The Sweetest Taboo
The Sweetest Taboo book cover

The Sweetest Taboo

Paperback – May 25, 2004

Price
$8.38
Format
Paperback
Pages
328
Publisher
Avon
Publication Date
ISBN-13
978-0060595623
Dimensions
5.31 x 0.76 x 8 inches
Weight
9.6 ounces

Description

From Booklist After Sadie loses her high-paying, high-powered London job, she meets Gil McGann, a Hollywood producer, while handing out leaflets at a book fair. He asks her out and they spend the night together talking, and in the morning they're starry-eyed. Gil sends her a plane ticket to Los Angeles, but it seems that he has a not-quite ex-wife, Gina, who continues to run to Gil for every imagined crisis. Despite their best intentions, every date Sadie and Gil have turns out wrong. Gil wants to take care of Sadie, too, but she finds herself a job, a roommate, and new friends, including Tavis Jones. He's hot, fun, and always knows just what Sadie needs. Sadie loves both Gil and Tavis. Will Sadie choose one? Will she try to make a go of it in sunny L.A. or fly back to rainy London? See for yourself in Matthews' unpredictable, original, and highly entertaining romp. Maria Hatton Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved Carole Matthews worked as a secretary for six years before retraining as a Beauty Therapist. She approached Britain's Central Television with suggestions for a beauty programme and went on to write and develop a health-based magazine series called Look Good, Feel Great. After leaving Central Television, Carole worked in a holistic clinic in Milton Keyes, England and wrote freelance articles. She wrote her first fiction in 1995 -- a short story that won the Writers News competition. She used the money to fund a writing course where she met her first literary agent. The rest, as they say, it history. Already a best-selling author in England, Carole Matthews makes her American debut with For Better, For Worse, a book Kirkus Reviews calls "a cheeky romp from a best-selling Brit with a great sense of fun." The book, which has been optioned by Pandemonium Films, tells the story of recently divorced 30-something Londoner Josie Flynn. As her marriage ends in disaster, Josie flies across the ocean to her American cousin's "big mistake" wedding. Soured on love and in no rush to meet anyone, she ends up sitting next to Matt Jarvis -- a recently divorced rock journalist who she becomes smitten with before the plane touches down. But alas, they go their separate ways. After all, Josie's got prenuptial confabs to worry about and that dreaded lilac chiffon bridesmaid's dress to wear. But Dante himself couldn't have dreamed up the hell this wedding is proving to be. Josie finds herself wondering how she -- or any unattached modern woman, in fact -- can hope to survive the new romantic rules of the twenty-first century. For Better, For Worse was recently chosen as the fourth book club selection of the phenomenally successful Reading with Ripa book club on the nationally syndicated morning show, "Live with Regis & Kelly". "It's a big five points for humour," said co-host Kelly Ripa. "Live with Regis and Kelly" started the Reading with Ripa book club in April 2002. Ripa's previous three picks have all landed on the New York Times bestseller list. Carole Matthews is a self-proclaimed evening class-aholic. So far she has studied garden design, golf, calligraphy, feng shui, stencilling, style analysis, watercolour painting, flower arranging, kiln glass, mosaics, stained glass and wire sculpture (to name a few!) She also runs day courses on 'Getting Your Novel Published' for Bedfordshire Adult Ed. Carole is also mad about films and of course, reading! She reads 1-2 books every week and is currently trying her hand at film scripts. Carole says she is eager to write more books(bestsellers, of course), more sitcom and maybe a comedy drama. She would also like to see the world, laugh a lot, stay healthy and eventually become wealthy and wise.

Features & Highlights

  • A story of love, life and going completely la-la in LA, from the internationally bestselling author of
  • Bare Necessity
  • and
  • For Better, For Worse,
  • Carole Matthews.
  • One girl in love with two guys…
  • Isn't
  • that the sweetest taboo?
  • Sadie Nelson knows that falling in love can be big trouble - especially when she discovers that the best things in life are
  • never
  • free. Her heart starts causing trouble when she first lays eyes on Gil McGann, the sexy and powerful Hollywood producer at the London Book Fair. In no time, Gil is whisking her away from her dead-end job and drizzly old England to join him in the land of the perfect suntan. Then there's Tavis Jones, an irresistibly endearing -- and criminally good-looking -- actor who's soon pulling her heartstrings in a different direction. Suddenly the choices facing Sadie in the home of the famous and the desperate-to-be-famous are enough to drive a good girl insane -- especially when no-one is quite what they seem to be. It's not great to find out that Gil has a sticky ex who won't let go or that Tavis's uncertain orientation may permanently cast him in the role of "good friend". With her real life turning rapidly into a mad movie plot, what does a slightly crazed woman
  • two
  • much in love do?
  • Lights, camera, action...

Customer Reviews

Rating Breakdown

★★★★★
30%
(158)
★★★★
25%
(132)
★★★
15%
(79)
★★
7%
(37)
23%
(121)

Most Helpful Reviews

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Some things are better left unsaid, or rewritten

The Sweetest Taboo by Carole Matthews is a mild roller coaster ride with a few predictable twists and turns for the reader to digest. While her plot line sustained my interest for most of the book, Ms. Matthews made the mistake of telling, not showing her readers how great her protagonist, Sadie, really was. Her slapstick antics made her character flat, not warm or someone to which readers could truly relate. We got beaten over the head with how poor Sadie was and we were to fall in love with her for her simple, uncomplicated personality. She seemed more a fool than a lover throughout the entire book.

Ms. Matthews wrote the book as if it were a screenplay. She found the right topic, just the wrong medium to convey her story. I can easily imagine Greg Kinnear as the quirky, I-must-act-or die waiter, Tavis; Mini Driver as the bumbling Sadie; Bruce Willis as the well-meaning, yet sorely misguided Gil; and Goldie Hawn as the luscious lush, Gina. I wish Carole Matthews well in her pursuits. It seems she has Hollywood pegged to a tee.
4 people found this helpful
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So so

This is an okay book. Written in both first and third person. It was an easy read with extremely short chapters. Plot was okay at best.
2 people found this helpful
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A Good Beach Read

This is the perfect book to take on a plane or read at the beach. The secondary characters added a lot to this book. The plot was a bit far-fetched, but that was what made it fun.
2 people found this helpful
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just ok

i really like carole matthews's books, but a little dissapointed when i ended this book it didnt have the same "this was a great book" feeling.
2 people found this helpful
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Not a "deep" book, but fun.

I enjoyed this book, even if it is total fluff. The main character, Sadie, is down on her luck. She meets a film producer who invites her to go to Los Angeles. What follows is the unrealistic fantasy most romantics have when they think of "Hollywood."

True, it is nothing more than a bowl of frosting, but it isn't masquerading as something more either. It's a good book to read when you're having a bad day - sweet and lighthearted.
1 people found this helpful