First Lady

This review may contain spoilers, so fair warning, upon reading the review. Also my tags may have spoilers in them so be forewarned before checking out full review.

Book Evaluation:
Plot: 🎞️🎞️🎞️🎞️🎞️
World Building:🌎🌎🌎🌎🌎
Cover:📔📔📔📔📔
Hero: 🦸🏻🦸🏻🦸🏻🦸🏻🦸🏻
Heroine:🦸🏻‍♀️🦸🏻‍♀️🦸🏻‍♀️🦸🏻‍♀️🦸🏻‍♀️
Intimacy Level: 🔥🔥.5
Relationship Building: 💒💒💒💒💒
Heart & Feels:💞💞💞💞💞
Witty/Banter/Reaction of Laughter: 😂😂😂😂😂
Page Turner Level:📖📖📖📖📖
Narration:🎧🎧🎧🎧🎧
Ending:🧧🧧🧧🧧🧧
Overall View: ✨✨✨✨✨

First Impressions
First Lady is the fourth show more installment in the "Wynette Texas" series. First Lady is the first book that I have picked up from this series. I was really eager for this one as the description of this one just really pulled at me and I actually love political figures in a romance especially if its pre-2016. I found First Lady to be charismatic, poignant in the small moments and tugged at the heart strings in the most unexpected ways. First Lady is a story that will endear your heart with characters that come bursting with life and brighten up your day with their charm and wit.

First Line
Cornelia Litchfield Case had an itchy nose.

The Main Protagonists
The Hero: Mat Jorik
The Heroine: Cornelia "Nealy" Litchfield Case

Summary
Nealy has grown up in the political world all of her life, her father bred her for the life as a first lady. Her husband became president and she became one of the most graceful kind political figures. But then her husband is killed and now she is drafted to be the new first lady as her husband's replacement has no wife. But she is starting to feel suffocated and is realizing that she has felt this way most of her life. She dreams of true freedom and wants an escape. She finds her way to find some freedom, by finding her cache of money, and slips from her protection of Secret Service, and under the protective arm of a stranger who has a commanding presence that curls her toes and makes her feel alive and is guardian of two little girls. While traveling across the midwest, they bond in the most unusual circumstances and they form their own family. But Mat is hiding his heart beneath a layer of ice, Nealy is keeping the secret of her true identity and when the truth comes out, Mat and Nealy will have to face some tough battles to reach their happy ever after....

What I Loved
First Lady was a story that was beyond precious and I couldn't get enough of this one here. I fell so head over heels in love with it and I am not sure why I stopped reading this author for a while, she has become one of my favorites especially for romantic comedies in book form. If you dream of chick flicks to come to life in a story form.....then why are you sleeping on this author?? I guarantee her books are worth everything. They have so many layers and the humor is infectious. I was laughing so much through this one that I am sure my co workers thought I was on something...but I was just high on classy wit and charismatic writing.

There is something so unique and precious in this author's writing style. I was so endeared by our heroine. (and she writes the best heroines....LOVE it....its like a breath of fresh air from so many of the contemporaries that we see now). From the beginning I was hooked so quickly into the story. I really imagined her as a young Melania, so classy and full of grace and beauty and with such a kind heart. I loved how feisty she could be at times too. She definitely knew when to stand her ground but she wasn't selfish about it. I love her thoughtfulness in all the right times. We see her wanting to have an adventure, to just find some freedom (that so many of us take for granted that aren't in the spotlight). We see her connection to Mat and the little kiddies and I adored Lucy so much. (I know she has a book so I want to delve more into this series as soon as possible). We also see how delectable Mat is. Mat is a journalist but he hasn't told anyone including the one woman who will melt the ice around his heart. Mat has trust issues, he was overwhelmed as a child having to raise his sisters. Then he is now saddled with two children from a woman who broke his heart but put his name on their birth certificates which is truly complicating his life. And then enters this bright and classy woman who only makes him yearn for more in his life.

The interactions between Mat and Nealy was so on the top rich and delightful. I was smiling every time they had dialogue with one another. You see how well they balance each other, they each have their own quirks but find such deep connection with each other and with the two little girls who just ache to have people in their lives that will truly care about them. There is such sweet sensuality that slowly forms between them. The spice is low medium I would say. I gravitated so easily towards these two and my heart was in tears through the turmoil of the third act. But what an ending that was so satisfying in so many ways but also giving you a teaser that there is more to come where this family is concerned.

What I Struggled With
Honestly .....not much. LOL

Narration
I am so in love with this narrator for this author's books....she just brings out her writing style so flawlessly!!!

Overall View
First Lady is a story that will enrich your life in such poignant humor that digs deep into serious issues without causing emotional heartache. Its a story that is packed with hope, freedom and the bonding power of love when it sneaks up on you where you least expect it....

Book Details (also in my shelves)
Sub Genre: Contemporary Romance, Romantic Comedy
Character Types: Political Figure, Alpha Male, Leading Lady, Journalist
Themes: Kids/Children, Laughs and Giggles, Heart/Emotional, Groveling
Tropes: Road Trip Adventure, Secret/Mistaken Identity

Book Perspective
3rd POV

Relationship Conflict vs Plot Conflict
A blend

If you like these authors, I recommend This Book
Meghan Quinn

Song This Book Inspires
Gravity by Sara Bareilles
Rachel Gibson
Jennifer Crusie

Recommendation For Reading Order
Read as a standalone

Steam/Spice Explanations

Simmering cup of tea---soft warm touches and light intimacy
Warmin' by the fire- a medium level of sexual tension, a balance of sexual and emotional intimacy, lighter on the details in the sexual moments.
Steamin' up the room -the sexual content is more explicit in the language and tone, heavier amount of sexual scenes.
Blazing fire to the building-The prime focus is the sex scenes, scorching hot, and could burn one. Less focus on the emotional intimacy to the relationship.

Narrators:
Anna Fields show less

Bellissimo, mi è piaciuto proprio tantissimo.
Come sempre la forza di questo libro è nei personaggi che mi hanno letteralmente conquistato, Mat, Nealy, Lucy e Bottoncino un mix perfetto di tutto quello che mi aspettavo.
Una storia di crescita dove tutti i personaggi evolvono coerentemente con il crescere dei loro sentimenti. Un epilogo perfetto per una storia che mi ha convinto sotto tutti i punti di vista e che non mancherò di rileggere.
Un’unica cosa, ma di nessuna rilevanza, mi ha lasciato perplessa: ma cosa c’entra questo libro con la serie Wynette Texas?
Il mistero si è svelato in seguito quando sono arrivata a leggere il quinto e il sesto libro della serie.

The first half of this book was 5 stars. The second half really pulled it down. I loved the way the heroine escaped the White House and went across country with the hero and the 2 girls. I loved the way she let herself be rude and snippy and normal and how she saw herself so clearly and enjoyed doing it. Great stuff. She just wanted to live a normal life so why at the end did she go back and run for senate and eventually the White House? Seemed a bit like a bait and switch. The author basically said: Just kidding. She doesn't really hate public life! Haha fooled you. So we end up with 3 stars. And a slightly bad taste in my mouth. I will say however that the hero sure gave a humdinger of a speech to get her back in the end after the show more obligatory parting. show less

Cornelia Case (am I the only one who kept reading this as "Cordelia Chase"?) has been in the public eye for nearly her entire life--first as the daughter of the Vice President, then as the First Lady. And now that her husband has been assassinated, she thinks she'll get some privacy.

Think again. Her husband's Vice President, the new President, is single, and everyone (except Cornelia) thinks she'd be the best person to continue to fill that role. So she tries, but finally she can't take it anymore, and she escapes, disguised as an old woman.

Mat Jorik is a burned-out tabloid journalist who needs one good real news story to recover his integrity and his career. What he gets are his recently deceased ex-wife's daughters: a teenager named show more Lucy and a baby known only as Butt. When he discovers they're living alone, he loads them into their mother's ancient Winnebago--they won't fit in his sports car--to take them to their grandmother in Iowa, where they'll stay once he gets the paternity issue straightened out.

Mat and Nealy meet when her car is stolen, with all her money and belongings inside, and he offers her a ride in exchange for a loan and helping him out with the girls.

Everyone, except perhaps the baby, is concealing something. Nealy is hiding her identity and a Very Big Secret. Mat is hiding his profession. Lucy is hiding the baby's name and her vulnerability and another Very Big Secret. Despite that, they all become very close and form a family during the trip... a family that could fall apart at any moment.

A lot of the reviews called this an unusual story for SEP, but it seemed pretty usual to me--maybe we see different things in SEP's books. It has the humor and the rich emotional depth I've come to expect from her, as well as an impossible pairing. The characters were all very real--Nealy was absolutely convincing as a widowed First Lady, someone raised to public service, but for whom it's become just too much. Mat and Lucy were likewise very real. These were characters I could believe in. show less

Took a little while for me to get into it -- Mat Jorik was a bit too rough for my taste to begin with -- but after awhile I fell for him and Nealy/Nell entirely, not to mention Lucy and Button. One of the things I really like in my (admittedly limited) exposure to Susan Elizabeth Phillips is her secondary characters and this was no exception. Of course I can't remember the name of the couple from the campground now, but I absolutely loved them.

I just noticed this is #4 in a series, although I can't totally imagine how it fits in to other books. I read it as a standalone and it definitely holds up that way, but I'll seek out the other books in this series as well.

First Lady delivered exactly what I expect and want from Susan Elizabeth Phillips - a light, entertaining read with charming characters (teenage Lucy is a treat - although her transformation was way too easy to reflect real life, that's not what I'm looking for here). It was nice to see an honorable female politician elected to the White House by the end - maybe someday that won't feel like such a fantastical proposition.

Popcorn romance comfort reading. I go thru these books in one sitting. 3 hours and I'm done but when I don't want to over think it or when I'm PMSing up the wazoo, it does the job. In this you have this tall and I mean Jared Padalecki tall, reluctant hero with an oversized sense of responsibility; an heroine at crossroads in her life, she lost her husband (The President no less) and two somewhat adorable kids. Add the road trip from hell and you have an okay romance story with many, many implausible twists but I don't read these for veracity.