The Great Escape

A Novel

“Next to Tracy and Hepburn, nobody does romantic comedy better than Susan Elizabeth Phillips.”
—Minneapolis Star Tribune

Perennial New York Times bestseller Susan Elizabeth Phillips now provides her fans with The Great Escape from ordinary women’s romantic fiction. One of today’s most beloved writers, the incomparable Phillips follows up her utterly beguiling hit, Call Me Irresistible (“Phillips at her very best. Romantic, funny, sexy, and poignant” —Kristin Hannah) with a sequel that’s equally impossible to resist. Returning in The Great Escape are some of Phillips’s most adored characters, including headstrong, impetuous ex-president’s daughter, Lucy Jorik, who’s just abandoned her fiancé, Ted “Mr. Irresistible” Beaudine, at the altar. Now she’s looking for adventure—and perhaps a little romance—embarking on a wild and hilariously unpredictable road trip that begins on the back of a rather menacing-looking stranger’s motorcycle. The winner of more Favorite Book of the Year Awards than any other romance author, including Nora Roberts, Susan Elizabeth Phillips offers her fans an Escape to remember, and they’ll certainly want to come back for more!

I liked it ok

Any additional comments?

I love all of SEP books. I always look forward to her new books. Infact, I hope the next book is about Dr. Christie. I was, however, getting real tired of Lucy's nasty mouth and the way she and Patrick treated each other. It went on a bit too long. No real person would put up with so much bickering and insults. I liked the ending real well.

So Sad

LoveSEP books..any narrated by Anna Fields....I own and listen to them all regularly.This new one is really awful,,not sure if I don't like the story, narrator, but I am sad it was written by my favorite writer. I think her genious died with poor Anna. So sad.

Missed the mark.

What did you like best about The Great Escape? What did you like least?

I liked the characters, especially the secondary ones, but the story was seriously lacking in what I would have expected from SEP. It almost seems as if she can't really relate to this generation anymore and was more interested in political and social nano-points rather than a convincing story. Just the name of the main male lead, "Panda", indicates how far this story misses the mark. Having said that, it does follow the traditional SEP format which many of us enjoy. In regards to what I liked least, I would say the narration assignment was so way, way off that it was unsettling; which isn't to say the narrator wasn't good, she is very talented but she seemed far more mature than the voice of the generation depicted in the story.

Would you ever listen to anything by Susan Elizabeth Phillips again?

I would listen to a story associated with the Chicago group of stories, but not any associated with the Texas group or this First Family group.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

She is a very talented narrator and did an excellent job with the craft of narration but she is far too mature for this story; it was unsettling and awkward.

What would have made this romance irresistible?

Just giving the male lead a real name would of made a HUGE difference! What was SEP thinking? Who thinks "Panda" is sexy, swarthy and yet still respectable at the end of the day?

Any additional comments?

SEP writes a great story, she needs to develop stories and characters a bit older than these she is holding on to, she can't relate anymore.

Slow start, strong finish

It took me a while to care about the male lead, Panda, and I was annoyed that Lucy was so unlike the Lucy I learned to love in THE FIRST LADY, but it got better. Lucy began to remember the young spitfire she used to be and Panda turned out to be smarter and more polished than he pretended at the start.

It has been a while since I listened to CALL ME IRRESISTIBLE, so I was wishing that I could remember what Meg and Teddy were up to while Lucy was escaping. The chronology of the two books do jibe, but I wish I had listened to them back to back. That would be a lot of SEP at one time, but I do love her books and I think I would have enjoyed these two in a row.

Shannon Cochran's performance was okay, but I miss Anna Fields as much as SEP does. What an amazing talent she was, and perfect for SEP's characters. RIP.

THE GREAT ESCAPE is not Phillips' finest, but it stands up. This one pulled a few tears out of me, but not as many as other SEP titles have before (HONEYMOON!! DREAM A LITTLE DREAM!).

Now that I have listened to the entire Wynette, Texas series, I am ready to go back and start the Chicago Stars series all over again!

Terrific listen!

Susan Elizabeth Philips never disappoints - loved this story and characters. Looking forward to trying another.