Call Me Irresistible by Susan Elizabeth Phillips
Contemporary Romance
January 18, 2011
Hardcover, 385 Pages
William Morrow

Reviewed by Tori

Favorite Quote:“This is America. We’re entitled to our opinions.”

“Wrong. This is Texas. And my opinion is the only one that counts.”

No real spoilers here but quite a few of my favorite quotes.

Call Me Irresistible is Ted Beaudine’s book. Ted (Fancy Pants & Lady Be Good) is all grown up and the ultimate catch. Good looks, money, famous parents, and a high IQ. Ted is getting married to Lucy Jorik (First Lady). But Lucy’s best friend, Meg Koranda (Glitter Baby & What I Did For Love) doesn’t like what she sees in Ted and feels Lucy deserves better. So Meg, unintentionally, stops the wedding and Lucy hightails it out of town. Meg tries to follow but circumstances have slowed her getaway. Her parents, tired of waiting for her to grow up and become responsible, have cut her off. That leaves Meg broke, homeless, and the most hated person in town. Enter the residents of Wynette.They completely blame Meg for breaking up Ted and Lucy’s wedding and are determined to make Meg pay. And pay she does. But Meg is made of sterner stuff. After all…she IS the offspring of the famous Glitter Baby. So Meg takes everything and then some that the town dishes out so she can get home. Now all she has to do is resist Mr. Irresistible. But that’s easier said then done.

I have been a HUGE fan of Susan Elizabeth Phillips for years. My first foray into her world was Fancy Pants. In Fancy Pants we meet the parents of Mr. Irresistible and learn how they came together. In later books, the Beaudine’s make appearances and we watch Teddy grow up. I was thrilled when I found out that Teddy, or Ted as he is called now, got his own book. Following her previous sets ups, we are once again transported to Wynette, Texas (which I’m convinced is actually inhabited by aliens because these people are above board hilariously strange).

Ted and the town do their best to make Meg pay for ruining his wedding. From almost getting arrested to being forced to play “nice” with a potential town investor, Meg has her hands full trying to survive from day to day. As Meg integrates herself into the town and becomes mildly accepted (which is not a compliment by the way) she begins to see that Ted is indeed irresistible. But Ted holds back emotionally and she wants all of him or nothing at all. When mild harassment turns to danger for Meg, Ted’s rigid control finally breaks and his world begins to race out of control.

He had gone wild and she wanted to race into the unknown with him. He was a fallen angel, consumed by darkness, and he took no care with her at all.

The characters of this story do a fabulous jov of keeping you laughing and groaning throughout the story. Well written with an abundance of personality and wit; you find yourself sinking deeper into their lives and becoming heavily invested in their outcomes. Filled with human flaws, Ms. Phillip’s characters are real and react as you or I might. The well plotted storyline entertains and exhilarates as the conversational style dialogue keeps the book flowing smoothly and has you thanking your lucky stars these people don’t live next door to you.

Francine Beaudine says it best:

“Did you know Ted was nine years old the first time he came to Wynette? Can you imagine how many of the local peculiarities he’d have picked up if he lived here from birth?”

I adored Meg from the first time I met her. Even if she is a screw up, her personality and exploits are hilarious and her gift of snark endeared her to me. Everything Meg does is from the heart and that is apparent from the beginning. You’d expect her to lay down in the face of everyone anger but her true nature takes hold and soon she pulls her self up and out from beneath the town and Ted’s thumb. Watching her grow in self respect & assurance is a joy to watch and had me doing quite a few “fist pumps”. She just needed to learn that she is every bit as glamorous and important as her parents.

Ted is an enigma. He comes across as the perfect man. Heralded for his business sense, looks, and talents in bed, you can find nothing wrong with him.

“Lucy neglected to mention that you’re also the mayor of Wynette…in addition to being its patron saint.

He’s a people pleaser, but like Meg, you don’t see any real emotions from him. In the beginning, I didn’t like him very much. Some of his actions come to light and his blasé attitude disgusted me. But as I got to know him, I sensed that there was far more to him then what you see. It’s only really towards the end that the real Ted breaks through and you hear, in his own words, how he’s felt since the beginning. It’s an emotional outpouring that moved me. I did feel though that the story and his characters would have been better served by allowing more of his POV to be seen.

He wanted to make her smile. Laugh. Make her love him again as deeply as he loved her.

The chemistry between Meg and Ted is apparent from the beginning but the romance is slow going. Ms. Phillips lets them realistically fall in love through out the entire book. Watching these two snark at each other, I learned exactly what the phase, “Hate is merely the flip side of love,” really means.

How could Ted and I have a future? He’s the Lamb of God and I’m the town bad girl.

Two things about this book bothered me. One was Lucy. She ran away and left Meg to handle the fall out. I would have liked to have seen more of her then what we did. The other problem I had was how Ms. Phillips chose to humiliate Meg. This is a common theme in her books; usually deserved because the heroine is either phenomenally selfish and self absorbed or like Meg, needs a kick in the pants to grow up and accept the responsibility of their actions. But there were times when the humiliation went too far and went from being funny to cruel. Many times I wanted to reach through the book and pop someone hard in the head for some of the things they did to her.

The ending is predictable but the path to it is emotional. Ms. Phillips never gives her hero and heroine an easy HEA and you find your self crossing your fingers and toes as you watch these two stumble through some pitfalls.

Call Me Irresistible is a hilarious, riotous, engaging romantic contemporary that will have you laughing, crying, and begging for more once the last page is read. I look forward to the next one in this series which is Lucy’s story-currently untitled.

Rating: B

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