Heaven, Texas

Author:Susan Elizabeth Phillips
Published: April 1995 (Avon)
Category: Romance
Series: Chicago Stars #2
Rating: 9/10

I'm working through the Chicago Stars books in a very roundabout way, pretty much determined by what Barnes and Noble has in stock when I stop by. I know I've said Nobody's Baby But Mine is my favorite, but this is right up there for a great read.

Come heck or high water, Gracie Snow is determined to drag the legendary ex-jock Bobby Tom Denton back home to Heaven, Texas, to begin shooting his first motion picture. Despite his dazzling good looks and killer charm, Bobby Tom has reservations about being a movie star - and no plans to cooperate with a prim and bossy Ohio wallflower whom he can't get off his mind or out of his life. Instead, the hell-raising playboy decides to make her over from plain Jane to Texas wildcat.

But nothing's more dangerous than a wildcat with an angel's heart in a town too small for a bad boy to hide. And all hell breaks loose when two unforgettable people discover love, laughter, passion - and a match that can only be made in heaven.

Gracie Snow can't fail at her job as a movie production assistant, and her first big assignment is fetching Bobby Tom and getting him to the set in TX on time. When Bobby Tom proves difficult and wants to take the most indirect route to Heaven, Gracie figures she'll have to make do with getting him there at all. When they finally arrive, she gets fired and Bobby Tom feels bad; then he makes her boss hire Gracie back, but he pays her salary in secret. He makes her his personal assistant and declares her his fiancee to keep horny women away. But they wind up falling for each other, and Bobby Tom can't express his love properly in the end, making Gracie leave him.

The secondary romance between Bobby Tom's mother and Way Sawyer was very strongly written, probably the most well-developed secondary romance I've ever found. Their story was also very well balanced in the book, without taking up too much attention, and not so underexposed that you're shaking the book and asking what the heck's going on.

I think I cried during the final scene of the book. It's just so dramatic and heart wrenching. Phillips really knows how to write to your heart, and I guess that's why I can't get enough of her Chicago Stars!