Tessa Dare | SEP Pajama Party and NATURAL BORN CHARMER
Patricia Salcedo August 5, 2014
The fabulous Tessa
Dare is here to discuss our title for week two of the SEP Read-Along: NATURAL BORN
CHARMER. Welcome, Tessa! I’m here today to
talk about NATURAL BORN CHARMER, and all the ways in which it is my
reading catnip. But first, I need to tell you a story about me, Susan Elizabeth
Phillips, and pajamas. Last summer, my publisher scheduled lucky me for a book signing with Eloisa
James, at a bookstore in SEP’s hometown – and SEP, being the incredibly
gracious person she is, invited us both to stay over at her house. AT HER HOUSE. When I found out this was happening, can you imagine my first reaction? Was it,
“OMG, I bet her house is gorgeous”? No, though her house was. Was it, “Will she
make me oatmeal in the morning?” No, though she did. My response was to immediately take to Twitter, beseeching strangers for
shopping guidance. “I need pajamas!” I wrote. “I am sleeping over at SEP’s
house, and I have nothing to wear.” Because, you see, I don’t own any decent
pajamas. I sleep in ratty old oversized t-shirts. This is all a very roundabout way of saying, I knew Blue Bailey was my kind of
girl from the first time she slept in her ratty old oversized “Beer for
Breakfast” t-shirt. Actually, Blue might have had me at the beaver costume. I also, at one point in
my life, was paid to wear an enormous, furry sauna—otherwise known as a Maurice
Sendak “wild thing” costume—to entertain elementary schoolchildren for $7 an
hour. It was $93 an hour too little. The kids were adorable, but the sweat was
epic. Years later, I’m still rehydrating. Anyway, you get the picture. I love a misfit heroine like Blue—one with quick
wits, her own quirky style, and more snappy comebacks than fashion sense—and I
especially love to see those heroines paired with a smooth-talking, handsome
charmer like Dean. One who says things like, “It’s the fact that she’s her own
person I’m attracted to.” And I, like Blue, also enjoy quarterbacks who moonlight as underwear models and
initiate sexy role-playing while on nature hikes. But who doesn’t. Ahem. Where was I? Oh, yes—Eastern Tennessee, which is so richly drawn in these pages, I could feel
the humidity and found myself slapping at nonexistent mosquitoes. Jack and
April’s second-chance romance…sigh. Eleven-year-old Riley, with that endearing
blend of toughness and vulnerability… And crusty old Nita Garrison, with her
hidden heart of gold. SEP creates characters who jump off the page and land
right in your heart. She writes people you know. I could tell this story was
going to live with me for a long, long time when I actually closed the book when
I could tell Dean and Blue’s reconciliation was coming. Have you ever done that?
I wanted to see them together so badly, but I just wasn’t ready for it to end yet. I couldn’t hold out forever, but I’m still a little bit sad that I ever turned
the last page on that book. I will console myself with ratty t-shirts and the
NFL preseason. And, of course, a re-read.
About NATURAL BORN CHARMERChicago Stars quarterback Dean Robillard is the luckiest man in the world: a
bona-fide sports superstar and the pride of the NFL with a profitable side
career as a buff billboard model for End Zone underwear. But life in the glory
lane has started to pale, and Dean has set off on a cross-country trip to figure
out what's gone wrong. When he hits a lonely stretch of Colorado highway, he
spies something that will shake up his gilded life in ways he can't imagine. A
young woman . . . dressed in a beaver suit. Blue Bailey is on a mission to murder her ex. Or at least inflict serious
damage. As for the beaver suit she's wearing . . . Is it her fault that life
keeps throwing her curveballs? Witness the expensive black sports car pulling up
next to her on the highway and the Greek god stepping out of it. Blue's career as a portrait painter is the perfect job for someone who refuses
to stay in one place for very long. She needs a ride, and America's most famous
football player has an imposing set of wheels. Now, all she has to do is keep
him entertained, off guard, and fully clothed before he figures out exactly how
desperate she is. But Dean isn't the brainless jock she imagines, and Blue— despite her petite
stature—is just about the toughest woman Dean has ever met. They're soon heading
for his summer home where their already complicated lives and inconvenient
attraction to each other will become entangled with a charismatic but aging rock
star; a beautiful fifty-two-year- old woman trying to make peace with her rock
and roll past; an eleven-year-old who desperately needs a family; and a bitter
old woman who hates them all. As the summer progresses, the wandering portrait artist and the charming
football star play a high-stakes game, fighting themselves and each other for a
chance to have it all.
Read Fresh Fiction's
Review of NATURAL BORN CHARMER, and don't forget: HEROES ARE MY WEAKNESS
releases on August 26! Join in on the SEP Read-Along!
Comments
15 comments posted.
Re: Tessa Dare | SEP Pajama Party and NATURAL BORN CHARMER
Susan Elizabeth Phillips' books are always enjoyable. (Kim C 3:17pm August 11, 2014)
This is one of my two favorite SEP books. (The other is Ain't She Sweet.) I love Blue, the beaver costume, QB hero Dean, the locale, everything. Thanks for the column, Tessa. (And I hope you found great pajamas.) (G S Moch 1:58pm August 19, 2014)
I've read all of Susan's books and anxiously await her next one. (Diane Sallans 8:53pm August 22, 2014)
I'm from Slovenia and i love Susan! She came in Slovenia once for an interview and slovenian readers just love her! I've read lots of Susan's books and one of my favourite in Kiss an Angel and I'm in love with the whole Chicago stars series...ah, who am I kidding. All Susan's books are just dinamite! I buy them too because not only they are a must read but also a must have! Couple of days ago I entered a quiz who is your Susan's hero guy and i got Dean Robillard :) (Irma Jurejevèiè 7:23am August 23, 2014)
SEP's Chicago Stars titles are wonderful and, Natural Born Charmer is no exception. Go MAINE!!! (Linda Spearing 7:40am August 23, 2014)
Natural Born Charmers is easily my favorite SEP! It drew me in, right from the first page. Blue was feisty and spunky, and her exchanges with Dean were laugh out loud funny! I loved that he had to actually work to get Blue, and her crush on his rock star father really made me giggle. All the characters were so real and interesting and I absolutely did NOT want their stories to end. I have a Keeper bookshelf with my favorite books, and the top shelf is Hall of Fame; once a book makes it there, it's hit the big time and has found A Forever Home! SEP has two books on that shelf - Natural Born Charmer and Call Me Irresistible! I love me my SEP! (Janet McCausland 8:26am August 23, 2014)
Love all of Susan's books. Can't wait for the release of the Heroes are my Weakness (Julia Levit 1:24pm August 23, 2014)
Natural Born Charmer is one of my favorite all time books. I still laugh when I think of Blue and her beaver costume - love it. (Janie Burke 4:50pm August 23, 2014)
I feel Blue's pain. I spent a few months as Woody Woodpecker. Love a book that makes me laugh. (Pat Freely 2:10am August 24, 2014)
I love Susan Elizabeth Phillips books and was lucky enough to attend one of her book signings in the past. I took all my SEP books (up until the date of that signing) and she autographed them all! So Fun! (Shelley Maier 1:46pm August 24, 2014)
I love all of Susan Elizabeth Phillips' books, and her Chicago Stars series is one of my favorites. (JoAnn Andrade 2:15pm August 24, 2014)
I love all of Susan E. Phillips books! Am eagerly awaiting Heroes are My Weakness! (Susan Scheelk 3:11pm August 24, 2014)
What pajamas did you end up wearing at SEP's house? I would have been nervous wondering what to wear at her house too! How did you end up choosing the name Blue as the heroines name? Congrats on the release Tessa- I look forward to reading it! (Christine Arcidiacono 8:56pm August 24, 2014)
This is one of my favorites. It was a laugh-out loud story. (Cheryl Castings 11:36am August 25, 2014)
I know what you mean about Blue. I have always enjoyed SEP books and her characters. She is one of the reasons I read today. Like Blue and yourself I love to sleep in Ratty old T-shirts that have been adjusted on the neckline, thanks to my mom. Blue is one of those characters that stays with you and give you the spirit to do things. Love that book!! (Tina Ullrich 12:51pm August 26, 2014)
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