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3.9 AVERAGE
3.9 AVERAGE
Scene 1: “You’re such a wuss.”
He cocked an eyebrow. “I like to think I have a certain female sensibility.”
“I’ll bet you wear lace panties”
Scene 2: “I’ve never wanted to do violence to a woman, but we’re either going to make love or I’m going to beat you.”
Pathetic and Boring, forced myself to didn’t read it. Wanted to dnf so bad. I didn’t enjoy it. Without casual sexism, misogyny and chauvinism; it still wasn’t worth a read. I felt bored through and through.
He cocked an eyebrow. “I like to think I have a certain female sensibility.”
“I’ll bet you wear lace panties”
Scene 2: “I’ve never wanted to do violence to a woman, but we’re either going to make love or I’m going to beat you.”
Pathetic and Boring, forced myself to didn’t read it. Wanted to dnf so bad. I didn’t enjoy it. Without casual sexism, misogyny and chauvinism; it still wasn’t worth a read. I felt bored through and through.
emotional
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I've read two other Susan Elizabeth Phillips novels before this one, and I didn't really get the hype. They were just okay. First Lady had an inventive plot line but didn't stick with me, and Kiss An Angel was just... strange (the heroine had a psychic connection to a carnival tiger).
But Ain't She Sweet? has definitely opened my eyes to what a good author Susan Elizabeth Phillips is. I devoured this novel in one day.
I know most people hate the heroine in this novel, but there must be something wrong with me because I find her absolutely amazing. Her personality carries this whole book. My heart hurt reading about her distressing childhood. Even though she made some terrible mistakes in this book, I still found her to be incredibly sympathetic.
And this novel has so much tension. I could barely get through the dinner scene. Or the scene with Sugar and her father. It really affected me and the writing was amazing.
I also loved the way the hero fell for the heroine, his slow unraveling of who she really was under her cold and witty exterior. Their banter was fantastic. The ending was a little iffy for me, though. Everything was tied up too neatly and I don't usually like that.
There were such complex emotional relationships between the characters, especially Winnie and Sugar, that I feel in real life it would never have been resolved that quickly. They both traumatized each other as children. Them being best friends at the end of the novel was too much, too fast.
Other than that, I loved this. Another romantic comedy author I actually like. I'm so surprised.
But Ain't She Sweet? has definitely opened my eyes to what a good author Susan Elizabeth Phillips is. I devoured this novel in one day.
I know most people hate the heroine in this novel, but there must be something wrong with me because I find her absolutely amazing. Her personality carries this whole book. My heart hurt reading about her distressing childhood. Even though she made some terrible mistakes in this book, I still found her to be incredibly sympathetic.
And this novel has so much tension. I could barely get through the dinner scene. Or the scene with Sugar and her father. It really affected me and the writing was amazing.
I also loved the way the hero fell for the heroine, his slow unraveling of who she really was under her cold and witty exterior. Their banter was fantastic. The ending was a little iffy for me, though. Everything was tied up too neatly and I don't usually like that.
There were such complex emotional relationships between the characters, especially Winnie and Sugar, that I feel in real life it would never have been resolved that quickly. They both traumatized each other as children. Them being best friends at the end of the novel was too much, too fast.
Other than that, I loved this. Another romantic comedy author I actually like. I'm so surprised.
emotional
funny
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Sugar Beth returns to her small town, widowed and broke. Unfortunately, in high school she was the “meal girl” and the townsfolk have a long memory.
I felt the romance wasn’t really flushed out fully between these two - although they had good banter, and seemed to really understand each other - it was an abrupt switch from enemies to “I love them.” I do always like a buttoned up, sarcastic MMC, tho.
However, this was a really interesting read as a character study. I was fully into the bully who returns to town as a changed woman but everyone in the town is still stuck in the past so they treat her poorly and are all quite horrible. haha. She had a great redemption arc and, despite hearing the terrible things she did as a teenager, I was fully on her side and really really liked her as a still flawed but genuine fmc. SEP did a great job of making me upset by how mean/immature/closeminded all the adults were being.
SEP is a great writer, this is no exception, and built a great cast for some classic small town shenanigans and it was all very clever.
SEP is a great writer, this is no exception, and built a great cast for some classic small town shenanigans and it was all very clever.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying
Moderate: Sexual content
Almost perfect! I just wasn't very interested in Ryan and Winnie's story. I haven't ever been all to interested in the ugly duckling gets the man of her childhood dream type of story, and this one was no exception. Sugar Beth and Colin on the underhand, are so interesting to read about. They had me laughing and tearing up so many different times, that I''d definitely reread this story for them.
emotional
funny
reflective
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Genre
Fiction (Romance)
Synopsis
Sugar Beth has to return to Parrish, Mississippi. A place where she ruled the high school and had everything she wanted. But it's not her world anymore, it's the world of her enemy. The plan to get-in, get-what-she-needs, and get-out keeps getting interrupted with memories and people from her past. Has Sugar Beth changed, or is being in Parrish enough to bring her crawling back to bad habits?
Why You Should Read it?
As is pretty common with romance, the characters are completely lovable and relate-able.
What Can You Learn From the Author's Writing?
Dialogue. Her sharp tongued duo (Colin and Sugar Beth) were simply fun to read.
Overall Rating
3 smiles
Fiction (Romance)
Synopsis
Sugar Beth has to return to Parrish, Mississippi. A place where she ruled the high school and had everything she wanted. But it's not her world anymore, it's the world of her enemy. The plan to get-in, get-what-she-needs, and get-out keeps getting interrupted with memories and people from her past. Has Sugar Beth changed, or is being in Parrish enough to bring her crawling back to bad habits?
Why You Should Read it?
As is pretty common with romance, the characters are completely lovable and relate-able.
What Can You Learn From the Author's Writing?
Dialogue. Her sharp tongued duo (Colin and Sugar Beth) were simply fun to read.
Overall Rating
3 smiles
This was one of those books that once I started reading I couldn’t put down. I really loved the whole story and also the characters. It was funny, sexy and touching at the same time. After reading this I will surely check out Susan Elizabeth Phillips’ other books.
Thanks to Aly for recommending this to me.
Thanks to Aly for recommending this to me.