Lady Be Good

February 1, 1999
Flying from England to Texas, Lady Emma Wells-Finch meets world-famous pro golfer Kenny Traveler. She assumes that he's a gigolo and decides that he's just the man to relieve her of her virginity in order to get the stuffy, oafish Duke of Beddington out of her hair. Kenny's need to avoid scandal to save his career conflicts with Emma's need to invent scandal to free her from her English admirer. The results are hilarious. In a secondary plot line that mirrors Lady Emma's predicament with the duke, Kenny's seemingly flighty sister, Torrie--as beautiful as Kenny is handsome--is being forced by her father to marry geek Dexter O'Conner. Dexter and Lady Emma have their work cut out for them, for Kenny and Torrie's respective childhoods have left them scarred and incapable of adult relationships. Some outstanding secondary characters join this foursome, including those from Phillips's earlier Fancy Pants. Her Texas settings and sportsmen as heroes continue to shine, and her playful homage to the peculiarities of wealthy Texas women and small towns is dead-on. Phillips's newest is well written, funny, sexy and altogether satisfying.

February 15, 1999
Our heroine quickly realizes that the only way she can save her beloved school is by losing her reputation so scandalously that she will discourage the matrimonial intentions of the property's new owner, the repulsive, overbearing Duke of Beddington. So the starchy Lady Emma Wells-Finch, Headmistress of England's exclusive St. Gertrude's School for Girls, gathers up her courage--and her umbrella--and heads for Texas to "do the deed," with passionate and hilarious results. A bad-boy golfer hero who can't afford another scandal and a stubborn, outspoken heroine determined to create one team up in this lively, well-written story. Phillips combines an unexpected premise with warm, appealing characters and overlays it all with her zingy trademark humor and well-developed sense of the ridiculous. Phillips usually publishes only one romance a year, and readers will be waiting for this one. Fans may be interested to note that this story reintroduces several characters from Phillips's earlier book, Fancy Pants (Pocket, 1991). Phillips (Dream a Little Dream, Avon, 1998) is an award-winning, best-selling writer and lives in the Chicago area. [Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 10/15/98.]