C2’s review of Call Me Irresistible (Wynette Texas Series, Book 6) by Susan Elizabeth Phillips
Contemporary romance released by William Morrow 18 Jan 11
For most SEP fans, Call Me Irresistible is a greatly anticipated book. Why? Because it’s Teddy Beaudine’s book! We have known Teddy his whole life – we saw him arrive on the scene and got to know him as a scary, smart nine-year-old in Fancy Pants. We met him again just as he was finishing college in Lady Be Good. But it seems like she made us wait forever for him to grow up completely and get his story.
Who is the lucky lady that gets paired with Ted? Meg Koranda – daughter of the Glitter Baby and a supporting character in What I Did for Love. At first glance, maybe Meg doesn’t match up all that well with Ted. He’s so perfectly perfect – brilliant, hard working, handsome, friendly, rich – and she’s so not perfect. Meg dropped out of college before graduating, she doesn’t have a job, she was living off her parents money (whatever…they’re RICH) until they cut her off – more about this later. I won’t go into detail about how Meg and Ted met – let me just say that it began with her being a bridesmaid and ended with him being left at the altar.
Now, Ted is an easy-going fellow, but even he can’t quite let that go, and when Meg tries to run out on her hotel bill (no job, no money – remember), he sends the police after her. Did I mention that, along with being a super brainiac consultant, he is also mayor of Wynette (thanks to an overwhelming number of write-in votes)? So there Meg is, trapped in a town that blames her for their golden boy being abandoned at the altar, with no money and no easy way to get any.
And here is where my problem with the book begins – Meg’s parents have cut her off, after supporting her for 30 years. And they still have a good relationship. One of those things doesn’t fit for me – she hasn’t misbehaved (other than the no-regular-job thing), she isn’t a druggie, she hasn’t been lounging by the pool by day, hitting the clubs by night. She has been traveling, looking for herself – they must not have minded funding that, at first – but before she finds herself, they pull her funding. That bit of plot is jarring. And unrealistic…her parents are rich, but she didn’t have anything she could sell for money? No jewelry? Nothing? And the reason she’s driving a clunker is because her dad stopped making payments on her car? Don’t uber-wealthy people just buy cars? There wouldn’t be a car payment, for crying out loud. Maybe I’m nitpicking, but the whole “find a reason to keep Meg in Wynette” seems awkward and forced.
Anyway, since Wynette isn’t a metropolis, Meg and Ted are thrown together and eventually the hostilities subside, but Meg senses that Ted holds himself back from everyone. Everyone loves him and he likes them right back. Not the best basis for a real relationship. So when he asks her to stay, she says no and leaves. Another woman has left him…that doesn’t sit well with our Teddy. He and Meg both have some thinking to do.
Throw in a cast of nosy, small-town crazies, a vandal-stalker, lots of golf, and way too much focus on a couple of supporting characters (Spence and Sunny) and you’ve got a pretty good book. Wait…wut?? Yes, I said it’s pretty good. Not my favorite SEP – I much prefer Heaven Texas, Lady Be Good and Natural Born Charmer – but still an enjoyable read. Yes, too much time is spent punishing Meg just because her life lacks focus. Yes, too much time is spent on whether or not the resort would be built. But it is nice to see the close-knit folks of Wynette rally around and support those they consider their own, too.
I have a few other quibbles but, overall, I would recommend reading Call Me Irresistible – especially if you enjoyed Fancy Pants and Lady Be Good. It isn’t necessary to read the previous books – the important bits are summarized nicely – but this book might make you curious enough to pick up some of the others.
Grade: B
Summary:
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 . . .
Read an excerpt.
Connected books :
This book, from beginning, was referred to as “Ted’s book.” I thoroughly enjoyed this book, but I wanted Ted’s POV, not Meg’s. I hope Lucy’s book will be more balanced. Lady Be Good is one of favorite SEP books, so I loved seeing that Lady Emma, Kenny, Torie…etc. again and that their personality traits were consistent.
Vi – Yes! More of Ted’s POV was definitely needed. I wonder why SEP chose to keep him so mysterious through the majority of the book?
Don’t forget that SEP re-wrote this book. Originally, she paired Lucy with Ted and then changed her mind. Perhaps when she re-wrote the story around Meg, Ted’s POV was dropped. Even without Ted’s POV, I liked him better than Meg. I thought she expected too much from him after so short a courtship. He was correct when he told her that only 3 weeks prior he was about to marry someone else, yet Meg wanted an immediate declaration of love. I thought it was a bit insensitive on Meg’s part not to give him time and then she just left town. Also, I usually I like the quirky secondary characters in SEP’s books, but they came across as selfish and mean. Even Torrie expected Meg to just go along with Spence. A couple of my favorite scenes were: when Meg told Ted he could be so much more and he told her she drove a drink cart, and when Ted said Lucy broke his head, but Meg broke his heart.
Kim – I’m guessing SEP wrote the POVs the way she did on purpose but maybe something did get lost in the heroine switch. I don’t think Meg was out of line to ask Ted to talk about how he felt, since they were in a relationship. He didn’t have to mope around town or anything but talking to her about what he was feeling might have been a good thing for them both. This is one book where an epilogue with them functioning as a couple would have been welcome, I think.