I'm a huge fan of Susan Elizabeth Phillips but it took me three attempts to get past the first chapter of Ain't She Sweet. The heroine is not instantly likeable although it was obvious she was going to make an impact. I think perhaps it was the realisation of just how much she was going to have to go through to make it to her hea that held me back.
Last week, celebrating the acceptance of my own latest book, I finally sat down with Ain't She Sweet and read it in two huge gulps. The heroine, Sugar, who had been Home Coming queen and leader of her generation at school, had tormented - horribly - a girl unable to fight back, ruined the career of her English teacher and dumped her sweetheart to run off with a football player. Broke, desperate, and with three marriages behind her she returns home in search of painting that may or may not exist, that will restore her fortune. The English teacher -- a wonderful English hero called Colin -- now owns her family home and the girl whose life she spent her childhood ruining, is now the town's leading light -- oh, and she married Sugar's sweetheart.
Sugar is put through every shade of indignity and humiliation by the people she hurt. She's forced to work as Colin's housekeeper, serve the women she humiliated and let down, work for the daughter of her mother's black housekeeper. But she's a trooper and her courage reduces Colin admiration.
But this story isn't just about Sugar's redemption. A lot of people find their way in this book and the scene with the water sprinkler had me screaming with laughter.
Loved it, loved it, loved it!
WEDDED IN A WHIRLWIND
"...remarkable emotional honesty. Truly a keeper." Romantic Times 4.5
http://www.lizfielding.com
http://lizfielding.blogspot.com
H'm, the plot sounds...
...really interesting and unique, Liz. I can just imagine the h's humiliation of having to return where she'd done so much destructive damage in the past. I live in a small town where everyone knows each other's successes and failures, ups and downs, so it's not hard to imagine the possibilites in such a storyline. Oh, and I like that name, too - Sugar (as in sweet). It sounds like a bit of an irony considering her past escapades.
I'll be sure to look this book up.
"Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see."
- Mark Twain
Good job, Liz...
This is a really good review. I recently read this also. It was so different as Sugar was not easy to like in the beginning. What a trooper she was. I really love SEP books. Natural Born Charmer is on its way to me, can't wait to read it as I have read all the other Chicago Star books.
Enjoy your weekend.
Take care, happy reading,
Donna M, Dream Team member
Loved it too!
Who else but SEP could turn Sugar Beth into a heroine? And I loved how Colin put me in mind of a Regency hero...or perhaps that was because of the Georgette Heyer quotes which set the tone/theme of each chapter. Purely wonderful, and one of my all-time favourite books.
Bron
Bronwyn Jameson:
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It's a tour de force, Amanda!
I loved Colin, too, Bron. Flamoyant in that Regency Dandy way, but tough as old boots under the finery.
I've read all but one I think of the Chicago Stars books, Donna This Heart of Mine is my fav. Natural Born Charmer has a terrific opening scene!
I've got Fancy Pants and Lady Be Good stacked on my night table as a treat.
WEDDED IN A WHIRLWIND
"...remarkable emotional honesty. Truly a keeper." Romantic Times 4.5
http://www.lizfielding.com
http://lizfielding.blogspot.com