Much to her father's disappointment, Elisabeth Page deliberately selected a career as far removed from his own (Ben Page! The two-time Pulitzer Prize winning author!) as possible. She became a pastry chef. Despite Elisabeth's obvious success working at one of the hottest restaurants in LA and her brother Rascal's celebrated author status, the pair continually find themselves falling short of their father's ideal of success. But the strain is starting to wear and Elisabeth is ready for something to give when she inadvertently finds herself giving cooking lessons to a recent LA transplant, Daniel Sullivan, who just happens to be utterly clueless in the culinary department. As a UCLA basketball coach from Kansas, Daniel is utterly unlike her patrician, snobbish family and her longtime boyfriend Will, who she only happens to see once every year or so. All it takes is for Elisabeth to spend a few days with easygoing Daniel for her to realize that different is good. Very good. But old habits die hard and Elisabeth isn't sure she's ready to remove all those layers of self-protection and let Daniel see her 'naked' self.
Witty and introspective, Seeing Me Naked is not your typical chick lit fare (despite its misleading cover and title). Elisabeth is so controlled and focused on her full yet unfulfilling life that you cannot but help cheering her towards Daniel - even if her first attempts are awkwardly hilarious. I do so love it though when a couple truly brings out the best in each other, and Daniel and Elisabeth are quite the pair. Although Daniel is a large part of Elisabeth moving forward, much of the story is dedicated to the highly explosive Page Family Dynamics. Liza Palmer has crafted a deep and layered family of individuals who fight each other just as fiercely as they love one another. Even though I tore through Seeing Me Naked, it's a book I can see myself sinking into time and again, discovering something new about all those messy and beautiful relationships every single time. See, I told you it was a winner.
Because Everyone Likes a Second Opinion:
4 Girls and a Book review
Angieville review
Chachic's Book Nook review
Smart Bitches, Trashy Books review
book source: purchased
7 comments:
Great review! I want to read this book so badly. I'm just biding my time until I'm first in line for it at the library.
I loved this one too. I have her other books on the shelf waiting to be read.
Yay, I'm so glad you enjoyed reading this as well and that you gave it a positive review. More people should know about this book! I loved how complicated Elisabeth's family was and how they all contributed to the story, making it a contemporary romance novel with more depth than usual.
Karen - Trust me, it's well worth the wait :)
Booksync - I'm curious about her other novels too, I have one on the way now, so hopefully it will be a good one too.
Chachic - The Page family really made this novel stand out didn't it? By far my favorite aspect.
Conversations with the Fat Girl is AMAZING! One of the few novels that had me gasping out loud because it spoke so much to me, I actually felt at certain points like Liza had read my journal. All her books are great, but I'd definitely put Conversations at the top of your "must read" list.
Oh, wow. Angie, Chachic, you. I simply must get this! It's available at Provo right now. Looks like I'll have to go soon. *TBR pile groans*
Love the atypical chick lit, too. :D
So nice to see this one make the rounds. I was utterly impressed with what I found when I read it. So much more sophisticated than you're expecting. And I loved the family dynamics, like you said, Michelle. Really a great story.
And I hear ya on the reading but not keeping up with the reviewing. These post-baby days are tough.
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