On the Road and East Tennessee, the Present

You may have met him in MATCH ME IF YOU CAN, the Chicago Stars' gorgeous star quarterback, End Zone's hunky underwear model, and all-around lovable guy Dean Robillard and thought his life perfect. But as NATURAL BORN CHARMER begins with one of Susan Elizabeth Phillips's memorable opening lines, we find Dean -- sans diamond stud earrings -- driving his brand-new Aston Martin Vanquish along a Colorado highway. He's pretty much recovered from his first real injury, except it has started him wondering about his life. An unexpected burst of chivalry on top of a seriously piqued curiosity causes Dean to stop the car for a lady in obvious distress.

Talk about imperfect lives, portrait painter -- specializing in children and pets -- Blue Bailey's life has tanked. Oh, she doesn't much mind the end of her latest relationship; she hasn't let anyone close enough to hurt her in years, but Blue's car just died and her bank accounts were just emptied by her activist mother for another of her causes. Blue is broke, car-less, and homeless.

Right from the start, when Blue finagles Dean into letting her ride along to wherever he is going, the two of them begin scoring off one another while they try to ignore the mutual attraction. Blue is the first woman who hasn't made a play for Dean since he was a teen. Why he should care is a puzzle; she's definitely not his type. There doesn't seem to be a figure under her scruffy, baggy clothes, and he thinks she looks like someone out of a nursery rhyme with her sharp little face and her "grape lollipop eyes." It must be the challenge that makes him keep her with him. The two end up at his Tennessee farm where the first in a series of unpleasant surprises lies in wait for Dean. The efficient housekeeper overseeing the renovation of the house turns out to be Dean's estranged mother.

Neither Dean nor Blue grew up with love they could depend upon; Dean's family took dysfunction to a new level, and the kindest description of Blue's is benign neglect. He hides the hurt little boy behind his good looks and winning ways; she's developed a tough outer shell and fierce independence. With all of this, their bantering is laugh-out-loud funny. You'll surely fall in love with them both. The colorful assortment of minor characters are engaging as well.

Lying beneath the comedy in NATURAL BORN CHARMER is a moving story of forgiveness, of healing, and of love. There is never a chance of sugar overload, however; Blue's peppery wit sees to that.

To fully describe NATURAL BORN CHARMER, I'd have to say it's smart and sharp, amusing and emotional, and beautifully written, but all-around wonderful says it in one word (well, three, actually). NATURAL BORN CHARMER epitomizes all the reasons Susan Elizabeth Phillips is so well loved by readers.

Jane Bowers