I am a huge fan of contemporary romance. I started reading romance when the Sweet Valley High books became too damn and boring for my maturing tastes. Haha!I was excited when I saw that Call Me Irresistible was available through Amazon Vine. I'd read rave reviews about this book and Susan Elizabeth Phillips' books were recommended as a must read. Since Call Me Irresistible was my introduction to S.E.P., my expectations were high.Ted Beaudine is the darling of Wynette, Texas. He's about to marry Lucy Jorik, the daughter of the former President of the United Status. The citizens of Wynette are excited to see their golden boy get hitched. Enters Meg, Lucy's best friend since college. Meg thinks that the marriage is a terrible idea. She knows her best friend and knows that Lucy isn't in love with Ted and that she's only marrying him to please her parents. When Lucy heeds Meg's advice and takes off, Meg is left dealing with the fall out.Call Me Irresistible starts off being told in 3rd person, Meg's POV. After Lucy took off and Meg was stranded in Wynette, I was anxious to read Ted's reaction to being left at the alter. We never got it. From the reviews I read about this book, this is Ted's book; his story. So why is 95% of the story in Meg's 3rd person POV? We never get an inside look at Ted. As the reader, you learn about Ted through other characters. This did not sit well with me. Meg is an okay character but she is not likable or interesting enough to carry the entire book. The main character, Ted, Mr. Irresistible, is missing through most of the book! We finally get a peek at his POV at the end but by then S.E.P lost me. Too little, too late.Because we're not privy to Ted's inner thoughts and emotions, I found him unlikable. The man is a robot! Totally perfect. Too perfect. He's a genius, handsome, rich, kind, and loyal. He doesn't say no to anything. And he makes love perfectly. He's not a selfish lover. Bore! I mean come on! Can we have some angst? Some imperfection? Some passion? Why is he this way? Do we see his progression into Mr. Perfect in previous books? Is that what I'm missing?I had a hard time liking any of the characters in this book. The townspeople of Wynette are supposed to be quirky but to me, they came across as snobbish, rude and obnoxious. I didn't like any of them and found their meddling ways mean and unjustified. Ted's mother was no better. She was the ring-leader.The story dragged and I tired of Meg's antics fairly quickly. By the time Ted and Meg hooked up, I couldn't understand why and I could care less. There was a teeny tiny hint at attraction from Meg's end but not from Ted's. Again, thanks to the fact that the story is told from Meg's POV, we didn't see Ted's growing attraction. I couldn't get into the romance and found it hard to believe.At the end of the book, S.E.P. states that she writes each book as a stand alone even though characters from previous books pop up in other books. This story was not hard to follow but it was hard to like. Do I need to read the other books to figure out why the people of Wynette are snobbish asshats? I don't know. Right now, I don't see myself picking up another S.E.P book if I have to deal with the same character antics and crazy POVs.I would have liked this book more if we got to know the hero, Ted. He was a mystery who we learned about through conversations and interactions with other characters. That's not how I want to interact with the main character of a story. Because of this, I wasn't invested in his story. If you're a long-time S.E.P. fan, this book is for you. As a S.E.P. newbie, I was disappointed. I couldn't connect with the plot, characters and romance at all.
