CALL ME IRRESISTIBLE

Author: Susan Elizabeth Phillips ISBN: 9780061351525 1/2011 CONTEMPORARY Publisher: WILLIAM MORROW

R.S.V.P. to the most riotous wedding of the year . . . Lucy Jorik is the daughter of a former United States president. Meg Koranda is the offspring of legends. One of them is about to marry Mr. Irresistible—Ted Beaudine—the favorite son of Wynette, Texas. The other is not happy about it and is determined to save her friend from a mess of heartache. But even though Meg knows that breaking up her best friend's wedding is the right thing to do, no one else seems to agree. Faster than Lucy can say "I don't," Meg becomes the most hated woman in town—a town she's stuck in with a dead car, an empty wallet, and a very angry bridegroom. Broke, stranded, and without her famous parents at her back, Meg is sure she can survive on her own wits. What's the worst that can happen? Lose her heart to the one and only Mr. Irresistible? Not likely. Not likely at all . . .

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

CALL ME IRRESISTIBLE is a story that features the convergence of a number of beloved SEP characters in one small town. Lucy Jorik, adopted daughter of Nealy Jorik, is set to marry Francesca and Dallas Beaudine’s son Ted. Lucy’s best friend, Meg Koranda, flies in the day before the wedding and knows immediately that a marriage between Ted and Lucy will never work. Minutes before the two are set to exchange their vows, Lucy heeds Meg’s warnings and hits the skids, leaving Ted and everyone else to blame Meg. Instead of leaving town like Lucy, Meg decides (under duress—she can’t pay her hotel bill and is forced to work off the charges) to stay in town a little longer, and in the process finds that not only does she like it in Wynette, Texas, but that Wynette’s golden boy, Ted, is starting to grow on her as well.

CALL ME IRRESISTIBLE is a lot of fun. It’s everything you could ask for from a small town, contemporary romance: quirky characters, a town that’s a character all on its own, and a solid love story. I don’t tend to like books where the hero and heroine hate each other right up until the moment they realize they are head-over-heels in love with each other. That was the case here a little, but it worked perfectly in the story. The one thing that I disliked about CALL ME IRRESISTIBLE may be the one thing that long time readers of SEP enjoy the most: the reemergence of familiar faces. In preparation of Lucy and Ted’s wedding, the town of Wynette found itself host to no less than three couples featured in previous books. While I’m sure this reunion will be delightful to readers who had yearned for more GLITTER BABY, FANCY PANTS and FIRST LADY, as someone who hasn’t read any of those books (yet), I found these characters distracting. With the exception of the GLITTER BABY couple, I didn’t know who the other people were, yet with every mention, I found myself wondering if there was a backstory I was missing. Overall, however, I enjoyed this, and while I wait (impatiently) for the next SEP (wherein we'll get to see what happens to Lucy, the runaway bride), I’ll go back and read the three books that laid the foundation for CALL ME IRRESISTIBLE.

Melissa Stratford