Natural Born Charmer by Susan Elizabeth Phillips

Hero: Dean Roubillard
Heroine: Blue Bailey
Grade: B++

Chicago Stars quarterback Dean Robillard is the luckiest man in the world. But life in the glory lane has started to pale, and Dean has set off on a trip to figure out what's gone wrong. When he hits a lonely stretch of Colorado highway, he spies something that will shake up his gilded life in ways he can't imagine. A young woman . . . dressed in a beaver suit.

Blue Bailey is on a mission. As for the beaver suit she's wearing . . . Is it her fault that life keeps throwing her curve balls? Witness the expensive black sports car pulling up next to her on the highway and the Greek god stepping out of it.

They're soon heading for his summer home, where their already complicated lives and inconvenient attraction to each other will become entangled with a charismatic but aging rock star; a beautiful, fifty-two-year-old woman trying to make peace with her rock and roll past; an eleven-year-old who desperately needs a family; and a bitter old woman who hates them all.

Natural Born Charmer . . . for anyone who's ever thought about leaving their old life in the dust.

Man but I really enjoyed this book.

Lots of spoilers in my reviews (like you didn't know that) so here's your warning, didn't read the book? Skip this and come back when you read the book...but this is your review (the non NBC readers) THIS BOOK IS REALLY GOOD, GET IT AND READ IT FOR SOME GREAT LAUGHS, A CUTE LOVE STORY AND FANTASTIC SECONDARY CHARACTERS, SEP REALLY SHINES WITH THIS BOOK...

Now, onto the spoiler ridden review for those of us who enjoyed the book...very much.
It was one of those books that I wasn't expecting to like and ended up really liking anyway. The one where you don't think it will hold a candle to the previous book and yet it stood well on it's own without the added bonuses of old characters that you love and can't get enough of.

This book did a great job dragging me in and keeping my attention until the book was done. Susan Elizabeth Phillips weaves a story that made me smile long after I put the book down. It's one of those stories that had just the right amount of sarcastic wit, sparkling characters and that small town charm. SEP did an extraordinary job of Dean's story. I was a bit bummed when I learned that though Annabelle and Heath played little parts in this book, they weren't in a huge bulk of the story, there was only passing remarks on Phoebe and Kevin (LOVE HIM!) but none of that mattered because I met some wonderful new characters that I just loved to death.

This is the same kind of story, studly football star hero and not so great looking but has potential heroine, thrown together for a wild ride. Dean and Blue are no different from the other story but SEP does a great job of giving Dean and Blue their own twist on the same storyline, I didn't mind it one bit. I really enjoyed SEP's wit and her characters.

Dean was the perfect bonehead hero that had me laughing out loud more times than I can count. I loved his sarcastic sense of humor, his Godly looks and his indifference to everyone but Blue. I loved the wall he tried to form around himself concerning his parents. I loved it even more when he manned up where Riley was concerned, because though he didn't want to, he knew that he had to because she was..family. The family he always wanted. For better or for worst, I just loved Dean through his thick headed stubborn self and I loved him even when he was a big time dick, he was just so effing great.

Blue on the other hand was just as fantastic as Dean, in her I don't know how to dress myself, hide my feminine side and sharp wit. Her sassy mouth totally worked for her. I loved her personality, her no bullshit attitude and just everything about her....well except her sense of fashion. That needed a great deal of help and I cheered when she finally got it right. And can I just say that I LOVE the dress on the cover of the book? Is that not the cutest dress? I think so....but anyway, I enjoyed Blue's character and I enjoyed the things she brought to the story, she was a fantastic heroine.

I loved the way Blue and Dean met and how taken with her drama that Dean was. I loved how Dean tells Blue that he's gay and then later shows her how much...he's not. That was a riot and Blue's parting remarks to Dean at their wedding..had me crackin' the hell up, if you want to read the remark, you'll have to read the book (since I don't have the book with me, hehe)

I fell right in love with April Roubillard and Jack Patriot, not to mention Nita Garrison and little Riley Patriot. I loved the journey to being a real family these guys had to go through in order to get it right and when they finally had what they were looking for, it was just great to see. I was glad that Dean came around and things worked out for them in the end. It was oodles of fun.

This was a great book, a great storyline and filled with great characters, a definite read!