Texas Book 4), First Lady (Wynette

This was an easy feel good read. Although not as baked into romance as much as self discovery and family, it is enjoyable. I thought Mat and Nealy were a great couple and would have loved more time with them alone together as opposed to dealing with and raising an instant family. The family is Lucy and Button, two girls they find themselves looking after due to a series of strange events. SEP does not disappoint if you're looking for a fast light and funny read with a bit of romance wrapped into it.

Susan Elizabeth Phillips is a writer who can take our fantasies and make them living, breathing stories filled with realistic characters. Who hasn't occasionally wished they could be famous? SEP shows us that being a national institution, much less famous, isn't all it's cracked up to be.
I loved Mat and Nealy. Here are two needy people who don't realize just how needy they are, and find the solution to their needs in each other. They also find a family complete with children, grandparents, a dog, and a Winnebago named Mabel. Mat and Nealy's journey is heartwarming and funny. You know it's going to end, but you just want it to never end.
I had a few small caveats: Ms. Phillips' political ideas (both secular, and, in one scene, religious) were a bit silly. While it's true that one can honestly embrace ideas from across the spectrum of politics (left, right, middle), such a person usually (not always) isn't well-rounded, but a fence sitter who prefers reading polls to listening to conscience. It was disappointing that if Phillips was going to portray Nealy as left, right, and middle-of-the road, she didn't take the time to show (not tell) Nealy's politics as an integrated vision, rather than just wishy-washiness.
I was also disappointed with the secret of Nealy's marriage to the late President. While it makes realistic Nealy's falling in love with someone else within six months of her late husband's death, I wish Phillips could have found some other reason. This particular secret is becoming a trend in her books (IT HAD TO BE YOU is another example) and I hope it doesn't become an agenda.
Ms. Phillips also needs to get her protocol straight. The masculine equivalent of the First Lady is not the First Husband. (We don't call the President's wife the First Wife, after all.) The proper masculine equivalent would be the First Gentleman.
That said, this is a great book. I'd love to see Lucy have her own story, perhaps while her mother is still in public life. Wouldn't it be great to see Lucy fall in love with a Secret Service agent?

I have often speculated over the years on how First Lady's feel about having their every move scrutinised. I wonder if it is easier for them to have a private life now than in earlier years. I suspect not, because of the enormous strides gained in technology for the media. I remember very well the suffering of the Clinton's daughter - a child of 12 - when the so-called "comedians" got hold of her.

In this book of SEP, First Lady Nealy Case is suffocating under the burden of public life. Having been widowed after three rather fraught years of marriage, she hopes to retire from public life, but this is not to be.

How Nealy solves her dilemma is the story of how she comes to be broke, attain a pseudo-family, a dog and pseudo grandparents within one week.

Okay, the premise is probably a little far-fetched, but hey, this is fiction! It's meant to be entertaining and I for one, was entertained. The book is well written, humorous,but comes to a traditional, and rather predictable ending. To be honest, I would rather the ending wasn't quite so sugar coated.

Susan Elizabeth Phillips has been one of my favorite writers for years. I loved her earlier books where you could always count on her to break your heart AND make you smile and I love her lighter books. FIRST LADY kept me entranced from start to finish. The interaction between Matt, Nealy, Lucy, and Button in the Winnebago was priceless! The book kept me smiling, but there were plenty of deeper threads woven throughout the story that tugged at my heart. It takes tremendous skill as a writer to do both. I also loved the freshness of the plot. Bravo, SEP, you've won my heart again!

While this book does not have the laugh a minute, roller coaster feel of SEP's best (It Had to Be You, Lady Be Good) or the heartbreak & eloquence of "Dream a Little Dream", it was still better than 99.9% of the romance books on the market. Like other reviewers, it was hard for me to accept the too fast relationship between the Nealy and Mat, but the characters of the children were great. If Molly is going to have the next book, let's hope that Lucy will be in the one after that.

Although I enjoyed this book, the pacing was off. It took too long for the hero and heroine's relationship to get going, and the tension wasn't there for much of the book. Once it took off, it was what I've come to expect from her - great characterization and dialogue. The plot was good, and the grovel scene was one of her best - definitely worthy of a reread. The whole book, however, lagged a little too much, so it isn't a keeper for me (hence the 4 stars).

I really enjoyed this book and would have given it 5 stars except that the ending was only 4 stars. The story is about a First Lady of the United States who seeks an adventure by escaping the constant security she has lived with her whole life. She simply leaves the White House one day in disguise and sets out to be ordinary even if just for a time. She meets up with a man and 2 children and the adventure begins. I liked the characters and found her interesting. It was a fun read.

(Cornelia) Nealy Litchfield, widowed First Lady of the United States and daughter of an assassinated politician, has spent her whole life in the glare of the media and under the protection of the Secret Service. All she wants is a normal life. Mat Jorik picks up Nealy in exchange for her babysitting services. With many secrets being kept and the Secret Service after Nealy, they are bound for an adventure the likes of which Nealy never imagined.
And poor Butt, spending most of the book without anyone knowing her real name :D

About a month ago, a friend recommended SEP's works and I read most of them in one frenzy of enjoyment--as a writer, she's funny, does great characterization, and has a nice touch with POV. But usually I'd have one little problem or another--perhaps a dead spot, perhaps an argument with the hero/heroine that didn't seem to ring true. Not enough to keep me from reading this extremely talented writer, but still... I won't be saying that about this book. First Lady, IMO, has no structural problems at all--the pace zips right along, the conflicts ring true, and the characterization and the feeling of family she always brings to her books are all there. I read this in less than a day and cried buckets near the end. My only quibble (let's see if I can say this without being a spoiler)is that I don't think the hero could've kept his profession at the end...it's called conflict of interest (I used to work in his profession). But that's really minor. All in all, this is a terrific book and I'd recommend it to all SEP and contemporary romance fans.

Someone a few reviews back complained about Avon authors loving each other's books - well, here's a Leisure author who absolutely adored SEP's latest work. Cornelia makes a wonderful and believable transformation from a woman who is controlled by her life as first lady, to a woman ultimately owns her life, her career, and her love. Mat takes a mirror transition, to realizing that caring for others is a joy and not a life sentence. SEP always gives her readers wonderful, realistic characters in unique settings, and First Lady lives up to that promise in every way. Here, the 'Hero's Journey' is a woman's, with all the beauty and glory of love as the greatest reward.

Having enjoyed other books by SEP, I couldn't wait to read "First Lady". Unfortunately this book is not in the same league as others by this author.
The lead characters aren't very compelling or particularly well drawn. Something about their relationship didn't ring true. It somehow seemed "flat". The best characters in this book are the kids. I was completely charmed by Lucy and Button.
If you want to read a good book by SEP, skip "First Lady" and pick up "Heaven, Texas", "It Had to be You" or "Dream a Little Dream".

Another one of the same. Except for "Honey Moon" and "Hot Shot" if you've read one Susan Elizabeth Phillips novel you've read them all. "First Lady" is no different. Sexually repressed woman meets macho man, and macho man liberates repressed woman fulfilling all her sexual fantasies. Please! I will say that Ms Phillips is a very polished writer, but like the man says "she's got her story and she's sticking to it". And we're informed on the inside cover that she's writing another macho football player versus repressed young woman in her next novel. This will be the fourth time she's told this story. Give us a break Ms. Phillips. You're fans deserve more than the same trite story over and over.

SEP offers nice escapism and fun. This implausible story is fun and sparks the reader's imagination. Nealy and Mat were great, but I especially enjoyed Lucy; SEP did a good job of getting the sullen, but loving, teen "just right." The epilogue wasn't believable at all. I doubt a person who ran from the "fish bowl" existence of First Lady would actively pursue the office of President later.

You must read this charming, wonderful, and unusual story of our own American princess, a protected and sheltered political pawn who finds the courage to go on the lamb. But hiding isn't easy for such a famous young woman, that is, until she is rescued by a reluctant, grumbling hero who rides in on..of all things...a Winnebago! I was fortunate enough to read FIRST LADY early and this book delivers everything you have come to expect from the Diva of Romance, Susan Elizabeth Phillips. I just loved it! You will laugh out loud at Nealy's attempts at instant motherhood. You will want to hug Lucy, the sassy, bright and mouthy teenager, close to your chest, and I guarantee you will laugh and cry along with these characters as they travel across middle-America and right into your heart. FIRST LADY is filled with charming yet vulnerable people you will adore. When you read the last page you will be craving more from Susan Elizabeth Phillips because her books are just the best there is today in romance. Enjoy it! I did.

I have to prefrence this with I am probably judging this more based on other SEP books I've read than on all books in general, I've read three others and this is my least favorit, the plot is great but the main couple sort of crashes and burns before the book ends.

The main plot revolves around the run away first lady who has led a shelttered and rather unhappy life, she's beloved by all and when she meets up with a reporter who she doesn't know is a reporter, after she's um cut her hair, I start to see visions of Princess Ann and I think its Joe Brown from Roman Holiday, except that he doesn't know it's her and they have two kids tagging along. Initialy the kids made me skeptical and I wasn't going to read it, but oh my gosh did this relationship pull at my heart strings, this was the best part of the book, the orphans quest for a home, that and the whole everyones talken about the runaway first lady and she's right under their nose.

The scene where finds out that she is who she is is also great, and the very end before the epolog is also great, but the time in between and the epolog are what got me. I found myself really agrivated about something when he went grovelling back, what oh yeah, he really shouldn't have had to grovel, she never says "I love you" not counting the epologe and when he does its not enough, and well it seems improable that she'd end up president, i don't like the idea of a female president, but if had been her daughter I think it would have made more sense

An enjoyable read full of lovable, disfunctional characters whose paths cross. SEP has an amazing ability to make you love her cranky cast whether in the form of an insecure teenage girl or a commitment phobic thirty-something guy. A satisfying love story.

How does the First Lady disappear in the heartland of America, eluding the Secret Service, the FBI, and millions of Americans, and manage to fall in love with a tall, wisecracking reporter without blowing her cover? Sound farfetched? Only in the hands of Susan E. Phillips could such a tale be totally believable, and totally fun to read. I personally found the premise--Nealy's job burn out--easy to swallow. My sister-in-law happens to be the First Lady--of a small third world country, and I know if she could, she would love to take a Roman Holiday--even in a trailer, with two kids and grouchy reporter. Do yourself a favor, and read First Lady--you'll be glad you did!

I always like Susan Phillips, but reviews for this one made me skeptical. I'm glad I ignored because it was hard to put down. The characters were so dimensional and there were so many humorous, heartwarming and romantic scenes that I wanted to keep reading until I was through. A definite keeper for me.

With great anticipation I bought this as we were heading to Florida on vacation. Because I was so certain it would be as wonderful as all of SEPs novels, I saved it for last.
How sad that I should've read it first, just to get finished with it. I found Mat and Nealy to be not only underdeveloped, but lacking any of the sympathetic qualities I have come to expect from this author. They were, sadly, flat and annoying. The notable exceptions were the children, Lucy and Button who, like most children in SEPs novels, were delightful.
While I certainly applaud the attempt to try a new kind of character, I look forward to Phillips' next novel.

First Lady is a keeper. Fun and charming. Loved the characters. This book would also make a good movie. SEP is high on my list of writers who can entertain me. First Lady reminded me of why I love reading.

As usual, Susan Elizabeth Phillips delivers high quality writing and well developed characters. It is wonderful to see an author who is constantly developing her already impressive talent, and challenging herself to try new things. This is an author who has respect for her readers, and we love her for it!

Susan Elizabeth Phillips has done it again! First Lady is an absolute joy to read. I laughed out loud, I wiped away tears...but most of all, I couldn't put it down. For those of you who have already read Ms. Phillips, you know what to expect: humor, sensuality, tenderness, and a cast of characters that are just wacky enough to be completely real. And if you haven't read Susan before, all I can say is settle in for the best reading time you've spent this year. Don't miss First Lady.

I almost passed up this book...but something pulled me back to pick it up and read the back of the dust cover. I was immediately drawn to the story and couldn't wait to get started. Once I started to read, I didn't want to put it down...it became addictive. I'd read on my lunch hour, suddenly bursting out with laughter, and had a hard time closing the book to go back to work. I am hooked on Susan Elizabeth Phillips...so much that I'm ordering more of her books!

After reading several of her other books, I was happy when this came out. I bought it right away. As I was reading it, I realized I didn't feel for these characters as much as the other ones I've read. I thougt Matt was mean and hateful. I felt so sorry for the girls, but not the two main characters. Matt also came off to me as being stupid. Who picks up strangers this day and age? I also think its hard to feel sorry for Cornelia. I just wished I hadn't bought this book, but rather on of her other one instead.

What a wonderful novel. A perfect "bathtub" book. Very good plotting, and the characters are first rate. Suspenseful but never scary and a happy ending. What a delight. This is the first book that I have read by Susan Elizabeth Phillips but it certainly won't be the last.

I can't believe the negative reviews of this marvelous story. I absolutely loved this book from start to finish. It was totally believable that Nealy could fall in love 6-months after her sham marriage ended. This is extremely well handled and explained. My only regret is that I can't read it again for the first time!

First Lady was a disappointment to me. Some of the plotdevicesto move it along were too incredible. The sex was extremely tepid.It was an easy read and was interesting in stretches, particularly the descriptions of life at the White House. Coming after some really great SEP romances, it definitely was a disappointment. I love to re-read my favorites, but First Lady will not get one. END

No inside scoop with this review. You are going to have to read it. As with all other SEP books you can't put it down. The review that is a little dissappointed with the ending? It's the perfect ending. "You go Nealy" This story is light hearted and you can't help but cheer on all the characters. When it comes time for Lucy's story...it should be a real hoot!