Susan Donovan

I have to wonder if this is a "I want to offend everyone" satire. This is three hundred pages and more of misogyny, sexism, bigotry, and a huge plot twist involving massive homophobia. Plus ableism in the form of Kiley. She's a stereotype right down to Autumn crying over the fact that she exists. I'm stunned the word "inspirational" wasn't used. People sometimes cry when I briefly mention my own health issues (not the same thing Kiley has) and I am regularly called inspirational for doing show more totally normal things, such as waking up to my alarm and looking for work. Apparently having hip and leg problems means I can't wake up to an alarm or look for work. Hm. Basic biology states those things are totally unrelated! Patrick, one of Quinn's brothers, is a priest because this book rams in a lot of Irish-American stereotypes. He...even wears a priestly collar to a family cookout. WHY. His stereotype could have been waaaay worse, though. For the constant yammering about Catholicism in this book, not a single character goes to church or talks about what their faith means, so why mention it? What was the reason? Autumn's Protestant, and they bicker. Why is this in here? It adds nothing because they never talk about what it means to them!

Part of the romance genre is the appeal of imagining yourself as one of the characters. The endless harping about Catholics and Protestants from Quinn's family had me instantly realize this family would have a coronary each if they ever figured out that Jewish, Muslim, modern-Pagan, atheist, and agnostic people exist, and their brains would short-circuit if they met a Jewish atheist, of which I am friends with several. I think the Quinn family's heads would explode if they ever met someone who didn't believe in Jesus, and ooooh someone would get kicked out of the family for dating one. This family is so narrow-minded..

The two leads in this book have zero chemistry. The author clearly tries for Enemies to Lovers but went too hard and too fast into insta-love. It was painful to read. They act like inexperienced teens despite having life and relationship experience and being in their 30s. The lack of Quinn's professionalism from start to finish blew my mind. They sleep together after a few weeks and he says he loves her within a month. Too fast! Seriously, build up to it! Build up to it, have him feel tons more inner conflict, and I'd be fine. Angst and unresolved sexual tension are some of my favorite, favorite tropes. THIS BOOK HAS NONE OF THAT. Autumn's just a weepy Not Like Other Girls fake-clumsy gal. Fake-clumsy so she can fall into her fella's arms in the literal sense, as this trope always goes. Barf. I have balance issues IRL and this is a portrayal that makes fun of people like me. Apparently the constant blushing, weeping and fake-clumsy tripping are super common heterosexual romance tropes. I don't read it often and this book reminds me why. show less

Susan Donovan is a writer who's very good at combining humor and romance. So when I pick up one of her books, I know she'll have me grinning and lift my spirits. "Girl Most Likely To..." surprised me. Not because it's not humorous, but because Donovan managed to inject her humor into a story that's quite touching and all about love and forgiveness.

Kat had a miserable childhood. Her artist father cheated and beat her mother, her mother quietly put up with it, and when Kat was 16 her best show more friend and lover dumped her before she could tell him she was pregnant. So Kat left town that night with $83 and a heap of fear and bitterness. She lucked out and ended up with a wonderful woman who was everything her mother couldn't or wouldn't be to Kat. Now it's twenty years later and Kat has come back to her hometown for a bit of revenge. But she didn't count on how things can look a bit different when viewed as an adult vice a sixteen year old...nor did she count on still loving the father of her child.

I just reread my book synopsis and it doesn't sound funny. And I guess the situation isn't, but Susan Donovan finds the humor in the different relationships Kat has with friends and family. There's even a secondary romance with Kat's best friend, an Italian from Baltimore, and her old boyfriend's brother. There's also a psycho ex-fiancee stalker, a gossipy inn-keeper, and a wonderful hound dog. This novel has hot sex, laughter, tears, pain, and forgiveness. And best of all, you end it with a big smile on your face. show less

Wow! Where to begin? I requested this book because it looked different from your typical "romance" books, and indeed it was. If you're used to reading "fluff romance" you may not want to pick up this book as the sex scenes are quite explicit. If you can, um, "handle" the sex scenes, them grab the book and go along for the "ride." (Sorry, I couldn't help it.)

Piper is a museum curator that must put together the exhibit on the town's most historical woman--Ophelia Harrington. Her last exhibit show more on telephone operators did not go so well and now she must prove herself. Add to that budget cuts, her slimy rival curator Linc, and her hot college professor Mick (that she desperately threw herself upon as a student) is now enlisted to help the museum out, and the odds are stacked against Piper. As she's working late one afternoon, Piper literally stumbles across the hidden journals of Ophelia Harrington and learns a great deal about the secret life she had as the courtesan known as"Blackbird" in London.

As Piper reads Ophelia's journals, she realizes that she must tell Ophelia's whole story and not the one the stodgy museum board members think she's going to tell--even if it costs Piper her job. Meanwhile, as she reads about Ophelia's life, Piper begins a complete transformation of her own as she realizes that she's a brilliant woman that needs to stand up for herself, just as Ophelia did so long ago.

The authors transition between the lives of Ophelia and Piper showing parallels along the way. The historical details were just enough to add ambiance to the story without overcrowding it with irrelevant details. I enjoyed learning about the life as a courtesan since I was under the impression they were "regular" members of polite society. I also enjoyed reading about Piper's life in the museum as I would LOVE to do the same thing. Overall I think it was a good book, and if you can get past the explicit sex scenes/language, I think you will enjoy the interwoven stories too. show less

Scrolling through my shelves, I wanted a light and entertaining read. With a flirty cartoonish cover that promised fun, I was hoping that Susan Donovan's contemporary romance, The Girl Most Likely To..., would fit the bill. But the cover belied the contents, leaving me a tad bit disgruntled and disappointed.

When Kat sashays back into Persuasion, WV, she intends to face the demons of her past. She ran away when she was only sixteen, newly pregnant, dumped by her boyfriend, disgusted by her show more abusive, nasty father, and fresh off a disillusioning confrontation with her mother. Somehow she landed on her feet, taken in by a kind and generous woman, but she's never gone back to Persuasion. Until now. Now that she's inherited a lot of money and can flaunt her life in front of the people who almost destroyed her so many years ago, she's back. But twenty years on, all is not as Kat envisioned.

Kat's old boyfriend Riley is now a doctor in town, trying to build a new and desperately needed clinic for the underserved in the area. When Kat first sees him again, he is up on a roof working hard. She is shocked by his burning anger over the fact that she hid his son's existence from him, draining away all the satisfaction that she expected to get from informing him of his paternity. But before she can figure out just what he knows and how, she finds out that her irascible bastard of a father has had a heart attack and is in the hospital. When she goes to see him there for the reckoning she knows they must have, she runs into Riley again, this time in his role as doctor.

Kat is obviously dealing with serious relationship issues, from her toxic father to her feelings of abandonment by Riley, and she wants to show everyone that she is in a much better place now. Riley, too, is dealing with serious relationship issues. He has a psychotic ex-fiancé, Carrie, and is incredibly angry with Kat for denying him the chance to know his son for so many years. But even though they each carry these burdens, they are still incredibly attracted to each other and find it difficult to keep their hands to themselves. In fact, the sex scenes are white hot. But what drives their reunion is the tension between them, which would be understandable except for the fact that Riley dumped Kat before she left town so many years ago. This means he really has no leg to stand on as regards his anger with her. And Donovan seems to know it, throwing in over the top, kooky secondary characters to take the focus off of that contrived and artificial conflict. Kat's father has no redeeming qualities, Riley's ex is wacko in the extreme, the gossipy, blabby innkeeper where Kat is staying is frankly a little silly, and Kat and Riley's son Aidan, the chief bone of contention between them, is barely present in the novel. The ending, which throws the reader a curveball, stretches credulity rather a lot, even if Donovan tries to explain it through flashbacks to Kat's years growing up in her completely dysfunctional family. Somehow the novel manages to be both over the top and flat at the same time. Maybe it would work better for someone who didn't take the cover as an indication of the contents but as is, it just didn't work for me. show less