Susan Elizabeth Phillips - Simply the Best

Brett Rivers is the hottest sports agent in the business—fast and furious, swift and deadly. Failure? Not an option.
Rory Garrett is—let’s be honest—a disaster. She has a big heart, an empty bank account, a passion for making exquisite chocolate, and a huge inferiority complex from living in the shadow of Brett’s most important client, her football legend brother.
Brett and Rory should never have met, and they absolutely, positively should never have had to deal with the consequences of one stupid, drunken night…one disastrous lie…one career in jeopardy…one missing football player…and a very dead body.
It’s going to get messy…and dangerous…and heartbreaking…and sexy. To Rory, Brett represents skewed values and a devious mind. To Brett, Rory is forbidden fruit, off limits, do not disturb, and no entry—definitely no entry.
A woman who has succeeded at nothing and a man who’s succeeded at everything confront the challenge of their lives as they struggle with themselves and each other. When it comes to love—what price are any of us willing to pay to be simply the best?

Comment: This is installment #10 in the Chicago Stars series, which has been ongoing for several years now. For me,it feels like revisiting a world that has given me good memories.

Brett Rivers is a sports' agent with Heath's agency (Heath is the hero of book #6) and he has his hands full with some complicated clients, which ow includes Clint Garrett. Brett has told him his ex was only interested in his money and Clint didn't take this well. To make it worse, he realizes he has slept with Clint's sister Rory and now needs to worry about this as well,although it looks as if the siblings aren't close...

Rory dreams of being a chocolatier but life hasn't been easy for her to achieve this dream. Now that Clint is even more angry because of his breakup, Rory feels responsible, after all she did mislead his ex which caused the whole mess... then something unbelievable happens and she needs to find a way to help Clint, even if that means dealing with Brett again... but this time they might be able to actually talk...

Quickly looking at the list of books in this series and checking out my grades, I can say this book is the one I've given the lowest grade to but I cannot say I disliked it. It's only that, comparing, the big picture of this story somehow didn't wow me as much.

Perhaps my biggest complaint is related to how Brett is portrayed... I kind of wanted a more obvious character development and I think the hints and clues about how much of a good guy he is weren't as well inserted into the plot. I also think that the messy situations the characters saw themselves in, which in this author's books are certainly solved by the end, weren't done with in such a fluid way as in the past.

Brett and Rory as a couple are as cute as all the other couples, even though their relationship seemed to develop in a slower and less impactful way, comparing of course. I think their hookup right at the beginning when they weren't yet aware who they were in connection to Clint was a good way to establish their link without it being too much of a commitment but at the same time, things are described in such a way that it was almost like it meant nothing, and didn't highlight their chemistry. I think this was more like a tool to inform us they had been been together, not that it gave the meaning it aimed for.

In fact, the romance is cute of course, since this author is known for her comedy style, but there are times where I've felt this was too much. Some circumstances required more seriousness and this time, I don't think this was done as well as in other books, where the balance seemed to happen more easily. Both Brett and Rory face stressful situations and the way they thought about them and then acted somehow didn't seem as convincing as when the same tactic was used in previous books.

I mean, I liked them both, they were rather quirky in their own personal way, which is always fun to read about, especially Rory. I did root for them and for their success in achieving what they saw as the best choice for themselves, and I think the road chosen was realistic, but the path there wasn't always very smoothly presented. Then, the author also adds a little bit of a mystery and a crime investigation, which ans't too bad, all things considered, but it did offer more distraction that perhaps could have been addressed differently.

The book ends in a very likable way, as one can imagine, and all the pieces finally fit together. The protagonists manage to find happiness and they find a way to fix some of their other personal relationships which had not been good lately. Good all around, but I've finished the book with the sense of... I can't explain it well,but almost as of this had been a task the author finished without the usual "vibe". The book met the expectations, but did not exceed them, I guess.

Grade: 6/10