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Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Audible Book Review and Print Giveaway: Fancy Pants by Susan Elizabeth Phillips

What wonderfully rich characters and emotional tales Susan Elizabeth Phillips creates!



Fancy Pants 
 Genre: Contemporary Romance
          My Rating: 4.0 of 5.0


For Francesca Day, it's not the end of her world, but close to it. She's London-bred, wealthy, and sophisticated, but fate leaves her flat broke and stranded on a back road in Texas. Now she's got to deal with reality without her rich girl props. How can she do it? In Dallas Beaudine, gritty and handsome, lies the answer. He stops his car to help Francesca, whose life needs a tune-up, as well as her car. Stopping could lead to the biggest mistake, or best time, ever.

Review: This story has more than one romance and is emotionally stirring.

We meet Francesca at a “present” time (1990) and then flash back to her spoiled rich-girl childhood traipsing the world with her socialite mother. Beautiful Francesca has watched her mother charm men all her life. She has never had to work or worry about money. Then she is left bereft and impoverished at the age of 21.  Francesca discovers that she is too short to be a model and her personality is too snobbish and aristocratic to help her find employment readily.

Francesca is talked into taking a small acting part in a film that lands her outside of Gulfport, Mississippi. When she stalks off the set and ends on an empty road she is lucky to get picked up by Texan charmer, Dallie Beaudine.

Dallie is the most gorgeous man Francesca has ever met and Francesca can’t seem to impress him with her own looks. As a 25 year old, carefree golfer, Dallie and his side-kick caddy, Skeet, travel from tournament to tournament.  He does okay on minor courses but hasn’t been able to win in the major tournaments. Dallie had no idea how much trouble he was getting when he stopped to pick up a stray, crazy, British, spoiled “fancy pants”. Their personalities clash yet they are drawn to each other.

Just when Francesca thinks things are going to work out between Dallie and her, she learns a devastating fact that sends her on the run again.  But little Francesca has grit. She fights to survive and to make a life for the baby that she finds is on the way.  Sparks fly (again) when Dallie meets Francesca’s son, Teddy, nine years later.

Francesca gets an unexpected friend in Holly Grace and the book tells Holly Grace’s story too: her young friendship with Dallie, her continuing friendship with Francesca and her rocky romance as she feels her biological clock ticking down.

Although this is an older book, I enjoyed the setting as I was actively involved with the Honda Golf Classic during the 1970s and I recognized the famous golfers mentioned. I love the deep, full characters that SEP creates and their journeys to maturity and love.  The banter is good and the plot is full of drama. The sexual scenes are pretty forward considering this was written in 1989 but they are healthy and not vulgar.

I have listened many books by this author on Audible and love the narrator, Anna Fields. Unfortunately she is no longer living.  I am looking forward to listening to the latest story,  Call Me Irresistible: A Novel, which includes Teddy all grown up.
xxx

 Although I listened to this on Audible I had the book on my TBR.
TO ENTER THE GIVEAWAY FOR MY COPY OF the 1989 Paperback:

1. Visit the author's website and tell me something of interest that you find there. Please leave your e-mail!

2.   For an extra entry tell me if you have read this author and what you think about her books.  If you have already read this book tell me about it and if you win this giveaway you may pick from the review or ARC books and I'll award this book to another winner.

3. For an extra entry, become a follower or tell me if you are already a follower.

4. For two extra entries, blog, facebook, tweet (any of those networks!) about this giveaway and tell me where you did.

(Five total entries possible.)
It isn't necessary to use separate entries unless you want them in different chronological order.

* This contest is open US and Canada only.
* No P.O. Boxes Please - for shipping reasons.
* This contest will close 10:00 PM (Central) on May 27, 2011.
The winner will be randomly selected from all entries.

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