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

Good not Great!

I have read all of Susan's books. This is not her best. I think Anna Fields might be whats missing. Narration can change the book. This one is still a good listen, but dont even think you will laugh like you did with Natural Born Charmer......

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.

Ok, not great

The book was ok, the story was ok. My favorite SEP book is Ain't She Sweet, followed by Kiss and Angel
I am a big fan of SEP but Julia Gibson is one of my least favorite narrators anyway. I don't think she does not do men well, as her voice is just too high and she does not have enough variation in her female voices to handle the number of people in the book. she also lacks the nuances of delivering the humor and personality of the characters I have grown to love in the SEP books. I have listened to over 300 books and often a narrator will help me choose my next book

I hope the SEP crew read these reviews, I would recommend Joyce Bean for her next book. If Julia narrates the next one, I will not be getting it on audible.

I'm trying to finish it but I can't

Anna Fields brought sarcasm, humor and different voices to each of SEPs books. This reader is hard to follow and makes the book uninteresting. I'll eventually finish it, but I <sigh> before I hit play.

She should really find a better reader.

Jennifer Aniston needs to read this book...

I have been counting the months, no the days, in anticipation of this book. Last time I did this was for Harry Potter's last book. This story is inspired by Jennifer Aniston's break up with Brad Pitt, no doubt. In SEP's book, Jennifer or Georgie gets her happy ending (this is an SEP book, so the happy ending is a given) with a hollywood bad boy that does not come without his own baggage and problems. I enjoyed tremendously the SARS incident and the characters of Jade (Angie) and Lance (Brad). They are as naive, self centered and silly as I would have imagined them to be. The only reason I give it 4 stars is that I could not connect with the main characters as I usually do with SEP's books. Georgie and Bram were sometimes quite mean to each other which tainted the comic atmosphere for me. The sexually charged banter was replaced sometimes with demeaning comments and resentment. Compared to any romantic novel out there, this would rank as 5 stars for me. Yet this novel comes on the heels of Natural Born Charmer and Match Me If You Can, so I expected more. I truly loved the banter between the housekeeper and the Personal Assistant which is typical SEP for me. I echo Mrs Phillips words about Kate Fleming who is a big loss to audiobook listeners, but appreciated the choice of Julia Gibson who did a good job despite of having big shoes to fill. You won't regret this book, but it is not SEP's best.

I liked the anticipation and emotions I felt.

STORY BRIEF:
Georgie and Bram starred in a TV sitcom for eight years. Bram was unreliable due to drugs, alcohol and sex. Georgie initially liked Bram but he hurt her during his bad boy days. Now they dislike/hate each other. Georgie is a good girl. Everyone loves her. She married Lance an A list movie star. Lance had an affair, divorced Georgie and married Jade (think Angelina Jolie). Georgie is tired of everyone feeling sorry for her and believes that if she gets married, the tabloids will leave her alone. Bram and Georgie accidentally show up at the same party in Las Vegas. Someone drugs their drinks, and they wake up the next morning shocked to find they are married. They decide to stay married for awhile; each has their own reasons.

REVIEWER’S OPINION:
I love this author’s talent. She doesn’t churn out books as fast as I would like, because she writes quality which takes time. Georgie and Bram insult and lie to each other. The conversations are clever and entertaining. I loved the character development. There are several characters who change, grow, become better, or become different by the end of the story. Whenever I put the book down to do something else, I couldn’t wait to get back to it. It’s a little longer than most romance novels, and I enjoyed every minute.

REVIEWER’S COMMENT TO OTHER REVIEWERS:
I noticed some reviewers complained that it was too much like the Jen/Brad/Angie saga, but I say who cares what it was like. It was entertaining. There are only a limited number of story lines out there for romance novels. Every story I’ve read has already been told by someone else. The key is the author’s voice, and this author’s voice is one of the best. Some reviewers said they didn’t like Georgie and Bram. I didn’t think about that as I was reading the book, but I agree that some of their early actions were not likeable. However, by the end of the book they both had gone through changes from who they were eight years earlier. I liked the people they became and many of the things they did for others. The best part of the book was all the changes that various characters went through, not just Georgie and Bram, but others as well. In addition, the period of dislike created some interesting conflict and entertaining dialogue.

AUDIOBOOK NARRATOR: Julia Gibson did an excellent job. But for some undefinable reason I think I preferred reading this instead of listening to it.

DATA:
Narrative mode: 3rd person. Story length: 401 pages. Swearing language: strong but not often used. Sexual language: mild. Number of sex scenes: 7. Setting: Los Angeles area, California, Las Vegas, Nevada, and Mexico. Copyright: 2009. Genre: contemporary romance.

Disappointed

I enjoyed the earlier books from SEP, but unfortunately this was long winded and not really that interesting. I listened to the end, but more to see if anything exciting happened. It didn't. I hope the next one whenever it comes brings back the old pizzaz and sassy characters.

SEP is still my favorite author!

I loved this book, in fact I have listened to it many times since I downloaded it in January. I just read the other reviews and I was shocked to see how many people didn't like it. I have been a fan of SEP since I listened to her first recorded book IT HAD TO BE YOU. I have loved them all. I've listened to them all more than once, but WIDFL might be my favorite. I listened to it when I first purchased it and enjoyed it very much. I've left it on my i-pod, and take it to bed with me every night to listen to until I fall asleep. I loved the story, the characters Georgie and Bram, and the secondary characters. As far as SEP using the concept of the Brangelina/Aniston breakup, who cares? Writers do that sort of thing all the time. Did you ever watch Law & Order? Most of their stories are ripped from the headlines. Lastly the narrator...no one could ever replace Anna Fields/Kate Fleming. She was great. But I thought Julia Gibson did a very good job and I enjoyed her narration.

Rip Off!

What a complete rip off. I love SEP, but this one was no good. She completely uses the story line of Brangelina/Aniston. I would not recommend this one because of the price and the lack of creativity on the part of SEP.

Not SEP's best and with a mediocre narrator

I've enjoyed most of SEP's books, but this one lacked the humor that I was expecting. Maybe it was the narrator. She added a whine to the characters that drove me nuts. If SEP uses the same narrator for her next book, I will definitely pass. This was one of my least favorite books from SEP. The characters didn't seem to be all that likeable. To me, the book dragged on and on until everything ended in a rush. I'll still buy her next book, but without the anticipation I usually have.