Tome Thursday: Fancy Pants

Hello everyone!

The past two Thursdays I've spent talking about book series instead of an actual book, and while technically I'll still be mentioning a series today, I'll actually be describing a book I started reading this morning, and couldn't put down until I finished it late in the afternoon (with breaks, of course!).

The book I read is titled Fancy Pants, and the author is Susan Elizabeth Phillips. SEP first came to my attention completely by accident when my sister, looking for some easy holiday reading, bought one of her books titled 'Nobody's Baby But Mine'; since she doesn't read many books to begin with, and she pretty much giggled through most of the tome, obviously I had to check out what was so funny, and thus I found myself reading some genuinely amusing books by a good author. Now, sometimes, she does tend to repeat herself - and most of her men usually have the same knee-jerk reactions - but generally speaking, I enjoy reading whichever book I pick up that has her name on it. 

This one I chose was no exception, although I was a bit apprehensive, for two reasons: number one is that it's a part of a book series settled around a small town (Wynette, Texas) and I'd already read through the second book on accident (out of order; Lady Be Good) and I wasn't entirely sold on the series as a whole. I did blame this reason on the fact that I'd previously gone through her Chicago Stars book series, and football players seemed a bit more interesting than golf players at the time. The second reason was that some of the feedback I got from other readers was that it wasn't as likeable as some other of Susan's books. 

But after going through two Vince Flynn books in a row and a long period of Agatha Christie, I needed something that wouldn't make my brain want to take two jumps ahead every time I turned a page, so Fancy Pants seemed like a good way to go.

I had already met the titular characters, Francesca and Dallas, in the second book, Lady Be Good, only then they were secondary characters, whereas this book was all about them. And boy, was I thankful for that!

What happened was that my apprehension turned into fits of giggling as the princess-perfect Francesca stumbled into Texas and hitched a ride with Dallas Beaudine. I mean, it doesn't get any better than this, really; the story follows Francie (as she is almost immediately dubbed by Dallie) from birth, through very spoiled growing-up years, to the death of her mother, and her "friends" sending her to America on a scam-movie set. She then runs off from there, in a hoop-skirt costume, in the middle of nowhere with only a suitcase to her name, and gets picked up by Dallie. Trouble honestly begins right then and there because Francie is so unlike any woman Dallie has ever met or conversed before that they really don't see eye-to-eye. That doesn't stop them from a steamy night between the sheets, however, but while Dallas actually takes it as it is - as in, a one-night stand - Francie convinces herself she's in love with the man!

She then manages to tag along with Dallas and Skeet as they go on the road, cross-country, for Dallie's golfing tournaments, to end up in Wynette, where she gets the shock of her life: Dallas is married, and has been for years.

This prompts our heroine to run off, manage to get the money for her plane ticket AND her passport stolen - and forces her to find work in the middle of nowhere America. Oh, incidently, she realised she's pregnant, with Dallie's child - but she doesn't tell him. She also lies to his wife, Holly Grace, who becomes a very good friend over the years. Little Teddy grows up in a loving environment for nine years, Francie now has her own talk show on TV, and it's at about this point when Dallas enters the picture again.

Needless to say, no one thought the child was actually Dallie's - because no one knew Dallas' father in person, who Teddy is the spitting image of, but an accidental meeting sets his world upside down and he probably does one of the stupidest things a man can do: he kidnaps the poor boy!

At this point, I wanted to take the book and smack the idiot. I mean, I understood his anger and frustration with Francesca (particularly since he and Holly Grace had had a son, Danny, who unfortunately drowned when he was about two years old), but the poor boy had nothing to do with his parents' issues to begin with. From there on we enter a whirlwind sort of road where Francesca and Dallas have a tug-o-war over feelings (and Teddy). Both are still in love with another, but the major obstacle now is the fact that Dallas is afraid to fight for anything in his life, because he was repeatedly told (by his father, duh) that he will never be good enough. So, instead of raking up failure after failure, he simply gives up before that happens. Francie figures it out and challenges him to win a major golf tournament for her, otherwise she won't marry him. So, to prove himself to an annoying woman (by his account) he does just that. And then of course comes the sweet reconciliation between father and son when mother loses it entirely over an environmentalist gig, but Dallie is right there to hold little Teddy as he sobs away into his expensive shirt. Awww.

Honestly, if you're looking for a book where you want to connect with characters (even when they're being completely obnoxious and silly at times), this is the one you should pick, easily. It defied all my expectations and I actually teared up at places (namely that last reunion, to be honest). But if you want something with more mystery or a biography or something ... this might not be the right choice for you. Also, note: yes, there ARE certain scenes in there that are rated above the PG mark, so if you're uncomfortable with that ... maybe you should turn away. But for what it's worth, they don't make up the majority of the book, when they're detailed they're written tastefully, and they don't take away from the story. There's more to this book than just sex, which is definitely worth noting.

All in all, a very satisfying read for a dreary November day when the clouds can't decide if it's going to rain or snow!

Have a good one x