Ain't She Sweet?

This is one of the most enjoyable books I’ve read all year. You’ll love it!!!

The greatest thing about this book is that it had a story and a plot, a backbone that had romance as a definite theme, but did not rely merely on that romance to create a good story. Sugar Beth Carey was one of those queen bee popular girls in high school, the cliched, beautiful brat that made some poor soul's life a living hell. But Phillips does a wonderful job writing her as a woman in her thirties, reflecting back on her youth and trying to grow up. Several surprises unfold along with the story: her relationship with the girl she traumatized through high school, the teacher she got fired, her past marriage. The story is full of great dialogue and wit, as well as a very strong and believable romance. This book is among the best for modern day romances. The cookie cutter love-turns-to-hate romance is well written and not cookie cutter at all. The characters are believable and you feel for each of them. And the happily ever after makes everything worthwhile.

Thrice married Sugar Beth Carey was once the town golden girl of Parrish, Mississippi, but all her past misdeeds have caught up with her as she returns to her hometown for the first time in 15 years, in the role of town pariah. Disinherited by the father whose love she always sought but never achieved, she returns to collect an inheritance from her aunt. Instead of the family estate, she's relegated to the carriage house where she searches for a hidden valuable work of art. Just about everyone in town is looking forward to her return to even old scores. No one is happier to see her squirm than her former teacher, Colin. Fifteen years earlier, Sugar Beth accused Colin of making a pass at her in order to deflect blame for an embarrassing incident she instigated against her arch nemesis, Winnie Davis. Colin, now a successful writer, resides in her former estate. With no one willing to give her a job, she's stuck working as Colin's maid (which makes for some of the most humorous passages in the novel, particularly when she calls him a prissy Brit and questions his sexuality), and in a turn of events, it's Winnie who is the belle of the town. While Colin entertains revenge fantasies as payback, she disappoints him by rising above it all and swallowing her pride, thereby taking the joy from him. Colin finds himself smitten with this new Sugar Beth, and her former home town finally realizes that she actually may have grown up and deserves to be forgiven for her past sins. SEP cannot be beaten in creating endearing, flawed, and charismatic characters. Her realistic dialogue and gift for plotting make her a standout among her peers. She left the comfort zone of her Chicago Stars series, and yet has created endearing characters that for the most part, you'd want to know. I never expected to like this book as much as I did, which makes it all the more refreshing. I found it to be captivating and was glued to the final page.

This book was given to me for review and my first reaction was, "Not my kind of book!" The book's opening didn't help: -- a disheveled down-and-out southern woman returns to her hometown, driving a beat-up old car, accompanied by her late husband's only legacy: a basset hound she loves to hate.But after a few pages, I began to care about the story line. Why did Sugar Beth dread returning home? Why did so man people hate her so much? And how can we care about a heroine who's done such despicable things in the past? This book is a model of a book that's a crossover between romance and women's fiction. The author takes us to the edge of the cliff with a worst case scenario. Sugar Beth, high school prom queen, the girl everybody envied, has become a woman who's lost everything. Meanwhile, Sugar Beth's former victims have all grown up and become wildly successful. They vividly remember Sugar Beth and they're perfectly positioned to take revenge.So why doesn't Sugar Beth just go to, say, Los Angeles and get an anonymous job? Turns out she needs to find a painting she inherited. She can sell this unique art work for millions of dollars. And while she hunts for this painting, she needs a job. And who has the power to give her a job? You guessed it: Those she once scorned. In one climactic scene, Sugar Beth is pitted against these vengeful people and she's in a one-down position. She's backed into a corner. But Sugar Beth rises to the challenge. She handles herself with dignity and we soon learn her secret reasons for needing the money from the sale of the painting. She's different yet she's held on to the strongest parts of herself. She triumphs by her own grit and we're mostly satisfied with the ending.The big romance between the two main characters follows conventions of the genre. If you can't figure out who will get together with whom, you haven't read enough, although author Philips throws in enough quirks to keep the romance line from being too trite. Underneath the main story, the author raises intriguing questions that could keep a book club going for hours. Are we the same people we were ten years ago? Fifteen years ago? Should we be held accountable for dumb things we did when we were seventeen? And should people pay for those mistakes for the rest of their lives?

I'm a big SEP fan because she writes funny, quirky characters who aren't your run-of-the-mill romance novel characters and she writes the absolute best dialogue I've ever read.This book is phenomenal. I could not put it down. Some parts had me laughing out loud and others just made me want to cry. Sugar Beth was a spiteful, mean-spirited girl in her youth, most especially to Winnie, but SEP delves so deeply into Sugar Beth's psyche that you understand why she acted the way she did. Her motivations are very clear. The Sugar Beth we meet at the beginning of the book has grown up and taken her fair share of lumps and she ends up taking several more before the book is through. But she doesn't let any of it break her spirit.I'm a sucker for a heroine who's a wise ass and a hero who can throw it right back at her and that's Sugar Beth and Colin. They are just so funny together, yet touching at the same time. The kind hero and heroine that stay with you long after you've finished reading the book.This is a wonderful story. I wish I could have given it more stars.

This book has great female characters--especially Sugar Beth, Winnie, and Gigi--and a wonderful sense of community. Top that off with a trademark SEP romance and it's just flat-out fun. She gets extra points with me for trying a very different kind of heroine and pulling it off beautifully. Susan truly is the queen of romantic comedy.(Note: I posted a review of this two weeks ago and it still hasn't appeared so I'm trying it again. If two reviews from me show up, it's not because I'm padding Susan's rating, it's because the other one wandered around in the ether for awhile, although this book is worth ten stars, so it's all good.)