Beauty Queen (The Fancy Lives of the Lear Sisters Book 2)

"Beauty Queen", the second book in "The Fancy Lives of the Lear Sisters" by Julia London follows Rebecca, the second daughter of Aaron Lear. Lear is a self-made man and one of the richest in Texas, who wants his to be sure his girls will be fine without him once he is diagnosed with cancer. Rebecca is a former Miss Texas, who gave up her own dreams to be the "Perfect" wife and mother. When her husband moves on, she has to find a way to stand on her own two feet, and find direction, without help from her father. In the process of trying to find her place, she has an embarrassing encounter with Matt Parrish, lawyer and ladies' man. When an opportunity to gain real-world experience falls in Rebecca's lap, it sets up an unexpected encounter with Matt, and the fun begins. The interaction between the two kept me laughing, and both end up on journeys to find themselves and each other. For these two characters, most of the conflict comes in this journey. The additional characters (both human and canine) add to the fun of this novel. There is also her conflicted feelings about her father, as well as Aaron Lear's continuing quest to make things right with his estranged wife.London continues to create characters and stories I love to read. I can't wait to read the third and final story in this trilogy, to see how the "baby" of the family finds her way, and to see if Aaron can fix his own relationship before it is too late.

Rebecca Lear is reeling. She's been dealing with a divorce and trying to raise a her son Grayson. Which is not always easy to do because while overall he is a good kid, he rarely sees his father because Bud keeps finding ways out of his weekends with his son. It's not easy being her as she's trying hard to find a job that nobody seems to want her for and her father Aaron criticizes her for not taking more from Bud at the end of her marriage. Then the chance to work for Tom Master's campaign comes at a perfect time. She can use the campaign for work experience and maybe then that can get her foot into the door for a paying job somewhere. Just one problem is that means dealing with Matt who can infuriate her so much. And he's not thrilled to have her on the campaign either as what does she know about politics. All he can see at first is a former Miss Texas. But as he spends more time with her will those feelings start to change. Can these very different people fall in love? This is the second book in the series and I enjoyed it as much as I did the first one.

I was incredibly surprised at this second installment of the Lear sisters. After reading material girl, which absolutely fantastic, I was excited to read about Rebecca- who was Miss Texas in her youth and had only a divorce and a son to show for it, to only be shocked at the silly writing and dialogue as well as the shallow and meaningless relationship between Rebecca and Matt-the hero.I would like to say this first: London is a gifted writer, she is deep without being overwhelming and funny without turning into a comedian instead of a romance writer. She has an amazing grasp of characterization and her dead-on attention to detail that go on during human dramas. But most of all her build-up between two strangers that inevitably fall in love and steamy yet touching love scenes are the main reasons why I keep buying her books.However, everything I had just mentioned was sadly lacking in Beauty Queen. I loved Rebecca and that's all I loved about the book. Although the writing started witty and sharp, it became goofy, immature and tiresome when no shift in tone was evident.Matt, an arrogant and playboy lawyer, was the most shallow and immature hero I have ever read. You had zero empathy for the man and could not relate to his careless regard for anything but himself. Unlike Rebecca, there was hardly any build-up to his character and all you saw of him was his constant sheepish grin and arrogance. And for 80% percent of the book they were like 2 girlfriends having it out with each other instead of 2 adults that were attracted to each other. Then before you even know what hit you, Matt makes a miraculous transformation and falls in love with Rebecca. What did I miss???In all honesty, I was left baffled that I was reading a Julia London book and the only explanation I could think of is that it was deliberate she left the second installment shallow and immature that drastically shifts from her usual style.I hope the 3rd Lear sister gets just as an incredible story as her first sister did, and be content with the second one being a major slip up.

Julia London has a wonderful trilogy surrounding the Lear sisters. Launching out from a historical path, to a more modern one is a big success for Julia. Each sister has a different path; and all are affected when they find out that their father is dying.Rebecca; a former beauty queen, and sometimes mom (a nanny has practically raised her son)goes through a bitter divorce. Looking for a job when you have NO experience doing anything is almost impossible. Luckily, Rebecca is invited to help with a political campaign.Rebecca meets Matt under some strange circumstances, and they butt heads immediately. Rebecca has to learn who she is and what she wants in life. She is forced to find herself. Along the way, she learns about being a mom, and even finds that she has more talents than she ever knew were inside her. Matt, and their feud to be the best during the campaign is the inspiration she needs to find herself and her place in the world.A great read, I look forward to reading the remaining books in the series.

I did like it. It wasn't was good as the first one because certain situations end to be predictable it you read the first one but still it was a page turner.

Ich mag den Schreibstil von Julia London sehr. Man kann sich gut in die einzelnen Charaktere hinein versetzen und alles ist plausibel aufgebaut. Gut gefällt mir bei dieser Reihe auch, dass die Frauen aus der reichen Familie kommen und nicht die Männer und dass es mal nicht um die „Jungfrau in Nöten“ geht.Die Entwicklung von Rebecca finde ich auch gut.Alles in allem ein schöner Roman.

Good to get lost in the story. Enjoyed the continuing family saga.

I've been a huge fan of Julia London since her Hadley Green series, which I loved!! This series however, was the total opposite. I just found the characters mediocre at best. I will definitely read her future novels in hopes of her humour and wonderfully strong characters in twisted plots in the works.

I did enjoy this book. The Characters and Storyline are great. There are a few spelling mistakes and could of done with some editing/proofreading. Although I think all in all well worth the read.

I was a little hesitant about this book, after all it was a storyline that has been done so many times. Still i went ahead with it and I'm so glad i did. It was a well written book and just laid back and easy to read. I got deeply invested in the characters. They were funny, witty and i just loved Rebecca's determination, Matt's sexiness and Grayson's cuteness. A true winner for me.