Glitter Baby audiobook

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!

Glitter Baby is the third installment in Susan Elizabeth Phillips's contemporary romance series titled: Wynette, Texas. This ended up being a great book even though it took a little while for me to find my own personal enjoyment. Glitter Baby begins by immediately setting up the relationship between "Glitter Baby"'s parents before her birth. I didn't like the parents' characters or their relationship and could not find any investment in this story...at all. In November 2015, I ended up DNF'ing around the 25% mark feeling like this book would be a waste of time for me personally. After some encouragement from readers who sited Glitter Baby as one of their favorites, I picked it back up the following January (starting right where I left off), and coincidentally it was at that point when the story switches to focus on Fleur, the Glitter Baby herself, and I had no further problems feeling invested and engaged. I actually loved it and would have rated it 5 stars if not for my experience with the first 25%. I realized after finishing that the parental characters are not meant to be likable so I want to note that for anyone else who may have a similar experience while starting off. I now will be in that group of readers who will encourage other DNF'ers to reconsider Glitter Baby. Why? Because I was reminded that we all feel inadequate, awkward, and untalented at times but we all also have our very own special shade of glitter that shines through regardless of anything else. Don't let anyone ever dull your sparkle ♥My favorite quote:"Her face was part of her. It might be too big to fit her personal definition of beauty, but she saw intelligence in her reflection, sensitivity in her eyes, humor in her wide mouth. It was a good face. Well-balanced. It belonged to her, and that made it good."01/12/2016:A few months ago, I DNF'd this book around the 25% mark. So glad I picked it back up and finished it!Review to come...

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. I recently listened to the audiobook which was released in December, 2008. I’m pretty sure it is the revised book.AUDIOBOOK:The narrator Julia Gibson was excellent, but someone inserted 20 seconds of music periodically during the reading. The music was ok but the placement was terrible. Most of the time it was in the middle of a scene or middle of a conversation. It should have been placed between scenes or when the setting changed. This was not-good production.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 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 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:For a list of my reviews of other Susan Elizabeth Phillips books, see my 5 star review of “It Had To Be You.”

Even with the long, drawn out beginnings, I still love SEP's older books to pieces. I hate to admit it, but telling the parent's story really does add a depth to the H/h's tale that is incomparable. I think this may be my favorite of the series so far. I've been listening to it on audio and the narration is fantastic. Multilayered characters, a story spanning decades, and often villains that you can empathize with. Romance that is super spicy but truly realistic, even though it's set in a world of glitz and glamour.

Got in your past sociopaths & narcisists? not to worry. This is the story of how what doesn't kill you makes you stronger, plus it's got heaps of redemption. Not my genre, but still much enjoyed it as well as the fine audio reader.

O poveste de viața care parcurge 30 de ani. Doua destine întretăiere, emoții și sentimente; iluzii și deziluzii. O carte scrisă cu sufletul, ce ajunge direct in suflet!

A couple of years ago I read some b0oks about the bad behaviour of some of the twentieth century's Hollywood stars, including Errol Flynn. Much loved in the movies, but IRL apparently Flynn was pretty much addicted to alcohol and sex. I found it very plausible that he could have (view spoiler)[had a daughter like Fleur that he never knew about before his early death, (hide spoiler)]and I got hooked into Fleur's dramatic story with its many twists and turns.The young Fleur is surrounded by horrible people who use her for their own ends. Her mother Belinda is shallow, selfish and helpless. Trapped in an unhappy life of her own making, Belinda lives vicariously through Fleur, forcing Fleur into a life she doesn't want but is too young and naive to be able to escape from. Fleur's rich European stepfather Alexi is twisted and truly horrible and creepy. He uses and manipulates people, and seeks vicious revenge when his own warped desires are thwarted. Fleur has been blessed with a fair amount of natural intelligence and charisma, but as a young woman, her life is bound up and manipulated by her twisted mother and stepfather. It takes years for Fleur to eventually find herself and what she really wants. I liked her character, and the twists and turns of her story kept me interested all the way through. I also liked Jake, Hollywood actor and Pulitzer prize winning writer, although it was much later in the book until we really learned much about him and what drives him. This book is basically Fleur's story.I found the storyline quite plausible, even though the behaviour of some characters is extreme. After reading about the real life bad behaviour of some of the old 'matinee idols', and also about some of the horrible stage mothers who were quite happy to pimp out their daughters just to get them into movies, it wasn't hard to believe in characters like Belinda and Alexi.So for me, this was a fast-moving and involving story, and one of Ms Phillips' better books. Originally written in the late 1980s, the version I read was apparently updated in 2009, although I'm not sure what changes were made to the original. Still, when reading, you have to step back into the twentieth century and try to imagine the times to really enjoy the book.

MARAVILLOSA.Mi percepción demuestra una vez más que no todos sentimos de la misma manera una lectura.Me sentí atrapada por la magia de Susan, sentí que cada linea relatada tenia su razón para contarnos esta hermosa historia.

4,5 ⭐️All’inizio, durante la parentesi sulla madre, non nego di aver avuto difficoltà ad entrare nella storia, l’impressione è stata quella che fosse troppo “datata” per poter essere interessante. Invece poi si è iniziato a parlare finalmente della protagonista e la SEP ha fatto di nuovo la sua magia intrappolandomi nel racconto completamente! Fleur è un personaggio semplicemente straordinario, con una forte personalità e un grande coraggio. E l’ho adorata insieme a Jake! 😍🥰

4.5 stelline Questo romanzo non è solo una storia d'amore , ma è un romanzo di una donna , Fleur , è la sua crescita personale. Vissuta lontana dalla sua famiglia , con una madre egoista e un padre che la ripudia perché simbolo del tradimento della moglie, riesce ad affermarsi con non poche difficoltà e a conoscere l'amore.

Prima di cominciare fatemi dire che sono una grande fan della SEP. Trovo che i suoi libri siano meravigliosi e che i personaggi abbiano tutte le qualità indispensabili per essere godibili. Che si parli di sport romance o di rosa nudo e crudo, sono sempre rimasta piacevolmente colpita dai dialoghi frizzanti che supportano trame altrettanto creative.Solo che in questo caso, forse complice il fatto che sia uno dei primi libri pubblicati, ho avuto più difficoltà ad amarlo totalmente.Si inizia conoscendo una giovane Belinda che dal paesello fugge a Hollywood per diventare una star. Ma il suo sogno di gloria va presto alla deriva poiché Belinda è priva di talento e l’unica cosa che può fare per brillare è diventare una groupie e vivere quindi della luce riflessa delle star, proprio come i girasoli hanno bisogno del sole. Non crescerà mai come donna, se non anagraficamente, perché resterà meschina e manipolatrice dall’inizio alla fine, o forse le parole migliori per descriverla sono proprio quelle dell’autrice: “una donna fragile e frivola che voleva il meglio dalla vita ma che non aveva né la capacità né la forza di carattere per ottenerlo da sola.”Poi all’improvviso la storia cambia e conosciamo Fleur Savagar, una giovane ragazzina che rappresenta una pedina nella guerra eterna dei suoi genitori. Abbandonata dalle suore sin dai primissimi giorni di vita, ama alla follia la madre, schifa il padre – a buon ragione sant’iddio-, e ha grandi sogni per il proprio futuro. Sogni molto intelligenti, che però non coincidono con i piani di sua madre. Piani che la portano oggettivamente a splendere e da cui il nome d’arte Glitter Baby. “Aveva fatto un ottimo lavoro fingendo, ed era esattamente quello che avrebbe fatto con questo film. Avrebbe finto.” Nonostante la protagonista indiscussa sia Fleur, è stato donato parecchio spazio al passato. Potrebbe diventare pesante talvolta, ma badate bene, ogni mollichina serve a fortificare la costruzione di Fleur e vi renderete conto proprio alla fine che nulla è stato lasciato al caso.La storia mi è piaciuta, i personaggi ni. Certo, indiscutibilmente piacevoli, ma forse ora che sono abituata alla versione moderna dell’autrice, questo tuffo nel passato non è proprio my cup of tea.A prescindere dal mio personalissimo trovare il pelo nell’uovo, una lettura di livello assicurata.Cherry.https://www.thedirtyclubofbooks.it/gl...