Rating: 
Summary: fun contemporary romance
Review: In Manhattan, Aaron Lear, zillionaire CEO of Lear Transport Industries, is shocked when he learns he is dying of cancer. Desperate he calls his estranged wife Bonnie Lou, who immediately drops everything to be with the only man that she ever loved though they remained apart for fifteen years.Not long afterward, Aaron with Bonnie Lou at his side, orders his three daughters to come to his Texas ranch. He knows that he was a poor lover, a horrendous spouse, and a pitiful father, but wants to make amends. He threw his oldest Robin into top management with no experience so she is a failure. The middle one Rebecca suffers with a lousy marriage to a SOB. The youngest Rachel is a perennial student majoring in nothing. Robin hires Jake Manning to renovate her house. While he dreams of obtaining his college degree, he also wants a loving wife and children to pamper. He detests that he finds the ice princess so attractive. Robin faces several crises and does not need some stud in her life, but she cannot get Jake out of her mind. The first tale of the three Lear sisters is a fun contemporary romance. The cast is a delight as the four females struggle to cope with the pending death of the patriarch who remains a nasty short-tempered individual. Jake is a wonderful protagonist who provides balance to Robin's obstinacy. Though the impact of the cancer on the quintet could have been more deeply explored (perhaps in the next two novels), readers will relish MATERIAL GIRL as a fine opening gamut. Harriet Klausner
Rating: 
Summary: Wow!
Review: Julia London, one of my favorite historical authors, knocked my socks off with her contemporary debut. Witty, fast-paced, honest, emotional, and red hot sexy. If you only read one book this summer, this is the one. Spoiled Robin Lear starts off with lessons to learn, and working man Jake Manning is ready to show her the ropes. The framework involving the struggle of Robin's father to prepare his three daughters for his death will win your heart and set you on edge to wait for the next sister's story-- coming soon, I hope!
Rating:
Summary: delight start to the Lear Sisters
Review: London comes out of Historicals to modern day with a fun romp. Aaron Lear is a self-made-man. A poor cotton-farm boy, he built a shipping empire that now sees him a multi-millionaire. But money does not buy you love, and Aaron learns this the hard way when he finds out he is dying. He does not want to face that alone, so he reached out to his ex-wife and daughters. Only, he is not too happy with how his daughters turned out, so he is planning to make radical changes for his remaining life and theirs. First daughter, Robin has been working in middle management of the shipping firm for years, but was more concerned with her rich girl social life. Suddenly, daddy wants her to take over the firm and she has ex-boyfriend, Evan, reporting to daddy-dearest on her. Evan would like her back in his life, and Daddy has given him the pat on his back. However, Robin has a few ideas of her own. Daddy may push and shove, but he cannot control her completely. Especially, since Aaron has hired the house to be redone by Jake Manning, who is a 10! Jake is delighted with well paying job from Aaron, but not too happy with the interest of Robin. He is poor lad struggling to make a better life for himself and his teen-age nephew and fears party-girl Robin spells bad news for him. However, Robin prevails in the end and shows the material girl has a lot of "material" inside. This was a super start to the series, and book two "Beauty Queen" is as delightful. They are "real" people, with good and bad in them, and yet manage to triumph. Looking forward to book three!
Rating:
Summary: bright start to the trio about the Lear sisters
Review: London comes out of Historicals to modern day with a fun romp. Aaron Lear is a self-made-man. A poor cotton-farm boy, he built a shipping empire that now sees him a multi-millionaire. But money does not buy you love, and Aaron learns this the hard way when he finds out he is dying. He does not want to face that alone, so he reached out to his ex-wife and daughters. Only, he is not too happy with how his daughters turned out, so he is planning to make radical changes for his remaining life and theirs. First daughter, Robin has been working in middle management of the shipping firm for years, but was more concerned with her rich girl social life. Suddenly, daddy wants her to take over the firm and she has ex-boyfriend, Evan, reporting to daddy-dearest on her. Evan would like her back in his life, and Daddy has given him the pat on his back. However, Robin has a few ideas of her own. Daddy may push and shove, but he cannot control her completely. Especially, since Aaron has hired the house to be redone by Jake Manning, who is a 10! Jake is delighted with well paying job from Aaron, but not too happy with the interest of Robin. He is poor lad struggling to make a better life for himself and his teen-age nephew and fears party-girl Robin spells bad news for him. However, Robin prevails in the end and shows the material girl has a lot of "material" inside. This was a super start to the series, and book two "Beauty Queen" is as delightful. They are "real" people, with good and bad in them, and
yet manage to triumph. Looking forward to book three!
Rating:
Summary: MATERIAL GIRL
Review: MATERIAL GIRL
Julie London
Berkley Sensation
ISBN 0-425-19278-4
August 2003 Award winning and bestselling author Julia London bursts upon the contemporary romance scene with the sassy, sexy story of young, gorgeous and sinfully rich Robin Lear. MATERIAL GIRL is the first of a trilogy about the Lear sisters - Robin, Rebecca and Rachel. Aaron Lear has come a long way from his West Texas roots and the cotton farm he grew up on. His vast shipping empire, Lear Transport Industries, or LTI, was built truck by truck, plane by plane until he was shipping freight world wide. Now he is a multi-millionaire at age fifty-five and dying of cancer. Somewhere along the line he lost his wife Bonnie and his three beautiful daughters. Aaron does not want to die alone, and even though he and Bonnie have been estranged for the last fifteen years, when he calls her she wastes no time getting to him. Aaron also wants to see his three beautiful, spoiled and pampered daughters before he passes on. He's not very happy with the way his daughters are managing their life, and wants to prepare them for real life, not the idle rich life they are enjoying now. Robin has been working as middle management for LTI for four years, maintaining a small office and staff in Houston. Robin's social life sometimes eclipses her business responsibilities and her mentor and ex-lover Evan Iverson has to step in to do damage control and make his reports to her father. Evan wants back into Robin's life and has Aaron's blessing, but Robin is a lot more interested in Jake Manning, the contractor that is restoring her house. Jake Manning grew up on the wrong side of the tracks in Houston with a pessimistic mother and a younger brother that died tragically. Jake is juggling his thriving business with night classes in architecture and helping to raise his teen-aged nephew Cole. Although the money he's making on Robin's house pays a lot of bills, the attraction to this scatter brained prima donna can only mean heartbreak and trouble. Robin's self-esteem hits rock bottom when her father "demotes" her and gives her a job on the bottom rung of the corporate ladder; but Jake helps her make lemonade out of this batch of lemons. Can a material girl find true happiness and love with a blue collar "white knight" with a whole lot of baggage? MATERIAL GIRL is full of convincing characters, snappy dialogue, humor and sizzling sensuality. Julia London's writing is smart, clean and a whole lot of fun. Jake has both work boot shod feet planted firmly in reality while Robin's Stuart Weitzman clad feet seem to be running around in circles, but this talented author keeps your interest focused on the protagonists' personal predicaments - their highs and lows; their joys and sorrows. The peripheral characters are as finely drawn and equally entertaining. This fast paced story is first class with "attitude" and will leave you eagerly anticipating Rebecca's story next year. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED for your summertime, or any time, reading! Betty Cox for readertoreader.com
Rating: 
Summary: Dreadfully dull
Review: this book is about a woman with tons of money, a great job, no ability to do that job, who just happens to be a spoiled brat. This, is our heroine. And the guy who can't take his eyes off of her is impressed by her purchase of a pack of flamingos for her nonexistant swimming pool. Oh yeah. He's also impressed that she steps down from her princess title long enough to eat a hotdog. There's a lot of sentimental garbage in the background too. For instance, the hero's nephew whose parents have both died and has a huge chip on his shoulder and refuses to talk to anyone, suddenly, inexplicably, finds his teenage self able to talk to a voluptuously gorgeous older woman. The hero is also suitably impressed by that. Really, I find this quite shocking. Most teenage boys when given a chance to talk to a beautiful woman or their overbearing uncle seem to gravitate without fail towards the overbearing male. Hmm. Scratch that. Reverse it. And take out the 'shocking' bit. But on the plus side, the prose is long-winded, repetitive and disgustingly sentimental.
Rating:
Summary: Didn't Know I Would Love It So Much!!
Review: Three words I loved it!! This is my first book by Julia London, I haven't read her historical books yet, I plan to. When I first bought this book it took me a couple of months before I got to read it, I am so glad that I got to it sooner than later. I loved all the characters in this book except for Robin's father he is dying of cancer, he wants this three daughters not to depend on him and to learn to appreciate what they have and not take things for granted, so he starts with Julia, the material girl, he is really hard on her it only pushes them away from each other, Aaron wants the best for her and he thinks Evan is the best but she is in love with Jake, but to Aaron sees Jake as a handyman. Jake is in love with Robin but he can't offer her the things she is use to, the only think he can offer her is his love, but is that enough for Robin? I did not want this book to end a very enjoyable read. Happy Reading Lisa
Rating:
Summary: Didn't Know I Would Love It So Much!!
Review: Three words I loved it!! This is my first book by Julia London, I haven't read her historical books yet, I plan to. When I first bought this book it took me a couple of months before I got to read it, I am so glad that I got to it sooner than later. I loved all the characters in this book except for Robin's father he is dying of cancer, he wants this three daughters not to depend on him and to learn to appreciate what they have and not take things for granted, so he starts with Julia, the material girl, he is really hard on her it only pushes them away from each other, Aaron wants the best for her and he thinks Evan is the best but she is in love with Jake, but to Aaron sees Jake as a handyman. Jake is in love with Robin but he can't offer her the things she is use to, the only think he can offer her is his love, but is that enough for Robin? I did not want this book to end a very enjoyable read. Happy Reading Lisa
Rating:
Summary: Excellent
Review: When Aaron Lear learned he was dying of cancer he decided to make his three daughters learn to stand on their own two feet and face life head on! He began with his oldest, Robin. Robin Lear was the vice president of LTI's Southwest Operations. Since Robin had grown up with money she never thought about how much she spent or where. Expensive brand names were important to her. Taking the company's jet to Paris, France, for an afternoon of shopping was a common event. When Robin found out her father was dying, shock was her first reaction. He had always seemed invincible in her eyes. Robin and Aaron were never close because no matter how hard she tried, Robin could no nothing worthy of her father's respect. Suddenly he was demoting Robin and expected her to learn the business from the bottom ... and like it! Jake Manning was hired by Robin to renovate her newly purchased house. It would take several months for Jake and his small team to complete. Jake believed Robin to be an ice princess. Someone he had to deal with in order to earn the money he so desperately needed to finish his degree. Jake's life had never been easy and he had a few people depending on him. So Jake knew he should do the work quickly and keep away from the tempting Miss Lear. ***** This is the first of a trilogy. It follows the oldest daughter, Robin. Author Julia London excels in Contemporary Romance and this story will show you how much. Full of sassy characters and lots of humor. I could not stop myself from reading. Therefore, I lost a lot of sleep. Excellent!
| 
