What I Did for Love

By: Susan Elizabeth Phillips

Narrated by: Julia Gibson

Length: 13 hrs and 32 mins

Publisher's summary

How did this happen?

Georgie York, once the costar of America's favorite television sitcom, has been publicly abandoned by her famous husband, her film career has tanked, her father is driving her crazy, and her public image as a spunky heroine is taking a serious beating.

What should a down-on-her-luck actress do? Not go to Vegas . . . not run into her detestable former costar, dreamboat-from-hell Bramwell Shepard . . . and not get caught up in an ugly incident that leads to a calamitous elopement. Before she knows it, Georgie has a fake marriage, a fake husband, and maybe (or not) a fake sex life.

It's a paparazzi free-for-all, and Georgie's nonsupporting cast doesn't help. There's Bram's punk-nightmare housekeeper, Georgie's own pushy parent, a suck-up agent, an icy studio head with a private agenda, and her ex-husband's new wife, who can't get enough of doing good deeds and saving the world. As for Georgie's leading man, Bram's giving the performance of his life, but he's never cared about anyone except himself, and it's not exactly clear why.

Two enemies find themselves working without a script in a town where the spotlight shines bright . . . and where the strongest emotions can wear startling disguises.

©2009 Susan Elizabeth Phillips (P)2009 HarperCollins Publishers

Not as good

What disappointed you about What I Did for Love?

I usually like SEP's books, they take the

Not as good as her others

After reading "Match Me if You Can," "Natural Born Charmer," and "Ain't She Sweet" this was a let-down. Not very interesting. Rather blah the whole time and the narrator sounds a little bit like a computer for a lot of it. I wouldn't buy it again.

RIP-OFF!!!!!!!

I am combining this review with Glitter Baby to save myself the aggravation of repeating myself.
Seriously, when is SEP going to stop ripping off the headlines? I am (and after this book might change that to a "was") a fan of SEP ever since
Ain't She Sweet, but after reading this I don't know what I feel anymore. She released this about the same time she re-released "Glitter Baby" and I mistakenly (BIG TIME) downloaded both of them at the same time.
I don't want to admit to my age, but I'll admit to my Hollywood curiosity when I say SEP totally RIPPED OFF Hollywood scandals for Glitter Baby. Look up Clark Gable/Loretta Young's secret daughter if you don't belive me. And she came dangerously close to ripping off Lana Turner's scandal when she wrote about Glitter Baby's stepfather Alexi. I was waiting for the climatic stab scene, but SEP went in another direction. A sucky direction at that. I was left with a feeling of "That's it?!?!?!!"
Now she has blantantly ripped off the Brangelina vs Jennifer Aniston scandal for What I Did For Love. If I wanted to read about that crap, I'd pick up a tabloid. She obviously has a certain opinion of the Brangelina scandal and used the book to voice it.
She rushed the end because she didn't know where to go with it. Did she seriously think what the hero did to win the heroine was romantic?!? The video? How stupid was that? It's pretty damn sad when the hottest scene in the whole book was between the father and the ex-publicist in the front seat of a car. I could have cared less about Georgie and whats his name. I wanted more of the dad and the publicist.
I'm disgusted. I wish I could get my credits back and read something else.
SEP needs to get back to what she does best. And she needs to find a different narrator. No offense to the current reader, but she just can't capture the true character. Her voice never changes.

just okay

Althought Julia Gibson's reading is good it was not Anna Fields, next to Davina Porter she has to be one of my favorite readers, she will be sadly missed

I can't put this book on my list of favorite SEP books. At times Georgie and Bram just got on my nerves with all their bickering, the book lingered too long and the ending was predicable. I definitely will not download Glitter Baby

Where is the real SEP?

If you want an extremely insipid reading along with s very juvenile story, just hang in. It's there. Return in gas soon as I finish this. Hopping for MUCH better next book.

Not as good as I'd hoped

I've always enjoyed this author's books. However, this one was a bit too predictable and I don't think the narrator was the best choice for this book.

D- dud for DuD

dumb story line awful narrator

Disappointing

Below standard for SEP. The narration was mediocre and the story pretty hokey. Very little of the humor I’ve come to expect in one of her books.

Terrible

What disappointed you about What I Did for Love?

The story line was not believable. The character's comments were cheesy and ridiculous. I could not finish it.

What do you think your next listen will be?

I love SEP books- up until this point. They are all a bit unrealistic but the connection between the characters is real. I'm taking a break from SEP.

What didn’t you like about Julia Gibson’s performance?

Little differentiation between characters.

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

Not really.

Any additional comments?

I would listen to any SEP book up until this one in the series. I'm hesitant to go any farther.

A sour note

I always enjoyed the sharp wit of Phillips' books. Unfortunately this has a decidedly mean streak to the writing. It is hard to warm up to the characters as a result. The narrator's sing-song reading is difficult to listen to for long periods. While no one can replace Anna Fields, there are many narrators that could have made this a better listening experience.