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.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 some 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 a lot 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.OTHER BOOKS:To date, I’ve read all books by Susan Elizabeth Phillips, except for the first one which is out of print (The Copeland Bride). Dates below are copyright dates. In the two series I recommend reading them in order (but not required). Some characters have minor parts flowing into future books. It’s nice knowing their backgrounds.AMERICAN’S LADY:5 stars. Glitter Baby 1987 & 2009 Fleur Savagar model & Jake Koranda actor and playwright 5 stars. Fancy Pants 1989 Francesca Day English & Dallas Beaudine golfer, have son Ted5 stars. Lady Be Good 1999 Emma Wells-Finch English school headmistress & Kenny Traveler golfer5 stars. First Lady 2000 Cornelia Case is wife of US President & Matt Jorik journalist, adopt teenager Lucy4 stars. The Great Escape 2012 Lucy Jorik & Patrick Shade “Panda” security. Read this right after First Lady since Lucy has a significant role in both books.4 ½ stars. Call Me Irresistible 2011 Meg Koranda & Ted Beaudine, their parents in first two books aboveCHICAGO STARS (Football):5 stars. It Had To Be You 1994 Phoebe Somerville smart but hides it & Dan Calebow head coach5 stars. Heaven, Texas 1995 Gracie Snow nursing home worker & Bobbie Tom Denton wide receiver5 stars. Nobody’s Baby But Mine 1997 Jane Darlington genius PhD & Cal Bonner quarterback4 stars. Dream A Little Dream 1998 Rachel single mom & Gabe brother of Cal Bonner. Gabe, his family, and the town were introduced in Nobody’s Baby But Mine.4 stars. This Heart Of Mine 2001 Molly Somerville childrens book author & Kevin Tucker quarterback5 stars. Match Me If You Can 2005 Annabelle Granger matchmaker & Heath Champion sports agent5 stars. Natural Born Charmer 2007 Blue Bailey artist & Dean Robillard quarterbackNON-SERIES NOVELS:(not read) The Copeland Bride 1983 (writing as Justine Cole)2 stars. Just Imagine (aka Risen Glory) 1984 Kit Weston & Baron Cain5 stars. Hot Shot 1991 Susannah Faulconer, Sam Gamble, & Mitch Blaine, computer industry execs3 stars. Honey Moon 1993 Honey Moon, Dash Coogan, & Eric Dillon, actors4 stars. Kiss An Angel 1996 Daisy Devreaux & Alex Markov, working in a circust3 stars. Breathing Room 2002 Isabel psychologist & Ren movie star in Tuscany4 stars. Ain’t She Sweet? 2004 Sugar Beth Carey & Colin Byrne author5 stars. What I Did For Love 2009 Georgie & Bram actors3 ½ stars. Heroes Are My Weakness 2014 Annie & Theo
5 STARSOk, so this is one of those books that you have to read…then sit back and think about for a while before you decide how you feel about it. To be honest, I got about half way into it deciding that it really wasn’t doing anything for me. But then… something happened, and it all just started making sense to me. It was like the story was just turning out to be one big prologue. I kept waiting and waiting for the real story to pick up. I kept thinking that this is way too much background information. And it didn’t really hit me until after I finished the book. That you couldn’t have understood the significance of Fleur Savagar’s life without knowing the circumstances that created her existence. And her character is quite a complicated one. It baffles my mind… the creative imaginations of some of these authors we read. Fleur Savagar is one of those heroines whom everyone see’s initially as being weak, but turns out to be quite the opposite. Just one block. Could she make it that far? She began to run.Coming from a background of extreme wealth and notoriety often produces children who are spoiled and vain, but somehow the complete and utter dysfunction that ruins the childhoods of Fleur and her brother Michel, also saves them from this ultimate fate. But at the same time the neglect that they both received made it difficult for both of them to trust. “Glamour girls don’t know how to read. We just look at the pictures.”Then there was Jake Koranda… the tortured soul. I LOVED this man. He had all of my prerequisites for the perfect male hero. “Love, I've discovered is a transient emotion best satisfied by a good fuck.” He would have fit quite nicely into any Sandra Brown novel. A sensitive guy with a rough facade. Rough around the edges, and a bit of an asshole at times… even a chipped tooth! I’m in LOVE! (again!) “Cut the crap and tell me what color panties you’re wearing.” Jake is probably what threw this book into the 5 star range for me. And he was the perfect person for someone like Fleur. A hot guy, but also an intellectual. Someone who was not impressed with the glamorous life. And then there was his perpetually broken heart. What’s not to love there? “I'm not living in the shadows anymore. I want to walk in the sun. But I can't do that without you.” Anyway, the story was a long one. and it took some determination to get through all of the background information, but in the end, it was yet another example of the romantic genius that is Susan Elizabeth Phillips. The supporting cast was fabulous as usual. It was quite different from her other books, but still just as good.There is one thing I do need to mention. This book is listed on GR and on Amazon, as the Wynette Texas Series Book #3. I’m still trying to figure that one out. This book has NOTHING to do with Wynette, Texas, or any of the characters from that series that I can see. So if you want to skip it in the series, I’m pretty sure you can, or if you want to read it as a stand alone, that is how I would see it. On to the rest of the Wynette’s!!! God I love this author!
What do You think about Glitter Baby (2015)?
I am not a fan of re-issued romances. This one was disappointing and I could not finish it. Susan Elizabeth Phillips' books have obviously very much improved since this one was written. I think they must have decided to re-issue this one because the main characters show up nominally (and years later) in the new book "What I Did For Love".If you are new to Susan Elizabeth Phillips please skip this one and try one of the newer books! If you are a SEP-fan, then this may be worth your while. But be warned that it is very different from her usual (modern) style. It seems to me more like the old Judith Krantz books or maybe Danielle Steel??? than what we have become used to and love.
—MB (What she read)
Mixed review. Keep in mind that this story was written I believe in the mid to late 80's, so it's a bit dated. I really wish they would have made some updates before re-releasing it, because part of this story had a bit of an "ick factor" in it for me.Loved the story of Fleur and Jake and thought it was great. Very, very touching story. Loved the telling of the feelings about Vietnam and the emotional baggage that often results by being in war. I loved both characters and it was great to see Fleur fall and rise....A strong character. Also loved her actress friend Kissy and her charming, talented, gay brother Michelle. Both were very strong characters and added much to the story.Now to Fleur's mother, father and step-father. All the biggest form of scum on the planet in my opinion. While I think that was the point, I think the point could have been made in a different way than to have both her father and stepfather be really phedofiles.....how creepy is that....and her mother pretty much just went along with whatever they thought was best becaue they had money or were famous...This was complete ick and changed what might have been a 4 or 5 star book to barely a 3. ICK ICK ICK......I understand that her mother was 19, but the men were nearly 40 and over 50 and it was mentioned that they had been with teenagers....ICK ICK ICK
—Kath
I worship the ground Susan Elizabeth Phillips walks on. With the exception of two, I've loved all her books. They all are funny and heartfelt and as you read you find yourself falling in love with all the characters. Unfortunately, Glitter Baby is added as the third book of hers I hated. It lacked the spark her other books had and halfway through I came close to just putting it down and never finishing. It was that bad. I couldn't believe that this was the same author that wrote all those books I have raved about. I'm a big fan, but even I could barely get through this. I was a bit peeved by the beginning, but I thought back to how Fancy Pants began. I was ok with having the long history background because I was sure that once that stuff was out of the way, I could get to some Fleur and Jake interaction. Things had such promise to be a good love story what with Fleur's sad background. You really got to know all about her as well as her mother Belinda. I was excited when Jake popped up and I was ready to fall in love with his character. Sadly, after that things jumped six years and instead of picking up where things left off, the book practically switched over to another genre. It was more corny revenge based than romance. All the things were just so over the top and ridiculous.The romance was the main reason I hated this book. There was basically none. I remember reading and thinking why the hell does a romance book have no romance. From the summary on the back, it seems like the book would center around Fleur and Jake falling in love while bickering on the movie set, so I was thrown off when that scenario wasn't what the book was about at all. Jake himself was practically non-existant. He showed up at the set and then promptly disappered for a great deal of the book. I understand wanting to show Fleur growing as a person, but that seemed like all the book was focused on. I felt like Jake had potential to be a loveable hero, but by the time he reappeared, it was kind of too little too late. There wasn't enough time spent on Jake and Fleur's relationship in order for me to root for them. I didn't connect with Jake at all, which was a shame because he ended up having such a sad backstory. He would've made the perfect macho hero that acts all tough, but has a lot of old wounds that have yet to heal. I wish there had been more focus on the two of them and if there had, I would have been more emotionally invested once Jake's big reveal happened.I have too much to say about Belinda, so I'll try to sum things up quickly. I hated her guts. To be blunt, she was a whore and I had no respect for her. She was a terrible person and mother and I wanted Fleur to dump her butt from the start. I don't think there is a more selfish person than Belinda and at the end of the book, she hadn't changed at all. She's still the same crappy fame obsessed groupie. I seriously wanted to slap her as I read the epilogue. One thing I didn't get was what happened in the last chapter. Did Belinda (view spoiler)[kill (hide spoiler)]
—Shannon
