Fancy Pants

Author:

Susan Elizabeth Phillips

Published:

Pocket Books, 1989 ; 497 pages

Subgenre:

Contemporary romance

Setting:

England -- London and United States -- New York and Texas, late 1980s

Main characters:

Dallie Beaudine and Francesca Day

Sexual explicitness:

Explicit

Keywords:

Humor ; fashion, frigidity, golf, paparazzi, runaways, shopping

Warning:

This book contains coarse language and a date rape.

Reader rating:

Reader comments:

Not what I would call a real romance; just to gritty with a hero very nonsympathic and h/h apart for way to much of book. I much prefer SEP's later books where even though she hits a romance roll the plots are not typical at all. Her latest, Dream A Little Dream is also very gritty but never loses the romance thread; it is excellant. (Y.F.P., 3-15-98) I loved this book. To date I have probably read it fifty times, and I've only had it a little over two years. Of all I've read, it ranks in my top three recommendations. (M.P., 3-14-98) Not what I would call a real romance; just to gritty with a hero very nonsympathic and h/h apart for way to much of book. I much prefer SEP's later books where even though she hits a romance roll the plots are not typical at all. Her latest, Dream A Little Dream is also very gritty but never loses the romance thread; it is excellant. (Y.F.P., 3-15-98) I loved this book. To date I have probably read it fifty times, and I've only had it a little over two years. Of all I've read, it ranks in my top three recommendations. (M.P., 3-14-98) Even as Judith McNaught sinks into formulaic obscurity, Susan Elizabeth Philips manages to get fresher and funnier with each succeeding book. The showstopper in this one was when the British socialite stood in the middle of a dark American backroad and very deliberately threw her last quarter into the woods. And then laughed. Had King George sent a few regiments of women like her, all of us in Middle America might be ordering tea with our muffins in the morning instead of coffee... (S.E.R., 3-20-97) The book starts out with the main heroine being spoiled-rotten, vain, and totally devoid of any thoughts or feelings for anyone but herself. I almost gave up right there, but then my inner sense knew that S.E. Phillips was a most ingenius, creative writer and I should hang on to see if this was the case. It definitely was. The transformation of Francesca was stunning. The cultural problems and dialogue between jet-setter, British Francesca and laid-back somewhat red-neck, southern Dallie were priceless. S.E.Phillips makes her characters seem so real and personable, even if they are quite odd. Read this book to the very end...you will definitely not regret it. (V.F., 2-21-97) Phillips just loves the opposites-attract motif--here, it's a European jet-set darling and a down-home Texas golfer. Though both grow, they do have some foibles that I find decidedly un- romantic--though often quite funny. The book also has that brand-name-plus-rich-and-famous-name-dropping that I find an unfortunate staple of contemporary American romance (and culture), but at least here Phillips pokes some fun at it. (E.P., 1-29-97)

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