AAR

[bijoux]

Avon is holding a vote on the cover and the first chapter is up on SEP's site.

[goldberry]

Thanks for the link. She's one of most frequently re-read authors.

Just sent the page directly to my Kindle using the InstaPaper bookmarklet. Reading it on my Kindle with my second cuppa on this beautiful day off!

[Leigh]

[bijoux]

First four chapters are up.

[jaime]

After reading those 4 chapters I do not want to buy this book. Was Lucy this stupid and unlikable in her previous appearance in a prior book? And as to the hero.....I know he's putting on a jerk act to get rid of Lucy - and who can blame him for that - but there is a line between a sexy arsehole and an outright creep. And IMO SEP steps over the line with "Panda". (What a stupid name!)

I did like two previous SEP heroines other readers found very un-rootable, but judging by these sample chapters - I am not enticed.

What do other people think?

[Karen Templeton]

I've been a huge fan of SEP for a long time, have most of her books in my (very limited) keeper shelves. And I understand her "thing" is to give her characters huuuuge growth arcs, especially the heroes. In fact, I've long said she's one of the few authors who can pull off turning a jerk into a hero, if the reader has enough patience to trust that she'll do just that.

The hero in DREAM A LITTLE DREAM (my first SEP 15 or so years ago) is a case in point. But as I recall by the third or fourth chapter we're made privy to *why* Gabe's being an a-hole, so we at least understand his bad attitude...and thus start rooting for the heroine to be his salvation, which she ultimately is.

However...I'm seven chapters in with CALL ME IRRESISTIBLE, and am having a lot of issues with many of the characters, especially Teddy Beaudine. I still want to trust that he'll be redeemed, but by this point I'd like to see at least a hint or two that he is redeemable, that there's a reason we should want to see him and the heroine get together.

As I said, I know SEP's schtick -- very well -- but I don't recall being quite this annoyed before. I don't expect characters (my own or another author's) to be flawless, but for the redemption theme to work for me I need to see/feel some indication of the character's underlying goodness, and the motivation for his/her flaws, fairly early on.

But that's just me.

Karen T.
www.karentempleton.com

[goldberry]

I didn't like chapter 4. One thing's for sure... I won't be buying it, especially with the cost of the eBook! Wonder how long it will take to get it from the brick and mortar library?

I've enjoyed almost all of her previous titles, but once an author turns me off, it's rare I read them again. I actually enjoy the couple of books that folks are so vocally negative about, but this may be the last of SEP's books I'll read. So many books, too little time.

[jaime]

[Karen Templeton]

[JudyZ6666]

[Karen Templeton]

In the interest of fairness...

I just finished CALL ME IRRESISTIBLE and was very glad I stuck with it, despite my initial doubts. I do think as romance readers (and writers!) we're conditioned to be impatient, to expect to have most of the questions answered, or at least addressed, early on. And I'm still not sure I wouldn't have preferred to see earlier hints -- and I do mean hints, not an all-out explanation -- of Ted's internal struggle. Then again, since I couldn't fault how the story played out otherwise, maybe not.

So. Another one for my keeper shelf.

Karen T.
www.karentempleton.com

[goldberry]

I must be a firm believer in 'forgive and forget' because I'd forgotten if it hadn't been for the familiar characters in CMI, I would've stopped reading SEP after WIDFL.

[Trish B]

[clutterconqueror]

I picked up The Great Escape at the library yesterday and read it straight through. I found it enjoyable and would give it a B.

Unlike AAR Reviewer Maggie, I bought Lucy's actions and motivations and I did not find her annoying. Actually, without giving away any spoilers, I thought her actions were plausible, especially given her history. Also, I was not bothered by Panda's name or the bumper stickers. Actually, I liked this hero, a lot. I can't say the same for the heroes in SEP's last three outings, whom I did not like at all. And since much of the discussion here has been about Call Me Irresistible, I would say that I never warmed up to Ted Beaudine. For me, he was just a cardboard cut out, couldn't understand what Meg saw in him and can completely understand why Lucy didn't go through with the wedding.

As for The Great Escape, I believe I'm understanding AAR Maggie to say she found an unsatisfying element to the relationship between Lucy and Panda, I agree. I would have liked to have seen a lot more interaction between them, especially at the beginning. Unfortunately, I felt I was missing something, as though I was being told instead of shown. The effect was that I didn't have the emotional tugging of heartstrings that I want in an "A" book. The only truly emotional moment, for me, had nothing to do with any of the romances.

I think it's interesting that AAR Maggie felt that The Great Escape evolved into a woman's fiction and became more enjoyable. I felt the same way about Natural Born Charmer. The relationship of the women and the theme of family responsibility in that book appealed to me much more than the romance. I felt at that time that I would not have been surprised at all if SEP's next book had been women's fiction.
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[clutterconqueror]

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