5 FAT Stars! I basically stepped on a landmine here. You see, I’m scared of books where the hero is pining after his ex. But a dead ex AND a dead child? A nightmare.After reading Nobody's Baby But Mine I just one-clicked this one and dove in. It turns out it’s a good thing I didn’t read the blurb. Had I read it, I wouldn’t have discovered this outstanding book. Not only did the subject matter NOT bother me at all, but it actually blew me away.I won’t say more about this book except for two thing...

Five Heartache Mountain Stars.This is my third time reading this book. I loved it .... again. It is truly heartbreaking. Edward, bless his five year old heart will steal your own heart away. I adored him. Rachel, what a strong, brave heroine. Pain sliced through him. He'd been numb inside, just the way he wanted it but the two of them were cutting him open all over again ... Gabe, Gabe, Gabe ... Although this is part of a series, I really think it can be read as a standalone. It was great to cat...

There is no surprise here that I loved this audio book! ❤️ And it is safe to say that I loved listening to it just a bit more than sitting and reading it. The narrator Anna Fields did a fabulous job bringing these characters to life. My original review is below so I won't go on about the story other than to say it was AMAZING. As were the characters; Rachel Stone, Gabe Bonner and the ever so sweet Edward. ❤️If you loved reading this series do yourself a favor and listen to a few. You will not be...

I swear, books in this series are getting better and better. Every next one I start I am like, wow! this is the best! And then I go to the next one and want to say the same thing about it. To be fair I have to say all of them are amazing. I can't believe it took me so long to start reading this series.It's a classic contemporary romance at its best. The story, characters, angst and all the feels... so wonderful. Everything perfect and so well written. I recommend to all of you who love good love...

5 STARS[image error] You know, I keep trying, but I cannot rate any of Susan Elizabeth Phillips’ books less than 5. It just isn’t ever going to happen. And each one I read suddenly becomes my favorite. And this one is no exception. Seriously, these books are FUCKING SENSATIONAL! And that is all I need to say about it. [image error] Rachel Stone is only twenty-seven and already the destitute widow of a dead crooked television evangelist. She is a public pariah, who has lost everything, her

Written July 9, 20154.7 Stars - Wonderful, touching, lovely .... simply greatThe last one for me to read in this lovely Chicago Stars series. 11:30 hrs audiobook narrated by the FANTASTIC Anna Fields. Once again; I'm happydancingI'm not exaggerating, Susan Elizabeth Phillips is still one of the very BEST in this feel good m/f genre. *********************************************Dream a Little Dream from the Chicago Stars football 'world' is book #4 published 1998 and my sev...

My tear ducts needed a break after reading this. One of SEP's finest!

A fabulous read how I adored little Edward !!

First of all somebody should kick my ass. :D This was my 1st SEP book (I know, I'm so late for this party!) and OMG, I loved this story soooo freaking much and I'm planning to devour her books ASAP! :)

3.25 stars for sweet little Edward!

I avoided this book for some reason. Possibly because I wasn't in the mood to read about a non athlete hero after falling through SEP's Chicago Stars. I'm glad I did get around to read it since it is one of the most heartwrenching stories I've read. Chip, Rachel's son, is absolutely adorable. Especially his relationship with Cal's daughter, Rosie. Gabe and Rachel's relationship grew slowly and pain was involved considering their pasts, but in a SEP's manner, they do end up together. Ethan and Kr...

This book is intense! SEP has a knack for taking these realistic characters, putting them in unrealistic situations, and making them flop around until the situation seems realistic again. And it works! This is such a fabulous book. It just made my heart hurt. For some reason, when kids are involved, I get much more personally invested in the story. When this story ended, I wanted to crawl back inside the pages and live in Heartbreak with the Bonners. And once again, what a great ending line! Mad...

5 BRILLIANT STARSThis book is AWESOME and one of the best that I have read this year. I'm serious - Go read it if you haven't because it's that amazing. I love the narration, the characters (all of them), the story, the side stories, the way the author connects the dots - It was just the book that I needed and I'm so happy that I picked it up. *I listened to the audiobook.

What a whiplash-inducing experience :) If you'd asked me to rate the first third of this book, I would have gushingly informed you that five stars just didn't feel sufficient to capture how much I loved it. I fell immediately and deeply in love with the writing style. I couldn't get over the beautifully, poignantly REAL depiction of these characters and their struggles. So we've got a down on her luck yet plucky, sassy heroine whose resourcefulness and resilient spirit enables her (and, in this

Re-readThis is probably one of my favorites of SEP as it has all the quirky humor and wry banter without the sometimes questionable practices that occur in some of her books: no-one pretends to be an underage teen in a sex game, or a gigolo, no stolen pregnancies via false birth control or sleep drugs, and no raping of the alpha men by their soon to be heroines. The heroine and hero have a humorous and tough redemption, but it works for both of them. One thing that really worked is that despite

3.5 StarsOverall Opinion: I love stories with kids in them! I also like the occasional grieving widow/widower story as well. So, this was right up my alley! I did enjoy it, but I didn't love it. I guess I never got over Gabe's treatment and issues with Edward. I got that he would struggle with Edward because of his grief, but his actual hatred for him never fared well with me. I also didn't like how that was all resolved. I didn't feel like it was all that believable, and it was as if a switch

5++ stars!Another terrific installment in this outstanding series. This book was soooo goooood! Loved it. Once again SEP surprised me big time.I still feel bad because I had not read anything from this author before, I adore her style so much now.Do you know what's so good about this series? It's the way the author makes it seem so real. I'm usually a paranormal-romance reader so I don't care much about contemporary romance. I don't like cheesy or corny stories. So that's what's so good about th...

5 STARS Another 5-star read from Susan Elizabeth Phillips!! I absolutely LOVE this series... Best Bits: There is so much to love about this 4th instalment of the Chicago Stars series. For me, the depth and integrity of the characters was the real winner here. My heart bled for Rachel, Gabe and Edward and I lapped up the indulgent sweetness of Ethan and Kristy as well (their story was a lot more predictable... but no less enjoyable.)It's like an awesome bonus! Two love stories for the price of

***FIVE STARS***My lovely friend Anna recommended this baby to me (view spoiler)[ Thank you for that Sweet Anna (hide spoiler)], and I couldn't have loved it more. I'm a sucker for angsty stories, and this one had it in spades. Poor Rachel was treated horrifically by an entire town for crimes she was unjustly blamed for. Destitute and emaciated, she couldn't get ahead, or get forgiveness from almost anybody in the entire town. Rachel never lost her strength, her pride, or her wit, and her prot...

5 Love Affair With SEP Stars* * * * * A Quick ReviewThis Continues my first deep love affair with the author, Susan Elizabeth Phillips. When I found her and this series...I became obsessed. I scoured all the libraries, dollar book stores, etc. to find anything written by SEP. She spoke to me. If you look below, all the glowing reviews will let you know, she speaks to all of them, too.I read the Chicago Stars series years ago, and I do vow, I will re-read this series again. I just Need More Hours...

Mostly sad until the end. But the ending was nice.I’ve given 5 stars to many of S E Phillips’ books, but this book gets 4 stars because it was too sad. Most of the sadness was grieving for dead loved ones and being treated badly by others. I generally prefer uplifting or funny stories. Gabe wanted to kill himself and had a hard time after his wife and son were killed by a drunk driver. Rachel was married to an unethical tv evangelist. He convinced people to give him money that he used to enrich

Downtrodden and desperate, Rachel Stone returns to the town of her youth (whose residents her deceased TV evangelical husband conned and all but bankrupted) to find a lost 5 million dollars to raise her five year old son, Edward. The secondary plot line is just as ridiculous and insulting. Reverend Ethan Bonner (let’s not even discuss that the man hears the voice of God as three different celebs in his head) is as hypocritical as the lambasted TV evangelical, Dwayne. Attracted to scantily clad a...

4.5 starsSome romance books are great to read but usually they don’t make much of an emotional impact because they are just so far removed from your own life experiences. So maybe it's just because I also have a 5 year-old son like the heroine, but this book absolutely struck a chord with me (even though I don't have anything else in common with the heroine). This is a really heartrending story about a single mother named Rachel who is more than down on her luck and is ostracized by the entire c...

Real life is way too busy to write a proper review, but I will say that I love this series. The heros are alpha, the heroines are strong and in this book, the little boy Edward brought a tear to my eye more than once. This is definitely a series I would recommend.

I don't cry when I read books or watch movies (apart from Air Bud, when I was 11) partly because I don't seek out stories that will make me cry, and partly because I have a cold cold heart. But with this book I found more than a few tears rolling down my cheeks. Maybe this book caught me at a particularly emotional time, but I think not. It is more likely that the complex characters and their unfathomable situations were well written enough to touched me. Deeply. But it wasn't a hopeless type of...

4.5 stars. This book rivals my favorite book by this author, Kiss an Angel. I struggled through the first part of the book because I could not handle how mean the townsfolk were to our heroine. I didn't even like our hero too much because I really thought, given Rachel's dire circumstances, he was taking advantage of her. I had to put the book down for a few days, that's how upset I was. Once, I re-engaged and let the story progress, it was magic. Rachel represents the kind of heroine I love fro...

I loved this book! I have never read a book by this author before and I feel like I've been really missing out! I loved the writing, I loved the story, I loved that Gabe was the biggest asshole in the beginning (and for a good part of the book) and I loved that Rachel was one of the best heroines ever - strong, tough and smart - she was the perfect heroine. I was not expecting for this book to make me cry but it did. Little Edward <3 I really enjoyed this book and can't wait to read more by this...

This book..I cant even..WOW.I mean. PERFECTION.Two broken souls. One child. The story of finding redemption.Rachel is the poor, impoverished widow of Dwayne, the leader of a cult group who embezzled the town, Salvation and ran away. She returns to the town destitute, with Edward- her 5 year old son who is a shy, quiet, sad boy.Gabe, a widower whom we met previously in Cal's book is still shattered and depressed after losing his wife and child and has no drive to live anymore.When they two meet,

As great as I expected it to be!I started to expect great things from this author. And it continues to amaze me, never disappointing. I cried at this book like I haven't cried in a long time! And I absolutely adore the books that make me feel something.It's a great read, really worth giving a try!

Dream a Little Dream4 StarsAfter the loss of his wife and child, Gabe Bonner is only going through the motions of living. That is until Rachel Stone returns to Salvation, North Carolina desperate for a job to support her young son. Despite their rocky start, Rachel and Gabe find themselves inextricably drawn to one another, but can they overcome the traumas of the past to have a future together?Series note: While books 1-3 can be read as standalones, book #4 is a direct continuation of #3 and as...