A Valentine Proposal by Viv Royce – a Review
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Description:
Just as free-spirited bookstore employee Cleo Davis faces closure of her beloved shop, the owner informs her it will continue as part of the successful Stephens chain. When the chain’s risk assessor, the very reserved, very attractive Mark Stephens, enters the store to look over her business plan, Cleo clashes with him right away. Oil and water have nothing on them.
Mark has always followed the rules. But the minute he steps into vibrant and spunky Cleo’s store, he knows he’s in trouble. One moment he’s in her “craft corner” painting bookends with kids, the next in a bidding war with Cleo at a charity auction. He can’t deny that opposites attract, and Cleo’s vivacious personality has him rethinking his life in more ways than one.
But when Cleo’s store officially becomes part of the bookstore chain, Mark will become her boss…and completely off limits.
Review:
I really enjoyed A Valentine Proposal by Viv Royce. It kept reminding me of all those Hallmark movies that are so popular right now. I wouldn’t be surprised if it actually got turned into one of those movies one day. Set in a small town, girl next door type heroine, big city bookstore chain hero type, the two meet, clash over their thoughts for the town’s bookstore, have an instant attraction to one another, but are on opposite sides of the fence regarding what should happen in this small town regarding the bookstore that our heroine just happens to work at.
I found I had an instant attraction to our would-be couple of Cleo and Mark. Even though they are at odds with each other regarding the bookstore, you can feel their instant attraction and feel the chemistry between them coming off the pages. Their interactions with each other are fun, flirty and sexy at times. Cleo being the door next door type isn’t afraid to get dirty, have fun and throw caution to the wind. Matter of fact when Mark first encounters her she’s laying on the floor, inside a castle made out of books looking for a stuffed teddy bear for one of her customers. It was quite comical and set the tone for our story’s couple. Cleo and Mark’s adventure takes flight from there and never wavers or dulls. That being said, it was fun watching Mark let go of his stuffy big city boy mentality and start to adopt Cleo’s small town ideas for her bookstore. This other side of Mark was a pleasant surprise in their adventure and I really liked this side of him. Cleo and Mark seem to balance each other out in all the right ways.
I found that both characters are able to hold their own in a scene, thus allowing for a good flow to their adventure all the while keeping you the reader invested in the story. Viv Royce does a wonderful job keeping you the reader invested in the story because she’s created two characters who are well rounded with enough back story that they don’t feel one dimensional. When this happens it helps to give more depth and heart to the story and this one had it in spades. If you like stories with a small town feel, a little drama and angst between our hero and heroine then A Valentine Proposal is for you.
Until next time, happy reading everyone!
Reviewed by Marcie
Copy provided by Publisher
