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3.75 AVERAGE
3.75 AVERAGE
4 stars
I am shocked I liked this book as much as I did. It started out super iffy, but I soldiered through because usually SEP can suck me in. And she did, just not in the way I was thinking it would happen.
The main thing I would like to point out is that this was originally published in 1997... AND YOU CAN DEFINITELY TELL. It is teaming with problematic shit, the chief one being um, hello, baby trapping?! In Jane's defense, she didn't want to actually baby trap him - she had no interest in his money or really him at all- but still, Jesus Christ, that's very uncool. That being said, I was 13 in 1997, so I fully knew what to expect and I was able to look past it for the sake of fiction. (I also recognize that with a prolific author such as Phillips, there might be some weird plotlines solely for the sake of originality, and I respect that enough to ignore what I don't love).
SEP can certainly weave a plot around a beautiful setting, that's for sure. I always feel like I am in a different, independent world when I read her stories and they usually hit the spot for that reason. Still, though, neither Jane nor Cal were all that likeable. Jane had this single-minded focus on having a baby that I simply can't relate to, and her ends-justify-the-means attitude grated. But at the same time, Cal refused to take responsibility for his part either. Then you add his attraction to barely legal women and, well, I just didn't feel all that bad for him. Sure, I was glad they eventually fell in love, but mostly I was interested in everyone around them, mainly Cal's family. Man, I cried like a baby over Cal's parents. I'm not entirely sure why, either, but I was a mess. And if a book makes me that emotional, it's at the very least a 4-star book.
I'll definitely continue with this series as they come up available at the library because while they aren't lifechanging, they all have been comfort reads that just hit the spot.
I am shocked I liked this book as much as I did. It started out super iffy, but I soldiered through because usually SEP can suck me in. And she did, just not in the way I was thinking it would happen.
The main thing I would like to point out is that this was originally published in 1997... AND YOU CAN DEFINITELY TELL. It is teaming with problematic shit, the chief one being um, hello, baby trapping?! In Jane's defense, she didn't want to actually baby trap him - she had no interest in his money or really him at all- but still, Jesus Christ, that's very uncool. That being said, I was 13 in 1997, so I fully knew what to expect and I was able to look past it for the sake of fiction. (I also recognize that with a prolific author such as Phillips, there might be some weird plotlines solely for the sake of originality, and I respect that enough to ignore what I don't love).
SEP can certainly weave a plot around a beautiful setting, that's for sure. I always feel like I am in a different, independent world when I read her stories and they usually hit the spot for that reason. Still, though, neither Jane nor Cal were all that likeable. Jane had this single-minded focus on having a baby that I simply can't relate to, and her ends-justify-the-means attitude grated. But at the same time, Cal refused to take responsibility for his part either. Then you add his attraction to barely legal women and, well, I just didn't feel all that bad for him. Sure, I was glad they eventually fell in love, but mostly I was interested in everyone around them, mainly Cal's family. Man, I cried like a baby over Cal's parents. I'm not entirely sure why, either, but I was a mess. And if a book makes me that emotional, it's at the very least a 4-star book.
I'll definitely continue with this series as they come up available at the library because while they aren't lifechanging, they all have been comfort reads that just hit the spot.
Only the funny moments are the mere reason I'm even rating this two stars. Without them, I would've just settled for one star.
The only good part of this book was the ending, otherwise I mainly read this for shits and giggles.
emotional
funny
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Everything about this book was so f*cking stupid. Stupid Plot. Stupid and unlikeable characters. Just plain stupid. The woman belongs in jail and the man needs to get injured and off the damn team and in jail right along with her. Her, for basically forcefully getting his child and him for his obsession with younger girls. I had to stop 25% into it because i was left out of fucks to give. The end.
DNF
The synopsis does not give a good description of the plot. His friends are annoyed that he hasn’t been sleeping with people so they buy him a hooker and get him drunk. Meanwhile she’s not actually a hooker and is just lying in order for him to impregnate her because she thinks he’s stupid and she wants a dumb father for her child. The basis of their relationship would be sexual assault because she freaking tampered with the condom and then you’re gonna try to convince me they fall in love?!? WHAT KIND OF PLOT IS THAT?!?
The synopsis does not give a good description of the plot. His friends are annoyed that he hasn’t been sleeping with people so they buy him a hooker and get him drunk. Meanwhile she’s not actually a hooker and is just lying in order for him to impregnate her because she thinks he’s stupid and she wants a dumb father for her child. The basis of their relationship would be sexual assault because she freaking tampered with the condom and then you’re gonna try to convince me they fall in love?!? WHAT KIND OF PLOT IS THAT?!?
It ended up being better than I thought it would be at the beginning, but this book really didn't do it for me. Maybe the Big Bang Theory ruined me for stories about physicists, but there didn't seem to be much interesting about Jane. There were a few laugh out loud moments though.
The beginning was 5 stars. Act One was my favorite part. The rest was good, but not as good, so I’m giving this a 4-4.5 stars ⭐️.
I was super invested in Jane’s want for a child, and I was sympathetic towards it. I was rooting for her to succeed even though she was morally wrong. When she got caught I was genuinely so nervous for her, it was great. I wasn’t expecting the story to go where it went! I think it was good that I didn’t have particular high expectations for this, because they were exceeded tremendously.
Also Cal is hot. Ugh. Love him. He’s kind of the worst, but in the best way.
All the stuff with the parents was cool, but I wasn’t super invested in them, so whenever it would cut to their perspective, I would check out a little. And also, I didn’t love how many POV’s there are. I’m already a little weird about dual POV’s (I prefer singular) but in this, we have Jane, Cal, Lynn, the dad who I’m forgetting his name, and Jodie who is in the beginning of the story and never shows up again! She does something off screen at the end, but other than that, she’s gone after she tells Cal about the baby plan. Didn’t love that. But to be fair, I didn’t really care or notice until like the very end, so it’s not a huge deal. I still had a good time with this one.
I was super invested in Jane’s want for a child, and I was sympathetic towards it. I was rooting for her to succeed even though she was morally wrong. When she got caught I was genuinely so nervous for her, it was great. I wasn’t expecting the story to go where it went! I think it was good that I didn’t have particular high expectations for this, because they were exceeded tremendously.
Also Cal is hot. Ugh. Love him. He’s kind of the worst, but in the best way.
All the stuff with the parents was cool, but I wasn’t super invested in them, so whenever it would cut to their perspective, I would check out a little. And also, I didn’t love how many POV’s there are. I’m already a little weird about dual POV’s (I prefer singular) but in this, we have Jane, Cal, Lynn, the dad who I’m forgetting his name, and Jodie who is in the beginning of the story and never shows up again! She does something off screen at the end, but other than that, she’s gone after she tells Cal about the baby plan. Didn’t love that. But to be fair, I didn’t really care or notice until like the very end, so it’s not a huge deal. I still had a good time with this one.
There is a datedness to the male/female dynamics that reveals it was written in the early 90's but still a terrific romance with a strong couple at its center.
I've put off reading SEP for a long time. So many romance lovers love her writing, and many tout this book as her best. But her plot lines sounded so old-skool, and her heroes (all football players in this series) sounded too alpha. But I gave this one a try, hoping that it was more my own stereotypes about jocks, not SEP's stories, that were the problem. Alas, at least for this book, that wasn't the case at all. A premise that could have been fun, but the heroine is so sappy at the start of the novel that I couldn't take any pleasure from her bad-girl act. And the romance consists mostly of the hero and heroine yelling at one another, another personal turn-off. Personally I found little appealing about the hero, and had a hard time understanding what the heroine admired about him.
Since this one was written 15 years ago, perhaps I'll try a more recent SEP before giving her up completely.
Since this one was written 15 years ago, perhaps I'll try a more recent SEP before giving her up completely.