Glitter Baby

By: Susan Elizabeth Phillips

Narrated by: Julia Gibson

Length: 14 hrs and 10 mins

Publisher's summary

Fleur Savagar is the most beautiful woman in the world . . . to everyone but herself. With her oversized hands and paddle-boat feet, her streaky blond hair and funny green eyes, she lives a life filled with secrets that began before she was born. That was when her bewitching mother left home to find James Dean and met Errol Flynn instead. Now Fleur has to grow up quickly, and life won't make that easy.

Jake Koranda is both New York's most brilliant playwright and Hollywood's hottest actor. Difficult, talented, and tormented, he has no patience for international glamour girls, not even ones with beautiful bodies and smart-aleck mouths. But there's more to the Glitter Baby than shine, and Fleur's tougher than Jake expects. Even with the odds stacked against her, she's fiercely determined to discover the woman she's destined to be. An ugly duckling who can't believe she's turned into a swan . . . A tough-guy movie star with a haunted past . . . In a land of broken dreams, can two unlikely lovers trust their hearts?

©2009 Susan Elizabeth Phillips (P)2009 HarperCollins Publishers

Not so great

I also adore SEP. She always has witty lines and the dialogue between characters is often fast paced and cheeky. This book, however, lacked that. I simply could not like the characters. The narration was well done, I liked how distinct she made each voice/character. Those musical interludes drove me absolutely insane. I cannot see the purpose they served other than making me think I had hit a button on my ipod that made the audiobook skip. I still love SEP, this just wasn't her at her best. Match Me If You Can and Natural Born Charmer are both winners though.

Another SEP Winner

This is an old book that SEP updated and re-released. It is easy to "read", funny at times, sad, sexy and traditional SEP - a great read. Unlike other authors that I've read that have rereleased older books, SEP does this one in a way that makes it seem like she wrote it recently (though I liked the old version too). If you like SEP, you can't go wrong.

PS Good choice for the narrator. I was curious who could possibly narrate after the fabulous Kate Fleming / Anna Fields. Julia Gibson does a nice job. I've enjoyed her work with Catherine Anderson as well.

Not up to par

If you are expecting another Natural Born Charmer, Heaven Texas or It Had To Be You et al, this book will be a disappointment. This one has no humor, no quirky situations and no memorable one-liners. These characters are full of angst, guilt and Victorian values. Where is the beaver suit? Where is the "premature climax"? Where are the "think naked" lines? Such a shame to wait so long to be so let down.

Not SEP's best, but very enjoyable nevertheless

Susan Phillips is in my opinion the best contemporary romance writer of all times and 3 of her books are in my top 10 favorite books ever. I understand that this is SEP's first contemporary romance being rereleased. It is better than Fancy Pants, Just Imagine and Hot Shot, but not as good as Lady Be Good and Natural Born Charmer. The story lacks the humor of her Chicago Stars series, and the topic is more serious. Just like Honey Moon, it is the story of a teenager struggling to find her identity and dealing with becoming an overnight celebrity. Fleur is the bastard child of Errol Flynn and his groupie Belinda. She is dealt a selfish, manipulative mother and a cold souless and calculating step father. The love story in the book is very touching, the struggles facing the hero & heroine are tangible and real. The only thing that bothered me is the step father. He was a tad too creepy for me. While there may have been less humor in this book than her usual style, it is compensated by a lot of heart. Julia Gibson did a fabulous job narrating, even though she had big shoes to fill after the tragic death of SEP's usual narrator Anna Fields/Kate Fleming. I gave this book 4 stars only because I have a much higher expectation for SEP than any other author. Download any of her books and enjoy the ride. She is outstanding.

Love the story, hate the new narrator

I have to say, this story is classic SEP, but the new narrator just can't do Anna Fields justice. Although this book was better than the other one she recently narrated for SEP, it still lacks vitality and distinguishing between the characters. If this narrator does the next SEP book, I won't be purchasing it.

Not my favorite SEP book....

If I could rewind time and not choose this book, I'd do it. I struggled with the characters a bit and found the book depressing throughout. Although I felt for their struggles and rooted for each character to overcome their own hurdles, it is a far cry from my absolute favorite book from SEP, Match Me If You Can, which I've listened to several times and laugh each time. Glitter Baby won't get a second listen.

First SEP book I did not like

I have always been a fan of Susan Elizabeth Phillips. I have listened to all her previous books and loved every one. Not this one; however, it just goes on and on with nothing to say and the characters are not likable. I just gave up mid way. I could not make myself listen to another word. The narrator was fine. It was the writing that was terrible. What were you thinking SEP? This is a recycled old book that should have stayed buried.

I loved this book.

There are TWO VERSIONS of this book. Glitter Baby was first published in 1987. The version I read was published in 2009 and includes changes made by the author. I recently listened to the audiobook which was released in December, 2008. I’m pretty sure it is the revised book.

AUDIOBOOK:
The narrator Julia Gibson was excellent, but someone inserted 20 seconds of music periodically during the reading. The music was ok but the placement was terrible. Most of the time it was in the middle of a scene or middle of a conversation. It should have been placed between scenes or when the setting changed. This was not-good production.

STORY BRIEF:
Fleur is the most beautiful woman in the world. Her parents are among the worst. Fleur reluctantly becomes a model and an actress at the request of her mother. Jake is a brilliant playwright and Hollywood’s hottest actor. Jake does not want to use Fleur in his movie, but the director hires her. She is 19 and he is 28. That is how they meet. The main story is about Fleur who is living a glamorous life, and then has nothing, then amazingly brings herself back to the world, developing brains, strength and relationships along the way. She also must handle and fight through tough obstacles.

The first 57 pages of the book are about Belinda, Fleur’s mother, who is not fun to read about. Belinda is beautiful, superficial and manipulative. The story gets better once Fleur is in the picture. One of the tragedies in Fleur’s life is having Belinda as a mother.

OPINION:
After the first 57 pages, I did not want to put the book down. The book has a happy and fulfilling ending. I was so emotionally drawn into the characters and events. The author takes her time to develop intriguing and complex characters. This book was longer than most romance novels.

As I reread this in 2014 I was reminded of how good this kind of writing is when compared to many New Adult books. Glitter Baby has a lot of angst that is good, because the angst is from character conflicts. Too many New Adult books have most of their angst within the main character’s head - like “I’m damaged. I’m no good for anyone. I hurt people close to me.” Many New Adult books have too much wallowing in self pity. In Glitter Baby, she hits the bottom and suffers, but she takes interesting action and does neat things.

DATA:
Narrative mode: 3rd person. Story length: 429 pages. Swearing language: strong, including religious swear words but not often used. Sexual language: mild. Number of sex scenes: 13, half of them are briefly referred to with no details. Setting: From 1955 to the mid 1980s in New York City, Southern California, France and other locations. Genre: contemporary romance.

Not what you expect from Susan Elizabeth Phillips

Not what I've come to expect from this author. No funny sassy characters in this novel. Moved a little slow. An interesting view of the rich and famous. A prequel to What I Did For Love.

TEN STARS NOT FIVE

She did it again. More character development, moving, even suspenseful storyline that makes you not want to turn the player off. I expected to hear Anna Fields voice, (I love her in the series) but this narrator did a fantastic job! I loved it so much that I actually emailed the author. Another SEP book that made me look for places to drive in order to listen to the novel. Keep em coming, Susan! Keep em coming!

Boring as hell

This was one of the worst books I've ever heard ! It was so slow going I forced myself to keep listening in the hope it will get better. Most of the book was dwelling about the past and not the main two characters! I did not understand half the time if we are still in the past or if we have finally moved on to the present. If I could give a zero star I would.