What I Did for Love

Bram Shepard, a Hollywood bad boy who looks to be down on his luck, and Georgie York, a popular former child star, have a history. Now, after a wild night in Vegas, they wake up to find themselves married--to each other--and they're none too happy about it. What ensues is a lesson in love, growth, and the truth of the saying that things are not always what they appear. Julia Gibson subtly portrays the growing attraction between the hero and heroine. Gibson is equally adroit breathing life into the cadre of wacky supporting characters, including Bram's goth housekeeper and Georgie's nerdy personal assistant. Listeners won't miss the story's similarities to the current feeding frenzy surrounding Angelina/Brad/Jennifer, but they don't detract from an enjoyable listening experience. A.C.P. (c) AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine

Starred review from December 15, 2008
Phillips (It Had to Be You
) makes old Hollywood gossip new again in this over-the-top, hot-under-the-sheets rom-com. Sitcom Skip and Scooter
co-stars Georgie York, who like her character exudes spunky charm, and Bram Shepard, whose upbringing couldn't be more different from the nice boy he plays, hate each other even before Bram's offscreen sexual escapades lead to the sitcom's cancellation. Flash forward eight years: his career has cratered, and her biggest accomplishment has been briefly marrying hunky star Lance Marks, who abandons her for sex-goddess-turned-international-do-gooder Jade Gentry. So when Bram and Georgie wake up from a Vegas bender and find themselves married to each other, they make the most of it: Georgie aims to undo the damage Lance has done to her heart and her public image, while Bram is gunning for a second chance at life, love and stardom. It's a blast to watch the hate-each-other-yet-made-for-each-other couple as they duck paparazzi or spar before falling into bed. In this massively entertaining romp, redemption is always possible, and even a fake Hollywood couple trapped in a pretend marriage might find true love.

February 15, 2009
Georgie York and Bramwell Shepard have a long history. They were costars for eight years on an extremely popular teen sitcom, "Skip and Scooter". Georgie played Scooter, a spunky orphan needing lots of looking after by Bram's boy-next-door character, Skip. But Bram's real-life bad-boy escapades caused the show to be canceled. Eight years later, the only thing they share is mutual dislike. Yet one drug-spiked drink in Vegas and one valid marriage certificate later, Georgie and Bram find themselves hitched, with their own reasons for wanting to make the sham seem real. Georgie is tired of being tabloid fodder thanks to a bad divorce, and Bram needs Georgie's sterling reputation to reignite his career. But will their acting become real in time? Phillips ("Glitter Baby") is one of the few authors who can make the impossible seem plausible. Her characters are a combination of wise, innocent, vulnerable, strong, sassy, and sweet, with snappy dialog and personal growth. This quintessentially Phillips book is one all public libraries should want. [See Prepub Alert, "LJ" 10/15/08.]Stacey Hayman, Rocky River P.L., OH

Copyright 2009 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 1, 2009
Two Hollywood actors who hate each other but accidentally get married discover they love each other after all.

To call this connect-the-dots, love/hate contemporary romance by Phillips (Natural Born Charmer, 2007, etc.) formulaic would be to state the obvious. Its heroine is Georgie York, who found teenage fame co-starring in the hit TV show Skip and Scooter until her gorgeous-but-loathsome bad-boy co-star Bram Shepard caused the show to fall apart. Now 31, Georgie, aka "America's Sweetheart, " is still licking her wounds after her action-adventure-superstar husband Lance left her for Jade Gentry, the beautiful actress who also devotes herself to humanitarian causes (Jennifer Aniston, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie anyone?). On a trip to Las Vegas intended to cheer her up, Georgie gets drunk and wakes up with Bram and a marriage license (coincidentally, a similar thing happened on Friends to Aniston's character Rachel, who woke up in Las Vegas married to Ross). For the sake of her image and career, she can't afford to be seen divorcing again so soon, so the couple decides to stay married for a year. In fact, Bram has cleaned up his act but is using the marriage to boost his image in order to get a film project off the ground. Despite ex-husbands, controlling fathers and mutinous staff, the couple's proximity leads to attraction, which leads to great sex, which leads to the revelations that scurrilous Bram is really a multitalented gentleman; that pathetic Georgie is independent and irresistible; and that all their professional and personal dreams will come true.

Stretched to more than 400 pages, this chilly fairy tale is for devotees of the genre only.

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