I’m always being asked which novel is my favorite. For goodness’ sake, people, that’s like asking me which of my two children is my favorite! The only possible answer is: the book that isn’t whining at me at the moment – i.e., any novel that’s out of my computer, out of copyedits, out of proofs, and safely on the shelves. I have huge fondness for all my printed heroes and heroines. I miss them, especially the heroines. By the time a book is finished, each of my heroines has become my girlfriend. She talks to me in the middle of the night. She says all the snappy, funny things that I would like to say but never remember in time. She tames her husbands! OK, enough said there.
It’s a lot easier to say which book written by someone else is my favorite. It Had to Be You is my hands-down favorite of Susan Elizabeth Phillips’s books. I adore this novel, from the moment it opens (when Phoebe Somerville’s poodle pees on her father’s coffin) to the moment it closes (when Phoebe realizes that she’s just engaged in an intimate act squarely on the 50-yard line of a huge Sports Dome).
The novel takes place in Chicago, starting when Phoebe has to come back from New York for her father’s funeral. She brings with her a nervous poodle (see above) and a gorgeous Hungarian lover. Everyone is outraged – and that outrage only grows when it turns out that her father has left her his football team, the Chicago Stars. No one is more annoyed that the Stars’ head coach, Dan Calebro. He’s just the sexist, big type of man whom Phoebe loathes, and the feeling is mutual. Dan has been spending his time looking for the perfect wife, and he thinks he’s found her in a sweet-faced kindergarten teacher. He’s got no time to waste on someone like Phoebe, a woman with “a bad girl’s body, the sort of body that…could just as well have been displayed with a staple through the navel as hanging on a museum wall.”
But this novel isn’t a standard Opposites-Attract novel. Both characters have deep and complex personalities, rife with complexities and problems. Phillips unfurls each person with such adroit care, amid flurries of hilarious dialogue, that the reader hardly notices before she’s utterly fascinated by Dan and Phoebe. This is a brilliant, deeply romantic, deeply felt, deeply sexy book. Do not waste a moment if you haven’t read it – you have such a treat in store for you!
8 Comments
While I love all of Susan Elizabeth Phillips’ books, my favourite has to be ‘Ain’t She Sweet’ for the Heyer references alone! However, I’m devastated that I’ve read all the Chicago Stars books and so have no more to look forward to!
I am a Huge Susan Elizabeth Phillips’ fan!! I fell in love with Natural Born Charmer….it’s a beautiful story!!! I can´t wait to read It had to be you
I adore Susan Elizabeth Phillips’ Chicago Stars series!! I found it a couple of years ago and have since reread each book several times. Her character development is incredible. By the time you’re finished with the book, the characters feel like family you know them so well. I’m sad the series is over, it’s not easy to find well-written romances that center around sports, especially football.
Hello, Eloisa! Because of this review, I discovered SEP and I cannot thank you enough. She’s now on my list of staying-up-til-4-am-reading-and-going-to-sleep-happy authors. Thank you!
It had to be you is a lovely story and Dan and Phoebe reappears in my favorite SEP book: This Heart of Mine. It is really such a joy to read an SEP book.
All of SEP’s books are wonderful, but my favorite is Breathing Room. Laugh out loud funny, touching, great characters, and it never gets old. I have read this book at least five times, and I still keep it, because I will no doubt read it five more times. When I need a pick-me-up, I go for this one. It’s just perfect.
Hello Eloise,
I too am a huge fan of SEP but my favorite of her books are Dream a Little Dream and Match Me IF You Can. I have read all of her books multiple times. Match Me If You Can had me laughing out loud from the first page.
Also if you haven’t read anything by Deborah Smith I highly recommend A Place to Call Home, Sweet Hush, and Charming Grace. Her characters are amazing. They are all on my “keep forever shelf” right next to ALL of your books. Thanks for the hours of enjoyment.
Regards, Lisa
Susan Elizabeth Phillips gives birth to a village of unforgettable characters with every book she writes. The dialogue is like a Spencer Tracy and Katherine Hepburn movie. Instant classics. The only bad thing is the grieving when I’ve finished.