Disappointments

I finally broke down and bought the reprint of Susan Elizabeth Phillips' Glitter Baby - I say broke down, because I really don't like her "Hollywood" novels. I love, love, love her romances in which the hero is a football player, golfer, or sports agent, but not so much Honey Moon, Glitter Baby, and What I Did for Love. Glitter Baby is the story of Fleur Savagar (short for Savagarin - really? They dropped all of two letters. Couldn't they have gone with Savage) and Jake Koranda. Fleur's story is roughly based on Brooke Shields and maybe a little Candice Bergen thrown in there. It begins appropriately enough with with her mother - she slept with Errol Flynn and voila, Fleur. It goes through all the requisite steps - abandoned in a convent, pushy stage mom, beautiful but doesn't know it, falls in love with vet with PTSD, evil dad tries to sleep with her - and may I say ick about that last one. There's all kinds of Danielle Steelesque glamor - great clothes, exotic locations, pretty people, etc. My problem with the book is I don't like any of the main or for that matter, secondary characters. They all come across as either stupid or evil or self-involved. No one is witty either - that's usually a hallmark of SEP's work - lots of funny banter which is definitely wanting here. That was exactly the problem with What I Did for Love - SEP's latest which came out last summer or fall. I was so excited when I found out she was publishing a new book, then very leery when I realized it was about television/movie stars. I didn't like either of the protaganists in WIDFL either. There was some catchy banter, but it was all very mean-spirited. This one had Brangelina/Jennifer Anniston plot points which really grated for some reason. I'm not sure where SEP is headed next but I hope and pray it's somewhere sports related. I mean she hasn't done hockey or baseball or basketball yet!

My second disappointment was the latest Julia London book, Extreme Bachelor. Once I started reading I realized it was next in a series about a bunch of ex-CIA/ stuntmen who start a company that specializes in extreme sport vacations. Then I realized I had read the first one and didn't like it. Unfortunately, I didn't like this one any better - particularly the hero who's name I have erased from the memory banks. He's basically a jerk who realizes he dumped his one "twu luv" and wants to get back with her, but continues to flirt and date and carry on until he inadvertently ends up on a movie with her. I didn't even finish it - I got so tired of all the contrived plotting and icky people. With two misses in a row, I hope I get a good one next time out.