Valerie L. reviewed on
Helpful Score: 1
Beware: This author is cruel. Her stories will inflict sore aching ribs, shortness of breath, teary eyes and sleepless nights!
"Ain't She Sweet?" is about a spoiled, rich southern beauty returning to her home town out of necessity after years of being gone. As a young girl, Sugar Beth Carey had dispensed more than her share of snobbish attitude, thoughtless pranks, and even malicious acts to those surrounding her. But when she returns home a wiser and more sensitive woman, all of her old enemies are still there, just waiting for their pound of flesh from the woman they still see as self-centered and spoiled. Sugar Beth is willing to let them have a bit of deserved payback from her...but only to a point.
This author has a complex, intelligent style of writing, along with a wicked sense of humor. I laughed out loud at least a dozen times while reading this story. The verbal sparring of the main characters put me in mind of Kate and Petruchio from "Taming of the Shrew". When Sugar Beth's chief enemy, hunky Colin Byrne, installs chain across Sugar Beth's driveway, she responds by pushing her dog through the hedges to do his business in Colin's manicured yard. When Colin coerces Sugar into being his housekeeper and allows her to use only the back door in what was once her family home, she retaliates by using his Waterford crystal as a dog dish and generally makes Colin's life as difficult as she possibly can, knowing that he's enjoying his opportunity to humble her too much to fire her. As Colin and Sugar Beth cross swords in their battle of wills, their mutual resentments gradually transition into mutual respect and then into even deeper, more complicated and unsettling feelings.
The character development skills of this author are impressive. Possessing amazing insight into emotional relationships, she strikes resonant chords within my own emotional memories and touches me like no other author I've read. I felt I actually knew the people in the story and cared about what might happen to them. The characters all had depth and subtlety. Even the dog had a personality that made me like him! As the principle characters were fleshed out and their inner thoughts revealed, I found myself considering how often I might also share in their flaws such as misjudging the intentions of others. As much as I hate to do so (and get embarrassed when caught in the act), I shed more than a few tears over the heartaches of these fabricated people of Parrish, Mississippi. Ms. Phillips has quite a gift for sucking readers into her stories. Aside from the prerequisite happy ending, Ms. Phillip's plots are unpredictable, and can include some jaw-dropping surprises.
Being a long-time Mississippi resident, I can say that this author, despite being a Yankee, bless her heart, truly nailed the ambiance of living in the Deep South, where this particular tale takes place. I'm going to go find my "Coca-Cola Cake" recipe now, and give a call to my Aunt Nellie Jo. (Yes, really, y'all.) I do declare that, yes, we really are proud of our state's famous writers, just as Ms. Phillips mentioned in her story. Some of our Mississippi Writers Guild members even do great impersonations of those renowned authors in presentations to school children and other interested parties. Ain't no lie! Ms. Phillip's other books have varied settings, but she certainly is no slouch when it comes to doing her research.
I've developed dark circles under my eyes now from sleep deprivation and it's all the fault of Susan Elizabeth Phillips. I kept looking for a place to stop and put her book down, but when I'd get to the end of a chapter, there would inevitably be some outrageous twist in the plot that would mercilessly hook me and drag me bleary-eyed right into the next chapter. I hope she feels guilty!
"Ain't She Sweet?" is the first book by this author that I have read, but SEP books have become an instant addiction. Susan Elizabeth Phillips has become my new favorite author. I've only had one other fave author in nearly 50 years (J.R.R. Tolkien - and a daughter named "Eowyn" as a result), so that's not a frivolous compliment. I'm on the fourth book now in less than two weeks and plan to read them all...and collect them to keep on my bookshelves to reread again. I'm babbling on so. Must be a "Sugar high"!
P.S. The love scenes are smokin', too!
"Ain't She Sweet?" is about a spoiled, rich southern beauty returning to her home town out of necessity after years of being gone. As a young girl, Sugar Beth Carey had dispensed more than her share of snobbish attitude, thoughtless pranks, and even malicious acts to those surrounding her. But when she returns home a wiser and more sensitive woman, all of her old enemies are still there, just waiting for their pound of flesh from the woman they still see as self-centered and spoiled. Sugar Beth is willing to let them have a bit of deserved payback from her...but only to a point.
This author has a complex, intelligent style of writing, along with a wicked sense of humor. I laughed out loud at least a dozen times while reading this story. The verbal sparring of the main characters put me in mind of Kate and Petruchio from "Taming of the Shrew". When Sugar Beth's chief enemy, hunky Colin Byrne, installs chain across Sugar Beth's driveway, she responds by pushing her dog through the hedges to do his business in Colin's manicured yard. When Colin coerces Sugar into being his housekeeper and allows her to use only the back door in what was once her family home, she retaliates by using his Waterford crystal as a dog dish and generally makes Colin's life as difficult as she possibly can, knowing that he's enjoying his opportunity to humble her too much to fire her. As Colin and Sugar Beth cross swords in their battle of wills, their mutual resentments gradually transition into mutual respect and then into even deeper, more complicated and unsettling feelings.
The character development skills of this author are impressive. Possessing amazing insight into emotional relationships, she strikes resonant chords within my own emotional memories and touches me like no other author I've read. I felt I actually knew the people in the story and cared about what might happen to them. The characters all had depth and subtlety. Even the dog had a personality that made me like him! As the principle characters were fleshed out and their inner thoughts revealed, I found myself considering how often I might also share in their flaws such as misjudging the intentions of others. As much as I hate to do so (and get embarrassed when caught in the act), I shed more than a few tears over the heartaches of these fabricated people of Parrish, Mississippi. Ms. Phillips has quite a gift for sucking readers into her stories. Aside from the prerequisite happy ending, Ms. Phillip's plots are unpredictable, and can include some jaw-dropping surprises.
Being a long-time Mississippi resident, I can say that this author, despite being a Yankee, bless her heart, truly nailed the ambiance of living in the Deep South, where this particular tale takes place. I'm going to go find my "Coca-Cola Cake" recipe now, and give a call to my Aunt Nellie Jo. (Yes, really, y'all.) I do declare that, yes, we really are proud of our state's famous writers, just as Ms. Phillips mentioned in her story. Some of our Mississippi Writers Guild members even do great impersonations of those renowned authors in presentations to school children and other interested parties. Ain't no lie! Ms. Phillip's other books have varied settings, but she certainly is no slouch when it comes to doing her research.
I've developed dark circles under my eyes now from sleep deprivation and it's all the fault of Susan Elizabeth Phillips. I kept looking for a place to stop and put her book down, but when I'd get to the end of a chapter, there would inevitably be some outrageous twist in the plot that would mercilessly hook me and drag me bleary-eyed right into the next chapter. I hope she feels guilty!
"Ain't She Sweet?" is the first book by this author that I have read, but SEP books have become an instant addiction. Susan Elizabeth Phillips has become my new favorite author. I've only had one other fave author in nearly 50 years (J.R.R. Tolkien - and a daughter named "Eowyn" as a result), so that's not a frivolous compliment. I'm on the fourth book now in less than two weeks and plan to read them all...and collect them to keep on my bookshelves to reread again. I'm babbling on so. Must be a "Sugar high"!
P.S. The love scenes are smokin', too!
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