[BOOK REVIEW] Heaven, Texas by Susan Elizabeth Phillips

Title:  Heaven, Texas

Author: Susan Elizabeth Phillips

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Year Published:1995

Number of Pages: 371 pages

Date Read: 8/18/2013

Series: Chicago Stars #2   

Publisher: Avon

Source:  Library

Content Rating:  Ages 18+ (Strong Language and Sex Scenes)

Buy on:  Amazon  //  Book Depository

After reading “It Had to Be You,” I was definitely interested in checking out the rest of Susan Elizabeth Phillips’ fantastic “Chicago Stars” series!  Lo and behold, I managed to pick up the second book in the “Chicago Stars” series, “Heaven Texas” and I loved it!

Bobby Tom Denton was once a legendary football player for the Chicago Stars until a knee injury cost him his career!  Even though Bobby Tom is no longer playing football, he is still well-loved by the people of Texas.  However, Bobby Tom’s life changes forever when plain wallflower Gracie Snow comes by to bring him back to his hometown Heaven, Texas to begin shooting his movie and yet, Bobby Tom just cannot understand Gracie Snow’s proper and prim ways.  But then, after Bobby Tom gives Gracie a makeover and they spend quality time with each other, both Bobby Tom and Gracie will soon realize the importance of true love (but not without some struggles along the way)!

Susan Elizabeth Phillips has done it again with her stellar writing about the next character in the “Chicago Stars” series, Bobby Tom Denton!  I loved the way that Susan Elizabeth Phillips wrote this story as the story is truly intense and yet heartwarming at the same time!  I loved the cute little bantering between Bobby Tom Denton and Gracie Snow as it is so humorous to listen to them bickering with each other, while clearly showing how much they really care about each other.  I also loved the sexual scenes between Bobby Tom and Gracie as I was clearly fanning myself with anticipation at these steamy scenes between these two unlikely lovers!  But, probably the best part about this book were the characters themselves as they all brought something unique and charming to the story!  I can proudly say that Bobby Tom Denton is on the list of my top favorite contemporary romance heroes as he is cocky, but also has a pure heart on the inside.  It was pretty emotional for me to see Bobby Tom struggle with trying to figure out the true meaning of love while dealing with not being able to play football again due to his injured knee and I was definitely hoping to see Bobby Tom actually try to figure out the true meaning of love.  Also, just reading about Bobby Tom having a muscular physique really made me giddy with anticipation!  Gracie Snow was a truly amazing heroine as she went from being a plain wallflower to being a spunky and gorgeous woman!  I loved the fact that Gracie is never afraid to speak her mind and that she tries so hard to make Bobby Tom see what true love really is.  It is the fact that Gracie is such a determined and optimistic woman that made me fall in love with her character!  I also loved the romance between Suzy Denton (Bobby Tom’s mother) and Way Sawyer (the town’s most feared businessman) as it serves to be a side story to Bobby Tom and Gracie’s romance story and I loved the way that Suzy and Way’s romance with each other sort of serves as an inspiration for Bobby Tom and Gracie’s relationship with each other.

For anyone who does not like strong language and sex scenes, this novel has some graphic sex scenes that anyone could skim over if they are offended by them.  Also, this novel has some strong language like the “f” word and the “s” word being uttered a dozen times throughout the book.

Overall, “Heaven, Texas” is a fantastic novel from Susan Elizabeth Phillips’ famous “Chicago Stars” series and anyone who is a huge fan of Susan Elizabeth Phillips’ works or just loves contemporary romance novels in general, will definitely enjoy this novel!

[BOOK REVIEW] It Had to Be You by Susan Elizabeth Phillips

Title:  It Had to Be You

Author:  Susan Elizabeth Phillips

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Year Published: 1994

Number of Pages: 376 pages

Date Read: 11/9/2011

Series: Chicago Stars #1  

Publisher: Avon

Source:  Library

Content Rating:  Ages 18+ (Strong Language and Sex Scenes)

Buy on:  Amazon  //  Book Depository 

To be honest, I have always been a huge fan of historical romance since it takes me to a time that is so completely different from the current times.  However, after reading this little gem of a romance novel, I started to gain interest in the world of contemporary romance.  “It Had To Be You” was the first romance novel I have read from author Susan Elizabeth Phillips and after I had read this book, I am definitely looking forward to reading more of her wonderful books! “It Had To Be You” is full of hot, sizzling romance, pure football fun and drama that will set any romance fans’ heads spinning!

When Bert Somerville, the owner of the prized football team, the Chicago Stars, dies he left in his will that his estranged daughter, Phoebe Somerville, will inherit the football team after his death.  Unfortunately, since Phoebe and her father never got along, there is a condition that Phoebe must follow in order to be successful in inheriting the football team.  If the Chicago Stars are able to make it to the AFC Championships, then Phoebe will be able to inherit the football team and earn one thousand dollars, but if the team fails to win, then Phoebe’s cruel cousin, Reed Chandler, will inherit the football team.  Things get more complicated when Phoebe meets the head football coach, Dan Calebow and at first sight, the two of them never got along.  However, Phoebe and Dan will soon discover how true love can work in mysterious ways…especially on the football field!

Alright, so now that you saw the cover of this book (a blown up photo of a woman’s chest) you are probably thinking that this book would turn out to be too kinky for anyone’s taste in romance novels.  NO, that is not so!  Susan Elizabeth Phillips has not only written a romance novel full of hot and sizzling love scenes, but she wrote a romance novel that is full of drama and love!  Susan Elizabeth Phillips made the characters come to life in this novel, especially Phoebe Somerville and Dan Calebow!  Let me just say that I just love Phoebe Somerville to death! Not only is Phoebe truly attractive to the boys, but she is extremely independent and I loved the way that she handles the football team with so much confidence, despite the fact that she does not know anything about football.  I also loved the fact that Phoebe is always so determined to do everything right, no matter how hard the task is and I loved her relationship with her younger half-sister Molly and her attempts to make Molly see her as a good person, which truly makes Phoebe into such a caring heroine.  It was also heartbreaking in hearing about Phoebe’s childhood and how she was raped at such a young age.  I truly felt for her character when she experienced that horrible event and it was understandable why she would not let Dan near her in the first place.  Now onto the good part and that’s the all handsome and all muscle hero, Dan Calebow!  Dan Calebow is clearly one of my favorite romance heroes of all time because even though he has a terrible temper, he can be so caring and funny towards Phoebe and his dedication to football is truly inspiring in his nature.  Also, his dream of marrying a woman who loves children and wants to start a family with him, is just so sweet and dreamy!  I just love men who are so caring about having a family of their own to take care of!  And do not forget the love scenes between Phoebe and Dan! They are truly smoking and romance fans everywhere will definitely be fanning themselves once they read through these love scenes between Dan and Phoebe!

For those of you who do not like strong language and strong sex scenes, this novel has a lot of strong language and the sex scenes might be too explicit, so it would be best to skip over these scenes if it becomes too problematic.

Overall, “It Had To Be You” is easily one of the best contemporary romances ever written and anyone who is interested in reading romance novels that deal with the love of sports has got to check this novel out!

[BOOK REVIEW] Kiss An Angel by Susan Elizabeth Phillips

Title:  Kiss An Angel

Author:  Susan Elizabeth Phillips

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Year Published: 1996

Number of Pages: 373 pages

Date Read: 7/19/2012

Publisher: Avon

Source:  Library

Content Rating:  Ages 18+ (Strong Language and Sex Scenes)

Buy on:  Amazon  //  Book Depository 

After reading Susan Elizabeth Phillips’ book “It Had to Be You,” I just had to pick up another book from Susan Elizabeth Phillips!  The next book I ended up picking up from her was “Kiss An Angel” and after hearing so many good reviews on this book, I just had to give this book a shot!  Oh my goodness, I was definitely blown away by this fantastic romance novel that will make me view the circus as a magical adventure of a lifetime!

Daisy Devreaux was a spoiled rich girl who was forced into marrying a rough and humorless Russian man named Alex Markov in order to avoid going to jail.  However, when Daisy goes to live with her new husband, who happens to run a circus, she will soon discover some dark secrets about Alex that might make her love this mysterious man or hate him even more.

Oh my goodness! This book was just simply…HEAVENLY! Susan Elizabeth Phillips has done a brilliant job at writing this unique, one of a kind romance story about two lovers who are extremely different from each other, but are able to find the true love that will hold them together!  I also loved the fact that this book takes place at a circus since it is rare that I read a romance novel that takes place in the circus and it was awesome seeing all the different dynamics of how the circus works and what the workers at the circus have to go through to make their shows perfect.  Susan Elizabeth Phillips has also done an excellent job at portraying each character in this story, but my most favorite characters in this book are none other than the main characters Daisy Devreaux and Alex Markov!  I just loved Daisy Devreaux as the undisputed heroine of this story since her transformation from a spoiled rich girl to a brave and mature woman by the end of this book was truly fantastic to see and I loved her personality as Daisy may seem naïve at certain points of the book, but she truly has a big heart and is willing to help anyone in need.  I also loved her relationship with Heather, a young teenager who was introduced in this book (although Heather did annoyed me a bit at the beginning of the book) and I loved how Daisy was able to connect so much with Heather despite Heather’s bad attitude at first.  Now, onto the best character in this book and that happens to be Alex Markov!  I just LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Alex Markov to death as there are so many layers to his character that makes him extremely mysterious and yet engaging to read about!  Since I am a huge fan of bad boy heroes, Alex Markov definitely tops the list of my top favorite bad boy heroes in romance novels since he has a tough and brooding attitude and yet, he is so seductive and caring at the same time once people get to know him better.  I also loved the fact that Alex Markov participates in the circus and I especially loved his Cossack play act that resonates with his Russian roots where he dances so erotically with his whip.  It was also interesting seeing the more mysterious side of Alex that he refuses to tell Daisy about since it brought so much mystery to the story and I really wanted to learn more about this mysterious handsome Russian man!  The relationship between Daisy and Alex is what many romance fans would consider “unusual” since they both have different personalities (Daisy is flighty and kind while Alex is brooding and mysterious) but when their love for each other shows, sparks fly like nothing else and their romance with each other is just so sizzling hot!

For anyone who does not like sex scenes, this book has many sex scenes that are extremely explicit and they might want to skim over these scenes.  Also, this book has extremely strong language, although the language was never frequent and only shows up sparingly throughout the book.

Overall, “Kiss An Angel” is clearly one of the best contemporary romance novels around and has one of the best bad boy heroes ever around, Alex Markov!  I would HIGHLY RECOMMEND this book to any hardcore romance fan who is looking for a wonderful romance novel to read!