discovers that her mystery lover is her landlord in the farmhouse she has rented for her vacation, he not only can speak English, but he is notorious American actor and bad boy extraordinare, Lorenzo (Ren) Gage. He is exactly the last kind of man she should be seen with, much less with whom have a passionate affair. Yet, that is what Isabel finds happening. More surprises are in store when another woman shows up with a troop of kids all calling Ren "Daddy". Ren's ex wife has left her current husband, taking their children with her, and moving in with Ren. Quiet farmlife erupts into the chaos of childhood fears and potty training. On top of that, the abandoned husband shows up looking for reconciliation, and Isabel finds herself playing marriage counselor, just when she needs to get her own life together. *** It is always a joy to read a book from this author; and BREATHING ROOM is no less of one. Like all of Ms. Phillips' books, this one is going to make you laugh and cry at the realism and sheer fun it contains. Ren is a delicious bad boy, who is running away from his goodness, and getting tired of it. Isabel is the kind of heroine Ms. Phillips usually has, a very proper lady who needs to find the fun in her life, and has a heart too big for her own good. Again, as always, the supporting cast has much more than just background roles, adding vibrance and fun to every scene. This is a novel filled with love and laughter that contains no silliness, just entertainment and soul satisfaction. *** Reviewed by Amanda Killgore.
Rating:
Summary: In the beginning, I had doubts
Review: I wasn't too sure about this one when I started it, but of course it ended up being fantastic. After all, it's SEP and she's one of the best, wittiest, writers out there. But she's not perfect...as I mentioned, the beginning had me thinking twice, as it was kind of boring, and the second reason is SEP's love scenes. She's starting to get a little too -graphic- for lack of a better word, in an almost crude way. Most of her previous books had love scenes based on romance, not just sex.
Otherwise, I loved this one. Gage and Isabel were wonderful, and the dialogue was outstanding; very, very funny. Given Gage's profession, he could have been aloof, even mysterious, (which he seemed to be in the beginning) but he was so down to earth. He's every girl's dream man.
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