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

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.

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.

Good Listen but missed the humor

The book kept me interested from beginning to end and my hats off to the narrator. Anna Fields is a hard act to follow and I missed her. The humor seems to be missing that I am used to finding in SEP books. I enjoyed the book and hope that in her next release the author finds her sense of humor again.

Read Susan Elizabeth Philips' other books 1st

I love SEP's books while this book was better than Glitter Baby, it wasn't one of my favorites. It is worth listening to because the character development was so good as was the narrator, but story line was kind of hokey at times. Listening to Glitter Baby first would probably make this book more enjoyable. I would recommend it if you are an SEP fan; it just isn't one of her saucy jaunts.

Great book!

I finished in 2 days! Maybe a little unrealistic but I love romantic happy endings!

Another great story from Phillips!

Georgie and Bram have a regrettable past but discover that they are not the same people they had been years earlier. It's a rocky road but manages to make you cheer them on to growth and happiness.

Pretty Good

I see that alot of people hated this book. I must admit, it was out of SEPs ordinary storylines and was a bit stretched. It had a Jackie Collins-esque feeling but if you like that type of novel, you'll like this one. Don't be afraid to download this book, just don't expect the feeling you get with Anna Fields fantastic narrations. The bad news, I'm no longer anticipating SEP's next book; previously, I downloaded all of her books without first reading the reviews. Now its a must, sorry Susan.

Wonderful journey

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

I enjoyed the journey between the two characters, particularly Georgie's discovery of her true self and Bram's new character. The story unfolds beautifully from their teenage past to the now complicate lives. Their hatred was founded in their early success with Georgie the responsible one and Bram the spoiled young celebrity. Now their career struggles are identical in the post- hit tv show world (a novelty for a SEP book :) where they are trying to establish themselves as series actors.

Any additional comments?

I give the story 2 stars because its obvious where the "inspiration" came from. Besides that, the underlying plot is entertaining as always.

Enjoyable

This isn't going to win any Pulitzers or change any lives, but I found it to be enjoyable enough. I agree with some other sentiments that it wasn't exactly like I was just dying to hear what happened next, but I also wasn't reluctant to hear more. It definitely made my commute more enjoyable, and that is what counts.

What I Did For Love

The book started slowly but after a while I was sucked into the story. This is a very light and airy story would be perfect for a vacation or trip where you want to relax with a good book.